A weekly food podcast about eating and cooking (but mainly eating) hosted by Malaika Malz & Harleigh Reid.
Sonder is the realisation that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own despite personal lack of awareness of it. Salt is an irreplaceable kitchen essential with an entirely unfair health reputation. Together 'Sonder & Salt' combines the ideas of recognising the depth and complexity of individual lives and the essence of seasoning and enhancing experiences. Serving up fresh food-filled episodes every Monday.
Trigger Warning: This episode references war, famine, starvation & rape.
We are back this week to discuss something extremely important & sensitive that could not wait until the season resumes.
We're unpacking the dark side of food, not as sustenance, but as a weapon. From the longstanding famine crisis in Sudan to the escalating emergency in Gaza, we explore how food scarcity is not always accidental, but often a deliberate tool of war and control. What exactly is a famine? Why does it happen and what makes it so devastating? Join us as we confront the politics of hunger, the human cost of food insecurity, and why recognising the true causes of famine is only the first step toward justice & change.
Useful Resources & Further Reading
Ethiopia: Conflict & food insecurity 40 years on from the 1984 famine (https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/ethiopia-conflict-and-food-insecurity-40-years-on-from-the-1984-famine/)
Timeline: 54 years of hunger as a weapon of war (https://www.concern.net/news/hunger-as-a-weapon-of-war-timeline)
Using starvation as a weapon of war in Sudan must stop (https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/06/using-starvation-weapon-war-sudan-must-stop-un-experts)
Why isn't the world paying attention to Sudan? (https://youtu.be/IVs0JrudJTc?si=8hcEM8LSpuCgLZgs)
What really caused the Irish potato famine? (https://youtu.be/OUieqzVZdQc?si=6i-Fpkxzt6J3qyQf)
Food as a weapon of war (https://open.spotify.com/episode/61FD4MkhdkHa8a93TCCI2C?si=v_KfALS8Sm6RGUpOtaKoJg)
Subscribe to RELISH. by Sonder & Salt on Patreon: patreon.com/sonderandsalt (http://patreon.com/sonderandsalt)
Follow the podcast for updates and video content Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/sonderandsalt/), TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@sonderandsalt)and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@sonderandsalt)! You can follow Harleigh on Instagram here (https://www.instagram.com/harleigh.reid/), and follow Malaika right here. (https://www.instagram.com/malaikamalz/)
19 Jun 2025
S&S Revisits: Who's really invited to the Juneteenth cookout? feat. KJ Kearney
Hosts Harleigh and Malaika interview James Beard Award winner KJ Kearney, who dissects Juneteenth cookout traditions, explores regional soul food variations, and addresses culinary debates like raisins in potato salad.
19 May 2025
S6 E17: Why Do We Love Listening to People Talk About Food?
Britain’s insatiable appetite for food podcasts is mystifying (Telegraph) (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/columnists/rise-of-food-podcasts/)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
2,487,326
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
5 ratings
Spotify
4.9 / 5
81 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 92 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
94
Social presence
94
YouTube
93
Engagement
82
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