Doubt is the middle position between knowledge and ignorance. It encompasses cynicism but also genuine questioning.

In complete darkness, it is only knowledge and wisdom that separates us.

I think a lot of food shows, especially when we started 'Good Eats' back in the late '90s, they were still really about food. 'Good Eats' isn't about food, it's about entertainment. If, however, we can virally infect you with knowledge or interest, then all the better.

Epistemology is the study of knowledge. By what conduit do we know what we know?

The education that prepared me was my general education classes, which I tried to avoid when I was a stupid undergraduate, but which gave me the foundation of general knowledge that makes a career as a writer possible.