• 49 minutes 48 seconds
    Nile Rodgers on Madonna, Spices, and Growing Up Amid Love and Addiction

    Welcome to Season Six! 

    How did growing up in a household affected by heroin, surrounded by jazz greats, shape Nile Rodgers? How did his Barbadian grandmother’s lessons about spices influence him? And what was it really like working with Madonna, David Bowie and Michael Jackson?

    In the first episode of Season Six, I sat down with Nile to explore his remarkable life, from his childhood in New York and joining the Black Panther Party at 16 to forming Chic and creating some of pop music’s biggest records. He shared stories of Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie visiting his family home, making Like a Virgin with Madonna and going out to restaurants together, as well as his first meeting with David Bowie.

     

    If you enjoy this podcast, leave us a REVIEW, hit FOLLOW, and turn your notifications ON to make sure you never miss an episode.

    Join the Ruthie’s Table 4 community on social.

    ⁠Instagram: instagram.com/ruthiestable4

    TikTok: tiktok.com/@ruthiestable4

    YouTube: youtube.com/@RuthiesTable4Pod

    Shop River Café Books and more… www.shoptherivercafe.co.uk

    Contact us: ⁠[email protected]

    Credits

    Presented by Ruthie Rogers: instagram.com/ruthierogers

    Production Manager: Bella Salini

    YouTube Editor: Andrew Tsang

    Producers: Robbie Hamilton

    Editors: Julia Johnson

    Executive Producers: Ruthie Rogers, Zad Rogers

     

     

    Recorded at: River Café: https://www.rivercafe.co.uk/

     

    Ruthie’s Table 4 is an Atomized Studios production: https://www.atomizedstudios.tv/

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    3 November 2026, 12:00 am
  • 2 minutes
    Season Six!

    We’re back!

    The sixth season of Ruthie’s Table 4 begins Tuesday, 3 November.

    Steve Martin and Martin Short tell us why grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup make the perfect Christmas dinner. Nile Rodgers remembers cooking with his grandmother in Barbados. Bertha González Nieves takes us to the agave fields where she fell in love with tequila, while Thandiwe Newton talks about reclaiming her name and her Zimbabwean heritage.

    These are just some of the stories and intimate conversations I’ve been having around the table, and I’d love you to join us.

     

    Hit FOLLOW to make sure you never miss an episode, and join the Ruthie’s Table 4 community on social.

    ⁠Instagram: instagram.com/ruthiestable4

    TikTok: tiktok.com/@ruthiestable4

    YouTube: youtube.com/@RuthiesTable4Pod

    Shop River Café Books and more… www.shoptherivercafe.co.uk

    Contact us: ⁠[email protected]

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    27 October 2026, 12:00 am
  • 42 minutes 18 seconds
    From the Archive: Richard E. Grant on eating the same seven meals growing up, Henry Higgins and coping with loss

    With Richard E. Grant delighting audiences on The Traitors, we’re looking back at this special episode of Ruthie’s Table 4. I remember Richard and his wife Joan in the early days of The River Cafe, coming in for lunch and sitting at the same table, always warm, lovely and absorbed in each other. More than thirty years later, Richard and I share the loss of the partners we loved. We came together to talk about family, food, friendship and, above all, the enduring joy of love.

     

    Hit FOLLOW to make sure you never miss an episode, and join the Ruthie’s Table 4 community on social.

    ⁠Instagram: instagram.com/ruthiestable4

    TikTok: tiktok.com/@ruthiestable4

    YouTube: youtube.com/@RuthiesTable4Pod

    Shop River Café Books and more… www.shoptherivercafe.co.uk

    Contact us: ⁠[email protected]

     

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    19 October 2026, 11:00 pm
  • 32 minutes 32 seconds
    From the Archive: Gary Lineker on Goals, Gnocchi, and Refusing to Stay Silent

    This week, we’re looking back at Gary Lineker’s visit to The River Cafe.

    Over the table, we travelled from his childhood in Leicester and the food of his mother’s kitchen to the football pitches of Barcelona. We talked about fame, family, and the importance of speaking out for refugees and compassion. Gary made potato gnocchi with tomato sauce alongside our chef Joseph Trivelli, and revealed his love of cottage pie.

     

    Hit FOLLOW to make sure you never miss an episode, and join the Ruthie’s Table 4 community on social.

    ⁠Instagram: instagram.com/ruthiestable4

    TikTok: tiktok.com/@ruthiestable4

    YouTube: youtube.com/@RuthiesTable4Pod

    Shop River Café Books and more… www.shoptherivercafe.co.uk

    Contact us: ⁠[email protected]

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    12 October 2026, 11:00 pm
  • 33 minutes 19 seconds
    From the Archive: Cate Blanchett on growing her own food, multiculturalism, and a disastrous Christmas dinner

    This week, we’re looking back to the summer morning we shared with Cate Blanchett, who joined me at The River Cafe after her run in Thomas Ostermeier’s The Seagull.

