Episodes

Episode 308: Marion Cotillard, Kenny G, High Maintenance

Photo: Eliott Bliss
Photo: Eliott Bliss

Encore Broadcast: Marion Cotillard shines a light … Kenny G goes Brazilian … The challenges and rewards of working with a spouse … How what we feel affects our feelings … A totes fake resto … A picky bit of history … Corin Tucker calls … Kelly Link’s story of an unusual relationship … New tune from Mikal Cronin … And why positive linguistic bias is awesome!


Photo: Brigitte Sire

Corin Tucker - "Insta Gram"

Icebreaker

Corin Tucker, one of the dual singer-guitarists of seminal rock band Sleater-Kinney shares a joke about staying connected to family in modern times. They are currently on tour supporting "No Cities to Love," their first new album in a decade.


Chris Ware/Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Humans Really Do Choose Saying Something Nice (Or Nothing at All)

Small Talk

While scrolling through an internet comment section or flipping on broadcast news might lead you to suspect otherwise, new research confirms a long-standing hypothesis that, in fact, positive language dominates human communication.


Picking Through the Story of a Historical Brainstorm

A History Lesson With Booze ®

The story of a clever businessman mass-produced toothpicks and popularized them using intimidation tactics that, remarkably, had nothing to do with shaming people for food caught in their teeth.


Photo: Matt Doyle

'High Maintenance' Creators Speak Highly of Creative Couples

Guest List

The married couple who created web series hit "High Maintenance" together list some other impressive partnerships that combine romance and art.


Photo: Eliott Bliss

Marion Cotillard Explores the Isolating Nature of Society

Guest of Honor

French movie star Marion Cotillard may be best-known to U.S. audiences for her roles in "Inception" or Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris." She won an Oscar for playing Edith Piaf in 2007's "La Vie en Rose," and now she's up for another Oscar, for "Two Days, One Night."


Photo: Sharona Jacobs Photography LLC

Kelly Link Introduces Her Ghost Boyfriend

Eavesdropping

Kelly Link's magical-realist stories have earned comparisons to Kafka, the Brothers Grimm, and Alice Munro. She has won a slew of sci-fi literature awards and the O. Henry Prize. She reads an excerpt from a story in her brand-new collection, "Get in Trouble."


abbrevsrestaurant.com

Fake Restaurant Abbrev's Satirizes Food Trends

Main Course

Comedian brothers Danny and Anthony Palumbo found themselves laughing at the over-earnestness of many in the dining world (along with the popularity of both small plates and cutesy abbreviated slang) and decided to parody all those trends at once with a meticulously-crafted website for a fictional restaurant, Abbrev's.


Dave Kotinsky / Getty Images Entertainment

Kenny G Takes An Etiquette Solo

Etiquette

Sax-man Kenny G has a new album out (probably his 14th, but he's lost count). He answers audience questions about too-long songs and too-small tips -- and tells us why 'smooth jazz' isn't edgy enough for him.


Photo: Jacob Linden

A Touching Investigation — of Touch

Chattering Class

In his new book, "Touch: The Science of Hand, Heart, and Mind," Johns Hopkins neuroscientist David J. Linden investigates the human sense of touch, how physical stimuli are translated into sub-conscious emotional responses, and the surprising things we don't fully understand about this essential sense.


Mikal Cronin - "Made My Mind Up"

One For The Road

Mikal Cronin is often seen performing with his fellow garage rocker and friend Ty Segall, but over the course of three albums, he has distinguished himself as the poppier power-rocker of the two. His new album "MC III" comes out in May.