Podcast Picks

Words by Su Ertekin-Taner

“Pops on Hops”

For Barry and Abigail Hummel, podcasting is a family affair. The father and daughter duo are the co-hosts of podcast “Pops on Hops.” In their usually 90-minute to hour- long podcast episodes, the cross generational pair discuss two podcast topics — perhaps oddly, but as I listen to the podcast, perfectly coherently paired — an intentionally chosen album of contemporary or matured mainstream or lesser known music and an equally as intentionally chosen set of ales. 

In addition to this typical episode format, the Hummels aim to entertain with their great variety of bonus episodes. Musical artist and national brewery interviews, jukebox selection episodes during which the pair review an album submitted by an audience member and their intoxicating “Pops on Hops” spinoff about wine, “Dorks on Corks,” all have the same spirit that the main “Pops on Hops” episodes do. 

In fact, what glues the odd topic pairing and all the variations of the “Pops on Hops” episodes together is this Hummel spirit. Barry and Abigail converse with all the eagerness and enthusiasm of a playful and, at times, sarcastic pop culture debate among friends while maintaining the conscious reference-making and empathy that informs family conversations. Listeners can’t help but think that the two enrich their relationship as they offer us their weekly tasteful, even succulent commentary on their album and hops of choice. This symbiosis is what makes the podcast charming and important. 

But the Hummel charm hardly ends with their warm conversation. Each podcast episode is all marked with the Hummel brand: an acoustic guitar jingle written by Hummel family friend Pete Coe, album covers photoshopped with Abigail’s and Barry’s faces or their “Pops on Hops” logo, and clever episode titles that integrate album or artist names (i.e., in the episode titled “Dr!nk,” the co-hosts review “I’m Not Dead” by P!nk or in the episode titled “We Talk. We Drink. We Make Podcasts.” where the co-hosts review “We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.” by Jason Mraz). These extra touches endear an already devoted audience. Few other podcasts have this much spirit — both literally and figuratively of course.

Listen to “Pops on Hops” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Spotify for Podcasters, YouTube, Listen Notes, Substack and popsonhopspod.com among other locations. 

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“Eat Your Content”

Keeping on the theme of oddly well-aligned podcast topic duos, this next auditory delight titled “Eat Your Content” combines commentary on cuisine and pop culture in what its host Rich Herrera calls a “cultural smorgasbord” of a podcast. Freelance food writer and “professional eater” (as his Instagram claims) Herrera may be right. The podcast, much like a smorgasbord, offers a heterogeneous mixture of delectables enough to satisfy cravings. 

Herrera serves his listeners interviews with Jacksonville’s culinary innovators, including “Top Chef” contestants, a body language expert that elucidates a link between food and body language, and even the director of black comedy film “Waiting…” set in a franchise restaurant called ShenaniganZ.

Each episode, the guests discuss whatever facet of the culinary community they deem to satisfy listener cravings. TV show (i.e., “The Bear” and “Top Chef”) and movie recaps (i.e., “The Menu,” “Waiting…,” and “Burnt”) filled with discourse on the realities of a chef’s life, the pressure of novel creation, toxic kitchen culture, the financial burdens of a life of cooking, and all the other small insanities of restauranting and cooking explore the intersection between cuisine and culture. But Herrera also aims to explore other novel intersections like that between psychology and food and even photography and food.

In all these episodes, Herrera urges listeners to view (pop) culture through the lens of culinary experts. In doing so, food and the environment in which it is created take on a new significance. Enlightened by the appetizing, well-seasoned comments of Herrera and these experts, listeners might rethink their plate of food or the way food appears in modern media. The concoction of ingredients is a manifestation of a chef’s desire to serve and ability to innovate empathically; it is a history of adaptability, a history of the restaurants the chef worked for. It is everything that “Eat Your Content” allows listeners a glimpse into. 

Indeed Herrera is as careful as these aforementioned chefs, cutting episodes intentionally, combining the ingredients of culinary and cultural conversation expertly, and inviting the most prestigious and knowledgeable of guests to work on creating this resulting auditory meal. 

Herrera is the chef of the cultural smorgasbord of “Eat Your Content,” and my mouth is watering now thinking about the intellectual food he offers and will offer us in his weekly episodes.

Listen to “Eat Your Content” on Apple Podcasts, Audacy, Spotify, Amazon Music among other locations.