Wild Card with Rachel Martin - Padma Lakshmi

Episode Date: November 6, 2025

Padma Lakshmi has always been deeply curious about food, and how it serves as a vehicle for celebrating the cultural diversity of America. In her new book, "Padma's All American," she shares stories and recipes from people she’s encountered all across the U.S. Padma talks to Rachel about the life lessons her grandma taught her through cooking and why life is better in her 50s. To listen sponsor-free and support the show, sign up for Wild Card+ at plus.npr.org/wildcard See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Hey, it's Rachel. Just wanted to let you know that if you want to watch this episode with Podma Lakshmi or any of our past episodes, you can do that on our brand new YouTube page. Find us at NPR Wildcard. And while you're there, be sure to like and subscribe. It really helps the show. Of course, if you'd rather listen, that we've got that episode for you right now. What have you found surprising about getting older? How happy it makes me. I was terrified of becoming 30 and then I was terrified of becoming 40. And now I'm 55, and I have to tell you, I feel great. I am the happiest I've ever been. I wouldn't trade and go back to my 20s for all the money in the world. I'm Rachel Martin, and this is Wildcard. The show where cards control the conversation.

Each week, my guest answers questions about their life. Questions pulled from a deck of cards. They're allowed to skip one question and to flip one back on me. My guest this week is Podma Lakshmi. I think every immigrant in this country, no matter where, they're from, I think we're all trying to navigate that path, that integration where we feel at home in our lives. I absolutely loved watching Padma Lakshmi as a judge on Top Chef for so many years because she was just so enthusiastic about eating new things. There is an inherent curiosity

about Padma. She wants to know all the secrets to a stellar dish, but she also wants to know the story behind the person who made it. For her, food is... is how we connect and how we celebrate the cultural diversity. That is America. She's published a new cookbook called Podma's All-American, Tales, Travels and Recipes from Taste the Nation and Beyond. Podma, I am so happy that you're here. Welcome to a wild card. Hi, thank you so much. Okay, let's do it. So the first round is memories. Three cards. One, two, or three. I'll pick one. One. What was your most intimidating move? I mean, all of my moves, I have to say, have been ones that I've been excited about and sort of had a lot of wonder about, starting from when I came to the U.S. at four from India, I flew as an unaccompanied minor.

But after college, I was scouted and I went to Europe to model. I had a lot of college loans pay off, so that helped. And when I was in my late 20s, I decided to move back to America shortly like a year before my first cookbook was published. And I was very much a fish out of water all over again. And I had experienced this wonderful openness in Europe, actually. Interestingly enough, where, you know, most people in many of those countries were Italian from Italy. or French from France. But in America, where we have more diversity,

I felt much more other than I did when I lived in those European countries. And I knew that because I often went back and forth. And I was worried about it. And it took me a bit of time to find my way. But when you were making this particular move, like you said, you were in your, what, late 20s? Yeah, I was 28.

Yeah. And you already had a career going for you. Like you said, it was right before or after your first cookbook was coming. Right before. Right before. So you were going home to good and exciting things. Yes.

But it was still more intimidating for you, even when, even than when you came as a child as an unaccompanied minor to be your mom in America. Yes, because when I was coming here, I was a child full of wonder and I was coming to meet my mother. My mother had come from India two years prior to make a new life for us here in New York. And I stayed back with my grandparents. So maybe it was the reunification with my mother that was pulling me toward America with excitement. Or my grandfather also was quite a lover of America and American culture. It traveled extensively as a hydro engineer through America, working with the Indian government, teaching the American government how to do certain things in their waterworks and stuff.