    We talked about the pleasures of touring a play, growing up between American and Australian food traditions, silent meals after losing her father, teenage dinner parties inspired by a Salvador Dalí cookbook, the joys of growing food, and her love of sake. 

     

    Hit FOLLOW to make sure you never miss an episode, and join the Ruthie’s Table 4 community on social.

    ⁠Instagram: instagram.com/ruthiestable4

    TikTok: tiktok.com/@ruthiestable4

    YouTube: youtube.com/@RuthiesTable4Pod

    Shop River Café Books and more… www.shoptherivercafe.co.uk

    Contact us: ⁠[email protected]

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    5 October 2026, 11:00 pm
  • 43 minutes 30 seconds
    From the Archives: Sarah Jessica Parker on the importance of food in Sex and the City, cooking with her husband, and pork chops.

    This week, we’re revisiting our live episode with Sarah Jessica Parker. And what a guest she was.

    Sarah has always had a deep love of food, so we had plenty to talk about: from the role of food in Sex and the City, where so many memorable conversations unfolded around a meal, to growing up as one of eight children and cooking every night with Matthew Broderick.

    She cooked puntarelle in the kitchen with Sian Wyn Owen, took questions from our audience, shared her thoughts on airplane food, revealed her perfect pork chops, and her devotion to Burford eggs.

     

    Hit FOLLOW to make sure you never miss an episode, and join the Ruthie’s Table 4 community on social.

    ⁠Instagram: instagram.com/ruthiestable4

    TikTok: tiktok.com/@ruthiestable4

    YouTube: youtube.com/@RuthiesTable4Pod

    Shop River Café Books and more… www.shoptherivercafe.co.uk

    Contact us: ⁠[email protected]

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    28 September 2026, 11:00 pm
  • 34 minutes 50 seconds
    From the Archive: Benedict Cumberbatch on Living with Wes Anderson, Imitating Ruthie & ‘Daddy Pancakes’

    During our between-season break, we’re revisiting some of our favourite conversations from the Ruthie’s Table 4 archive.

    This week, we're looking back to when Benedict Cumberbatch joined me at The River Cafe to talk about Negronis with Wes Anderson, growing up in a theatrical family, body transformations, and cooking for his children.

     

    Hit FOLLOW to make sure you never miss an episode, and join the Ruthie’s Table 4 community on social.

    ⁠Instagram: instagram.com/ruthiestable4

    TikTok: tiktok.com/@ruthiestable4

    YouTube: youtube.com/@RuthiesTable4Pod

    Shop River Café Books and more… www.shoptherivercafe.co.uk

    Contact us: ⁠[email protected]

    Credits

    Presented by Ruthie Rogers: instagram.com/ruthierogers

    Production Manager: Bella Salini

    YouTube Editor: Andrew Tsang

    Producers: Alex Bell & Robbie Hamilton

    Editors: Alex Bell and Julia Johnson

    Executive Producers: Ruthie Rogers, Zad Rogers

     

     

    Recorded at: River Café: https://www.rivercafe.co.uk/

     

    Ruthie’s Table 4 is an Atomized Studios production: https://www.atomizedstudios.tv/

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    21 September 2026, 11:00 pm
  • 49 minutes 19 seconds
    From the Archive: Zoe Saldaña on Growing Up in Queens, Family Recipes & Why NYC Has the Best Pizza

    As we look forward to Series 6 in October, we’re revisiting some of our favourite episodes of Ruthie’s Table 4.

    Zoe Saldaña was a force from the moment she entered the restaurant back in 2025. She told us stories about her grandmother’s coconut desserts, how her family dances through life, and what it was like growing up in Queens.

    We talked about Caribbean soups, Dominican cooking and New York pizza — and by the end of the episode, we were all ready to eat.

     

     

    Hit FOLLOW to make sure you never miss an episode, and join the Ruthie’s Table 4 community on social.

    ⁠Instagram: instagram.com/ruthiestable4

    TikTok: tiktok.com/@ruthiestable4

    YouTube: youtube.com/@RuthiesTable4Pod

    Shop River Café Books and more… www.shoptherivercafe.co.uk

    Contact us: ⁠[email protected]

     

     

    Recorded at: River Café: https://www.rivercafe.co.uk/

     

    Ruthie’s Table 4 is an Atomized Studios production: https://www.atomizedstudios.tv/

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    15 September 2026, 7:24 am
  • 21 minutes 21 seconds
    How Food Shapes Our Work… Gayle King, Mark Ronson, Graham Norton, Emerald Fennell, and Patrick Radden Keefe.

