Hello friends! Today I bring you another missive from the land of the chronically unemployed. So many changes are unfolding for this space, the most notable being that the Cosmic Co-Op finally has a website! Look at us. All grown up.

For this episode, I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with queer Venusian chef and kitchen revolutionary Sydney Chin. We talked about food, yes, but also about pleasure and what it means to truly love food–not just cooking or serving it, but honoring it as art form, mutual aid, and ancestral technology.

Sydney and I dug into the realities of the restaurant industry, the harm it inflicts on those behind the curtain, and what it might mean to imagine a different kind of kitchen (even at the highest levels of culinary excellence) which is centered around mutual care, solidarity, and embracing mistakes.

This conversation left my stomach growling and my heart feeling full. Go get a snack before you press play. Trust me.

Friends of the pod (mentioned in the episode):

• People’s Kitchen Philly
• Tristan Kwong
• Bonnie’s (Brooklyn)
• Potluck Club (NY)
• Chicago Hospitality Accountability & Advocacy Database (CHAAD)
• Mister Jiu’s (SF)

Announcements:

• Next month, I will be giving my newest lecture on Neptune in Aries, disillusionment, and what we can learn from the last time history experienced this transit. You can learn more about that here.
• There will also be another Shame Alchemy meetup for anti-capitalist entrepreneurs on May 19th–come get a free taste of what we do inside the Co-Op! The first two meetups I’ve hosted have been full of grounding & nourishing discussions where we name the contradictions and inner conflicts brought about by systemic shame. No recording, no replay, just expansive recognition & presence amongst like-minded folks.

Thank you for listening!

Your ongoing support makes it possible to continue writing, podcasting, and offering more sliding scale and no-cost offerings in the future. To support the podcast & become a Cosmic Co-Op member, click here.