With Anthony Brooks
Writer Devra First had her lunch cooked by robots. And she liked it. We’ll talk with her about the tangled web of technology and humanity — in the kitchen.
Guest:
Devra First, restaurant critic/food writer at The Boston Globe. (@devrafirst)
From The Reading List:
The Boston Globe: “Robots made me lunch. I enjoyed it. Is that so wrong?” — “So no, it’s not the robots I’m worried about. It’s the cooking, that most human of human tasks. Spyce’s $7.50 bowls are generously portioned. I can easily get two meals out of each, although your mileage may vary. At that price point, why would anyone go grocery shopping, mess up the kitchen, expend valuable time?
Because these things have meaning. Centuries of it. The real hearth is where we come together, to chop vegetables side by side in companionable silence, to talk while we wait for the water to boil, to taste the sauce and agree it needs more salt. We put what we have made on the table, and we sit and we eat. This is slowed-down time, resonant time, time together, and standing in line while we look at our phones is no kind of replacement.”
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