1. What is it you want to talk about? (It can be an object, a piece of music, a story, a family tradition, etc.)

I want to tell a story about two different soups that the different sides of my family make, gumbo and mushroom soup.

2. What is the story behind it?

 When I was younger, my paternal grandfather who is from Louisiana would come and visit from Texas. He would bring his big pot and make gumbo for the family, but I was a very picky eater and always refused to eat it. Conversely, when I was older, my mother started making Turkish mushroom soup for me. To this day, I have still never had my grandfather’s gumbo because he is older and can’t come and visit as often, however my mother’s soup is one of my favorite foods and we make it together all the time. 

3. What does it say about you, your family, or the associated people?

My mother has more family members that live in Atlanta than my father, even though my father’s family still mostly live in the southern part of the country. However, even though not all of my mother’s relatives in Atlanta are Turkish, I have a closer bond with her side of the family which can be seen by my love of her soup. The comparison of my relationship with these soups shows my heritage, family relationships, and my desire to become closer to my father’s side of the family. 

4. How are you going to present this story? How are you going to engage the listeners throughout the podcast?

1) I’ll start with a question – What does food mean to your family?/What does soup mean to you?

2) I’ll introduce both mother’s dish and her side of the family

3) I’ll introduce my grandfather’s dish and my father’s side of the family

4) I’ll compare my relationship to both sides by comparing my relationships to the soups

5) I’ll talk about my recent realization of my distance from my father’s side of the family and my new willingness to try food related to my family heritage, even if it has things I may not like to eat

6) At the end, I’ll encourage others to pay attention to the dishes important to their family history and tell them to tune into the new episode next week about something related to this topic. 

5. Do you plan to interview other people? *(check the requirements of interviews below)

I may interview my grandfather about how to make gumbo.