Podcast Summary: Be My Guest with Ina Garten – David Remnick

Original Air Date: May 26, 2024
Host: Ina Garten
Guest: David Remnick (Editor, The New Yorker)

Overview of the Episode

In this warm and engaging episode, Ina Garten welcomes David Remnick, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editor of The New Yorker, into her East Hampton home. Amid cooking lessons, stories, and laughter, Ina and David discuss the art of journalism, family, food memories, and what it takes to lead a creative team. The episode is peppered with personal anecdotes, advice for aspiring writers, and funny kitchen misadventures, culminating in a home-cooked meal shared with their spouses.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Early Influences and Family Support

• David’s Childhood and Early Passion for Reading and Writing
  • “Read, read, read, read, read.” (12:16)
  • David reminisces about editing his high school paper almost single-handedly:
    “I was the editor and I wrote the whole thing because nobody was interested.” (12:22)
  • Family played a key role:
    “My parents did. Even if they didn't understand what I wanted to do… That's all I needed.” (12:38)

2. Formative Experiences in Journalism

• Starting at the Washington Post
  • Night shifts and tough assignments:
    “You did the night police beat. What hours was that?”
    “6pm to 2am.” (12:51)
  • Bumping around different beats, from sports to style, before being sent to Moscow (13:00).
• Moscow Assignment & Rivalry with Esther (his wife, a NY Times reporter)
  • “It was fascinating. Nobody particularly wanted to go. It's very cold. It's very far.” (13:06)
  • On cross-paper rivalry and competitiveness:
    Ina: “Would you imagine being rivals with Jeffrey?”
    David: “You’d kick his ass.” (13:55)

3. Leading The New Yorker

• Taking on the Editor Role
  • “It was like leaping off a cliff.” (15:52)
  • On leadership:
    “Conducting an orchestra is radically different from being a pianist… I didn't know how to do that. So that took a long time.” (16:00)
  • Best advice received from Ben Bradlee and Tina Brown: “Not somebody you could imitate… I had to find my way.” (17:02)
  • “You have to pay attention all the time… I wake up in the morning every day for the last 25 years and I wonder, like, who's upset, who needs what? …That’s the job.” (17:10, 18:16)

4. On Interviewing and Storytelling

• Advice from John McPhee
  • “Be dumb, be quiet.” (18:22)
  • Expand: letting interviewees say more by not showing off what you know; getting beyond their “dinner party anecdotes.”
  • “Listening to yourself doing an interview on tape is very instructive…” (20:02)
• Contrasts in Interview Subjects
  • On Bob Dylan:
    “He’s just screwing with the interviewer all the time… Clearly hates the process.” (21:16)
  • On Leonard Cohen:
    “He would find a way to make even a dumb question… an occasion for a disquisition on his inner soul.” (24:11)

5. Music, Balance, and Everyday Joys

• On Replenishing and Family Life
  • Shares about raising a daughter with autism; balancing work and home (24:41).
• Personal Joys
  • Regular guitar lessons:
    “I take a guitar lesson every Sunday, and I have been doing this for years.” (25:04)
  • Busking in Paris:
    “I would take my $75 Yamaha guitar down into the subway, and I made enough money to eat, sleep… and have a good time.” (25:27)
• New Book: "Holding the Note"
  • “The book is about music… profiles of Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Mavis Staples, Aretha Franklin, Leonard Cohen… gathered into this volume called Holding the Note, which is what you do on any instrument to just sustain a note, to keep it alive.” (26:16)

6. Kitchen Camaraderie & Recipes

• Ina’s Cooking Demonstration
  • Ina describes her method for overnight Belgian waffles (02:42).
  • Jokes about kitchen gifts nearly ending marriages; David’s anecdote about giving Esther a waffle iron for Mother’s Day (07:12).
• The Cooking Lesson
  • Prepping and breading Parmesan chicken:
    • “Each of us has a boneless chicken breast…”
      David: “Now it looks like the map of Mongolia. How is that?”
      Ina: “That’s perfect. When you get the map of Mongolia, you know you’ve got it right.” (29:15–29:33)
  • Measuring and following recipes:
    • David: “And you measure it?”
      Ina: “I measure everything. Do you not measure when you cook?” (30:06)
    • David: “I’ve gotten a positive photo. As you know, Ina, I watch endless amounts of cooking videos.” (27:41)
  • On comfort foods:
    • David: “The dish in my wife’s arsenal that is the great comfort food is brisket. She makes the best brisket in world history.” (32:29)
    • Reflections on Nora Ephron’s memorial and recipes included in the program (32:40)
• Food and Conversation
  • “Food is a more intimate transaction between people… a different level of conversation when you’re eating.” (37:48)
  • On Leonard Cohen, again:
    “Every 20 minutes he would stop the interview and say, would you like some herring? Would you like a Montreal bagel? Eating was his way of saying, I love you.” (38:07)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On leadership:
  “Being the editor of something... has almost nothing to do with doing something by yourself. Conducting an orchestra is radically different from being a pianist... running a thing with other people, other human beings, disappointing them, encouraging them. I didn’t know how to do that.” — David Remnick (16:00)

• On interviewing:
  “Be dumb, be quiet.” — Advice via John McPhee, quoted by David Remnick (18:22)
  “Listening to yourself doing an interview on tape is very instructive because when you’re young, you hear yourself trying to impress the other person... The important thing is the result.” (20:02)

• On family encouragement:
  “Every time I made something, Jeffrey said, oh, this is the best thing I’ve ever had. Which encouraged you to make it again.” — Ina Garten (40:35)

• On food and connection:
  “It’s a more intimate transaction between people... a different level of conversation when you’re eating.” — David Remnick (37:48)

Key Segment Timestamps

• Meet David Remnick & Ina Recaps the Day: 01:49–02:42
• David Arrives & Waffle Stories: 06:39–09:18
• Childhood, Early Writing, and Family: 12:11–13:36
• Washington Post & Rivalry with Esther: 12:51–14:51
• Taking the Helm at The New Yorker: 15:13–18:16
• Interviewing Advice: 18:16–20:42
• Culinary Inspiration & Food TV: 27:41–28:36
• Cooking Parmesan Chicken: 29:06–32:15
• Comfort Food & Nora Ephron’s Memorial: 32:29–33:09
• Food as Interview Tool: 37:44–38:29
• Serving Dinner & Reflections: 39:06–41:01

Style & Tone

The episode is candid, playful, and suffused with mutual respect and affection. Ina’s nurturing spirit complements David’s dry wit and introspection. The conversation blends personal storytelling, practical advice, and teasing humor. If you value discussions about creativity, leadership, and the joys of food and friendship, this episode is both heartening and insightful.

End of Summary