Lee Tran Lam
@leetranlam.bsky.social
Freelance journalist, The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry podcast, New Voices On Food book editor, Should You Really Eat That podcast, Diversity In Food Media Australia and more. Yes, there once was a sandwich named after me!
Reposted by Lee Tran Lam
"The cyclists arrive at sunrise, rolling through Chicago’s Latino neighborhoods and stopping at tamale carts, elote stands & candy stalls. They buy out every last item — every tamale, every corn cob, every bundle of sweets. Then they load up the food and deliver it to shelters and families in need."
wgntv.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:31 PM
"The cyclists arrive at sunrise, rolling through Chicago’s Latino neighborhoods and stopping at tamale carts, elote stands & candy stalls. They buy out every last item — every tamale, every corn cob, every bundle of sweets. Then they load up the food and deliver it to shelters and families in need."
According to @usc.edu data reported on @james.crid.land's @podnews.net, 64% of the most popular US podcasts were hosted by men. Such shows are far less diverse than the top movies, TV or music. Worst gender gap? Business & tech shows: men host 92% of 'em! More stats here:
podnews.net/update/woefu...
podnews.net/update/woefu...
Podcast diversity is ‘woeful’, says new report
We are much worse for diversity than film, TV, or music.
podnews.net
November 15, 2025 at 8:27 AM
According to @usc.edu data reported on @james.crid.land's @podnews.net, 64% of the most popular US podcasts were hosted by men. Such shows are far less diverse than the top movies, TV or music. Worst gender gap? Business & tech shows: men host 92% of 'em! More stats here:
podnews.net/update/woefu...
podnews.net/update/woefu...
Reposted by Lee Tran Lam
Six people died from tampered Tylenol and the company pulled 30 million bottles off the market. ChatGPT is accused of urging seven people towards suicide, and OpenAI just assures us they’re still working out the kinks. Billions in investment, zero accountability.
OpenAI faces 7 lawsuits claiming ChatGPT drove people to suicide, delusions
OpenAI is facing seven lawsuits claiming ChatGPT drove people to suicide and harmful delusions even when they had no prior mental health issues.
apnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Six people died from tampered Tylenol and the company pulled 30 million bottles off the market. ChatGPT is accused of urging seven people towards suicide, and OpenAI just assures us they’re still working out the kinks. Billions in investment, zero accountability.
At Sydney's only full-time Mexican bakery, you'll find coffee spiked with horchata (it's creamy, cinnamon-sweet & delicious!), an ancient hot chocolate that predates Euro-style cocoa by thousands of years and other rarities. Here's my write-up on Pancho Bakery:
www.smh.com.au/goodfood/syd...
www.smh.com.au/goodfood/syd...
Review: Sydney’s only bricks-and-mortar Mexican bakery specialises in hard-to-find treats
Pancho Bakery’s busy location means it’s easy to overlook, but its conchas, coyotas and molletes mean this one-of-a-kind shop deserves to be noticed.
www.smh.com.au
October 13, 2025 at 2:47 AM
At Sydney's only full-time Mexican bakery, you'll find coffee spiked with horchata (it's creamy, cinnamon-sweet & delicious!), an ancient hot chocolate that predates Euro-style cocoa by thousands of years and other rarities. Here's my write-up on Pancho Bakery:
www.smh.com.au/goodfood/syd...
www.smh.com.au/goodfood/syd...
Taylor Swift releasing (needing?) 30+ variants of her new album in 1 WEEK to knock off Adele’s sales record feels cynical. Should a billionaire really squeeze her fans this way? @defector.com on how ‘good art doesn’t come from greed’ is the BEST piece I’ve seen on TLOAS
defector.com/taylor-swift...
defector.com/taylor-swift...
October 10, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Taylor Swift releasing (needing?) 30+ variants of her new album in 1 WEEK to knock off Adele’s sales record feels cynical. Should a billionaire really squeeze her fans this way? @defector.com on how ‘good art doesn’t come from greed’ is the BEST piece I’ve seen on TLOAS
defector.com/taylor-swift...
defector.com/taylor-swift...
If you have a ‘difficult ethnic name’, you might know this feeling. Do you give your real name for your takeaway order - only for it to be misspelt or butchered? Or do you give a fake name for convenience: a “coffee name”?
I've wanted to write this for YEARS!
www.theguardian.com/food/2025/oc...
I've wanted to write this for YEARS!
www.theguardian.com/food/2025/oc...
Strong flat white for Batman: should I use a ‘coffee name’?
Some people go undercover when ordering takeaway – here’s what baristas think of the practice
www.theguardian.com
October 8, 2025 at 9:41 PM
If you have a ‘difficult ethnic name’, you might know this feeling. Do you give your real name for your takeaway order - only for it to be misspelt or butchered? Or do you give a fake name for convenience: a “coffee name”?
