Ksenija Hotić’s story is rooted in displacement, resilience, and food as cultural memory. Fleeing Bosnia in 1992, her family rebuilt life in exile, with food preserving identity and continuity. Now based between Toronto and Bosnia, she is an award-winning photographer and writer documenting global food cultures, currently creating a personal cookbook exploring memory, belonging, and connection.

Michael Shaikh, New York–based writer and human rights investigator, joins us to explore food in conflict zones. His book The Last Sweet Bite reveals how war reshapes not just lives, but what and how people eat. From Myanmar to Uyghur regions, food becomes both a tool of control and an act of resistance. This conversation uncovers how culinary traditions endure under extreme pressure. A powerful look at dignity, identity, and survival, told through the lens of food, memory, and the people who refuse to let their culture disappear.