Why does a Harvard Medical School scientist miss home the most when he's hungry?

Dr. Saravanan Thangarajan left Chennai for Boston with a Harvard tag and a suitcase full of spice he couldn't find near Harvard. We talk teeth, temples, Tamil, and what he's eaten today.

This one is rice, spice, and a lot of heart.

WHAT WE COVER ON THE CUTTING BOARD:

00:00 Why a Harvard scientist was tired of smart-people podcasts 00:42 I butcher his name. He fixes it. (Saravanan 101) 02:15 Chennai → Boston: He left everything for the Harvard tag 04:10 Why dentistry? "My sister made it look cool… until I got in" 06:30 WHAT HAVE YOU EATEN TODAY? Rice, spice, and missing home 08:20 No Indians near Harvard Med, so he found the temple 09:30 Caste is your last name — Gen Z says "we care about vibe" 11:00 "Is mother alive? Is child alive? We never ask are you OK" - maternal mental health 12:30 Pandemic phone calls for oxygen beds → art → NYC billboard 13:30 How to say goodbye: Vanakkam to Aloha

Guest: Dr. Saravanan Thangarajan - Dentist, Artist, Harvard Medical School Researcher Host: Matthew — 50 Tastes Of Gray with Matthew

#Harvard #harvardmedicalschool #tamil #chennai #boston #dentist #maternalmentalhealth #indianfood #vanakkam #aloha #50TastesOfGray #WhatHaveYouEatenToday #immigrantstory #temple

Sara Causey joins host Matthew Gray of 50 Tastes Of Gray for an unscripted conversation about authenticity, creativity, art, and building a life that feels genuinely hers. A biographer, author, and artist, Causey explains why she rejected the conventional path to success, how she lets creative projects evolve, and why meaningful work often requires stepping beyond what feels safe. In this episode: Causey defines “eccentricity of purpose” as living authentically instead of conforming to expectations. She distinguishes between eccentricity as a marketing brand and eccentricity as a lived reality, including the willingness to be misunderstood. Causey recounts reaching a corner office at age 39 and realizing that the promised corporate-ladder victory felt hollow. She discusses regret, reinvention, and the importance of choosing differently with the time that remains. Her fascination with Richard Burton led to imaginative ideas centered on cinematic grandeur, spectacle, and artistic collaboration. Causey explains how she lets each writing project determine its own form, genre, audience, and voice. She argues that creative growth is not about hustle culture, but about challenging yourself and occasionally feeling scared by your own work. Her book Simply DAG: The Private Man in a Public and Dangerous Office uses an intimate first-person perspective to place readers inside Dag’s negotiations, bomb threats, and moments of danger. She shares how reader feedback confirmed that the book created a powerful sense of personal connection with Dag. The conversation closes with Swedish food, cloudberries, pickled herring, and the value of unscripted conversations. 0:00 What "eccentric on purpose" actually means — and why faking it will kill you 0:52 Real eccentric vs. brand eccentric — lipstick, beret, and the biographer they can't accept 1:55 The corner office at 39 that felt like a pyrrhic victory 2:52 Regret is a trap — don't die with your music still inside you 4:28 Modern cinema is digital vomit — and why Richard Burton still ruins me 5:50 My rebellion against sameness — bring back the robes, the gold, the spectacle 7:21 I let the Muse tell me — stop holding your art in a death grip 8:56 If you feel safe in your art, you're doing it wrong 10:03 Simply DAG scared me — challenging the gatekeepers 10:56 The Simply DAG elevator pitch — you're not reading history, you're IN it 13:25 Screw the scripted interview — real conversation keeps your brain alive Sara Causey Contact Info: Website: https://saracausey.com Books: https://saracausey.com/my-books Podcast: The Causey Consulting Podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-causey/ "Decoding the Unicorn" on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DSCS5PZT Follow Matthew Gray: 50 Tastes Of Gray — Broadcasting from Honolulu. One guest. No rules. New episodes weekly. 50TastesOfGray@gmail.com Instagram: @50tastesofgray Facebook: facebook.com/50TastesOfGrayPodcast LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/matthew-gray-hawaii Substack: 50TastesOfGray.substack.com YouTube: @50TastesOfGray #introvert #careerchange #highlysensitiveperson

What if numbness isn't apathy — but overload?

In this episode of 50 Tastes of Gray, I sit down with writer and journalist Maria Cassano (The Good Girl Recovery Guide, upcoming memoir Numb, Party of One - Feb 2027) for an honest conversation about depersonalization, derealization, and the cost of being the "good girl."

Maria shares what it was like to feel gone for years, why people-pleasing and hyper-empathy can tip the nervous system into shutdown, and how everyday rituals — coffee, boundaries, and yes, magic shell — became tools for coming back.

We get into:

The real lived experience of depersonalization vs. the clinical definition Good Girl Recovery: unlearning performative care Boundaries as a nervous system practice, not just a concept Finding safety and pleasure in small sensory rituals Reclaiming "I'm Good Now" without pretending you were never hurt Maria's writing: The Good Girl Recovery Guide on Substack — https://mariacassano.substack.com/

If you’ve ever felt numb, checked out, or “too much” and “not enough” at the same time — this one is for you.

