PopUp Bagels

A show for PopUp Bagels

A Schmear of Life

Show cover: Adam Goldberg behind a pile of bagels, with the title A Schmear of Life

Every guest has a flavor that takes them back.

Here, they build it from the PopUp pantry.

Each ingredient opens a chapter of their life.

Book a call

Cover mock-up. Photo: Jen Goldberg / Resident Magazine.

Why this show

Every drop gets a story that outlasts the tub.

THE FLAVOR In stores for two weeks. Then the tub is gone. THE EPISODE The guest shares itClips keep runningViewers come to taste Air dayWeek 2Month 6Year 2 and after THE FLAVOR Two weeks in stores. Then gone. THE EPISODE Guestshares itClips keeprunningViewerscome to taste Air dayWeek 2Year 2 and after
01

The flavor leaves in two weeks. The episode stays on YouTube.

02

Each guest shares the episode with their own audience.

03

Viewers go to the counter to taste the flavor they watched being created.

How an episode works.

The pantryBase + 3 picks

1 · The base

Cream cheeseButter

2 · Already in PopUp flavors

  • Scallion
  • Parmesan“Grandma’s Sunday sauce”
  • Hot pepper
  • Garlic
  • Olive oil
  • Hot honey“First NYC apartment”
  • Maple
  • Cinnamon
  • Pumpkin

3 · New, from the guest’s story

  • Fig“Summers at my grandfather’s”
  • Za’atar
  • Lemon zest
Her flavorCream cheese + Parmesan + Hot honey + Fig
Example. Highlighted: her three picks, each with the memory she shared. The kitchen tests every combination before the shoot.

  1. The kitchen builds a pantry for each guest

    Before the shoot, we collect the tastes behind the guest’s stories. The PopUp kitchen mixes its staples with new ingredients from that story. It tests every combination, so any pick makes a new flavor that can sell.

  2. The guest picks a base and three ingredients

    Cream cheese or butter, then three picks. Each pick has to come with a memory. That memory is the conversation.

  3. The flavor gets a name

    The guest tastes it with the kitchen team and names it on camera.

  4. It sells in every store for two weeks

    We record weeks ahead. On the day the episode airs, their flavor is in every store, until the next guest takes over.

Adam Goldberg carries a tray of fresh bagels through the PopUp Bagels kitchen, under the Grip, rip, and Dip sign
The PopUp kitchen, where each guest’s pantry gets tested before the shoot. Photo: Jen Goldberg / Resident Magazine.

Where it happens.

A small kitchen corner, a butcher-block table, and the shelf of signed tubs behind the host.

Illustration of the A Schmear of Life set we would build for PopUp Bagels
The A Schmear of Life set · Illustration

The shelf grows with every episode.

At the end, the guest signs an empty tub.

The label shows their flavor, their name and their ingredients.

It goes on the pantry shelf behind the next guest.

Season after season, the shelf shows every flavor the show created.

next guests Maya R. ✶ A SCHMEAR OF LIFE · NO. 01 Sunday Table Parmesan · Hot honey · Fig In stores for two weeks
Illustration. The guest and flavor are examples.

A first episode, minute by minute.

A draft for about 45 minutes. Every part is built to become a clip.

  1. Cold open. The guest takes the first bite of their finished flavor.

  2. The pantry. A dozen ingredients on the table, and one rule: each pick needs a memory.

  3. First pick. The flavor that brings them back to childhood.

  4. Second pick. The taste of the moment it all changed.

  5. Third pick. What New York tastes like to them.

  6. The PopUp kitchen mixes the flavor. The guest names it.

  7. Tasting with the team. The verdict.

  8. The guest signs the tub and puts it on the shelf.

One rule for every question.

After 100+ episodes, I write every question in advance.

If the answer can’t become a clip, we don’t ask it.

  • Which flavor brings you back to childhood?
  • What taste reminds you of the moment it all changed?
  • Which flavor means New York to you?

Your flavors already make news.

Since August, a new celebrity or brand flavor almost every week.

Then the flavor leaves the counter.

The show keeps the story behind each flavor.

The Jonas Brothers holding a PopUp Bagels bag, next to the Burning Up cream cheese tub with their photo on the lid
Burning Up, the Jonas Brothers’ flavor, August 17 to 26, 2026. Photo: PopUp Bagels.
50+PopUp shops today, from one backyard window in 2020
Burning UpThe Jonas Brothers’ hot pepper Parmesan cream cheese, August 2026
Almost weeklyA new celebrity or brand flavor since August: Papa Johns, Drew Barrymore, Graza

Sources: NJBIZ (October 2, 2026) for the shop count; PopUp Bagels drop announcements, August to October 2026.

What each episode becomes.

Mock-ups, with press photos of Adam Goldberg as the first guest. Photos: Jen Goldberg / Resident Magazine, Page Six, The Forward.

The full episodeOn YouTube and podcast apps.
Vertical clipsFor Reels, TikTok and Shorts, cut from the best answers.
Collab posts with the guestSo each guest shares the episode with their own audience.
A monthly reportViews, watch time, new followers, and how the flavor sold.

Say So

Shows for the names people love.

We produce video podcasts for love brands, founders and athletes. Your community watches them to the end. Then they share them.

The Say So set: two leather armchairs, a lamp and two mics on a rug, in a dark studio
The Say So set · Illustration
Thibault at the mic on the Hors Cuvée set
On set
Thibault editing an episode
In the edit
We make the show
  • The concept, the name and the set
  • The guests your community already follows
  • Questions written to become clips
  • A multicam 4K shoot and the edit
We get it seen
  • YouTube and podcast apps
  • Reels, TikTok and Shorts
  • Collab posts with every guest
  • Paid boosts and a monthly report
Thibault Fourcade, founder of Say So

Founded by Thibault Fourcade. Six years producing podcasts, more than 100 episodes. Over two years as a chief marketing officer. Discover Say So ›

Let’s draft the first episode.

Tell us what you think of A Schmear of Life. We’ll come back with a first guest list and a plan for the pilot.

  • 30 min on Google Meet
  • Free, no commitment
  • Pick a time that works for you
Open the calendar in a new tab ›