Something to Eat and Something to Read

Sophie Hansen and Germaine Leece
  • 4.6 (7)
  • Food
  • Updated Biweekly

Something to Eat and Something is a podcast about cooking and reading, and reading about cooking. Hosted by food writer Sophie Hansen and Bibliotherapist/Psychotherapist Germaine Leece; we believe that you should never go anywhere, or for too long, without something to eat and something to read. So every episode we’re going to dive into a book we’ve both read and talk about the ’shape’ it left on both of us. And because this is a podcast about reading about cooking; these books will all have a strong connection with food (of course). Part two will be the listener letter which we’ll select then read out loud. Germaine will prescribe a book and I’ll recommend a recipe. We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoy putting it together for you, Sophie and Germaine x somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com

  1. 6d ago

    On The Calculation of Volume

    How would you cope if time fell apart for you but kept ticking on for the rest of the world? This is what happens to Tara, the protagonist of this episode’s ‘book guest’. The Calculation of Volume, Part 1, by Solvej Balle. Tara Selter is an antiquarian book dealer who keeps waking up on November 18. She realises that she is trapped in a time loop and seems to be reliving this one day indefinitely while the rest of the world, including her husband, friends and family, all move on to November 19 completely unaware. While everyone and everything (except the food she consumes) resets to their exact state each morning, Tara ages and her memories accumulate. This first volume was shortlisted for the Booker Prize last year, and the judges said, “It takes a familiar narrative trope – protagonist inexplicably stuck in the same day – and transforms it into a profound meditation on love, connectedness and what it means to exist.” It gave us plenty to talk about in this episode, and as always, you don’t have to have read the book to (we hope) resonate with the threads we pull from it. And there are no spoilers. Links and show notes are coming to subscribers shortly. Something to Eat and Something to Read is a podcast for people who love reading and eating and reading about eating (and cooking), hosted by Sophie Hansen, a food writer and farmer from Orange in central-west New South Wales and Germaine Leece, a bibliotherapist and psychotherapist based in Sydney. Germaine and Sophie x We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we are recording today – Sophie on Wiradjuri Country in central-west New South Wales and Germaine on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation in Sydney. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people listening. Get full access to Something to Eat and Something to Read at somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com/subscribe

  2. Jul 30

    Yesteryear

    Hello and welcome back to Something to Eat and Something to Read, a podcast for people who love food and cooking and reading, hosted by Germaine Leece, a bibliotherapist and psychotherapist based in Sydney and Sophie Hansen, a food writer and farmer from Orange in central-west New South Wales This episode’s book ‘guest’ is the hugely successful Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. And the conversation we have around it is a juicy one, spanning everything from returnism, the ‘performance’ of eating, cooking and parenting, friction-maxing, trad wife culture, cooking as care vs cooking as control and how this book ‘misses the most important point of all’. What did you think of this page-turner? Show notes are coming to our subscribers shortly. Germaine and Sophie x We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we are recording today – Sophie on Wiradjuri Country in central west New South Wales and Germaine on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation in Sydney. We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all First Nations people listening. Get full access to Something to Eat and Something to Read at somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com/subscribe

  3. May 14

    Feast on your Life

    Today’s book ‘guest’ is Feast on Your Life: Kitchen Meditations for Every Day by Tamar Adler and how reading it has nudged us both to think more about noticing the small pleasures we can so easily miss every day and what it means to actually pay attention to your own life. Show notes are coming soon, featuring lists of all the books and topics we discuss. In the meantime, thank you for listening, and thank you to our wonderful producer, Kristy Reading, for putting this and every episode together so beautifully. Germaine and Sophie x We acknowledge that the land on which we work and live is the traditional land of the Wiradjuri Nation (Sophie) and the Gadigal of the Eora Nation (Germaine). We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people. Get full access to Something to Eat and Something to Read at somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com/subscribe

  4. Apr 16

    The Pleasure of reading?!

    Thanks for joining us for another episode of Something to Eat and Something to Read, where we think about pleasure and reading and throw away the idea of “challenging” reads. We discuss the ways that being more conscious of what we are reading and the journey this takes us on will lead to a depth of experience that is much more pleasurable than staying on the surface of a story. Most importantly, we can get this depth of experience from ANY novel we read, including Sophie’s beloved Jilly Cooper and Germaine’s beloved Patricia Cornwell. The book we’re reading for our next episode is Tamar Adler’s Feast on Your Life. Show notes are coming soon, featuring lists of all the books and topics we discuss. We will also follow this up with a letter to our subscribers that further explores the richness of reading what we love. In the meantime, thank you for listening, and thank you to our wonderful producer, Kristy Reading, for putting this and every episode together so beautifully. Germaine and Sophie x We acknowledge that the land on which we work and live is the traditional land of the Wiradjuri Nation (Sophie) and the Gadigal of the Eora Nation (Germaine). We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people. Get full access to Something to Eat and Something to Read at somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com/subscribe

