Speaking
"Star Crossed: The Secret History of Two Cultures in Hiding," at La Cocina's F&B: Voices from the Kitchen, Brava Theater, San Francisco, November 2019.
"On Race and Restaurants," at La Cocina's F&B: Voices from the Kitchen, April 2017.
"Coding and Decoding Dinner," at the Fall symposium of the Southern Foodways Alliance, in Oxford, Ms., on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the desegration of the South. October 2014.
"Sounding a Barbaric Yawp: Twain, Whitman, Norton, and America," at The Folger Shakespeare Library. May 2011.
"The Ignoble Grape: The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of the Outsider Norton," at The Missouri State Historical Society. October 2014.
"Writing Your Life," at Nazareth School, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. March 2014.
"A Suicidal Antebellum Doctor, A Transgendered Vinter, and 200 Years of American History," at the summer symposium of the Southern Foodways Alliance, "Women, Work, and Food," in Richmond, Va. June 2013.
"A Brief, Tangled, Wonderfully Bizarre History of an (Almost) Forgotten American Original," at The Women's Club of Richmond. March 2013.
"Chipotlization, the Downscaling of Upscale, and the Fascination with Micro-Regional Specificity: on Restaurant Trends," at the Culinary Institute of America, Napa Valley. September 2012.
"Confessions of a Self-Hating Foodie," at Food Sense, a symposium at the University of Missouri. April 2012.
Miami Book Fair International: panel on narrative non-fiction, with authors John Otis and Susan Casey. November 2011.
"The Mind of a Critic." The Smithsonian. October 2015.
"The Metaphysics of Dinner," at the University of Missouri. October 2013.
"What Editors Want": a panel discussion with Matt Gross and Ramin Ganeshram, and "Mastering the Details: Master Class with Todd Kliman." Mid-Atlantic Food Writers Symposium. June 2014.
Takoma Park Lecture Series. October 2011.
The Banner Lecture. Virginia Historical Society. June 2011.
"A Feral Cat in a Bottle," at the New Deal Cafe, Greenbelt, Md. June 2011.
Slow Food Upper Galilee talk and reading. Israel. May 2011.
Slow Food talk and reading. Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, Silver Spring, Md. November 2010.
Brickell Literary Society Series talk and reading. Miami. May 2010.
Beard on Books: a reading at the James Beard House, with the editors of the Oxford American. April 7, 2010.
Commencement address. Eleanor Roosevelt High School. June 2006.
Radio,
as guest host
Radio,
as guest
"The Kojo Nnamdi Show," February 18, 2015.
"The Kojo Nnamdi Show." July 31, 2014.
"The Kojo Nnamdi Show." July 30, 2014.
"The Subtle Codes That Promote Segregation," with Marcus Samuelsson. "The Leonard Lopate Show." NPR.
"Cultivating a Culinary Ecosystem." The Kojo Nnamdi Show. March 18, 2015.
"The Disappearing Dish." October 1, 2014.
"Upscaling Comfort Food." February 12, 2014.
"How Pizza Explains the Washington Region." May 1, 2013.
"What Greatness Means in the Restaurant World." February 6, 2013.
"Wine, Weather, and Wiles: The History and Culture of Local Wine." April 18, 2012.
"A Kebab Kind of City." August 24, 2011.
"Local Restaurant World Tour: Chinese Cuisine." February 9, 2011.
"America's Forgotten Grape: The Wild Vine." June 22, 2010.
A Chef's Table with Jim Coleman. NPR Philadelphia. Interview. August 2010.
Martha Stewart Living. Sirius XM. Interview. June 2010.
panels
moderated
Courses
Taught
"Bringing Milk Bar to Life," an interview with Christina Tosi. The Smithsonian. October 2015.
"Sweet Secrets from a Pastry Master," an interview with Dominique Ansel. The Smithsonian. November 2014.
"U St., Race, and Gentrification," a symposium at Howard University. Spring 2003.
editorial
direction
Modern British Literature
The Art of the Essay
"After the Bomb: Post-War Writing from Hersey's Hiroshima to the Unabomber Manifesto"
Creative Writing: Beginning
Creative Writing: Intermediate
Creative Writing: Satire Workshop
"Writing Childhood: Memoirs of Longing and Belonging"
Advanced Grammar Seminar
Technical Writing
Argumentative Writing
Media Writing
