I have a new hero. Her name is Evan Kleiman and she is the host of Good Food, which airs Saturday mornings at 11:00 a.m. on KCRW, Santa Monica public radio. Evan has a warm, comforting, slightly nasal voice; is prone to big laughter, ooh-ing, ahh-ing, and hmm-ing; and has a palpable love for everything related to food.

I didn't know about Good Food until last weekend when my best friend, Patty, up visiting from Los Angeles, downloaded the latest episode and insisted that I listen to it. Evan had me at "Hello": "Today, let's start at the beginning and meet some of the people who harvest the food we eat every day. Then we'll take a trip with that food through your body... and out. Meet your colon, people!"

The show led off, as it always does, with a report from the Santa Monica Farmers' Market. It went on to include coverage of the food shortage in Haiti; an interview with Raghavan Iyer, author of the cookbook 660 Curries; an investigation into the devastating working conditions of migrant farm workers; a conversation with a harvester of sea urchins; and a segment on the controversy/benefits of colonics. Good Food's range of topics, cultural perspectives, and underlying affection for food has me obsessively working my way through the online program archives. This week, I've learned how to render my own lard and bison tallow and heard Evan interview a man about his website showcasing meat hats (www.hatsofmeat.com). Thankfully, Evan's been Good Food's host since 1998, so I've got a lot of great listening and learning ahead of me.

Listen to and download episodes of Good Food at www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/gf.