6 votes

Brad learns how to compost | It's Alive

13 comments

  1. [7]
    Nepenthaceae
    Link
    You know, I completely forgot about even checking the channel after the thing. I'm glad to see the folks in the kitchen but it sucks that a company can just move on like this. I would much rather...

    You know, I completely forgot about even checking the channel after the thing. I'm glad to see the folks in the kitchen but it sucks that a company can just move on like this. I would much rather have seen everyone just moving on and still getting an audience, like Sohla. I love me some Sohla.

    Also Brad of course! His videos are hilarious, something I normally don't really look for in a cooking video.

    11 votes
    1. [6]
      cfabbro
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Yeah, that is part of the reason this is the first video I have posted from BA since the break, even though they started producing content again over a month ago now. Of course it also doesn't...

      ...it sucks that a company can just move on like this. I would much rather have seen everyone just moving on and still getting an audience, like Sohla.

      Yeah, that is part of the reason this is the first video I have posted from BA since the break, even though they started producing content again over a month ago now. Of course it also doesn't help that most of the new content so far has been really, really bland, uninspired, awkward feeling, and rather charmless (not to mention riddled with sound issues)... which is not what I have come to expect from BA.

      I especially feel bad for the new and remaining cast though, since they all seem like really nice people and don't deserve the hate they have been getting on YouTube due to BA management's fuckups. And I am also super glad to see more diversity on the channel too... but unfortunately they do seem to have lost a lot of their magic, and I honestly don't know if they will ever be able to get it (or my trust) back. :(

      8 votes
      1. [5]
        vord
        Link Parent
        That's where I'm at too... I watched BA for like 3 chefs. If they moved on, so would I.

        That's where I'm at too... I watched BA for like 3 chefs. If they moved on, so would I.

        2 votes
        1. [4]
          wcerfgba
          Link Parent
          It seems like all of the chefs who left have managed to continue their careers working with other publishers and channels, so it makes me wonder why some people like Brad and Chris have stayed. If...

          It seems like all of the chefs who left have managed to continue their careers working with other publishers and channels, so it makes me wonder why some people like Brad and Chris have stayed. If they wanted to join the others in a show of solidarity then I'm sure they would also have been able to continue their careers quite successfully. So why stay? Were they scared that they would not be as successful outside of BA? Did they not empathise with the other chefs? Did they feel they could change the culture from the inside?

          3 votes
          1. [3]
            MimicSquid
            Link Parent
            From the allegations, Chris and Carla were part of the problem, and Brad was ignorant of race and its place in the kitchen decisions. But also Brad in particular was just a kitchen manager before...

            From the allegations, Chris and Carla were part of the problem, and Brad was ignorant of race and its place in the kitchen decisions. But also Brad in particular was just a kitchen manager before his show took off. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he didn't feel that he could catch the lightning ina bottle twice.

            4 votes
            1. [2]
              cfabbro
              (edited )
              Link Parent
              I don't remember hearing anything about Carla being involved in anything, but Chris was supposedly a huge part of the problem. See: https://www.vulture.com/article/sohla-el-waylly-profile.html And...

              I don't remember hearing anything about Carla being involved in anything, but Chris was supposedly a huge part of the problem. See: https://www.vulture.com/article/sohla-el-waylly-profile.html

              El-Waylly’s job at Bon Appétit wasn’t meant for someone with so much experience, but she took it anyway. In May, her $50,000-a-year salary was bumped to $60,000 when it became clear she was doing work above her pay grade. About five months into the job, she says, management wanted to create a more junior position underneath her to do the cross-testing she had originally been hired for. “They really wanted to hire someone Black, which I know you’re not allowed to say legally, out loud,” she says. “And Chris Morocco [the director of the Test Kitchen] directly told me he didn’t like how quickly I moved up, so he wanted to make sure this person would never be allowed to develop recipes.” As she puts it, management didn’t want another “Sohla problem.” (Through a Condé Nast spokesperson, Morocco stated that this conversation did not happen.)

              “They couldn’t find a single Black person who they thought was good enough to work in the Test Kitchen,” she continues, “but they were bringing in really experienced people, who have been in the industry longer than me, to work below us. Think about it: Every other person who’s had this job, this was their first job, because this is an entry-level position. But when they want to hire a person of color for that position, we need to have a million years of experience.” Disturbed by the hiring process, El-Waylly says she spoke to Morocco about it as well as Condé Nast HR and the company’s head of diversity, but saw no changes in procedure. (Condé Nast would not respond to questions regarding the junior position but released the following statement through a spokesperson: “Chris Morocco is not responsible for hiring practices and personnel matters, for Sohla to suggest that he is, is disingenuous and false.” Multiple sources in a position to know told Vulture he was intimately involved with hiring. When pressed about this, a Condé spokesperson clarified that Morocco was involved, but wasn’t solely responsible. Morocco did not respond to requests for comment.)

