Celebrated chef Anthony Bourdain gets tough and tender in our etiquette segment… Breakout actor Mackenzie Davis (TV’s “Halt and Catch Fire,” the new film “Always Shine”) opts for reality over (manic pixie) dreams… Kurt Wagner, frontman of Nashville band Lambchop, turns back the clock with his party soundtrack…Iconic silver screen rebel Toshiro Mifune gets a new close-up…And Nora McInerny, host of the new podcast “Terrible, Thanks for Asking,” travels through time and tragedy, with comedy. Plus, sinister smog, verboten leftovers, and maybe the most tongue-tied joke in DPD history.
The Great Smog of London
For much of the 20th Century, England's romantic mist was actually a not-so-romantic brew of coal smoke and fog -- the word "smog" was coined to describe it. This week in 1952, the worst smog ever descended upon London, killing at least four thousand people... and providing the inspiration for this week's cocktail.
Lambchop's Kurt Wagner Spins Some Sweet Ol' Tunes
Musician Kurt Wagner is the frontman for the Nashville music collective Lambchop and over the course of 12 albums, he's drawn on everything from country to hip-hop, to create odd, lyrically rich music. With his new album, "Flotus," he's added beat-driven electronica into the mix. The Los Angeles Times describes it as, "something really magical." The Nashville native builds us a playlist that mixes a touch of "Hee Haw" with a little doo-wop.
Mackenzie Davis Worries About the Next 'Manic Pixie Dream Girl'
Actor Mackenzie Davis plays the punk rock coding genius Cameron in the AMC series "Halt and Catch Fire." Her latest film is called "Always Shine." It's both a psychological thriller and a look at the sexist pressures of Hollywood. She talks with Brendan about the gender stories featured in the film and the trend of female characters that seem to be a little too perfect.
Anthony Bourdain on How Fatherhood Influenced His New Cookbook
In 2000, Anthony Bourdain's best-selling memoir, "Kitchen Confidential," gave readers what was then a shocking glimpse at the difficult, dangerous and sometimes hedonistic lives of restaurant kitchen workers. He's also won a Peabody and three Emmys in a row for his current CNN travel show, "Parts Unknown." Bourdain's new cookbook -- co-written with Laurie Woolever -- is called "Appetites." He explains how working with his daughter in the kitchen help shaped the recipes and tells us how the culinary world has changed since "Kitchen Confidential."
Anthony Bourdain Gives Tough and Tender Advice
Each week our listeners send in your questions about how to behave, and answering them this time around is Anthony Bourdain. After talking with Brendan and Rico about his new cookbook and how the culinary world has changed since his "Kitchen Confidential" days, he stuck around to deliver some much-needed straight talk to our listeners about dealing with unappetizing appetizers and when it's OK to send back a dish at a restaurant.
Looking Back at Toshiro Mifune's Legendary Career
From the 1940s and into the ‘80s, Toshiro Mifune was known world around as Japan's answer to John Wayne. He starred in almost 200 movies, including a slew of classics directed by the great Akira Kurosawa. His life is now the subject of a new film called, "Mifune: The Last Samurai." Oscar-winning documentarian Steven Okazaki explores the actor’s origins and looks at how Mifune left his mark on cinema, despite being thousands of miles away from Hollywood.
Nora McInerny Recalls Living Life in the Face of Death
In 2014, writer Nora McInerny had a year like few others: she miscarried a child, then lost her father and her husband to cancer. Those tragedies are the jumping off point for her new podcast "Terrible, Thanks for Asking," a show about talking honestly -- and with humor, too -- about the painful things in life. Nora shares a story from her recent memoir in the audio above.