Jenny Linford grew up across Ghana, Trinidad, Singapore, Italy, and London, experiences that shaped her lifelong fascination with flavor, markets, and regional food traditions. In this episode, Jenny explains the difference between British supper, dinner, and pudding; shares her family’s Queen of Puddings recipe; and tells the story of Nigella Lawson DM’ing her to say she was a fan.

We explore her self‑taught path into food writing, her global childhood, the immigrant food shops that taught her how to cook, and how she researched London’s food scene before the internet. Jenny talks about Singapore hawker centers, regional Italian food, the rise of British cuisine, the decline of fishmongers, and why markets matter more than ever.

She also discusses cookbook production, writing for Kew Gardens and the British Museum, artisan cider and cheese, AI’s impact on food publishing, and her cheese podcast A Slice of Cheese. This conversation is warm, generous, nostalgic, and full of food stories that last.

Follow Jenny Linford:

https://JennyLinford.co.uk/

https://www.instagram.com/jlinford

Follow Matthew Gray: 🎙️ 50 Tastes Of Gray — Broadcasting from Honolulu. One guest. No rules. New episodes weekly.

📩50TastesOfGray@gmail.com

📸 Instagram: @50tastesofgray 📘 Facebook: facebook.com/50TastesOfGrayPodcast 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/matthew-gray-hawaii ✍️ Substack: 50TastesOfGray.substack.com ▶️ YouTube: @50TastesOfGray

#foodwriter #britishfood #globalflavors #homecooking #foodstories

A delightfully unhinged conversation about sourdough, butter wars, cat cuddles, Pittsburgh fries, and the chaos of being human.

He paid fifty bucks to mail sourdough to Canada — and somehow that wasn’t even the strangest part of the conversation.

This episode is pure, delightful silliness. It’s food, life, marketing, cats, Pittsburgh fries‑on‑everything culture, Dan Aykroyd, poop, and the kind of unexpected stories that only happen when two people stop trying to be serious and just hang out.

We talk about homemade sourdough, the cold‑butter debate, gluten‑free cornflake chicken, and why Will’s smoothie is measured like a NASA experiment. We wander into Pittsburgh comfort food, childhood memories, outdoor adventures, and the existential question of whether cornflakes should be allowed to “sing.”

But the episode also gets surprisingly useful: Will breaks down why marketing is storytelling, why sales is not marketing, and why home buyers respond to emotion more than specs. We get into real estate humor, home‑buying psychology, and why “new vs. used” is more of a feeling than a feature list.

Along the way, we hit:

Gluten sensitivity and the hidden places gluten lurks

Cats with human names and the art of cat‑armpit cuddling

Why adults should go outside and act like kids

The smell of rain (petrichor) and why it makes people feel alive

Celebrity chefs, BLTs, avocado toast, and Pittsburgh fries‑on‑everything culture

Chainsaws, yard work, and the joy of doing something physical

Neurotic New York Jew humor, childhood nostalgia, and cultural identity

Travel stories, music memories, and the food that reveals who you are

If you like food, weird stories, sharp conversation, and a little observational nonsense, this episode is your jam.

#Sourdough

#FoodPodcast

#Marketing

#Storytelling

#podcastinterview #50TastesOfGray

Katie and Chris Bowick sit down with me on 50 Tastes Of Gray to talk openly about addiction and the ways it shaped their lives. This conversation is not a recovery seminar. It is not a redemption arc. It is two people telling the truth as they remember it, even when those memories do not match.

We explore how addiction rearranged their timelines, how humor survived the hardest years, and how storytelling becomes a way to hold conflicting truths at the same time. The episode moves between laughter, tension, and reflection. It stays human. It stays honest. It stays in the gray.

Follow Chris & Katie:

Coloring Outside the Lines: A Love Story in the Gray of Addiction, Recovery, and Redemption​

Available https://shorturl.at/uxhcj

📘 Facebook: @LoveThroughTheGray

📸 Instagram: @LoveThroughTheGray TikTok: @lovethroughthegray

▶️ YouTube: @LoveThroughTheGray Follow Matthew Gray:

🎙️ 50 Tastes Of Gray — Broadcasting from Honolulu. One guest. No rules. New episodes weekly.

📸 Instagram: @50tastesofgray

📘 Facebook: facebook.com/50TastesOfGrayPodcast

💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/matthew-gray-hawaii

✍️ Substack: 50TastesOfGray.substack.com

▶️ YouTube: @50TastesOfGray

#SoberLiving #AddictionRecovery #MarriedCouples #RecoveryJourney #50TastesOfGray

Decadent & Notorious pretty much sums up Mindy Crosato.

She's the force behind Decadent Creations and the creator of Notorious B.A.G.E.L., two very different expressions of the same obsession: making food interesting.

