Food Porn and Fatness

This is Eating Out Loud, where Jessica Valenti talks with leading activists about the intersection between politics and food. In this episode, she discusses fatness and performative eating with best-selling author Lindy West.

Before Lindy West and I met in person, her writing made me want to be her best friend. She managed to be incisive, funny, and heartfelt — oftentimes all in the same sentence.

West went through the same sort of online hate and harassment that I’ve faced for years, and there’s a certain kind of dark solidarity you have with people in that way. Now, Lindy is the author of the New York Times bestseller Shrill, and her work is more relevant and important than ever. West and I met at Khe-Yo in downtown Manhattan to talk about feminism, body image, and the way we perform when we eat.

Producers: Pelin Keskin and Mariya Pylayev
Special thanks to Khe-Yo in Tribeca, NY