This week: Jonah Hill’s search for the perfect coupling … Skip Lievsay explains how movies should sound … Life imitates board games imitating life (but not The Game of Life) … One mother’s love-hate relationship with a thousand plastic blocks … Getting what you pay for with luxury toast … The creator of “House of Cards” tells us how politics is like jazz … Woods to the left (to the left) … How to flirt with a Viking … And when to politely drink up and move on.
“Two Cupcakes” – Jonah Hill
The Frivolous Love Notes of Vikings
The Viking "jötunvillur code" has confounded scholars since its use 900 years ago. This week someone finally cracked the code. It was more candy-heart than battle-epic.
Monopoly Passes Go
In 1904, Elizabeth Magie invented a game to educate players about corrupt, greedy business tycoons. Thirty years later, her idea was ripped off and marketed by big business - as the game we know as Monopoly.
Beau Willimon's Series of Schemers
The writer and show-creator behind "House of Cards" understands characters who are sly manipulators - and every bit as entertaining as they are cunning.
What Jonah Hill Is Embarrassed by - and What He Is Not
Actor Jonah Hill earned his second Oscar nomination for his performance as a corrupt stockbroker in Martin Scorsese's over-the-top "The Wolf of Wall Street." He tells Rico about the moment he was tapped for the role… and about Stanley Kubrick's favorite film.
Lego-mania! One Mom's Struggles with Sanity in Bricksburg
Arlaina Tibensky has two children, one husband, and thousands of tiny, sharp plastic LEGO building blocks that are trying to take over her home - but, she assumes, they're also her kids' tickets to MIT.
The Value of Four-Dollar Toast
High-end toast has become a major trend in San Francisco. Is that natural for the local, artisan food movement or evidence that the city's tech elite will gentrify anything, even toast?
The Posts Suggest You Use a Fork at Least Once a Year
Our friends the Posts come back to our table to sing of great sandwiches - but not to eat them.
Sound Decisions Behind 'Gravity,' 'Inside Llewyn Davis' Earn Oscar Noms
You won't see Skip Lievsay's work on screen in either of the two movies for which he is currently nominated for Oscars - but his work as one of Hollywood's leading sound mixers doesn't go unnoticed.
Woods Moves to the Left
In April, the folk-rock band Woods is set to release their sixth album. It's called "With Light and With Love." We preview the first single, "Moving to the Left."
Playlist: Episode 240
Music from this week's show.
