"Top Chef" executive producer/showrunner Doneen Arquines joined the “Top Chef” team during its very first season, working as a production assistant. She was promoted to showrunner during the season 12 finale in Mexico and has been leading the show ever since.

I (host Lindsay Christians) met Doneen a few times while "Top Chef Wisconsin" filmed in the state, and I was thrilled to have her on as my final guest. We talk about what challenges surprised her, how the show has evolved, and why she thinks viewers should cut the chefs from previous seasons a little slack.

There are no spoilers on this episode, so if you don’t yet know who won, that’s OK — we will not spoil it! The entire Season 21 of "Top Chef" should now be available to stream on Peacock.

Kyle Knall, chef/owner of Birch in Milwaukee, joined the judges' table during a recent "Top Chef" episode filmed at Harbor House. Kyle reflects on his own decision to move from a major market back to the state, and shares insight on how this season's competitors have grown.

Then we hear from "Top Chef" lead culinary producer Jamie Lauren, a former competitor herself (Season 5). Jamie's job is now to head up the team that makes sure the competing chefs have every ingredient and every tool they need for every challenge. We get into some good stories -- the fish boil at Grant Park Beach, she said, was "the scariest moment in all the seasons that I've worked the show."

Stephanie Bedford, a local book critic, food freelancer and fiction writer, reserved the URL TopSteph.com about 30 seconds after learning the show was coming to Wisconsin. A minute after that, I hired her on to do recaps for the Cap Times.

This week on the podcast, we talk about how Steph came to be the ideal Top Chef recapper, what challenges she has loved and who she's rooting for now.

Then I'm talking with Olivia Stowell, who as a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan has made a serious study of reality TV. Did you know that Top Chef is a "game documentary?"

This episode contains spoilers for the "Lay It All On the Table" Elimination Challenge on Episode 11 of "Top Chef" Season 21.