The Kitchen Sisters—Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva—have been producing radio programs since 1979. With Jay Allison, they are the creators of two Peabody Award-winning series on National Public Radio: Lost & Found Sound and The Sonic Memorial Project.
Their new, critically acclaimed series, Hidden Kitchens: Stories, Recipes and More, features interviews with amateur cooks who use unconventional methods to prepare strange food in surprising places throughout the United States. Following tips solicited from NPR listeners and food historians, the Sisters explore and celebrate the worlds of street-corner cooking, local eating rituals, unsung culinary heroes, and various hidden kitchens and restaurants that reflect the way people live and adapt in twenty-first century America. For their wild and poignant chronicle of American life through food, they were awarded the Alfred I. du Pont-Columbia Award for 2006.
The Kitchen Sisters’ work is recognized for its layering of archival audio with interviews and music, a feeling of place, and offbeat humor. They teach “Advanced Radio” at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and conduct interviews and broadcasting workshops throughout the United States.
DAVIA NELSON
In addition to her work in radio, Davia
Nelson is a casting director and screenwriter who lives in San
Francisco. She co-wrote and produced the feature film Imaginary Crimes, starring Harvey Keitel, and has co-directed and produced Making Tutti, a PBS documentary. She is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz.
http://www.kitchensisters.org/
NIKKI SILVA
In addition to a career in broadcast
journalism, Nikki Silva is a museum curator and exhibit consultant
specializing in regional history for museums throughout California. She
lives with her family on a commune in Santa Cruz. She is a graduate of
the University of California, Santa Cruz.
http://www.kitchensisters.org/
ALAN ACOSTA (moderator) Alan Acosta is a Pulitzer Prize-winning
journalist who is Associate Vice President and Director of University
Communications at Stanford. He is a graduate of the University of
California, Santa Cruz and the Columbia University Graduate School of
Journalism.