So, you know, he loved baseball. He loved coffee and donuts. He knew all this stuff, and he made me memorize all the state capitals and states in alphabetical order of America, which is probably something I couldn't do today. Which I felt very primed. You know, America seemed very exciting to me, and it was. And of course, as a, you know, four-year-old, you're very protected. So I had a child's view of America, and I landed in New York, which is one of the most deviant. cities in the world. And so I had a wonderful time, and it wasn't until I was older, you know,

sort of late elementary school, middle school, that I started understanding that a lot of Americans didn't necessarily see me as the same as them, even though, you know, I lived in the same neighborhood. I went to the same school. I had the same homework and all of that, watching the same TV shows. Yeah. Okay. One, two, or three. Two. Two. Where would you go when you wanted to feel safe as a kid? My grandmother's house.

Every summer, I was a Lachke kid in New York. My mom was a single mother. And every summer, right after school, let out in June, I was sent back to India for three months. And I loved it there. My grandparents were retired. We lived in a seaside town in Chennai. with my uncle and aunt and all my cousins in the same house, there were eight or ten of us in a two-bedroom flat.

And I remember being very happy, not really having a lot of toys, but playing with these wooden dishes, which in Tamil are called chopu, and, you know, just play cooking. It's really interesting. If I look back now, it's no surprise. It started early. Yeah, and those first lessons in the kitchen were not only about cooking, but also about life.

And, you know, she used cooking as a way to teach me about life and saying, you know, everything, just like life, everything has its time. Everything has its moment. You don't want to rush anything and you don't want to wait too long. You know, there's a time for every vegetable to get dropped into the curry, you know. So you want to make sure you add your potatoes long enough, early enough so they have time to cook. You want to make sure, you know, you don't add the cilantro too early because it'll just, all the flavor will cook out. And, you know, I learned so much at my grandmother's elbow. I learned all about spices.

I don't think I would have been able to write the spice encyclopedia if I hadn't had that very early education from her. She ground all her spices, which is very common in middle-class Indian homes. But she just had the touch. In Tamil, there's a saying, Afro to Kaika or Vasna-yirka, which means her hand has an aroma. So that everything you take. touch or that person touches, become something that smells good, is aromatic and delicious.

And, you know, my grandmother worked very hard. Like the Midas Touch except for flavor. I love that. Yes, exactly. What did the kitchen look like, Padma? It was very small. It was very humble, very small. You know, she cooked for those eight to ten people with two burners. And we had a big gas tank underneath that got hooked up once a month that supplied the gas. We did not have any sponges. She, you know, she washed or other people washed the dishes with some mature coconut fibers, like the beard of the brown coconut. Wow. But we, I didn't really see a sponge until I came to America. And in my grandmother's house, I didn't see sponges until the late 80s because she, well, she hated those sponges because she didn't think they were

clean. Right. Well, they're sort of not really when you think about it. And now we're learning that those old ways are much better for the environment and better for our bodies, you know, the sponges with microplastics. And so my grandmother knew, even if she didn't know the reason. Yeah. Do you still have her in your life? I don't. You know, she died during COVID, unfortunately, and I was able to somehow swing a visa and run to her bedside at the hospital. and she died eight hours after I saw her. So she waited for me. And, you know, she lived a really long, beautiful life.

She was 89 years old. She came from a family of 16 siblings. Oh, Lord. And she was one of the oldest, so she took care of a lot of people over the course of her life. And I think it taught her patience. My grandmother was not a cuddly person. She was a nice person and a kind person, but she wasn't very well. warm or cuddly, but I really loved her, you know, and she was very matter of fact. And I remember

asking her once, you know, Patti, are you, are you happy? And she would answer by saying, you know, for her happiness wasn't a thing to be. It was a verb, you know, that if she had finished all the things on her mental list for that day, when she went to sleep, she went to sleep happy. because she had gotten done everything. And she's just a very practical, pragmatic woman. And I think I learned so much from her that had nothing to do with cooking, but also everything to do with cooking. Yeah. Oh, I love that portrait of her.

