Episode Details

Today’s guests are Lydia Keating and Max Baroni—content creators whose worlds span storytelling, cooking, and social media. Lydia is the founder of the Good Story run club and is known for her thoughtful approach to online life and community-building. Max is a chef and author of the Hot Side Substack, where he shares approachable recipes and kitchen know-how.

Lydia and Max join host Kerry Diamond to share the story of how they met during Lydia’s somewhat disastrous tryout at the Michelin-starred Four Horsemen restaurant in Brooklyn. They also talk about their unconventional paths—Lydia’s journey from rowing at Yale and Hollywood comedy hopeful to marathon runner and creator, and Max’s route from sandwich shop cook to Substack and social media—plus, Lydia’s time at the legendary Ballymaloe Cookery School, and Max’s decision to bypass a formal culinary education.

Thank you to Peter Som’s “Family Style” cookbook for supporting our show. 

This interview was recorded at Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center. 

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More on Lydia: Instagram, Good Story 
More on Max: Instagram, Substack
More on Kerry: Instagram, “So You Want To Open A Restaurant” Substack series