Shows
Reality Life with Kate CaseyEp. - 1634 - HANNAH SELINGER, AUTJOR OF VALLEY OF THE MOMS REAL HOUSEWIVES OF RHODE ISLANDKate discusses her theory about Brian and Rulla on Real Housewives of Rhode Island on Bravo. Author Hannah Selinger, who coined the term Scandoval, joins Kate to talk about her debut novel Valley of the Moms. Set in the affluent enclave of Hamilton, Massachusetts, the thriller follows Anna and Denny in alternating timelines, unraveling the toxic power dynamics, petty grievances, and dangerous secrets simmering beneath the surface of a wealthy mom community after a body is found in the Ipswich River. Reality Life with Kate Casey Summer Reading L...
2026-06-1038 min
Literary ProspectsThe Long Game: How Hannah Selinger Went From MFA to Debut Novelist at 45Hannah Selinger graduated with an MFA in fiction at 25, built a successful journalism career, got nominated for a James Beard Award, and still spent two decades wondering if she'd ever sell a book. She did.In this episode, Hannah discusses her acclaimed new literary thriller, Valley of the Moms, a sinister tale that plunges into the lives of wealthy, suburban moms (and dads) with deliciously dark secrets. Hannah also talks candidly about her winding road to publication, the difference between her memoir and fiction debuts, what she learned the hard way about book marketing, and...
2026-06-0945 min
TOTALLY BIASED REVIEWSHannah Selinger talks about Valley of the Moms with Asha Dore for Totally Biased ReviewsOur host, Asha Dore, talks with Hannah Selinger about her 2026 book, Find it here: .https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/hannah-selinger/valley-of-the-moms/9780316596558/?lens=little-brown About the book: Stepford Wives meets Big Little Lies in this twisty thriller that uncovers the untruths, petty grievances, and local school politics underneath a seemingly quaint small town.Hamilton, Massachusetts is one of those suburban towns that appears untouched by the outside world where stay-at-home moms wear 2ct diamond studs to the playground, where a million-dollar property is "affordable," and where the Parent Teacher Organization is a hotbed of controversy. Sure, some people s...
2026-06-0336 min
Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street RadioA Sommelier's Restaurant Confidential: Extended CutIn this special episode, we’re sharing an extended cut of our interview with Hannah Selinger about her tell-all memoir, Cellar Rat. She shares her best somm secrets and favorite stories—like what happened when she wore a Yankees cap to her restaurant job in Boston.Listen to Milk Street Radio on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
2026-06-0238 min
Book Friends ForeverValley of the Moms by Hannah Selinger Read by Teri SchnaubeltStepford Wives meets Big Little Lies in this twisty thriller that uncovers the untruths, petty grievances, and local school politics underneath a seemingly quaint small town.Hamilton, Massachusetts is one of those suburban towns that appears untouched by the outside world where stay-at-home moms wear 2ct diamond studs to the playground, where a million-dollar property is “affordable,” and where the Parent Teacher Organization is a hotbed of controversy. Sure, some people struggle to make ends meet, but residents would say discussing such ugly matters is impolite. Hamilton has been like this forever, and everyone likes it that way. Or: almost ever...
2026-06-0204 min
Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street RadioCellar Rat: A Sommelier's Restaurant ConfidentialFormer restaurant server and sommelier Hannah Selinger shares stories from her tell-all memoir, Cellar Rat, featuring run-ins with critics, strategies for spotting bad tippers, what she considers the stuffiest restaurant in New York, and how she thinks the industry may one day reform. Plus, Özlem Warren gives us the true taste of Istanbul and Kim Severson explains why America is breaking up with the calorie.Listen to Milk Street Radio on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
2026-05-2951 min
50 Tastes Of GrayInside the Restaurant Underbelly with Cellar Rat Hannah SelingerStep inside the restaurant underbelly with "Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly" author Hannah Selinger. In this raw, unfiltered conversation, Hannah shares food confessions, personal memories, and the emotional toll of working in a male-dominated industry. From spoon collections and guilty pleasures to misogyny in fine dining and the chaos of motherhood, this episode explores the beauty and brutality of life in and beyond the kitchen.
Topics include:
Vegas memories and spoon collecting as emotional anchors
Tattoos, tongue piercings, and food identity
Guilty pleasures, pantry staples, and cooking dynamics
Wine preferences and restaurant survival s...
