EP 431: The Shoulds and Supposed-tos of Baking

Buckle up—today's episode was inspired by something that got me really worked up this week: "I think home-baking is one of the stupidest things anyone can engage in," says Rick Easton of Jersey City's Bread and Salt.

This episode is about shoulds and supposed-tos, baking at home, and the ways we devalue certain kinds of labor. Whether or not home-baking is your thing, you'll recognize the way value is narrowly defined by culture and, I think, gain new language for the worthiness of work that doesn't fit the capitalist mode.

Footnotes:

• "Leave the Baking to the Professionals" by Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker
• Bread, and How to Eat It by Rick Easton and Melissa McCart
• "On Bread" via From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy
• "What could 'food is political' mean?" via From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy
• King Arthur Baking: Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Loaf
• Breadhead by Greg Wade
• History of Low-Carb Diets on Wikipedia
• "I love bread!" Weight Watchers commercial
• "Home Cooking can be a Feminist Act" by Nigella Lawson
• "Men More Likely Than Women to be Seen as Brilliant" via NYU
• "When Male Chefs Fear the Specter of 'Women's Work'" by Meghan McCarron, Eater
• "The Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power" by Audre Lorde, YouTube
• "The Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power" by Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider

Essay versions of every episode of What Works are published at whatworks.fyi — subscribe FREE to have them delivered straight to you. Or become a paid subscriber for just $7 per month and get access to bonus content, discounts on workshops, and more! Go to whatworks.fyi to learn more.

★ Support this podcast ★

What is What Works?

"Work" is broken. We're overcommitted, underutilized, and out of whack. But it doesn't have to be this way. What Works is a podcast about rethinking work, business, and leadership as we navigate the 21st-century economy. When you're an entrepreneur, independent worker, or employee who doesn't want to lose yourself to the whims of late-stage capitalism, this show is for you. Host Tara McMullin covers money, management, culture, media, philosophy, and more to figure out what's working (and what's not) today. Tara offers a distinctly interdisciplinary approach to deep-dive analysis of how we work and how work shapes us.