I've wanted to write this for YEARS!
www.theguardian.com/food/2025/oc...
I've wanted to write this for YEARS!
www.theguardian.com/food/2025/oc...
The NSW edition of Good Food Guide comes out next week. This is a pretty big development.
www.smh.com.au/business/wor...
www.smh.com.au/business/wor...
Merivale dropped from Good Food Guide
Australia’s largest hospitality company has been excluded from the Good Food Guide following claims it exploited workers and prioritised VIP treatment over staff safety.
www.smh.com.au
October 8, 2025 at 8:49 AM
The NSW edition of Good Food Guide comes out next week. This is a pretty big development.
www.smh.com.au/business/wor...
www.smh.com.au/business/wor...
I once read just 4 books in a year. In 2025, I’ve read more than 60 – a lifetime record for me!
Recreational reading has declined throughout Australia, but I hope this story might inspire people to turn some pages. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
Recreational reading has declined throughout Australia, but I hope this story might inspire people to turn some pages. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
I've read 63 books so far this year. Here's how I did it
Research shows Australians are reading fewer books than ever before. One writer shares her advice on how to make reading a daily habit.
www.abc.net.au
October 8, 2025 at 7:19 AM
I once read just 4 books in a year. In 2025, I’ve read more than 60 – a lifetime record for me!
Recreational reading has declined throughout Australia, but I hope this story might inspire people to turn some pages. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
Recreational reading has declined throughout Australia, but I hope this story might inspire people to turn some pages. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
FYI, FBi radio's supporter drive ends soon – if you can support it, that'd be amazing. It's been showcasing Sydney's music, arts & culture scence for 20+ years (it played The Kid Laroi and Flume when they teens; I recall playing Flume's demo as Harley when he was 15)!
www.fbi.radio/support
www.fbi.radio/support
Support Us | fbi.radio
The beating heart of Sydney music.
www.fbi.radio
September 26, 2025 at 6:01 AM
FYI, FBi radio's supporter drive ends soon – if you can support it, that'd be amazing. It's been showcasing Sydney's music, arts & culture scence for 20+ years (it played The Kid Laroi and Flume when they teens; I recall playing Flume's demo as Harley when he was 15)!
www.fbi.radio/support
www.fbi.radio/support
Reposted by Lee Tran Lam
I'll never understand how companies who use AI tools in recruitment to 'streamline the process and increase efficiency' are complaining that applicants are also doing the same
www.theage.com.au/national/nsw...
www.theage.com.au/national/nsw...
Strange behaviour is being observed in job interviews. It’s a sign of the times
The explosion of AI has turned recruitment into a minefield, where it is difficult to assess if candidates have the skills they might appear to be able to demonstrate.
www.theage.com.au
September 1, 2025 at 8:16 AM
I'll never understand how companies who use AI tools in recruitment to 'streamline the process and increase efficiency' are complaining that applicants are also doing the same
www.theage.com.au/national/nsw...
www.theage.com.au/national/nsw...
I wonder how many protesters at the recent anti-immigration rallies knew that the colony was saved by Indian food?
This is from a story I wrote for Gourmet Traveller in 2022. Even from the earliest days of settlement, Australian food wasn’t as bland or monocultural as you’d first think.
This is from a story I wrote for Gourmet Traveller in 2022. Even from the earliest days of settlement, Australian food wasn’t as bland or monocultural as you’d first think.
September 8, 2025 at 7:16 AM
I wonder how many protesters at the recent anti-immigration rallies knew that the colony was saved by Indian food?
This is from a story I wrote for Gourmet Traveller in 2022. Even from the earliest days of settlement, Australian food wasn’t as bland or monocultural as you’d first think.
This is from a story I wrote for Gourmet Traveller in 2022. Even from the earliest days of settlement, Australian food wasn’t as bland or monocultural as you’d first think.
The tahini at Al Amara is freshly milled and "could be measured in ripples: it drips rapidly and is always in escape mode". It's spectacularly nutty and "has more complexity and character than entire bookshelves". I wrote about this Iraqi bakery for Good Food:
www.smh.com.au/goodfood/syd...
www.smh.com.au/goodfood/syd...
Review: This condiment is ‘one of the best things I’ve tasted this year’
Al Amara grinds its own fresh tahini from pure sesame on site every day – but there’s much more to this bakery.
www.smh.com.au
August 22, 2025 at 7:51 AM
The tahini at Al Amara is freshly milled and "could be measured in ripples: it drips rapidly and is always in escape mode". It's spectacularly nutty and "has more complexity and character than entire bookshelves". I wrote about this Iraqi bakery for Good Food:
www.smh.com.au/goodfood/syd...
www.smh.com.au/goodfood/syd...