  5. Feb 5

    What we read, cooked, watched and loved this summer

    Hello! We’re back for another year of reading and cooking and are kicking off with a big, juicy summer round-up. In this episode, we share 16 books we read and all the things we cooked, watched, listened to and loved most over summer. Germaine’s summer read was The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers, a story about the secret life we live alongside our public lives and what happens in long-term marriages when you love but are not in love. Sophie devoured Heart the Lover by Lily King, a beautiful story of first love, growing up and losing people. We also discuss The Transformations by Andrew Pippos, When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén, Hamnet the film, and so much more. We talk about summer cooking – peaches wrapped in prosciutto, chilli and fruit, Sophie’s halva with cold peaches, and Germaine’s beetroot and pickled cherry salad. We share thoughts on A Brain that Breathes by Jodi Wilson and heartily agree with and are trying to stick to her advice to start each day by reading instead of scrolling. Plus films including My Brother’s Band and Somebody to Love, exhibitions, podcasts about slowing down in the kitchen, and recommendations for good psychological thrillers. The book we’re reading for our next episode is Tamar Adler’s Feast on Your Life. Show notes are coming soon, featuring lists of all the books and topics we discuss. In the meantime, thank you for listening, and thank you to our wonderful producer, Kristy Reading, for putting this and every episode together so beautifully. Germaine and Sophie x We acknowledge that the land on which we work and live is the traditional land of the Wiradjuri Nation (Sophie) and the Gadigal of the Eora Nation (Germaine). We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people. Get full access to Something to Eat and Something to Read at somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com/subscribe

  6. 11/30/2025

    An Audible Advent

    Reading and cooking are doorways into Christmas for many of us. And because this year we need it, and perhaps you might too, we have made ourselves an Advent calendar of 25 things to read, cook, eat, listen to and do throughout the month. All things that might help slow us down, help us feel the festive feels, fill our tables with good things to share, and have a happy, calm month. Show notes with links, recipes, and the full list of things are heading to our subscribers’ inboxes. In the meantime, thank you for listening, and thank you to our wonderful producer, Kristy Reading, for putting this and every episode together so beautifully. Germaine and Sophie x We acknowledge that the land on which we work and live is the traditional land of the Wiradjuri Nation (Sophie) and the Gadigal of the Eora Nation (Germaine). We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people. Get full access to Something to Eat and Something to Read at somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com/subscribe

  7. 11/07/2025

    Tart - Misadventures of an Anonymous Chef

    Hello! And welcome back to Something to Eat and Something to Read, a podcast for people who love reading and eating and talking and thinking about both. This episode’s book guest is TART - Misadventures of an Anonymous Chef by Slutty Chef a 20-something chef based in London who became famous via her Instagram page @sluttychef and a few posts calling out the misogyny in the high-end (or all) world of food. The book is sort of a memoir, but also, the author says, an amalgamation of fact and fiction. As she told UK Cosmo, “Some parts are incredibly true and accurate, and others have been juiced up.” Show notes are coming soon, featuring lists of all the books and topics we discuss. In the meantime, thank you for listening, and thank you to our wonderful producer, Kristy Reading, for putting this and every episode together so beautifully. Germaine and Sophie x We acknowledge that the land on which we work and live is the traditional land of the Wiradjuri Nation (Sophie) and the Gadigal of the Eora Nation (Germaine). We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people. Get full access to Something to Eat and Something to Read at somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com/subscribe

  8. 10/02/2025

    Happiness and Love

    We have talked about dinner parties in literature before, but none have been quite so much of a struggle to sit through as this one! Happiness and Love by debut author Zoe Debno is a treat for the senses … in quite a different way. And via this book, and the conversation it sparked, we experience how appetites can be lost and food can be nauseating depending on the company we keep. This is about becoming curious about our reactions to a book, how food creates atmosphere and adds to character and how wealth, class and education can be a cover for the emptiest of internal lives. As ‘the actress’ says in Happiness and Love; “You act like all you want to do is have serious conversations about art and about literature, and that only a select group of people who have studied enough, who have the credentials you think are important, are smart enough to engage with you, but what is even inside of a book but people’s thoughts and feelings. Everyone can understand thoughts and feelings. Everyone can read a book and understand it.” Bibliotherapy in action! We hope you enjoy this conversation as we join our narrator on the “white linen sofa” for a long night ahead. Show notes are coming soon, featuring lists of all the books and topics we discuss. In the meantime, thank you for listening, and thank you to our wonderful producer, Kristy Reading, for putting this and every episode together so beautifully. Germaine and Sophie x We acknowledge that the land on which we work and live is the traditional land of the Wiradjuri Nation (Sophie) and the Gadigal of the Eora Nation (Germaine). We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people. Get full access to Something to Eat and Something to Read at somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com/subscribe

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Ratings & Reviews

4.6
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Something to Eat and Something is a podcast about cooking and reading, and reading about cooking. Hosted by food writer Sophie Hansen and Bibliotherapist/Psychotherapist Germaine Leece; we believe that you should never go anywhere, or for too long, without something to eat and something to read. So every episode we’re going to dive into a book we’ve both read and talk about the ’shape’ it left on both of us. And because this is a podcast about reading about cooking; these books will all have a strong connection with food (of course). Part two will be the listener letter which we’ll select then read out loud. Germaine will prescribe a book and I’ll recommend a recipe. We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoy putting it together for you, Sophie and Germaine x somethingtoeatandsomethingtoread.substack.com

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