This week: Street art superstar Shepard Fairey tags our table… An uncut history of sliced bread… And stacks of historic menus finally get their (web) close-up. Plus, a joke from celt-folk phenom Julie Feeney and a scorching tune from Ty Segall.
Icebreaker: Julie Feeney
Irish folk-jazz singer Julie Feeney gives us some laughable language lessons in case we ever go on holiday in Spain.
Radio listeners heard a one-two-three-liner from comic and writer Taylor Orci.
Small Talk: Patt Morrison
Patt Morrison, columnist for the LA Times and host of one of Southern California’s most popular radio talk shows, tells us about a signature course Indiana no longer requires in state schools.
A History Lesson with Booze: A Loaf, Divided and “The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread”
This week back in 1928, a Missouri bakery set the bar for greatness… when it started selling the first pre-sliced bread in history. Listen to the tale, then propose a (ahem) toast with this original cocktail:
“The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread,” as determined by Jim McCullough, owner of the Wabash BBQ in Chillicothe, MO (across the road from the original sliced-bread bakery):
In any available barrel/pitcher/bucket, mix together:
- A fifth of Stoli Vodka
- A fifth of Stoli raspberry vodka
- 6 Budweisers (A loaf of bread in every barrel)
- 2 parts raspberry lemonade (frozen concentrate)
- 1 part lemonade (frozen concentrate)
Stir with stick or hands. Divvy up the whole into individual servings (a la slices). Best sipped outside, with friends — it never gets stale.
Top Secret Special Bonus Web Cocktail
If “The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread” isn’t to your taste, take a listen to this BLT cocktail from Tony Geib at the Washington Street Food and Drink Co, also in Chillicothe, MO. The recipe:
In a salt-rimmed martini glass, mix:
- 3 to 4 oz. Grey Goose bacon-infused vodka
- bloody mary mix (as spicy as you like it)
Then garnish with:
- lettuce sprig
- toasted crostini / croutons
- cherry tomato
(Caution: Not a lunch substitute, esp. for those operating heavy machinery)
Guest of Honor: Shepard Fairey
You’ll find Shepard Fairey’s artwork right now in the L.A. Museum of Contemporary Art, in films, on rock album covers… and on the streets of almost any big city, in the form of posters and stickers he and his collaborators illegally paste up around the world. Celebrated as a godfather of modern street art, praised (and sued) for the iconic Obama “Hope” poster he created during the 2008 presidential campaign, maligned as a sellout, he’s been a lightning rod for controversy for two decades. Shepard tells Rico about meeting the President, why he still hits the streets, and his All-American past.
Main Course: Wiki-Feed-ia
The New York Public Library’s What’s on the Menu? program enlists the public to help digitize the thousands of historical menus (and indivudual dishes) in its collection. In only a few months, volunteers and foodies have already logged nearly half a million entries in the searchable menu database. Brendan talks to the NYPL’s Rebecca Federman and Michael Inman about the project – and some gems unearthed. Boiled sheepshead egg sauce, anyone?
One For The Road: Ty Segall – “You Make the Sun Fry”
Goodbye Bread marks the seventh offering in just three years from California punk-poet Ty Segall. His songs retain their gritty crackle, but he’s cleaned up the garage (act) with inviting pop and blues riffs. “You Make the Sun Fry” is a blistering summer anthem.
Music On This Week’s Show:
Sea & Cake – “The Argument”
Aphex Twin – “Boy/Girl Song”
Tipsy – “Liquordelic”
Night Club Orchestra – “Is Everybody Happy Now?”
The Oranges Band – “My Street”
Jorma Kaukonen – “Bread Line Blues”
Library Voices – “Bookish”
Ty Segall – “You Make the Sun Fry”