              And Yeah, Brad was only the Test Kitchen Manager when It's Alive started, which is why Gaby was eventually hired to take over the position from him, so he could do more videos... so it also wouldn't surprise me if he simply didn't have the confidence to strike it out on his own when everyone else left.

              I will keep watching BA for Brad, Andy, and some of the new people who show promise (DeVonn Francis, Rawlston Williams, and Chrissy Tracey in particular), but I frankly don't give two shits about Chris anymore, TBH.

              4 votes
              1. MimicSquid
                Link Parent
                Carla was mentioned as a problem by Adam Rapoport's assistant. I think the specific issue was who was and was not allowed to be in the background of the shots in the area near the walk-in, which...

                Carla was mentioned as a problem by Adam Rapoport's assistant. I think the specific issue was who was and was not allowed to be in the background of the shots in the area near the walk-in, which had been a more general hangout spot. The POC people were encouraged to find somewhere else to be, but that wasn't enforced on anyone else.

                2 votes
  2. [3]
    wcerfgba
    Link
    I've been composting for nearly a decade now. I take a very low-effort approach to it, but I am very serious about doing it: I consider it important and I wish more people would do it. I have a...

    I've been composting for nearly a decade now. I take a very low-effort approach to it, but I am very serious about doing it: I consider it important and I wish more people would do it.
    I have a black compost bin with a lid at the top and a 'door' at the bottom to get the compost out.
    All the veg peelings and egg shells go in a big bowl in the kitchen and when it gets full, I fill it with water and dump the lot in my compost bin. I also throw the toilet roll tubes and the occasional bit of scrap cardboard or paper from packaging in there as well, to help maintain the C-N balance.
    I leave it to do its thing, I don't stir it or anything. So long as it's kept moist I figure it will all rot down eventually, and I'm not in a rush for compost, it's just my personal pile so I can put some goodness back in to the local environment instead of filling my bin more often and shipping it off to landfill.
    I love when I lift the lid off and you can see big chunks of mold and all sorts of creepy crawlies on the inside, the pile is teeming with life and it makes me happy that all of my 'waste' is getting broken down and recycled in a process as old as life itself.
    I've been filling the current bin for about 7 years (maybe longer?) and it's barely half full, so it must be rotting down somehow!

    9 votes
    1. vord
      Link Parent
      On that note (for the uninitiated): Go around during the fall and gather bags full of leaves off the street. It's fantastic stuff to add to compost. Part of mitigation global warming is...

      On that note (for the uninitiated): Go around during the fall and gather bags full of leaves off the street. It's fantastic stuff to add to compost.

      Part of mitigation global warming is decentralized local farming/gardening. Living soil comprised of our waste otherwise destined for a landfill or incinerator is one of the best ways to help.

      3 votes
    2. Echinops
      Link Parent
      I have pretty much the same set up with a few modifications. I put it on a pallet with garden fabric below it to keep burrowing critters out and for air flow beneath the pile to prevent anaerobic...

      I have pretty much the same set up with a few modifications. I put it on a pallet with garden fabric below it to keep burrowing critters out and for air flow beneath the pile to prevent anaerobic conditions. And, most importantly, I added red wiggler worms. They'll churn through almost everything. I don't add cardboard but everything paper waste goes in. Also, as the other person mentioned, adding leaves in fall helps overwintering insects tremendously.

  3. [2]
    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link
    Glad to see Brad and It's Alive finally back after the BA debacle. I have really missed him and the show. Also kinda funny how it starts off with him sniffing Thai basil and comparing it to...

    Glad to see Brad and It's Alive finally back after the BA debacle. I have really missed him and the show.

    Also kinda funny how it starts off with him sniffing Thai basil and comparing it to catnip, since a few months ago I actually started growing a Thai basil plant myself (in my new Aerogarden). And even though I don't actually like the taste of it that much, so likely won't get much use out of it (other than the occasional soup and pasta sauce), the smell of it is so insanely amazing that instead of just getting rid of it, I decided to transplanted it and keep it growing. :P

    3 votes