The Monday Media Diet with Matt Rodbard

On Taste, Craig Mod, and KJAZZ

We love supporting the WITI community and have asked Matt Rodbard back for his second MMD around the launch of Koreaworld: A Cookbook (co-written with chef Deuki Hong), out on Tuesday. Don’t miss his previous writing for us on the booming coffee scene and on one of his favorite neighborhoods in Seoul, Seongsu -Colin (CJN)

Tell us about yourself.

Hi, I’m Matt Rodbard. I was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan and lived in New York City for 20 years—Carroll Gardens for 17. I’m currently living in Orange County, NY and think you should move here too. I’m the editor-in-chief and founder of TASTE, an online food and culture magazine. I’m also the co-author of Koreatown: A Cookbook and the new Koreaworld: A Cookbook (with my buddy chef Deuki Hong) and Food IQ: 100 Questions, Answer, and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts (with my other buddy chef Daniel Holzman). I co-host a podcast, This Is TASTE, with the amazing Aliza Abarbanel. WITI legend Felix Salmon came on recently and we talked about plank cedar salmon (not really), and Keith McNally (unfortunately).

Describe your media diet.

I’m always working on several TASTE features simultaneously, typing away at a book manuscript in some form, and there’s never-ending podcast prep basically all the time, so I consider consuming media to be my time for “rest” and I consume some empty calories along the way. Btw, I love this stuff so much and feel so lucky to be working in media. Newsletters with coffee include Emily Sundberg’s essential Feed Me, Kelsey Keith’s Ground Condition, Dirt (I bow down), The Monocle Weekend Edition (mainly Andrew Tuck on Saturdays and spicy Tyler Brûlé on Sundays), Air Mail, Brooks Reitz: A Small & Simple Thing is really well done and I just bought a few boxes of Brooks’ favorite toothpaste because I trust this guy. 

Craig Mod is a newsletter endurance athlete and I love it. Chris Black’s Pulling Weeds in GQ is some of the tightest, freshest cultural commentary around. Tom Ziller’s Good Morning It’s Basketball breaks down the night’s games so well. The Melt by Jason Diamond is Jason Diamond at his second best. The IG is just always on fire. I’m not the demo, but I can’t not read Alisha Ramos’ Downtime and Gloria on Fridays is such a treat. Edith Zimmerman’s presence at Kottke is such a great thing. Of course, WITI!!! 

For food, I subscribe and regularly read Vittles, Ruth Reichl's La Briffe, NYT Cooking (Sifton needs to just do the culture picks part only because it’s the best part), Jason Stewart by Jason Stewart, I love what Emily Wilson is building in Los Angeles with The Angel, and Khushbu Shah’s Tap Is Fine has a great sense of place. Former Eater NY restaurant critic Ryan Sutton is putting in the work, which is cool to see.

For podcasts, I’ve been a podcast guy for about 7 years now and I’m always surprised by what I keep going back to. I’m religious about Pivot. I’m newly religious about Print Is Dead (Long Live Print) which is the best new thing. I’ve been properly sucked into the Ringer podcast multiverse, and I thoroughly enjoy The Watch, The Big Picture, The Town. Slate Money is so consistently good and well-booked. Search Engine is really getting into a groove. Of course shouts to How Long Gone and Throwing Fits, respectfully the Saratoga® Spring Water and Diet Pepsi of my pod feed.

Hosting a food-adjacent podcast sort of takes me out of the food podcast consuming game, but I really enjoy Air Jordan for some LA restaurant shit talk, Evan Kleiman on Good Food, David Chang and Chris Ying together on mic on the David Chang Show, and the duo on A Hog Dog Is a Sandwich.

Print! I read the print New York Times on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and New York Magazine on all platforms. Cake Zine is the best thing to happen in food media in the past couple of years. Support this amazing publication. I’ve really been loving Food & Wine as of late.

Lastly, music is always at the center of my world and I am a pretty loyal NTS listener and subscriber. While working I stream Long Beach’s KJAZZ and France’s FIP Jazz pretty much nonstop. In the car, it is WFMU (shoutout to the Rockland County tower), WAMC, and Richard Blade on Sirius XM First Wave.

What’s the last great book you read?

OK, so I read a lot of 1/3 and 2/3 and 1/100 of books for the podcast, so my book diet is not so awesome right now. I am picking through this swift and energetic jazz biography, 3 Shades of Blue, which tells the story of Miles, Coltrane, and Bill Evans. I crushed The Guest and am re-reading the Sympathizer.  

Plane or train?

Delta for life.

What is one place everyone should visit? 

There’s only one answer to this question, and the answer is Korea. I’ve visited many times over the years while working on Koreaworld and other projects. I wrote two WITI things about Korea – on the booming coffee scene and on one of my favorite neighborhoods in Seoul, Seongsu. The country expresses itself in multitudes, blending deep traditions with the most modern concept of good living that one can imagine. Asian urbanism at its finest.

What is the best non-famous (yet) app you love on your phone?

Postcard, which is from the brilliant business and UX mind of my friend David Cho. I’m in beta and it’s fast, fresh, and I think people will take notice once it’s fully live. Think Foursquare, IG location, Grub Street, and your fav TikTok restaurant rec person. (MR)

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Thanks for reading,

Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Matt (MR)

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