Last one in this round, one, two, or three? Three. Three. When have you felt like you turned a page in your life? You know, there was a moment when I... I, you know, I lived in the East Village in New York City at the time, and I had an apartment on the fifth floor and the sixth floor apartment, which was a little bit bigger and sunnier and had a roof deck opened up. And I was looking for an office space. And so I rented it out. And, you know, I'm a pretty secular person. But just to hedge my bets, I called the priests from the Ganesh Temple in Queens. And I had them come out and do a blessing, you know, sort of like a housewarming, but an office warming. I had my show. room there at that time. We should say who Ganesh is. Ganesh is Hindu deity. Hindu god and Hindu deity. And Ganesh removes obstacles or removes... Yes, he's the remover of obstacles.

Yes, right. And he's also a very gluttonous deity. Like, he loves modac and different dumplings and things like that. He's your guy. Yeah, he's your guy. Yeah, he's my guy. So, he's kind of jolly as well. So, you know, they came to do a pujia or a ritual offering and bless the office. And, you know, in that moment, and I had invited my cousin and my nephews to come. And also my makeup artist Michelle was there. My employees were there. And, you know, it was really a special, sweet little ceremony. And for the first time, I felt like my American side and my Indian side were completely reconciled and at ease with each other. You were seeking an integration.

Yeah. And I think every immigrant in this country, no matter where they're from, or whether they're even just descendants of immigrants, second or third generation, I think we're all trying to navigate that path, that integration, where we feel at home in our lives, even though there are lives, you know, at home in our bodies, in our lives, in our country. We're going to step back from the game and talk about your new cookbook, which this is not a thing I do, Podma. I'm not really a cook person anyway, so cookbooks kind of intimidate me. But I got this book and I read the whole dang thing because it is a beautiful experience to just sit with the book.

I mean, the photos are gorgeous. Your writing is beautiful. The recipes look amazing. I have to try some. And I do feel motivated to try them. But it's, I experienced the whole book and I left feeling very uplifted. Oh, good. You have done this before.

You have, as we've mentioned, you've written cookbooks before. What is different about this project for you? You know, just because the book has great recipes doesn't always mean a cookbook has great writing. Yeah. And it was very important to me that the writing be just as strong. And so, you know, that's why throughout the book, between every chapter you have these profiles of people that I meet on the road. I spent the last five years of my professional life before I started really getting into the writing of this book, traveling eight months out of the year on the road for both Top Chef and Taste the Nation.

And it really gave me an education, road by road, community by community, about what, America is like. Yeah. And so the people that are profiled in the book really moved me for different reasons, and that's why they're in there. And I sort of, I wanted to give the reader a snapshot of what it means to be American in our many faces and not just what you see on primetime network and cable television. You know, if you just watched network TV, you would think that we were,

a 94% white Caucasian population, or as I like to call them European Americans, you know, Western European Americans maybe, but rather than white people. Right. Because we're all immigrants. We're all immigrants, you know. All of us, unless you are... Except if you're native and you did spend time with a beautiful woman who you profile in the book. I profile Twyla Cassidor in the book, and I have...

had one of the most moving days of my life at the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona, and we were in the desert. And if you had dropped me there alone, I would have starved and froze within a day and a half. But, you know, with her guidance, we forage for every single thing we ate that day. It's incredible. We cooked on an open fire. We baked bread in the ashes of the fire. that cooked the gloss show or, you know, Desert Packrat that we ate. There's an adaptation of that recipe using chicken thighs. I noticed that.

Well, it's very hard, you know, to get Desert Packard. There's a psychological. Yeah, also, not to mention. Exactly. And it's a wonderful recipe, which is really easy to make. And you can probably buy all the ingredients at a very good supermarket. You know, it's got Sumac. It's got agave.