2025-10-2655 min
50 Tastes Of GrayInside the Restaurant Underbelly with Cellar Rat Hannah SelingerStep inside the restaurant underbelly with “Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly” author Hannah Selinger. In this raw, unfiltered conversation, Hannah shares food confessions, personal memories, and the emotional toll of working in a male-dominated industry. From spoon collections and guilty pleasures to misogyny in fine dining and the chaos of motherhood, this […]
2025-10-2655 min
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore1229: Hannah Selinger, Author of Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant UnderbellyHannah Selinger is a James Beard-nominated lifestyle writer and journalist based in Massachusetts. Hannah attended the French Culinary Institute and started working in the restaurants around 2002 in NYC. She worked for some very big names, such as David Chang. In addition to promoting her new book, a memoir titled Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly, she is also promoting restaurant workers' rights in the modern age. Hannah asked that you use this link to purchase her book. Come hang with Hannah and me on 10/20/25 at 11 AM EST: https://zoom.us/j/6508205412 ...
2025-10-201h 24
restaurantunstoppablenetwork's podcast1229: Hannah Selinger, Author of Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly
2025-10-161h 14
A Song Called LifeEpisode #233: Hannah SelingerWith over 15 years of experience, Hannah Selinger is an accomplished writer whose work spans a wide range of subjects, including food, wine, travel, politics, lifestyle, real estate, and parenting. Her debut memoir, Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly (Little, Brown, 2025), has been praised by The New York Times as “a mix of Joris-Karl Huysmans, M.F.K. Fisher, and Regina George ... a howling account ... a fundamentally kind and generous book.” Her high-level print and digital content has appeared in prominent publications such as The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Travel + Leisure, Food...
2025-05-2359 min
Let Me Tell You Why...with Jeremy JacobowitzHow Does a NYC Restaurant Close in Under a Year?Jeremy Jacobowitz is taking a closer look at what it really takes to run a successful restaurant in 2025, along with the unique challenges facing the industry today with restaurateur Alex Shapiro of Flex Mussels, Hoexter's, and Il Totano. Plus tons of new restaurant news! 12 Chairs has a new concept, Jose Andres has a new restaurant, and way more! And of course, what I'm into this week with a quick review of Hannah Selinger's Rat Cellar! And a full rant on the running influencer Kate Mackz controversial interview with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt NEW SUBSTACK: https://su...
2025-05-0754 min
The Culture Show PodcastApril 29, 2025 - Hannah Selinger, Eephus, and Rock to Baroque: Four Decades of Music PhotographyHannah Selinger is a James Beard Award-nominated lifestyle writer. She joins The Culture Show to talk about her debut memoir, “Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly.” On April 30th she’ll be at the Boston Public Library Central Library in Copley Square for an author talk. To learn more, go here.From there director Carson Lund joins The Culture Show to talk about his debut feature film “Eephus,” a quintessentially New England baseball film. Find out more, here.Finally, photographer Eric Antoniou discusses his new book “Rock to Baroque: Four Decades of Music Photography...
2025-04-2955 min
DOTJ - Drinking On The JobEpisode 275: Hannah Selinger, author of "Cellar Rat," makes The New York Times Book Review.Send us Fan MailFrom Elite Sommelier to Fearless WhistleblowerIvy League-educated Hannah Selinger rose to sommelier stardom before risking everything to expose industry misconduct. Though blackballed for her courage, her explosive memoir is now captivating the literary world.Check out the website: www.drinkingonthejob.com for great past episodes. Everyone from Iron Chefs, winemakers, journalist and more.
2025-04-1448 min
Freelance Writing Direct with Estelle#134 Writing a Memoir That's Also an Industry Exposé Featuring Hannah SelingerHow do you turn personal experience into a powerful memoir that names names? Estelle Erasmus talks with Hannah Selinger, author of Cellar Rat, about transitioning from essayist to memoirist while tackling the dark side of the restaurant industry. In this episode: How Hannah's viral essay led to a book deal What it means to write a memoir that's also investigative Naming names and dealing with backlash The role of narrative in exposing abuse and toxic culture About Hannah: Hannah Selinger, author of Cellar Rat: My...
2025-04-1028 min
Listen to the StoryNotes from Underground: A New Memoir Settles Scores in the Restaurant IndustryHannah Selinger’s ‘Cellar Rat’ is full of fascinating intel on the business of selling wine, plus petty grievances against the hospitality world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2025-03-3007 min
Let narration inspire deeper understandingCellar RatVisit audiobookzap.com to sign up to the Audible 30-day free trial to listen to full audiobooks for free!Title: Cellar RatSubtitle: My Life in the Restaurant UnderbellyCategories: Biography, Chef, Cuisine, CulinaryAuthor: Hannah SelingerNarrator: Hannah SelingerPublisher: Little, Brown & CompanyRelease date: 03-25-2025Language: EnglishSummary:What happens when a career you love doesn’t love you back?
As Hannah Selinger will tell you, to be a good restaurant employee is to be invisible. At the height of her career as a server an...
