This week: Sex writer Dan Savage on cheating and snowboarding… Actress Jessica Walter of Arrested Development plays nice for etiquette… Doo-wop legend Kenny Vance on closing for the Rolling Stones… The director of indie gem The Kings of Summer warms us up for the season… Learn the history of Pac-Man, then gobble up a pizza-themed cocktail… The mutant cro-nut invades NYC… and an Alpine track that’s setting the internet ablaze. Plus, life lessons from Karate, apathetic jokes, and tacopedias. Browse with your mouth!
“Ignorance or Apathy?” – Kenny Vance
Reyhan Harmanci on the most delicious encyclopedia
Reyhan Harmanci, Deputy Editor of the new food & culture magazine Modern Farmer guides us to La Tacopedia: Enciclopedia del taco which may be the world’s most delicious reference book.
The Invention of Pac-Man and an Inventive Cocktail
In 1980, Toru Iwatani created an arcade video game that he thought would appeal to the ladies featuring a cute little dude who bounces around noshing on fruits and dots. It wasn’t big in Japan – but stateside, Pac-Man took off big-time. Listen to the history, play a few levels, and then join us at the bar for a highly unusual cocktail.
Summer delights from 'The Kings of Summer' Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts honed his chops with short films and Funny or Die comedy videos, before taking his debut feature, The Kings of Summer to Sundance. Since the film is all about the sense of freedom the summer evokes, so Jordan offers up a few other things that evoke that seasonal sensation.
Dan Savage on skanky pigeons, extreme musicals, and his new book
Author, journalist, and activist Dan Savage is best-known for his internationally-syndicated weekly column “Savage Love,” in which has been answering readers’ sex and relationship questions since 1991. He talks to Rico about squeamishness, skanky pigeons, and his snowboarding soundtrack.
Doo-Wop sensation Kenny Vance recalls rolling with The Stones
Kenny Vance had his first musical success at 15 years old - and then went on to record 15 albums with his doo-wop vocal group Jay and the Americans. In their heyday the group opened for The Beatles’ first US performance, but Mr Vance tells us the story of a different concert they played: the NYC debut of some band that he didn’t think was very cool at the time, called…The Rolling Stones.
Living fearlessly in and out of the dojo
When author Susan Schorn decided to learn karate as a way to deal with being an anxious person, she chronicled her journey from novice to double-black-belt in her McSweeney’s Internet Tendency column, “Bitchslap.” Now in her book, Smile at Strangers and Other Lessons in the Art of Living Fearlessly, she explains how lessons learned in the dojo apply to life in the day-to-day world. She gives Brendan a (non-contact) primer.
Jessica Walter misbehaves on screen, charms in real life
After a seven-year hiatus, Emmy-winning actress Jessica Walter is back to playing the booze-soaked matriarch Lucille Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development. She’s played more than a few villains - but while directors cast her as someone audiences love to hate, in real life Ms Walter is perfectly sweet…and she graciously offers up thoughts on favorite sons (in-law), and insufferable dolts.
Catching up on the Cronut craze
What has New Yorkers queuing for hours, launching a crazy black-market, and food-blogging so hard? Cronuts, of course. Brendan visited Dominique Ansel Bakery to learn all about the buttery treats - but that doesn’t mean he got to taste one.
Alpine - 'Gasoline'
An Australian band with a Scandinavian-influenced sound and a Swiss-sounding name, Alpine are hitting it big with the American release of their LP A is for Alpine. (Out now.) Go on a musical vacation with “Gasoline”.
Playlist: Episode 203
The Sea & Cake - “The Argument” Aphex Twin - “Boy/Girl Song” Tipsy - “Liquordelic” Gary Garcia & Jerry Buckner - “Pac Man Fever” Chromeo - “Woman Friend” El Bombe Atomico - “Pizza Del Soul Mix” Thin Lizzy - “Jailbreak” Nelly - “Bad Boys II Theme” “Legend of Zelda Theme” Thin Lizzy - “Cowboy Song” Leigh Ann Larkin & Laura Benati - “If Momma Was Married” (From the musical “Gypsy”) The Rolling Stones - “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” The Rolling Stones - “Not Fade Away” Jay & The Americans - “Come a Little Bit Closer” The Rolling Stones - “Little Red Rooster” Jay & The Americans - “She Cried” Jay & The Americans - “Cara, Mia” Kenny Vance & The Planotones - “Oldies But Goodies” Men Without Hats - “Safety Dance (Remix)” “Arrested Development Theme (Title)” The Roots - “Donuts (Outro)” Alpine - “Gasoline”