It's got, you know, chili to peen, which is the only chili that is indigenous to North America. It's very easy to make. I use scallions instead of wild onions that we foraged in the desert. And I got a real education not only on food and eating naturally from your environment, but also about how resourceful and knowledgeable these First Nations are about how to live in harmony with the land. And I think that indigenous people all over the world, but specifically in this country,

have a lot to teach us about how to go back to those ways, much in the way my grandmother does in her own kitchen. Yeah. And all of this, just getting back to the basics of how we make food in its simplest way. I mean, you've got two burners. She got the coconut threaded sponge for cleaning. It's just keep in detail.

but simple. Yeah, I mean, there's sacredness to everything if it's done with care and intention. Yeah. We're such a fast culture now. We just breeze over everything to get to the next thing. And I hope that this book inspires people not only to slow down and cook, but also to get to know their neighbors. You know, we're so, you know, we're at a very tenuous and difficult time in our country. And what I wanted to do with the book was really providing. an antidote to everything you see with ice, everything you see happening regarding immigration and the vilification of immigrants and all of that. Because honestly, what actually makes this country great is our plethora of generations upon generations of immigrants who have built their

life here and in turn built America to be exactly what it is and what it will always be, which is an amalgamation of the best of all the cultures that have come here. and settled. We're going back to the game. Round two, insights. One, two, or three. Three. What's an irrational fear you cannot shake?

I have so many. Which one would you? Do you? I just start with it. Yes. I don't know. I still look under my bed before I go to bed at night and I walk around my house and I check all the doors, even the sliding glass ones that I've not opened because it's winter.

I also have an irrational fear of, um, I also have an irrational fear of, um, running on the treadmill so I will only walk on a steep incline because I'm terrified I'm going to slip and fall and I can picture myself hitting my mouth on the bar and all my teeth breaking and my mouth bloody and just tumbling. And one time when I was, I also share the sphere. Yes. And one time when I was 27, I'll never forget it was at Gold's Gym in Hollywood. I did fall on the treadmill because my trainer always was encouraging me to run, and the hem of my sweats got caught in the belt, and I got dragged. Oh, no.

I mean, it was more, you know, embarrassing than any. And I'm kind of klutsy in general. So when I fall, I'm actually glad because I somehow statistically feel that my turn has passed for the next six or eight weeks. So, yeah. Oh, my God. Can I just tell you, I never fell on the treadmill, but I have a. treadmill-related fall story in that, like a year ago, I joined this new gym with my husband,

and we showed up at this exercise like circuit training class. And it was so hard. And by the end of it, the last thing we had to do was race each other. And I am super competitive. And I was trying to raise my husband who was like insanely fit. And so our last thing, we're racing and I'm running and I'm like laying it all out. I'm trying so hard. And I ran into and through a treadmill. Like it was right in front. And I was right in front. At the end of the finish line of this race, I just fell, I tripped and went right through it and slid my face on the belt. Oh, my God. It was awful. I guess that's not as bad because it's only you who are propelling yourself forward.

But I also, I don't know. It's treadmill related. And so now I have a really hard time on treadmills in general. Yeah, I mean, I don't, I'm afraid of the ocean. I'm afraid of waves, even though I've always grown up near the ocean. Like in Madras and Chennai. Who knows what's under there? Exactly. Well, it's also the waves. I'm not scared in Sardinia because it's flat and see-through, you know.

But the Indian Ocean, yes. The Atlantic, yes. The Pacific, absolutely. I think we've established that both of us have some fears. Yes. Afraid of the dark. You know. Afraid of the dark.

I mean, I also... Afraid of the French metal mandolin. I only use the Japanese plastic plastic plastic plastic. Well, that thing will kill you. That French manolent will kill you. I actually have a chain mail glove, but it's just so big. I'm like Michael Jackson or I'm like Excalibur, shall we say, with this metal, you know, chain mail glove that I use. So you don't hurt yourself using the mandolin.

Everyone knows that this is the little kitchen instrument you use to make potatoes really thin, sliced vegetables. And it's like a friggin guillotine. I mean, it's so sharp you could do a lot of damage. The meat slicer, no-uh. I'll make my guy at the market do it. So now I'm very afraid, just in general. You're going to take a second. We're all going to be fine.