2025-03-2500 min
Immerse Yourself in Studio-Quality Audiobooks Anywhere, Anytime InstantlyHannah Selinger - Cellar Rat#ads Stream any unabridged audiobook of your choice with premium access by starting your trial on:https://booksreader.space/al-1954/Title: Cellar Rat
Author: Hannah Selinger
Narrator: Hannah Selinger
Format: mp3
Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
Release date: 03-25-25
Ratings: 4 out of 5 stars, 39 ratings
Genres: Professionals & Academics
Publisher's Summary: Hannah Selinger chronicles her rise and fall in the restaurant business, beginning with the gritty hometown pub where she fell in love with the industry and ending with her final post serving celebrities at the Hamptons classic Nick & Toni’s...
2025-03-257h 29
This is ManitobaManitobans react to Trudeau's decision to step down as prime ministerHost Marcy Markusa talks to Ryan Tumilty, a political reporter with the Toronto Star, about the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, how a new Liberal leader will be chosen and when Canadians could be heading to the polls. How do Winnipeggers feel about Justin Trudeau stepping down as prime minister? There are lots of questions out there about who will replace him. CBC's Jim Agapito had a chance to talk to some folks at the University of Manitoba. It's party time! Our partisan political panel joins us to ha...
2025-01-0727 min
Finding the Throughline with Kate Hanley[Hannah Seliger: What’s coming up]: Why Hannah hopes her upcoming memoir will “piss off the right people” + the books, food, and music bringing her pleasureIn this final installment of the Finding the Throughline interview with James Beard Award-nominated journalist Hannah Selinger (whose book, Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly, will be released in 2025 and is available for pre-order now), we talk about what’s coming up next for her as well as what she’s been reading, watching, and eating, including:- The badass Martha Stewart documentary- “Health and Safety,” a memoir by Emily Witt, staff writer at “The New Yorker”- Her invention of the term #Scandivol- How “The Real Housewives” se...
2024-12-0617 minFinding the Throughline with Kate Hanley[Hannah Selinger inner stuff]: The dreams that take a decade to come true are worth the wait + loudmouth troll shitpostingWelcome back to my interview with Hannah Selinger–James Beard Award-nominated lifestyle journalist, Certified Sommelier, about-to-be memoirist, and–surprise!-someone who just sold her first novel.In this episode we really get into the nitty gritty of the mindset it takes to build a career as a journalist and author.We covered:The amazing feeling that happens when a longer piece of writing falls into placeHow starting the actual writing or a new piece gives her the heebie jeebiesFighting imposter syndrome after reading another writer’s stellar work
2024-12-0419 minFinding the Throughline with Kate Hanley[Hannah Selinger, practical matters]: The reality of making a living as a freelance writer + shifting from articles to books + the death of a tortoiseThis week my guest is Hannah Selinger, a James Beard Award-nominated lifestyle journalist who is also a Certified Sommelier.Hannah's work has appeared in a long list of prestigious places, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, The Wall Street Journal, Slate, Wine Enthusiast, Al Jazeera, and more. Her book Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly, will be released in 2025 (and it’s available for pre-order now).Fun fact: Hannah has traveled to 25 countries and currently lives in Boxford, Massachusetts with her husband, two sons, two dogs, and on...
2024-12-0225 min
Proof100 Proof: The Dark Ages (Episode 5)
The 1950s to the 1990s are often dubbed as the cocktail's Dark Ages where drinks like Long Island Iced Teas and Midori Sours reined supreme. The drinks from this time are often reviled or ridiculed, but they made important contributions to cocktail history, too. In this episode: How TGI Fridays, Madonna, and the Cosmopolitan helped define this era of the American cocktail.Further Reading:A Proper Drink by Robert Simonson"1970s Ockctails & Disco Drinks" Difford's Guide"History of the Nightclub" American Nightlife Association"How TGI Fridays...
2024-07-0333 min
The Common A reckoning in restaurants, continued... For the last several months The Common has been talking about the lack of accountability for harmful behavior from local chefs and restaurateurs, such as the allegations against Barbara Lynch, as well as comments made by Ming Tsai on WBUR's CitySpace stage.
Last month, CitySpace continued that conversation with a panel discussion called “A Reckoning in Restaurants: Combating Toxic Restaurant Culture.”
During the event, audience members submitted questions for the panel, which included Hassel Aviles, Co-founder and executive director of Not 9 to 5 (a non-profit in mental health advocacy for the foodservice sector); Irene Li, Co-founder of M...
