As Brendan mentioned on this week's show, you might've noticed that our Guest of Honor, author Emma Cline, didn't answer DPD's standard questions. But fear not! We've got the answers right here. Click below to hear what question Emma is tired of being asked and the piece of trivia she told us we didn't know. Plus, she talks to Brendan about her writing process... and defends clamshell cell phones.
Scottish composer Anna Meredith's background is in classical music, but she's acclaimed for her jubilant synth pop. The Guardian says her work, "conjures images of a jetpack through the northern lights." Anna's latest album "Varmints" just won Scotland's Album of the Year Award and she's touring the U.K. now. Here's she is with a playlist for the next time you liven up your dinner party with a little "American Ninja Warrior" inspiration.
Cass McCombs, the modern-day troubadour whose songwriting has long been a favorite of other musicians. His new album called "Mangy Love" is out in August. Here's a track from it called "Opposite House."
This month marks the 72nd birthday of the inventor of an object that infuriated millions.
Each week in chattering class we're schooled by an expert in some party-worthy topic. This week our topic is "the worst opera singer ever." And our expert is a purveyor of fine, bad music author Darryl W. Bullock. He wrote "The World's Worst Records, Volume One and Two." And his new book's a biography called "Florence! Foster!! Jenkins!!!" Florence was an eccentric and beloved New York socialite who, in the 1900s, insisted on singing opera classics... stupendously badly. She became a local celebrity, and eventually, an international phenomenon.
Emma Cline is author of "The Girls," this summer's hottest literary debut. The New York Times describes it as, "A seductive and arresting coming-of-age story... told in sentences at times so finely wrought they could almost be worn as jewelry." She examines the cult around cults and talks about the beauty and darkness of California.
Lately, there's been a flowering of fiction from Caribbean writers. Jamaican-born Marlon James won last year's Man Booker prize. Now he's one of a chorus of voices singing the praises of his countrywoman Nicole Dennis-Benn, and her debut novel, "Here Comes The Sun."
Over the last 20 years, Jim Gaffigan has become one of America's most-watched stand-up comics, with self-deprecating observations about raising five kids with his wife, and especially about his love of food. In fact, a couple years back, he published the best-selling book called, "Food: A Love Story." These days he’s out on tour and his TV Land sitcom, "The Jim Gaffigan Show," which he writes and produces with his wife Jeannie, is now in the midst of its second season. The comedian explains why the "Jim" you see on stage and on screen is a little dumber than his real-life counterpart, before delving into our listeners' hamburger hardships.
After giving us a crash course on Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York socialite turned terrible opera singer, Darryl W. Bullock shared these audio atrocities with us that make up his top five favorite worst albums.
Each week you send in your questions about how to behave, and here to answer them this time around is comedy writer Jessi Klein She's the Emmy and Peabody award-winning head writer and executive producer of "Inside Amy Schumer." She's also written for "Saturday Night Live" and "Transparent." She explores her feminine ideals verse the feminine ideal in her new book, then advises our listeners on blanket hogs and costume conundrums.