Nourish

Comfort Food in Conversation

Terrace Theater

In partnership with Bold Fork Books, join a special panel conversation with authors, journalists, and recipe developers about food’s power to comfort our bodies and minds.

Wed. Oct. 16, 2024

Wed. Oct. 16, 2024 7:30p.m.

Genre

Discussion/Spoken Word
Price Range

$25.00 – $35.00
Runtime

90 minutes
Part of Series

Arts & Wellbeing
View Digital Program

Program

What’s your comfort food? Why does food have the ability to nurture and relax us? And what do all comfort foods have in common around the world?

Explore these topics and more in a special panel conversation with authors, journalists, and recipe developers. You’ll leave with a new appreciation—and hunger—for the foods that comfort our bodies and minds.

Panel to include food writer and owner of Bomb Biscuit Co. Erika Council, Provost Associate Professor at American University Dr. Kathleen Holton, independent curator and producer Liz Hottel, food reporter and author Priya Krishna, and cookbook author Joan Nathan.

This event is in partnership with Bold Fork Books.

Panelists

Panelists subject to change without notice.

Erika Council

Erika Council is a baker, food writer, recipe developer, food photographer, educator, and chef/owner of Bomb Biscuits in Atlanta, Georgia.

She is the creator of the website Southern Soufflé and has contributed to several cookbooks including Feed the Resistance by Julia Turshen, Soul by Todd Richards, and Sunday Suppers by Cynthia Graubart, as well as Beyond the Plate. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Saveur, Food & Wine, Food52, the Kitchn, Essence, and HuffPost, among others. Council has spoken at the Southern Foodways Alliance symposium and was a guest chef for the James Beard Foundation’s Sunday Supper South.
Dr. Kathleen Holton

Dr. Kathleen Holton is a provost associate professor co-appointed in the Departments of Health Studies and Neuroscience at American University in Washington, D.C.

She is a nutritional neuroscientist whose research examines the negative effects of food additives on neurological symptoms, as well as the positive protective effects of certain micronutrients on the brain. The main focus of her research is on glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain which is dysregulated in many neurological conditions—including chronic pain, migraine, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)—and psychiatric conditions (such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, and ADHD). Over-excitation in the brain via glutamate can cause excitotoxicity with corresponding neuroinflammation and oxidative stress. Dr. Holton’s research focuses on reducing this neurotoxic triad by eliminating exposure to dietary excitotoxins while also increasing intake of key protective micronutrients, using a “Food is Medicine” approach for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric symptoms. She is currently also working to understand the mechanisms behind the effects of the diet she created, using precision nutrition approaches such as metabolomics and microbiome analysis, combined with neuroscience data from EEG and MRI. Her work informs not only clinical care, but also the ongoing discussion about the health impacts of ultra-processed food, where exposure to food additives may be a driving reason for the adverse health impacts being observed.
Liz Hottel

Liz Hottel is an independent curator and producer who is deeply engaged in the intersections of food, culture, and thought.
Priya Krishna

Priya Krishna is a food reporter and video host for the New York Times and the bestselling author of multiple cookbooks including Indian-ish and Cooking at Home.
Joan Nathan

JOAN NATHAN is a frequent contributor to the New York Times and other publications. She is the author of 12 books, including Jewish Cooking in America and The New American Cooking, both of which won James Beard Awards and IACP Awards.