"Maybe you will build those toxic – emotionally, spiritually, environmentally – simulacra engines and suck up all the water and tank the energy grid w/ the demand for the worst art ever made." @squigglyrick.bsky.social takes on AI slop (unlike AI slop, it's ace) rick-morton.ghost.io/crumbs-at-th...
Crumbs at the Slophouse
There was a man at the ice creamery the other day and I cannot stop thinking about him.
He looked about 50. No family in tow, indeed no other travelling friends or acquaintances in sight. From his pe...
rick-morton.ghost.io
August 22, 2025 at 6:47 AM
"Maybe you will build those toxic – emotionally, spiritually, environmentally – simulacra engines and suck up all the water and tank the energy grid w/ the demand for the worst art ever made." @squigglyrick.bsky.social takes on AI slop (unlike AI slop, it's ace) rick-morton.ghost.io/crumbs-at-th...
83% of people killed by Israel in Gaza are civilians, according to the Israeli military's own data. This "is extremely high for modern warfare, even compared with conflicts notorious for indiscriminate killing, including the Syrian and Sudanese civil wars"
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
Revealed: Israeli military’s own data indicates civilian death rate of 83% in Gaza war
Figures from classified IDF database listed 8,900 named fighters as dead or probably dead in May, as overall death toll reached 53,000
www.theguardian.com
August 22, 2025 at 6:11 AM
83% of people killed by Israel in Gaza are civilians, according to the Israeli military's own data. This "is extremely high for modern warfare, even compared with conflicts notorious for indiscriminate killing, including the Syrian and Sudanese civil wars"
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
From Engadine Maccas and beyond: I talked to Gary He about his acclaimed McAtlas book. He's visited McDonald's in 50+ countries, including Australia (home to Melbourne's Art Deco Maccas, the McCafe, the infamous Engadine site & the worst thing he ate on his trip, LOL) www.smh.com.au/goodfood/eat...
Does Australia’s biggest contribution to global dining come from ... McDonald’s?
Here’s what makes our Macca’s stores stand out among 50 global outlets.
www.smh.com.au
August 4, 2025 at 4:10 AM
From Engadine Maccas and beyond: I talked to Gary He about his acclaimed McAtlas book. He's visited McDonald's in 50+ countries, including Australia (home to Melbourne's Art Deco Maccas, the McCafe, the infamous Engadine site & the worst thing he ate on his trip, LOL) www.smh.com.au/goodfood/eat...
Reposted by Lee Tran Lam
Returning on the train from the Sydney March for Humanity, Free Palestine protest and they are still turning people back on the bridge
August 3, 2025 at 5:55 AM
Returning on the train from the Sydney March for Humanity, Free Palestine protest and they are still turning people back on the bridge
Reposted by Lee Tran Lam
Me: "So which country should @aoc.bsky.social go back to?"
Mick Mulvaney: "She's an American citizen."
Me: "So why did Trump tell her to go back to her country?"
I asked former Trump WH chief of staff Mulvaney if he ever challenged his then boss on his racist tweets.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wolq...
Mick Mulvaney: "She's an American citizen."
Me: "So why did Trump tell her to go back to her country?"
I asked former Trump WH chief of staff Mulvaney if he ever challenged his then boss on his racist tweets.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wolq...
August 2, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Me: "So which country should @aoc.bsky.social go back to?"
Mick Mulvaney: "She's an American citizen."
Me: "So why did Trump tell her to go back to her country?"
I asked former Trump WH chief of staff Mulvaney if he ever challenged his then boss on his racist tweets.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wolq...
Mick Mulvaney: "She's an American citizen."
Me: "So why did Trump tell her to go back to her country?"
I asked former Trump WH chief of staff Mulvaney if he ever challenged his then boss on his racist tweets.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wolq...
A group of journalists working at AFP said this week that “without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die”.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
July 25, 2025 at 9:09 AM
A group of journalists working at AFP said this week that “without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die”.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
“Musab al Dibes is 14 years old, but looks like a small child … His weight has dropped from 40 kilograms to 10 … The Gaza Strip is suffering from a major catastrophe in terms of food. There is no food, no milk, no meat, no fish, no legumes, nothing” www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...
Weighing just 10kg at 14 years old: 'Major starvation' takes hold in Gaza
In a ward of Gaza City's Shifa Hospital, multiple children and some adults can be found emaciated from the lack of food. Doctors say the rate of death from starvation is rapidly rising.
www.abc.net.au
July 25, 2025 at 5:59 AM
“Musab al Dibes is 14 years old, but looks like a small child … His weight has dropped from 40 kilograms to 10 … The Gaza Strip is suffering from a major catastrophe in terms of food. There is no food, no milk, no meat, no fish, no legumes, nothing” www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...
