Byline: Will Jones
COCINA’s new podcast Takeout & Talk, hosted by writer-broadcaster Xorje Olivares, isn’t just another pop-culture chat series. It’s a space where food, identity, and creativity collide in the most intimate way possible: over takeout. With three episodes out so far, the show is already carving out a lane that feels fresh, familiar, and necessary.
For Olivares, the series is an extension of who he is on and off the mic. “The show is a perfect representation of my primary interests as both a host and an everyday person: culture and community,” he explains. A self-described “student of society,” he’s always been drawn to the way people show up in the world and how background shapes behavior, how identity informs ambition, how lived experience becomes narrative.
“We also wanted to see if the casualness of dinner conversation could be translated virtually—and it absolutely does!”
Across the first three episodes, Olivares has already collected stories that stick with him. He recalls music journalist Suzy Exposito describing the pushback she faced in 2020 when covering Bad Bunny, despite his exploding stardom. From writer-cartoonist Zeke Peña, it was the “visual vocabulary” he created to portray El Paso beyond stereotypical border imagery. And comedian Anjelah Johnson-Reyes offered one of the series’ most vulnerable moments: the realization that even happiness can be shaped by hidden trauma.
Each guest brings a different lens, but the connective tissue is culture. Broadly defined and deeply felt.
Why Culture Opens Every Door
“‘Culture’ is such a jam-packed word,” Olivares says. “We each have a completely different interpretation of how to participate in it or observe it, even if we are all Latino-identified.” That multiplicity is the gateway to richer, more layered conversations about identity, creativity, and the forces that shape us.
As a host, his job is to find each guest’s point of connection—pop culture, ethnic heritage, societal traditions, work culture—and go deeper from there. “Once you’ve dug a bit into their interests, it welcomes that deeper conversation about who they are and why they are.”
COCINA has spent years elevating Latino stories across platforms, and Takeout & Talk is a natural evolution of that mission. As a proud Mexican-American, Olivares sees the work as personal. “I’ve made it my mission…to use my platform and voice to shine a light on others who may look like me, sound like me, or come from the same place as me.”
But the show isn’t only about spotlighting major names. “You don’t need a Hollywood-style story to receive amplification…everyday people…are just as deserving.”
The guest list is deliberately eclectic, pulling from Olivares’ wide media network: writers, comedians, artists, advocates, journalists. “I also think a great ‘Takeout & Talk’ guest is someone who understands that, in the grand scheme of things, we’re meant to just have fun together—I mean, we’re eating tacos over a Zoom call!”
Centering Voices That Need to Be Heard
Looking ahead, Olivares wants the show to fill gaps left by a media landscape pulling back on coverage of marginalized communities. “Multiple media outlets have either eliminated or significantly reduced teams tasked with covering diverse populations…which ultimately impacts visibility.”
His response: keep widening the table. “My hope is that this show continues to spotlight Latino and BIPOC voices who have something to say about anything…We each have a distinct point of view…informed by our identity but not always about our identity.”
New episodes will drop a couple of times a month as the show grows. Tune in to Takeout & Talk on COCINA or Apple Podcasts.