Episodes

Episode 204: Ellen Page, Colum McCann, and Miraculous Fruits

Ellen Page / photo by Jeff Vespa

This week: Actress Ellen Page (The East) on saving the planet and playing with dolls… National Book Award winner Colum McCann takes us on a Transatlantic trip…Laura Osnes – Tony-nominated Cinderella on Broadway – shares her favorite rags-to-riches stories… Rico stuffs himself with stuffies… Etiquette advice to make air travel a tiny bit more comfortable… Hunting for the world’s most exotic – and seductive – fruits… And a classy, grassy cocktail for a baseball legend. Plus, a rogue joke, new Faces in music, and the only time The Price is Right can cost you.


“Tough Customers” - Zach Schwartz

Icebreaker

Nightingale Floors, the newest album from Oakland indie band Rogue Wave, was released this week. Front man Zach Schwartz goes for a vintage laugh.


Losing by winning on The Price is Right

Small Talk

Richard Lawson, senior writer for The Atlantic Wire, tells us about a woman who went on The Price is Right and ended up losing more than a showcase showdown.


Yankee Oddities and The Cooperstown

A History Lesson With Booze ®

While history may not remember him as the most famous Yankee, in a 1932 game Tony Lazzeri accomplished one of the rarest feats in baseball: the natural cycle. It’s only been repeated a handful of times - and never quite as well - but it still wasn’t enough to make him that game’s MVP.


Laura Osnes, Broadway's Cinderella, shares some Cinderella stories

Guest List

Laura Osnes has picked up a Drama Desk award and a Tony nomination for her starring role in the current production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella on Broadway and the Original Cast Recording of the show is on sale now. As the woman playing Cinderella, we thought she might know something about Cinderella stories. She offers up three rags-to-riches tales that bring her particular delight.


Actress Ellen Page Goes Deep in the Woods, Gets Intense in The East

Guest of Honor

Actress Ellen Page plays Izzy, a member of an eco-anarchist cell with vengeful intentions, in the provocative thriller The East. Ellen talks with Brendan about escaping to the woods (in real life), finding her characters’ voices, and hangin’ with Batman.


Novelist Colum McCann shares a "Transatlantic" passage

Eavesdropping

Irish novelist Colum McCann turned more than a few heads with his 2009 work, Let the Great World Spin; it won major accolades, including the National Book Award. This week he flies back into the public eye with TransAtlantic, a novel that uses his signature entwined-narrative style to tell three stories: the first transatlantic airplane flight, Fredrick Douglas visiting Ireland in 1845, and the Irish peace process of the late 1990s - which is where he picks us up in this excerpt.


Stuffies, from tiny Rhode Island, finally hit it big

Main Course

Rhode Island might be our smallest state, but its seafood heritage looms large. Case in point: the emergence of local favorite, the stuffie. Rico visits newly-opened eatery Connie & Ted’s in West Hollywood - and its two-Michelin-star chef Michael Cimarusti - to get the story in a clam-shell.


Airborne etiquette from flight expert & FAA alum Mark Gerchick

Etiquette

Formerly the chief counsel of the Federal Aviation Administration, Mark Gerchick is now an airline consultant. With the summer travel season kicking off, we asked him a few questions about minding your manners at 34,000 feet.


Filmmaker Yung Chang peels back the layers of 'fruit hunting'

Chattering Class

Fruit hunters are people who love fruit. And by love we mean they are completely obsessed. Yung Chang directed the documentary Fruit Hunters, and he knows first hand the love of a diverse 'magical' berry or a stinky, spiky fruit.


Jonathan Rado - 'Faces'

One For The Road

Jonathan Rado is best-known for his band Foxygen, but he’s taking a breather from that effort to record a solo album called Law and Order (out in September). The first song, “Faces” has a retro sunny-summer feel — it’s perfect for meeting someone new at your next BBQ.


Playlist: Episode 204

Playlist

The Sea & Cake - “The Argument” The Wedding Present - “Signal” Tipsy - “Liquordelic” Jack Payne & His Orchestra - “Ain’t That the Way it Goes” The Ventures - “Take Me Out to the Ballgame (Surf Version)” Audrey Ryan - “Nostalgia” Dustin O’Halloran - “Opus 44” Explosions in the Sky - “Your Hand in Mine” Dustin O’Halloran - “Fragile No 4” Copeland - “The Day I Lost My Voice (The Suitcase Song)” Fatboy Slim - “Praise You” Air - “Universal Traveler” Frank Sinatra - “Fly Me to the Moon” Jonathan Rado - “Faces”