Lindy West: Smorkage and a Six Course Seattle Feast

Lindy West is an author, activist, and contributing opinion writer for The New York Times whose work focuses on feminism, social justice, humor, and body image.

On this episode of YLM, Lindy details a six course last meal feast that features smorkage, a flaky, buttery, custardy Danish pastry only available at a single bakery in the United States. Rachel travels to Seattle's Larsen's Bakery (larsensbakery.com) to taste the impossible-to-pronounce Danish pastry.

Lindy, a self-described "fat" person, talks about what it's like to eat in public, why she grudgingly ordere honeydew, and shares a humiliating story that involves a personal pan pepperoni pizza and an episode of This American Life.

Then things get "hyggely." The Scandinavian concept of "hygge" (pronounced "HOO-guh") is all about coziness, comfortable conviviality, and contentment - and it's taking the world by storm! Rachel chats with authors Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, and food anthropologist Signe Johansen about this defining characteristic of Danish culture.

If you live near Seattle, see Lindy West speak at Benaroya Hall on Sunday, April 15. Tickets at seattlesymphony.org/benaroyahall. And be sure to check out her book "Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman."

Pick up Meik Wiking's "The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living" and Signe Johansen's "How to Hygge: The Nordic Secrets to a Happy Life" wherever books are sold.

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