Okay. Last question in this round, one, two, or three. Three. What have you found surprising about getting older? How happy it makes me. Oh, please say more. Yeah. I mean, you know, listen, I started modeling after college, and modeling was great for me because I would have never had the resources as a young person to travel as extensively as I did because of my work as a model.

And it's what gave me this education and food. You know, I didn't go to culinary school. I certainly was never working the line at a restaurant. I did work in restaurants, but nothing, you know, chefy. But, you know, I, because I was modeling and because I started after college, I was, I was always, you know, I was terrified of becoming 30 and then I was terrified of becoming 40. And now I'm 55 and I have to tell you, I feel great. I am the happiest I've ever been.

Obviously, physically, I'm not what I was 30 years ago when I was 25. I wouldn't change. I wouldn't trade and go back to my 20s for all the money in the world. I really wouldn't. And I was so hard on myself about every little thing or every, you know, imperfection. I love the way I look. I love the way I feel. I feel confident, both physically and mentally. I know that I'm going to be okay. I know that I will always survive no matter what. I'll have my ups and downs, you know. Can I ask you about what it is like, though, as a woman who

has lived in the spotlight for a long time and to have started so young in modeling, to have your self-worth so wrapped up in things that you do not control. It's, you know, you're born into your body. You're born with those cheek bones. And the color of your skin. And the color of your skin. And these things are not changeable. And I imagine that that is hard to live for years associating your value with how someone else perceives your external beauty. It's really difficult. It really is. When you are a model and an actor or any kind of performer, so much of what you do is tied to your physical self. And for most of us, most of our self-worth, especially if we haven't had families yet, comes from what we do for a living. And it's very hard to compartmentalize or be very strict with your emotions and say, this is not about me, this is about what I look like.

And that takes a lot of fortitude, fortitude that you really don't have at the time most young women are modeling. I was lucky I started modeling, actually not as young as most girls. I started after my bachelor's degree. I studied theater and American lit in college. And so I only started modeling in my last semester when I was studying abroad in Spain. And so I graduated and had a bachelor's degree before I really got into modeling. And I think that helped me. And I wasn't that, you know, there were a couple of people that asked me to model when I was in high school or after high school.

And I remember my mother saying, you know, if you're pretty at 17, you'll be just more beautiful at 21. I really think you should go to college first. And she was right. You know, I – but I also started modeling before retouching and everything. And I have a very large scar on my right arm from a car accident. Yeah. And, you know, I had to learn self-accepting. and it was because I had a scar in my arm. And eventually, I was discovered by Helmut Newton

who shot me because of my scar. And then overnight, my career took off. Because he thought your scar was interesting. He thought he thought that it made you an interesting model. Exactly. And that's why he used me. And it was a great lesson very early in my 20s that showed me that our standards of beauty are arbitrary. And I was the same person two weeks ago that I was after Helmut shot me. But of course, my agent milked that and told everybody about it. So all of a sudden, I went from having zero fashion shows and only fitting jobs that were paid by the hour by designers for their atelier the week before Fashion Week to booking eight shows the first season and then 15 shows the next season and then going from Milan to Paris to New York. And those same people who would only put me in long

sleeves were now saying, oh, no, put her in short sleeves. Because under the makeup, you know, they do the same makeup and hair for everybody. They wanted to show the scar because helmet thought it was cool. So it took, you know, in a way, it took somebody else deciding that this thing on my arm was suddenly beautiful. Yeah. And so I wouldn't recommend it. But, Podma, I did see you on, I mean, there was a sports illustrated thing you did not that long ago. You were in. You were in a hot bikini as a, I mean, were you, were you 50 at that point? Yeah, yeah, I was. Yeah. It was just two years ago. So you're still feeling very much in your power. I'm feeling better now. Yeah. I mean, it's, you know, I would have killed to do Sports Illustrated

