In this episode of This Week in Barbecue, Rasheed Philips and James Welch cover a wild mix of barbecue news, culture, business, and food-world questions. The show starts with National Mac and Cheese Day and National Nude Day before Rasheed recaps cooking live fire at Windy City Smokeout in Chicago, including jerk chicken, bourbon jerk lamb chops, outside skirt steak with jerk chimichurri, and a memorable meal with Blake at Monteverde.

The episode closes with a deeper conversation on authenticity in barbecue. Is culturally driven barbecue really a “third wave,” or is this the Sazón Era? Rasheed and James discuss Egyptian, Thai, Chinese, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Jamaican, Czech, German, and Southern influences, and why the barbecue platter may be one of the most culturally diverse dishes in America.