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“Let them cook,” they said. So we did, and we watched. Matt Wrather and Peter Fenzel welcome the third season of “24 in 24,” a serialized one-day reality cook-off that is both the farthest and closest distance among cooking shows from actual cooking. Inspired, they track their personal tastes and influences in cooking in life and on the screen.

From the Championship Season rise of Guy Fieri’s Tournament of Champions and the era of cooking competition it has ushered in, back to the stand and stir classics of their childhoods, Matt and Pete talk about what is real about the depictions of food on TV, what is fantasy, and what comes all the way around again. They discuss their methods for making omelettes, their small-screen favorites, and at one point compare Yan Can Cook to streaming an EVO Fighting Game Tournament.

They also venture into the comforting tangible world of physical cookbooks; their favorites for guidance, their favorites for storytelling, and why Shaq is smiling so much holding that enormous cheeseburger. Why wouldn’t he?

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Watch a Sneak Peek: ‘24 in 24’ Season 3 Comes to Food Network With Major Twists: Here’s everything you need to know (for some definitions of “you need to know”) on Food Network, April 8, 2026
Guy Fieri Shares Inspiration for Food Network’s Groundbreaking Tournament of Champions, by Walter Scott on Parade, February 27, 2022
“Stand and Stir” no more: Food Network hosts are mastering the art of the short-form cooking tutorial, by Ashlie D. Stevens on Salon, November 23, 2016
How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food, by Mark Bittman on goodreads
Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, by Michael Ruhlman on goodreads
Shaq’s Family Style: Championship Recipes for Feeding Family and Friends, by Shaquille O’Neal, Rachel Holtzman, Michael Silverman, and Matthew Pierkarski, on goodreads
Auguste Escoffier and his classic, Le guide clinarire, on Wikipedia
Let her cook, on reddit

Episode 931: Everything We Do… Little Squeeze of Lemon originally appeared on Overthinking It, the site subjecting the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve. [Latest Posts | Podcast (iTunes Link)]

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