Episodes

Episode 298: Aubrey Plaza, Laura Marling, Scharpling & Wurster

Photo credit: Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images

Actress Aubrey Plaza needs no introduction (because she’s got it memorized)… Singer-songwriter Laura Marling has a soundtrack for evenings warm and chilly… Writer Jon Ronson looks at shaming on social media and sees our modern pillory… The comic duo Scharpling & Wurster take our etiquette segment to the strangest of places, which might be a city in Pennsylvania!… A new taste of Hawaiian food — the ultimate fusion cuisine… Two bitter rivals in polar exploration inspire an icy cocktail…Essayist Meghan Daum ponies up a joke… And more.


Meghan Daum - 'Pony Cough'

Icebreaker

Essayist Meghan Daum, whose new anthology "Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids" is out on March 31, does a little horsing around with her icebreaker.


The Swankiest Bus Ride in San Francisco

Small Talk

Anna Sale, host and managing editor of WNYC's Death, Sex & Money, tells us about a lavish bus ride that comes complete with reclaimed wood furnishings, Wi-Fi and cold-pressed juices.


Former Friends Fighting for (North) Pole Position

A History Lesson With Booze ®

In 1909, former friends Robert Peary and Frederick Cook became bitter rivals over competing claims to have lead the first expedition to reach the North Pole.


Laura Marling Parties Like It's 1969

Soundtrack

Laura Marling, who just released her fifth album "Short Movie" on March 24, served up a soundtrack to a weird, wonderful dinner party.


Note to America: Stop Labeling Aubrey Plaza!

Guest of Honor

Actor Aubrey Plaza rose to fame playing the highly un-motivated intern April on the comedy "Parks and Recreation." Now she's reveling in a dangerously driven new character in the Hal Hartley film "Ned Rifle," out this week. She tells Brendan about the logic behind "deadpan" humor... and about how much she hates that word. Got it, America?


Tig Notaro Screams Bloody Murder

Eavesdropping

Comedian Tig Notaro is credited with performing the stand-out stand-up show in recent memory, LIVE, which is now being released in a special edition with proceeds benefiting cancer charities. Here, she tells us a story about what might seem like a less-dramatic medical operation - having her wisdom teeth removed - which lead her to some pretty unwise behavior.


Hawaiian Cuisine: The Ultimate in Fusion Food

Main Course

Rico digs into the history of Hawaiian cuisine, the ultimate in fusion food. Johnny Yoo, the executive chef of Roy Choi's L.A. restaurant A-Frame, is creating yet another phase in the multi-continental cuisine's evolution.


Scharpling & Wurster Help With Hoagie Etiquette

Etiquette

The comedy duo Tom Scharpling and Jon Wurster are releasing a box set featuring 20 hours of their greatest on-air antics. Together they field etiquette questions from our listeners and take a call from a familiar Roy in Philly.


Jon Ronson Takes on the Public Shaming Renaissance

Chattering Class

In his latest nonfiction book, Jon Ronson tackles the phenomenon of public shaming. He tells Rico that we're in the midst of a shaming Renaissance, with the internet as our new pillory.


Playlist 298

Playlist

All the music from episode 298.