Daisy Edgar-Jones’ dislike of stew becomes an unexpectedly useful starting point for a conversation that is much more interested in personal taste than polished celebrity talking points. Her explanations about mushy vegetables, gristly meat, childhood exposure, and even a book about a girl refusing peas immediately establish the loose, domestic tone. Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett lean into those details rather than rushing toward career promotion, making the opening food discussion feel genuinely conversational.
Food remains the strongest organizing thread, particularly when Edgar-Jones admits that she is a capable but cautious cook who prefers following recipes closely. Hartnett’s advice to treat recipes as guidelines, gradually substitute ingredients, and build confidence through repetition is simple but practical. The exchange avoids pretending that experimental cooking requires some mysterious instinct, instead presenting familiarity and practice as the route toward improvisation.
The miso, lime, herb, and butter spatchcock chicken gives that discussion a satisfying demonstration rather than leaving it abstract. Hartnett explains removing the backbone, flattening the bird, working the flavored butter beneath the skin, marinating it, and finishing it with parsley, chili, and fried onions. Her explanation of why spatchcocking promotes faster, more even cooking is especially useful, although some additional cooking guidance is more casually stated; the suggestion to bring meat toward room temperature before cooking and the description of resting as allowing stressed meat to “calm” are presented conversationally rather than with much technical precision.
Edgar-Jones proves well suited to the format because she rarely sounds as though she is delivering prepared anecdotes. Her enthusiasm for bread sauce, beach picnics, peanut butter, orange wine, toast, crisps, and condiment rules gives the hosts plenty to work with, while her tendency to reconsider answers mid-sentence keeps the exchanges lively. The resulting digressions occasionally become repetitive, but the chemistry among all three participants makes the loose structure more charming than frustrating.
The career discussion becomes more substantial once the conversation reaches Sense and Sensibility. Edgar-Jones speaks thoughtfully about taking on Eleanor Dashwood, her familiarity with Jane Austen, the pressure created by previous adaptations, and her belief that multiple interpretations of beloved work can coexist. Her comparison between different interpretations of a song provides a clear explanation of how she approaches an already famous role without suggesting that a new adaptation needs to replace what came before.
Her comments about period filmmaking are equally engaging because they connect amusing behind-the-scenes details with performance. She describes the contrast between actors in full costume checking Instagram, the lengthy process of dressing, being sewn into costumes, and the physical restriction of corsetry. The idea that those constraints helped her understand a character who keeps emotions contained is an interesting acting observation, even though the conversation wisely presents it as her personal experience rather than a broader claim about historical dress.
The return to Normal People, early career rejection, and her joking belief that cutting a fringe helped secure the role broadens the interview without becoming particularly revealing. There are appealing details about beginning to act young, considering quitting after repeated rejection, and unexpectedly experiencing a career-changing success during the pandemic, but later material about celebrity crushes and the rapid-fire food quiz is mostly lightweight entertainment. That balance suits the podcast’s relaxed identity, although viewers primarily interested in either cooking instruction or a deeper acting interview may find the constant switching between subjects somewhat diffuse.
Pros
- Edgar-Jones’ candid food preferences and cooking insecurities create an unusually relaxed and personable celebrity conversation.
- Hartnett turns the discussion of cooking confidence into practical advice about repetition, substitutions, and gradually moving beyond strict recipes.
- The miso, lime, herb, and butter spatchcock chicken provides a concrete cooking centerpiece with useful preparation and marinating guidance.
- The Sense and Sensibility discussion offers thoughtful insight into approaching a famous character already associated with admired earlier performances.
- Details about costumes, corsetry, and the contrast between period settings and modern behavior provide entertaining behind-the-scenes perspective.
- The hosts maintain strong chemistry with Edgar-Jones and allow humorous tangents without making the interview feel overly promotional.
Cons
- Several food and cooking explanations are deliberately casual and occasionally lack the precision viewers might expect from a more instructional format.
- The loose conversation sometimes repeats ideas or spends longer than necessary on minor preferences and jokes.
- Career discussion competes with food chat, celebrity-crush anecdotes, promotion, and games, limiting the depth available for any single subject.
- The rapid-fire ending is personable but comparatively slight after the more interesting discussion of acting, Austen, and cooking confidence.
Warm chemistry and an unusually unguarded guest make this an easygoing blend of food conversation, practical cooking advice, and acting discussion. The structure wanders and some culinary explanations remain informal, but the strong chicken demonstration and Edgar-Jones’ thoughtful reflections on performance give the episode enough substance to complement its lighter personality-driven moments.
