Description

The Migration Menu: Live from Edinburgh

The Migration Menu is a podcast that explores migration, race, empire, and belonging through food, storytelling, and conversation. Hosted by anthropologists James Staples and Luke Heslop, the podcast brings academic thinking into dialogue with everyday experiences, public debate, and cultural life in Britain and beyond, through food.

For PeopleFest, The Migration Menu will host a live conversation and audience Q&A with local celebrity chef Tony Singh (tbc), Best selling cook book author Meera Sodha (tbc), and possibly other South Asian diaspora food suppliers in the region. The hosts will discuss how food becomes a lens for understanding migration histories, postcolonial Britain, class, and labour, as well as demonstrating the challenges and possibilities of translating anthropological ideas beyond the university.

The live event will move between discussion and audience participation. Topics will include: Food, memory, migration, contemporary Britain, authenticity and empire.

The event will also demonstate the value of anthorpolgical knowledge and research skills, by utilising them to facilitate the telling of lesser-heard stories through food. The conversation will be informal, reflective, and humorous, grounded in concrete examples rather than jargon.

No prior knowledge of anthropology is required. This event is designed for anyone interested in migration, culture, food, and the social worlds we inhabit – and in how research can be made meaningful, accountable, and engaging outside academic institutions.

The podcast episode recorded at PeopleFest will be freely available on all platforms. The Migration Menu is listened to across 78 countries.