    Whether in film, music, books or television, food can be a source of inspiration or integral to the way we work.

    In this special compilation episode of Ruthie's Table 4, we're talking about the shared ingredients of what we do, with Gayle King, Mark Ronson, Graham Norton, Emerald Fennell – the director of Wuthering Heights, and Patrick Radden Keefe – the author of London Falling.

     

    Hit FOLLOW to make sure you never miss an episode, and join the Ruthie’s Table 4 community on social.

    ⁠Instagram: instagram.com/ruthiestable4

    TikTok: tiktok.com/@ruthiestable4

    YouTube: youtube.com/@RuthiesTable4Pod

    Shop River Café Books and more… www.shoptherivercafe.co.uk

    Contact us: ⁠[email protected]

    Credits

    Presented by Ruthie Rogers: instagram.com/ruthierogers

    Production Manager: Bella Salini

    YouTube Editor: Andrew Tsang

    Producers: Alex Bell & Robbie Hamilton

    Editors: Alex Bell and Julia Johnson

    Executive Producers: Ruthie Rogers, Zad Rogers

     

     

    Recorded at: River Café: https://www.rivercafe.co.uk/

     

    Ruthie’s Table 4 is an Atomized Studios production: https://www.atomizedstudios.tv/

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    7 September 2026, 11:00 pm
  • 27 minutes 49 seconds
    Where Food Meets Politics… Jacinda Ardern, Andrew Jarecki, Erin Lyall, Hilton Als, Annie Leibovitz, Kamala Harris

    I've always thought we judge a culture by the way we feed our poor, our sick and our prisoners.

    In this special compilation episode of Ruthie's Table 4, we're talking about food and politics, in conversation with Jacinda Ardern, documentary filmmaker Andrew Jarecki, CBS conflict producer Erin Lyall, writer and critic Hilton Als, Annie Leibovitz, and Kamala Harris.

     

     

    Hit FOLLOW to make sure you never miss an episode, and join the Ruthie’s Table 4 community on social.

    ⁠Instagram: instagram.com/ruthiestable4

    TikTok: tiktok.com/@ruthiestable4

    YouTube: youtube.com/@RuthiesTable4Pod

    Shop River Café Books and more… www.shoptherivercafe.co.uk

    Contact us: ⁠[email protected]

    Credits

    Presented by Ruthie Rogers: instagram.com/ruthierogers

    Production Manager: Bella Salini

    YouTube Editor: Andrew Tsang

    Producers: Alex Bell & Robbie Hamilton

    Editors: Alex Bell and Julia Johnson

    Executive Producers: Ruthie Rogers, Zad Rogers

     

     

    Recorded at: River Café: https://www.rivercafe.co.uk/

     

    Ruthie’s Table 4 is an Atomized Studios production: https://www.atomizedstudios.tv/

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    31 August 2026, 11:00 pm
  • 24 minutes 3 seconds
    Why Restaurants Matter… Jamie Oliver, Piers Morgan, Marina Hyde & Richard Osman, Tracey Emin & Dara Khosrowshahi

    It may come as no surprise that I have a special interest in restaurants. The River Café is where I work, where I record this podcast, and where I spend so much of my life.

    In this special compilation episode of Ruthie’s Table 4, we’re talking about restaurants—how to run them and why they matter—with stories and memories from Piers Morgan, Jamie Oliver, Marina Hyde and Richard Osman, Tracey Emin, and Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber.

     

     

    Hit FOLLOW to make sure you never miss an episode, and join the Ruthie’s Table 4 community on social.

    ⁠Instagram: instagram.com/ruthiestable4

    TikTok: tiktok.com/@ruthiestable4

    YouTube: youtube.com/@RuthiesTable4Pod

    Shop River Café Books and more… www.shoptherivercafe.co.uk

    Contact us: ⁠[email protected]

    Credits

    Presented by Ruthie Rogers: instagram.com/ruthierogers

    Production Manager: Bella Salini

    YouTube Editor: Andrew Tsang

    Producers: Alex Bell & Robbie Hamilton

    Editors: Alex Bell and Julia Johnson

    Executive Producers: Ruthie Rogers, Zad Rogers

     

     

    Recorded at: River Café: https://www.rivercafe.co.uk/

     

    Ruthie’s Table 4 is an Atomized Studios production: https://www.atomizedstudios.tv/

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    24 August 2026, 11:00 pm
  • More Episodes? Get the App