when I was actually a model. But I'm glad it happened in my 50s because I appreciate it more and I enjoyed it more and I didn't take it so seriously. I found out and I shot three weeks later. So I hardly slimmed down, but I did get in shape, you know, obviously I'm vain. So I did everything I could. I got lymphatic massages and I worked out a lot. So I'm a late bloomer, I guess. Which is fine by me. No one's not getting on my door for a Sports Illustrated cover. Now that I see what you look like, you have nothing to worry about. But I mean, it is, it is true, though. Like, I think the reason I feel so good now in my 50s is because I don't derive myself worth from the I look.

Yeah. You know, I will still make a living as a writer. I will still make a living as a producer because I look forward when I don't have to sit in makeup and hair for two hours. I mean, I love my team, but like I can literally... You got things to do. Yeah, I would be writing or I would be reading. You know, that to me, people always say, what's your guilty pleasure?

I'm like, I don't feel guilty when I take any pleasure. But what is my guilty pleasure is having five hours to put my feet up on a Saturday and just read. Just read. Yeah. Last round. Beliefs. One, two, or three.

One. Have you ever experienced a divine power? Yes. Hmm. Yes. Oh, I love the way you said that. My child was an infant, and I had a lover who I cared very deeply for pass from brain cancer. Oh, I'm so sorry.

And the early morning that he died, they called. called me at four in the morning. My phone was charging in the kitchen, and I took the phone. And I remember not going back to the bedroom where my daughter and I slept. I remember just collapsing on the couch, and I didn't want to enter the room. I wanted her to still sleep in a world that contained her poppy. And so I didn't tell her, she's very small. She was just under two. And a few hours went by. My assistant came. My housekeeper showed up. My makeup artist, Michelle, who I would work out with, came to pick me up for the gym, not knowing.

And Krishna was strapped to her high chair by the table, and we were all sort of bustling around. And she said, "'Poppy's here.' And I said, what?' And she said, poppy's here. And I said, where? She said, right here.

And I said, can you see him? She said, yes. I said, can you give him a kiss? And she sort of leaned forward and puckered up. And I said, is he saying anything? And she said, he says, hello, I'm fine, goodbye. And it was literally within eight hours of his passing. And it gave me chills.

And I'm so glad that, you know, there were three other people in the room who heard this because all of us froze. Wow. Yeah. You know. I mean, I happen to believe that after someone dies, there's a. another space, you know, for a while. Yeah, I do too. Yeah, I do too.

And, you know, for the first three years after Teddy died, I would still talk to him out loud, you know. After a while I didn't do it because it would unnerve Krishna, you know, but I could feel him. Like, I would feel something, some presence. And, you know, again, see above, given how scared I am of anything and scary movies, especially or any kind of the occult or that kind of stuff. I don't play with Ouija boards. I don't, you know, like I'm not looking to invite any of it. I felt, I do feel a presence.

I always feel it sitting on the side of my bed or I can feel when it comes in and then when it leaves. And it doesn't happen anymore, but I don't know. You know, is that wishful feeling rather, I don't want to say it's wishful thinking because it's not like an intellectual thought, certainly, or fully formed concrete thought, but it's a feeling. And I don't know if that is divine or not. I just know that for me, it's a blessing and a positive, steadying feeling. And I'll take it. Yeah, right. Thank you for sharing that. That's beautiful. I know. I feel kind of, I hope people don't think I'm a crazy person,

but it did happen, and I did have three or four other witnesses in the room who heard Krishna say it. So. No. I mean, it always feels validating when someone is else there. When someone else is there. Yeah. Right. It's not just me, right?

Yeah. But that's a beautiful story. Okay. Last three cards. One, two, three. One. One. Do you think people can really change?

