This week: Musician Laura Veirs breathes deep… author Jonathan Safran Foer pigs out… and we discover King Tut’s last hut.
Icebreaker: Stewart Brand
Back in the ’60s and ’70s, Stewart Brand spearheaded the hippie “back to the Earth” movement as editor of the infamous National Book Award-winning “Whole Earth Catalog.” In the ’90s he founded pioneering social network The Well. And these days he’s busy angering many of his former colleagues with a new book, “The Whole Earth Discipline,” in which he argues environmentalists should embrace nuke power and GMO’s. For us, he found a joke in a haystack.
Small Talk: Hockey Line Cut, Space Hotels, Talking Beer
The staff of Marketplace shares their favorite offbeat news stories from the week.
History Lesson with Booze: King Tut’s Hut and “the Tamarind”
This week back in 1922, the entrance to King Tut’s tomb was discovered. Financed by an English Lord-turned-failed-amateur-excavator, it was the most perfectly-preserved Egyptian tomb ever discovered. Listen to the story of the dig and its aftermath… then embalm youself with a cocktail named after one of the Middle East’s most delectable fruits. Click the link above for the recipe.
Guest of Honor: Laura Veirs
Laura Veirs has seven more albums than you do, and she’s filled them with lush indiepop tunes filled with natural imagery. Colin Meloy of The Decemberists calls her forthcoming release, July Flame, “The best album of 2010.” This week she tells Brendan about her pact with her producer/boyfriend, the joys of deep breathing, and why the new album’s a peach.
Main Course: Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Eating Animals”
Author Jonathan Safran Foer made a huge debut with his bestselling novel “Everything Is Illuminated.” His new book, “Eating Animals,” is a thoughtful non-fiction argument for vegetarianism and against factory-farmed meat. This week he and Rico try to figure out why so many meat-eaters find “vegetarian” a four-letter word.
One for the Road: Deep Purple, “Hush”
In October 1968, Deep Purple’s cover of Joe South’s “Hush”, reached #4 on the US Billboard chart. It’s from their their debut album Shades of Deep Purple, and it kicks ass.
