Host Laura Federico speaks with food and culture writer Alicia Kennedy about her new book, On Eating. They trace how meat has long symbolized masculinity, power, and American abundance, and why we have the ability to create social change through food. They also talk about sibling grief and the role her brother plays in the book.

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On Eating by Alicia Kennedy

Alicia's newsletter

Tomato Tomato

The Cycle Book by Laura Federico

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01:00 — Thinness as purity culture

03:39 — The desire question: Alicia answers as a Scorpio

05:00 — Loving the world while doubting collective will to change

08:09 — "No ethical consumption under capitalism" as a convenient excuse to stop trying

10:32 — Eleven Madison Park and RFK Jr.'s food pyramid

17:19 — Why unlabeled plant-based food works and why labeling it vegan usually doesn't

20:16 — The ruthless omnivore as boys' club entry ticket

22:35 — Women on social media performing hunger while visibly restricting

27:29 — Writing about sibling loss

31:09 — Moving to Puerto Rico and critiquing tourism

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Our music, Hit Her Up, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

Actress, singer, and author Gina Gershon talks about her new memoir AlphaPussy: How I Survived the Valley and Learned to Love My Boobs with Laura Federico, psychotherapist and host of The Desire Question. Gina resists the idea of AlphaPussy as a guidebook, saying the real message is to know and be honest with yourself. She turns the tables and asks Laura about sex in this climate of swipe culture, sex robots, and a shrinking appetite for soul connection. The episode ends, as the book does, with a rallying cry for self-knowledge.

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AlphaPussy by Gina Gershon

The Cycle Book by Laura Federico

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02:31 — Is it better to desire or be desired?

06:01 — Gina tells a younger woman who couldn't confront a harassing guru: "Until you can do that, you're always gonna be in a subservient position"

07:38 — "Some people say follow the money, but I say listen to my gut"

08:00 — Growing up without social media gave Gina an advantage in reading people

11:37 — Gina describes being so empathic she sometimes couldn't leave the house

12:54 — "People are scared, and you know what? They should be. It's a weird time."

13:32 — Gina asks Laura: are people's sex lives diminishing?

14:26 — Sex robots, swipe culture, and the shrinking soul connection

17:21 — How the book actually came together

18:36 — The gap between what we say we want and what we actually believe

21:28 — To thine own self be true

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Our music, Hit Her Up, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.

Tanya Bush—writer, baker, and author of Will This Make You Happy?—joins Laura Federico to talk about hunger as a form of desire, and why being hungry can feel more alive than being satisfied. They discuss appetite as self-knowledge, the younger self Tanya writes toward in the book, and how desire once drove her toward baking, romance, travel, and reinvention all at once.

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Will This Make You Happy?

Cake Zine

Laura Federico

The Cycle Book

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04:33 — Is it better to desire, or be desired?

05:36 — Appetite as self-knowledge

06:07 — Writing toward her younger self

07:24 — Baking, Italy, and wanting everything

09:08 — Making pleasure by hand

13:07 — Hard doesn’t always mean meaningful

14:06 — Tuscany and the fantasy of transformation

15:02 — The “intern in paradise” trap

18:30 — Compassion for the former self

19:40 — AI in baking and writing

20:15 — Why community still matters

21:30 — What’s real online anymore?

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Our music, Hit Her Up, is written by Nakisso Peralta and performed by Chillers.