On 50 Tastes Of Gray, Matthew Gray sits down with Mindy for a wide-ranging conversation about macarons, champagne, unconventional bagels, food waste, culinary creativity, French food, family and building food businesses.

Mindy talks about the precision behind her macarons, including her memorable “happy elf” meringue test, and why she personally still makes roughly 1,000 macarons a week.

Then there's Notorious B.A.G.E.L.

Mindy explains why she created a separate business around her bagels and why she deliberately went in an unconventional direction. Chicken soup bagels, Frito pie bagels, furikake, kimchi egg and inventive cream cheeses are part of the mix.

The conversation also gets into champagne and sparkling wine, including Mindy's love of Spanish traditional-method sparkling wine, her reputation as a food snob, and the memorable story of her “divorce bottle” of Dom Pérignon.

One of the most fascinating parts of the conversation is Mindy's approach to food waste. Her bakery has developed what she calls “carryover pathways” and “utilization pathways,” finding new uses for products that might otherwise be discarded. Brioche and croissants become bread pudding. Cookies become crumble. Whole leftover pies can become filling for cinnamon rolls.

Mindy also talks about:

Decadent Creations Collective Market Portland food and baking Macarons and meringue technique Champagne and sparkling wine Notorious B.A.G.E.L. Unconventional bagel flavors Brisket and “salt beef” French culinary culture Cooking for family Her cookbook Food photography and creative direction A French-Pacific Northwest supper club Farmers markets and building a food business Culinary classes Food waste and creative reuse

And then Mindy takes over the interview.

She turns the questions on Matthew, getting into what he cooks at home, his spice pantry, roasting coffee, Hawaii and the years he spent building Hawaii Food Tours.

It's a conversation about food, but it's really a conversation about how people think, create, build businesses, and decide what makes life worth tasting.

This is 50 Tastes Of Gray.

00:00 — Decadent & Notorious 00:39 — The early-morning baker 02:09 — Champagne, dosage & Spanish sparkling wine 05:01 — What does “decadent” really mean? 06:02 — The divorce bottle 09:03 — Working with your husband 10:00 — When the dishwasher catches fire 14:47 — French food culture & being a food snob 18:15 — The art of making macarons 19:37 — Mindy's “happy elf” meringue test 21:24 — Why macarons cost so much 22:44 — The fight against food waste 23:05 — Mindy's utilization pathways 26:16 — The Raccoon Baker 28:14 — Mindy's first food memory 29:36 — Burgers, fries & beef suet 32:31 — What do you do with peach skins? 33:15 — Collective Market 36:03 — Mindy's secret smashed-potato seasoning 38:05 — Cooking for people you want to impress 41:32 — The ultimate dessert for her husband 43:09 — The French-Pacific Northwest supper club 46:03 — Speaking French 47:28 — The blended family 49:30 — The next generation of cooks 51:06 — What's Mindy eating today? 53:07 — What makes a great bagel? 54:51 — Notorious B.A.G.E.L. 56:29 — Brisket and salt beef 57:36 — The cookbook & creative life 01:00:19 — Squab, binchotan & French tomatoes 01:02:19 — Mindy takes over the interview 01:02:42 — What does Matthew cook at home? 01:03:13 — The spice pantry 01:04:05 — Roasting coffee the homemade way 01:06:14 — Hawaii Food Tours 01:10:40 — Mindy's cooking classes 01:12:39 — What will Aurelien think? 01:16:10 — Mindy's final pitch 01:16:45 — Aloha

In this episode of 50 Tastes of Gray, Matthew Gray sits down with former private jeweler and mental‑performance trainer Kendra Lockhart for a raw, cinematic conversation about the diamond industry’s hidden corners, the solar‑eclipse tattoo that changed her life, and the reinvention that pulled her out of burnout.

Kendra opens with a powerful story of loss, intuition, and the white‑ink tattoo she carries as a reminder that “the sun never sets.” From there, she reveals the truth behind the jewelry world — the ethics, the chaos, the lab‑grown disruption, and the emotional toll of working inside an industry built on beauty and pressure.

The conversation shifts into identity, mental performance, burnout, and the psychology of rebuilding yourself from the inside out. Kendra explains how she helps people navigate grief, overwhelm, reinvention, and the invisible mechanics of the mind.

And then Chicago enters the room — food, culture, deep dish, tomato allergies, Midwest emotional etiquette, and the soulful moments that define the city.

This episode is about truth, transformation, and the strange, beautiful ways people find themselves again.

Follow Kendra: https://www.instagram.com/kendra.lockhart/

Follow Matthew Gray:

🎙️ 50 Tastes Of Gray - Broadcasting from Honolulu. One guest. No rules. New episodes weekly. Subscribe for more. 📸 Instagram: @50tastesofgray

📘 Facebook: facebook.com/50TastesOfGrayPodcast

💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/matthew-gray-hawaii

✍️ Substack: 50TastesOfGray.substack.com

▶️ YouTube: @50TastesOfGray

• #50TastesOfGray

• #KendraLockhart

• #DiamondIndustry

• #MentalPerformance

• #ChicagoCulture