Hmm. I've seen people change. I have. And I've seen surprisingly. people completely not change. Their judgment doesn't improve or, you know, there's still a little tone deaf or arrogant or have weird chip missing about being able to stand in someone else's shoes, you know, not that they're a bad person, but they're a little bit arrogant so they put their foot in their mouth or, you know, maybe it's painful to change. But there's always

pain when there's growth. There's no growth without some destruction. You paused a long time before you answered that question. I did because you really stumped me, and I feel both those things very much. Like, I literally know people close to me who I'm surprised haven't changed more because of their own life experience, at least seen from my vantage point. And then I've seen other people who are so different, and I like to think that I'm the love. ladder. You know, I don't want to stay the same. I don't. That's unnatural, something either atrophies or grows, you know, anything that even stays still will decay. Yeah. We end the show the same way every time with a trip in our memory time machine. Okay.

In the memory time machine, you pick one moment from your past to revisit. It's not a moment you would change anything about, it's just a moment you'd like to linger in a little longer. Which moment do you choose? Oh, wow. This is a hard question. I feel like this is, that show, this is your life, you know, where you see every aspect of your life. See what comes by. It doesn't have to define your whole life. It's just what comes to the four in this particular moment. I really miss my daughter as her younger self. I like seeing every stage of her development. And, you know, there's conversations I have with her that are extraordinary. And she teaches me so much as children do. And she's a teenager and she's 15 now.

But gosh, she was so juicy. When she was five and four, she was just so, you wanted to bite her. Like, you know, I can so viscerally feel her plump little body and her cheeks and, you know, her curly ringlets. that are just so soft. I can smell that mustella, baby bath, a mustella that I used to use on her. And, you know, we used to have these rituals where we did bath time together and we'd take a bath together.

Again, because I was a single mom. And so, you know, I was just like, I used to make her sing. Like, if she was in the bath and I had to go answer the door or something, I would make her sing. So I could run and, you know, turn off the stove or let somebody in

because as long as I could hear her, you know, obviously, yeah. And I used to, sometimes I used to just sit in the other room and make her sing and not come back because she had this sweet, wonderful voice. I mean, she still sings. She's a singer and a songwriter and she's a performer. And those times, those bedtimes, those bath times, her singing in the bath. And, you know, we had a song that she would sing like, I love you, mommy. Oh, yes, I do.

I love you, Mommy. That much is true. I love you, Mommy, I do. Oh, please, Mommy, say you love me too. I don't even know where we learn that song, but we always sang it to each other, and she would sing it. And then I would sing back to her from the other room,

I love you, Krishna. Oh, my God, that's beautiful. And it was just call and repeat. So those moments I wish I could just, just have one weekend of. Gosh, you know, I'd pay really high figures for that. But, you know, that's not possible. I have my photo albums.

That's about all. I know. Some videos of her singing, you know. I think you should go right home and send her to the other room and make her sing that song to you immediately. That's true. I send, yeah, she does sing in her room. Now it's just, you know, Charlie XX and XX. Yeah, it's not the same.

Yeah. No, it's not. It's not. Padma Lakshmi, this has been so fun. Thank you so much for doing it. My pleasure. I'm so glad to finally put a face to this voice that's been so much a part of my mornings. It was really, really lovely to get to do this with you.

Padma's new book is called Podma's All-American Tales, Travels, and Recipes from Taste the Nation and Beyond. Thank you so much, Padma. Thank you. If you like this episode, I'd recommend going back and check you. checking out my conversation with Terry Cruz. He has also hosted a TV competition show, America's Got Talent. And when he's hosting this show, it's clear he's just curious about people, the same way that Podma is.

He's got the snack for just lifting every contestant up, and I love him for that. He was absolutely delightful to talk to, and I think you're really going to love listening. This episode was produced by Summer Tomad and edited by Dave Blanchard. It was mastered by Gilly Moon and Jimmy Keely. Wildcard's executive producer is Yolanda Sangweni. and our theme music is by Rom Teen Arablui. We'll shuffle the deck and be back with more next week. Talk to you then.