Episodes

Episode 107: Brit Marling & Mike Cahill, Toothless Tickets, and the Confederate Cleopatra

Brit Marling/Fox Searchlight

This week: The filmmaking duo behind “Another Earth” keep it real… L.A. tells the truth about traffic tickets… and a Confederate spy in the house of love. Plus Miranda July sings for laughs, and Cut Off Your Hands. That’s a band, not an order.

Icebreaker: Miranda July
Miranda July, director and star of the new film “The Future,” enchants us with a tuneful joke.

Small Talk: Jeremy Hobson
Marketplace Morning Report host Jeremy Hobson tells us why Angelenos should smile when they’re caught by one of L.A.’s traffic-light cameras.

A History Lesson with Booze: The Cleopatra of the Confederacy & the “La Belle Rebelle”
This week back in 1862, Isabelle Maria Boyd was captured by the Union Army for the first time. And why would the Union want to incarcerate a fun-loving teenaged debutante? Because she was also a Confederate spy. Hear her story, then unite friends from either side of the Mason/Dixon line with this tasty custom cocktail, based on the native drink of our nation’s capital.

“La Belle Rebelle,” as devised by Derek Brown, mixologist and owner of The Columbia Room in Washington DC:

In a shaker over crushed ice, add:

  • 1.5 oz. Rye Whiskey
  • 3/4 oz. Tart Cherry Juice
  • 1/4 oz. Lime Juice
  • 1/4 oz. Grenadine
  • Dash of Bokers Bitters

Stir and strain into glass over ice. Top with Soda Water. Garnish with lime wheel and a speared brandied cherry. Sip, but remain vigilant— for the tart sweetness belies nefarious intentions.

Guests of Honor: Brit Marling & Mike Cahill
The celebrated new “romantic thriller” flick Another Earth may have a sci-fi bent, but it was filmed on a very down-to-earth budget. Brit Marling and Mike Cahill — who respectively star in and directed the film (they wrote it together) — talk to Brendan about their intended audience, the gift of zero dollars, and why it’s not easy to take a painting out of a museum — even if it’s yours.

One For The Road: Cut Off Your Hands – “You Should Do Better”
Despite their name, New Zealand band Cut Off Your Hands mean you no harm. Evidence: The galloping rhythm, intricate plucky guitars, and echoy sweep of their new single “You Should Do Better.” Best listened to on horseback, racing over hill and dale.

Music On This Week’s Show:

Sea & Cake – “The Argument”

Aphex Twin – “Boy/Girl Song”

Tipsy – “Liquordelic”

Plymouth Fife & Drum Corps – “Old Guard (Medley)”

Cinerama – “Model Spy”

Fall On Your Sword – “The First Time I Saw Jupiter”

Cut Off Your Hands – “You Should Do Better”