Comic Maz Jobrani has performed on stages from the Middle East to the Middle West. His debut book is called, "I'm Not a Terrorist, but I've Played One on TV: Memoirs of a Middle Eastern Funny Man." The comedian looks back at a time when his Iranian parents had little patience for a chubby, red-suited, white-bearded man from the edge of the earth.
"National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" came out in 1989 and it's now considered a holiday classic. The movie follows the Griswold family as their patriarch Clark (played by Chevy Chase) tries to host the perfect Christmas, but is foiled by in-laws, mean bosses, and wild animals. Beverly shares a behind-the-scenes tale about one of the movie's most iconic moments.
Fran Lebowitz's sardonic wit first cropped up in columns for Andy Warhol's "Interview" magazine. Then she published the acclaimed essay collections "Social Studies" and "Metropolitan Life." Those books are compiled in a collection called "The Fran Lebowitz Reader," which is out now on audiobook. She answers listeners' etiquette questions on ugly holiday sweaters, annoying family gatherings, and more.
Daryl McDaniels -- aka "D.M.C." of rap legends Run-D.M.C. -- is a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, a comic book author, and most germane for our holiday show, he co-wrote his band's holiday hit "Christmas in Hollis." He recalls how the song came about and how it almost never came to be.
Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair's Hollywood columnist, critic and host of the new "Little Gold Men" podcast, explains how scientists in China have developed a car that can be controlled by your brain waves. The future is now.
Matt Berninger, from indie band The National, gives us an intense icebreaker before joining fellow EL VY bandmate Brent Knopf for some quarreling and playlist building.
Typical Hanukkah fare features foods cooked in oil. Mainly to symbolize the miracle by which a night's worth of lamp oil lasted eight nights... but also because fried food is delicious. So Rico headed over to Redbird -- one of the top restaurants in L.A. -- to sample sophisticated takes on latkes and sufganiyot (a.k.a donuts).
Learn how the daughter of poet Lord Byron became a groundbreaking mathematician… and changed computers forever. Then celebrate her with a tangy twist on a Tom Collins.
Randall Munroe is a cartoonist with a degree in physics. Years ago, while working as a roboticist for NASA, he started the webcomic "xkcd." The drawings are simple, mostly stick figures, but the concepts are big, as he takes on technology, computer science, and math. His latest book is called "Things Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words." He examines how we use language to describe complex ideas with Brendan and explains the thousand-word challenge behind the book.
Alicia Vikander was just nominated for two Golden Globe awards. One for playing a cyborg in the sci-fi thriller "Ex Machina," and the second for a film that opens nationwide this week: "The Danish Girl." She explains what she learned about the transgender community from working on the film and reveals why she won't play Pictionary with you anytime soon.