Matt Shearer, aka Reporter Matt, has made a name for himself with his social media stories about some of the quirkier denizens of Massachusetts. One of his most famous is about the massive public outcry over the closure of both locations of Dunkin’ in Stow, MA -- which led to a surprising development. Reporter Matt joins us live on stage at WBUR CitySpace in Boston, along with cookbook author Omi Hopper and host of GBH’s The Big Dig podcast Ian Coss. Omi shares what it was like pivoting from being a makeup artist to a social media chef during the pandemic, and why Puerto Rico continues to be her muse in the kitchen. Ian makes an argument that we should be eating more monkfish, which would make Julia Child proud. Then all three of our guests share their food hot takes.

You can pre-order Omi Hopper’s book, Cooking con Omi.

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell.

Interstitial music in this episode by Black Label Music:

• “Back At It” by Bira
• “Talk To Me Now” by Hayley Briasco and Kenneth J. Brahmstedt
• “Can You Dig It?” by Cullen Fitzpatrick
• “Clean” by JT Bates
• "One Time" by Jordan Bleau
• "On The Floor" by Black Label Productions

Photo courtesy of Milena Fernsler/WBUR.