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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

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The Essay Podcast

The Essay

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond, themed across a week - insight, opinion and intellectual surprise.

The Essay: TV Dinners to Roadside Diners

The Essay: TV Dinners to Roadside Diners: Episode 3: Michael Cunningham

Factual: Food & Drink

Michael Cunningham

Episode 3

Episode 3: Michael Cunningham

TV Dinners to Roadside Diners

BBC Radio 3 - The Essay, TV Dinners to Roadside Diners, Michael CunninghamClose menu

American Novelist Michael Cunningham on his attachment to macaroni cheese in a box.

Novelist Michael Cunningham considers why he was so more attached to the macaroni and cheese that came in a box than his mother's cooking.

Five American writers write about the cultural history of their favourite comfort food. Far from haute cuisine, these choices are a cake, a snack, and a dish in a box, a hearty homemade dessert and a thick gooey ubiquitous spread. The writers explore with delight and authority how these foods became American, they explain why they continue to be iconic and popular and compare regional preferences. None of these foods are good for the waistline but each is so loved that there is little guilt about indulging in traditional mouthfuls of pure heaven.

Novelist Michael Cunningham, best known for his novel The Hours, wonders why he was so more attached to the macaroni and cheese that came in a box, than his mother's cooking. And he's struck by the promise that this instant food conjured up a space age world of endless leisure. He despairs that this humble dish has become an unrecognisable gourmet food in some restaurants.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Leading American writers write about the cultural history of their favourite comfort food.

To mark Thanksgiving, when Americans travel great distances to come together to feast at the family table, leading US writers write about the cultural history of their favourite comfort food

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