2023-06-2813 min
Literally Delicious PodcastEpisode 6 - Recipes from Nora Ephron's HeartburnThe BIG episode is here, food nerds! In this extra long episode, Nick makes SIX recipes from Nora Ephron's 1983, semi-autobiographical novel, Heartburn. There's so much cooking in this episode that you might worry that Nick won't have enough time to be nerdy. But, fear not. Nick deep dives the origins of "back-of-the-box" recipes and argues for their importance to American food culture.If you would like to suggest a meal (or beverage) from a work of literature for a future deep dive, send an email with the dish’s name, title of the literary work, and the au...
2022-04-0551 min
Annual Amplify Women Teach-In 5 Years In: A Retrospective on the Amplify Women Teach-In The Amplify Women Teach-In is in its 5th year, and that’s been made possible thanks to the support of 100+ individuals. Coordinating the teach-in, and the why of the format, and the programming in general is something we haven’t gone in depth on quite like this. XRAY Development Manager, Nina Dabit (who has co-coordinated the teach-in with XRAY Talk Coordinator Miranda Selinger from 2020-2022) is joined by original co-coordinator of the teach-in, Keiren Bond, and longtime participant and XRAY talk content aficionado, Emily Gilliland.
Key episodes discussed:2021 - Reproductive Justice & Abortion Support, hosted by Hannah Rosenau with NWAAF & CASC2018 - Wh...
2022-03-1259 min
Bartender at LargeToxic Bosses w Hannah Selinger | ep. 251In can often be difficult to stick up for yourself & your coworkers when you find yourself in a toxic and abusive work environment. But what do you do when the abuser is a renowned celebrity chef such as David Chang of Momufuku fame. In situations such as this, it can be extremely difficult, as the power dynamics can be so lopsided, both in power & resources. This is only magnified by things such as media access and the proliferation of non-disclosure agreements. To help shed some light on this pertinent topic, we are joined by Hannah Selinger -- acclaimed writer...
2021-06-1428 min
Beatrice Institute PodcastMediating Relationships: Technology and HospitalityMichael Sacasas is an independent scholar focusing on technology and culture. Michael joins Elise to talk about the way technology shapes our society. They discuss the role media can have in disintegrating a sense of the common good and why technology tends to reflect ourselves back to us. Together they ask: Is online "real life"? What constitutes reality in digital spaces? And what's at stake when we refer to the digital as "space"? Digital and media environment Online identity formation Mediation Spatial metaphors for digital life Digitized r...
2021-03-031h 20
DOTJ - Drinking On The JobEpisode 88: THE REDUX - Hannah SelingerSend us Fan MailHannah Selinger's Eater article on David Chang was an epic call out on abuse. I expect nothing less from this brilliant writer. Check out the website: www.drinkingonthejob.com for great past episodes. Everyone from Iron Chefs, winemakers, journalist and more.
2021-01-1843 min
Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse065. Glitter Pirates in Glitterland by Alexis HallDr. Eric Selinger is back to discuss Glitterland by Alexis Hall and how it's basically a big old allegory for the romance genre. Eric and I speak authoritatively about books we've never read, and how Glitterland addresses mental health stigma.-Show Notes:Shelf Love:Sign up for the email newsletter list | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Email: Andrea@shelflovepodcast.com58 Romance Novellas For A Quick Hit of HopeCheck out Shelf Love’s updated website including the transcript for this episodeShelf Love episodes with transcriptsGuest: Eric SelingerDePaul website | Tw...
2020-10-1747 min
Shelf Love: Romance Novel Discourse052. The Modern Romance CanonWho among us hasn't started a project and then realized that you've inadvertently wandered into a longstanding and contentious debate? I enlist the help of two experts to unravel why I started the Shelf Love Modern Romance Canon project. First, Katrina Jackson helps me unravel some of the ways my professional and educational background made me think this was a logical thing to do. Then, Eric Selinger gives some backstory into the academic and institutional reasons canons exist, and why those who study, read, and write the popular romance genre have been circling this question for decades and will...
2020-07-2147 min
Cream of CarolineEpisode 27: Béchamel, the Whitest SauceWriter and béchamel enthusiast Hannah Selinger and I get granular about the creamiest of mother sauces: how to make it, how you can screw it up (and fix it!), what wines to drink with it, and all the ways you can use it to make a simple, delicious dinner. We also talk about nostalgic 90s snack foods, growing up with magazine cuisine, and what and who is important to support in the food world right now.
2020-05-1831 min
DOTJ - Drinking On The JobEpisode 60: Hannah SelingerSend us Fan MailHannah Selinger got a broken nose over a baseball argument, received multiple death threats after an article she published and can wax poetically about food and cult wines.Check out the website: www.drinkingonthejob.com for great past episodes. Everyone from Iron Chefs, winemakers, journalist and more.
2020-03-0243 min