Encore Broadcast: Lin-Manuel Miranda talks about his latest work in “Moana,” and reveals how a cross country trip helped him perfect his freestyle rapping… “Nerdette” co-host Greta Johnsen proves why Virginia is NOT for lovers… Rapper Kevin Abstract gives us a dinner party soundtrack for time travelers… Writer Ottessa Moshfegh shares her favorite characters nostalgic for other eras… Plus, the fanciest way to eat beer for breakfast, the history of the Monopoly game, and the only Valentine’s Day advice you need from an Emily Post descendant.
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.
Kevin Abstract Bends Time and Space With His Party Playlist
Ian Simpson, better known by his stage name Kevin Abstract, is a Texas native won a diehard following online with a series of confessional hip-hop mixtapes. His new album "American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story" moves in a more pop direction and sees him both rapping and singing about never quite fitting in. Listen to him spin a time-hopping dinner party soundtrack featuring songs by Sunny Day Real Estate, Donell Jones and more.
Lin-Manuel Miranda on 'I Want' Songs, Going Method for 'Moana' and Fearing David Bowie
Playwright/actor/rapper extraordinaire Lin-Manuel Miranda is our guest of honor this week. His latest Broadway musical, "Hamilton," broke box office records and earned him a bunch of Tonys, a Grammy and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He also co-wrote songs for the Disney animated film "Moana," one of which is up for an Oscar. In a chat with Rico, the multi-hyphenate talks about his creative process for "Moana," shares how he honed his freestyle rap game, and explains why Bowie was the "uber-villain" of his childhood.
Beer for Breakfast? We Try the Danish Dish Øllebrød
We've talked before about the rebirth of Scandinavian cuisine, but we've never heard about a common Danish breakfast food that Brendan has been calling "beer porridge." It's is a dish Claus Meyer -- one of the best restaurateurs in Denmark -- has been selling since he moved to New York. Hear Brendan get a lesson on the classical Danish breakfast food and the importance of rye in Scandinavian cuisine from Claus himself.
What Chivalry Means in 2017 and Other Valentine's Day Thoughts
Each week you send in your questions about how to behave and usually we post them to a randomly chosen celebrity but here to answer them this week is an actual expert in the field, our friend Daniel Post Senning. He offers up a few tips to help us avoid faux pas for the most romantic holiday of the year before solving a few of our listeners' car pool problems and more.
Ottessa Moshfegh's 3 Favorite Wanderers and Weirdos
Ottessa Moshfegh is a frequent contributor to the literary magazine The Paris Review. And her novel "Eileen" was shortlisted for the twenty-sixteen Man Booker prize. Her latest work is a collection of stories about characters on the fringes of society -- it's called "Homesick for Another World." Here she is with a list of characters who are homesick for another time.
Tinariwen - 'Assawt'
Tinariwen are a group of blues-playing Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali. The band had to flee their homeland due to political unrest and have recorded their last two albums at a studio in Joshua Tree California. The latest one is called "Elwan." It just came out. Here's a track from it called "Assawt."
