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Your Mama’s Kitchen

Your Mama’s Kitchen

By: Higher Ground
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About this listen

“Tell me about your mama's kitchen.” That’s the simple request which begins each episode of this Audible Original podcast from acclaimed journalist Michele Norris (NPR’s All Things Considered, The Washington Post) and Higher Ground, Barack and Michelle Obama's media company.

Every week, hear guests like Michelle Obama, Conan O'Brien, Ina Garten, José Andrés, John Legend, and more explore the complexities of family life and how their earliest culinary experiences helped shape their personal and professional lives—and of course, each guest brings a recipe for a favorite dish from their youth so you can taste a bit of their story.

With a delicious buffet of actors, authors, chefs, musicians, and more, the rich conversations that flow from that simple, initial prompt reveal the histories, memories, and cultures that emerge from the kitchen—the heart of the home—where we are nourished physically and spiritually. Your Mama’s Kitchen is a podcast about cuisine and culture, ingredients and identities, and the meals and memories that make us who we are.

Your Mama’s Kitchen is a production of Higher Ground.

Produced by Sonia Htoon.

Associate Producers are Jenna Levin, Stella Hartman, Itxy Quintinilla and Camila Thur de Koos.

Sound design and engineering from Andrew Eapen, Ryan Kozlowski and Roy Baum.

Executive producers for Higher Ground are Mukta Mohan, Dan Fierman and Michele Norris.

The show’s closing song is 504 by The Soul Rebels.

Editorial and web support from Melissa Bear and Say What Media. Our talent booker is Angela Peluso.

Copyright 2024 by Higher Ground Audio, LLC / Sound Recording copyright 2024 by Higher Ground Audio, LLC.

© Higher Ground, LLC.
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Episodes
  • How Coach Craig Robinson Almost Burned His House Down
    Sep 23 2025

    Basketball coach and podcast host Craig Robinson shares his side of the story on what went on in the childhood kitchen he shared with his sister, Michelle Obama in the South Side of Chicago. He talks about the lessons he learned at the kitchen table when his family wasn’t very well off and how his mother was always a big supporter — Even when he and his sister started a kitchen fire as kids. Plus, he tells us how to make his mama’s Fried Chicken.

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    58 mins
  • Kardea Brown's Shrimp and Grits Starts with Bacon
    Sep 16 2025

    American chef and T.V. host Kardea Brown tells her family’s stories of Edisto Island and the Gullah Lowcountry in South Carolina. Kardea talks to Michele about the unique culture of the Lowcountry and how Gullah cuisine and farming has historical ties to West Africa. Plus, Kardea shares how her ancestral history continues to drive her purpose and her cooking show, as she works hard to preserve old traditions from being erased. On top of mentioning her delicious cheesecake recipe, Kardea officially shares with us her recipe for Shrimp and Grits, done Gullah style!

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    45 mins
  • How America Revealed Itself to Ocean Vuong
    Sep 9 2025

    Novelist and poet, Ocean Vuong, traces his family’s path from Vietnam to a refugee camp in the Philippines to a new life in Connecticut. He reflects on the beauty and the brutality of American fast food, and how long days on a tobacco farm shaped both his writing and his sense of self. Plus, he shares his family’s recipe for canh chua—a delicious Vietnamese soup that’s less time-intensive than pho!

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    1 hr
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