Episodes

Episode 293: Titus Welliver, Sleater-Kinney, Tracee Ellis Ross

Photo: Brigitte Sire
Photo: Brigitte Sire

This week: Actor Titus Welliver on shooting a gun, canonically … Corin Tucker doesn’t think her band’s music is too awful … Tracee Ellis Ross shares the gift of laughter and a loopy life coach … Comedian Maz Jobrani helps our listeners confront stereotypes and racism, with jokes … Hollywood costume creator Colleen Atwood reveals one dress she won’t be designing … Small, squishy creatures with powerful mouths (and we’re not talking about politics) … Why one type of Chinese cooking is so hot right now, while also less hot than you think … Some splashy history … And a newly-released song from the iconic Pop Staples …


Tracee Ellis Ross - "Fridge Tree"

Icebreaker

Tracee Ellis Ross of "Black-ish" gives us a joke that is blue and white. She stopped by to tell a story about how she has been doing this comedy thing for a while.


Limpets Are the Least Limp of All

Small Talk

New research suggests that the strongest creature in the world may be rather more shell-bound, small, and squishy than you would expect.


Ivan Ivanovich and The Splash Down

A History Lesson With Booze ®

This week back in 1961, Ivan Ivanovich became the first man in space. Or rather, the first mannequin in space. Learn about this state-of-the-art dummy, and then toast his successes with this custom cocktail.


Photo: Brigitte Sire

Talking Changes (and 'Changes') with Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker

Soundtrack

Sleater-Kinney have reunited after an extended hiatus to release "No Cities to Love." Singer-guitarist Corin Tucker delivers a party playlist for you to love.


Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images Entertainment

Titus Welliver Explores Darkness and Light on Screen and Canvas

Guest of Honor

Something seems to draw Titus Welliver back to a certain type of gritty dramas, from his recurring roles on "NYPD Blue," "Lost," and "Sons of Anarchy," to his new starring turn in the crime-thriller series "Bosch."


One Very Silly Video Along Tracee Ellis Ross' Journey to Self-Acceptance

Eavesdropping

Actor Tracee Ellis Ross has won scads of new fans playing a mom on the hit sitcom "Black-ish." Tracee tells us a story about her real-life mother, music legend Diana Ross, and about the time when she began to find her own voice(s).


MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

Sichuan Cuisine is Heating Up American Tastes

Main Course

The bold flavors and exotic ingredients which typify cooking from the Sichuan region of China are drawing huge crowds to small restaurants in California's San Gabriel Valley.


Photo: Ben Bernous

Maz Jobrani Tells Jokes Without Borders

Etiquette

Maz Jobrani has built a career as an actor and stand-up comedian, in spite of a Hollywood system that attempted to limit him to roles as a terrorist villain. He has written a memoir about that experience, "I'm Not a Terrorist but I've Played One on TV: Memoirs of a Middle Eastern Funny Man."


Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Costume Designer Colleen Atwood Makes the Clothes that Make the Movie

Chattering Class

Colleen Atwood is among the most celebrated costume designers working today, with a cabinet-full of trophies for her work in film, television, and Broadway. Among those statuettes are a trio of Academy Awards and, this Sunday, she may well make it a quartet, as she is nominated for her work on "Into the Woods"


Pops Staples - 'Somebody Was Watching'

One For The Road

"Don't Lose This" is a posthumous album from Pops Staples, taken from his final recording sessions with his daughter Mavis in 1999. The songs are now being released for the first time, featuring production and guitar work by Wilco's Jeff Tweedy.


Playlist 293

Playlist

All the music from this week's episode.