Reposted by Lee Tran Lam
Israel blocking aid from Gaza is creating ‘chaos and death’, say humanitarian groups
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
Israel blocking aid from Gaza is creating ‘chaos and death’, say humanitarian groups
Letter signed by agencies including Doctors Without Borders condemns Israeli military attacks on Palestinians
www.theguardian.com
July 23, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Israel blocking aid from Gaza is creating ‘chaos and death’, say humanitarian groups
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
Last year, I wrote a Sydney dining guide for Gastro Obscura's Feast. The series covered 9 cities (from Lagos to Penang) and has just won a James Beard media award for Dining & Travel! Congrats to @dianahubbell.bsky.social, Anne Ewbank and Sam O'Brien on the win!
www.atlasobscura.com/articles/whe...
www.atlasobscura.com/articles/whe...
A Gastro Obscura Guide to Sydney
Wattleseed pudding, Vegemite-braised ribs, and more freewheeling fusion in the harbor city.
www.atlasobscura.com
June 16, 2025 at 8:07 AM
Last year, I wrote a Sydney dining guide for Gastro Obscura's Feast. The series covered 9 cities (from Lagos to Penang) and has just won a James Beard media award for Dining & Travel! Congrats to @dianahubbell.bsky.social, Anne Ewbank and Sam O'Brien on the win!
www.atlasobscura.com/articles/whe...
www.atlasobscura.com/articles/whe...
BTW, @dremmabeckett.bsky.social & @emantzioris.bsky.social are on this show, where Dr Evangeline makes this ace point: "The word diet in Greek actually comes from the word diaita, which actually means the way you choose to live your life. It's not about just the food." www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
03 | Cooked: Mystery in the Mediterranean - ABC listen
It was one of the world's biggest nutrition trials. A study of thousands of people which found that following a Mediterranean diet could meaningfully reduce someone's risk of heart disease and stroke....
www.abc.net.au
June 2, 2025 at 8:59 AM
BTW, @dremmabeckett.bsky.social & @emantzioris.bsky.social are on this show, where Dr Evangeline makes this ace point: "The word diet in Greek actually comes from the word diaita, which actually means the way you choose to live your life. It's not about just the food." www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
Chocolate: romance aid, dog poison and … health food? In France, the royal pharmacist treated Marie-Antoinette's headaches with chocolate. So is it 'good' for you? I explore this, cacao's 4000-year-old Mexican history and much more on the new season of my SBS podcast! www.sbs.com.au/audio/podcas...
Chocolate: Food of the gods, romantic gesture, dog poison
In 18th-century France, the royal pharmacist treated Marie-Antoinette’s headaches with chocolate. This sweet even appeared in European hospital prescriptions! Medicinal use of chocolate goes back thou...
www.sbs.com.au
February 27, 2025 at 5:06 AM
Chocolate: romance aid, dog poison and … health food? In France, the royal pharmacist treated Marie-Antoinette's headaches with chocolate. So is it 'good' for you? I explore this, cacao's 4000-year-old Mexican history and much more on the new season of my SBS podcast! www.sbs.com.au/audio/podcas...
Thank you Kristin! Loved getting the chance to do a second season of the Culinary Archive podcast with the Powerhouse Museum about Australia’s food history - and future. omny.fm/shows/culina...
February 7, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Thank you Kristin! Loved getting the chance to do a second season of the Culinary Archive podcast with the Powerhouse Museum about Australia’s food history - and future. omny.fm/shows/culina...
I like best-of lists: they're a backdoor into the year that's gone, except now with all the shortcuts, cheat codes & greatest hits revealed.
On my Patreon newsletter & podcast, I've just covered the best podcasts I've heard & my fave dishes and food experiences of 2024 www.patreon.com/leetranlam
On my Patreon newsletter & podcast, I've just covered the best podcasts I've heard & my fave dishes and food experiences of 2024 www.patreon.com/leetranlam
Get more from Lee Tran Lam on Patreon
creating podcasts and newsletters
www.patreon.com
January 12, 2025 at 1:43 AM
I like best-of lists: they're a backdoor into the year that's gone, except now with all the shortcuts, cheat codes & greatest hits revealed.
On my Patreon newsletter & podcast, I've just covered the best podcasts I've heard & my fave dishes and food experiences of 2024 www.patreon.com/leetranlam
On my Patreon newsletter & podcast, I've just covered the best podcasts I've heard & my fave dishes and food experiences of 2024 www.patreon.com/leetranlam