The wittiest guys in the room; Brendan Francis Newnam (L),
Rico Gagliano (R).
You're washing dishes, folding laundry, returning Ikea rejects, or doing any number of mundane tasks that could use a bit of spicing up.
Enter The Dinner Party Download.
These podcasts brief you on current events, a bit of history trivia (which, then, serves as the leitmotif for an accompanying cocktail recipe), an interview with a pop culture figure, a head's up on a new and/or interesting foodie trend, plus, a lesser-known musical gem to end the show. And they manage to cram all this into less than 15 minutes. Even better, the hosts — Rico Gagliano and Brendan Francis Newnam — come across as clever, charming and much cooler than your average public radio hosts. (Maybe you caught the duo recently on "Rocco's Dinner Party," where they were woefully underused.)
I first learned about DPD last month, thanks to Racked LA, and I've been playing catch-up ever since.
Their guest roster is impressively diverse and compelling. There's Serena Williams exposing her inner-nerd, Ishmael Butler of Shabazz Palaces explaining "swag," Carrie Brownstein, Das Racist, Paul Giamatti, Richard Ayoade, Robert Wagner (?) and on and on for more than 100 episodes.
Most recently, they spoke with my beloved Don Cheadle, then discussed the elusive speculoos. Check it out:
And just because I had the maddest crush on Ishmael Butler back when he was better known as "Butterfly" from the Digable Planets, here's the segment where he's featured:
I think I might be a little in love with Brendan Francis Newnam.
ReplyDeleteBut in a full length picture of him he seems to be wearing an awful lot of corduroy. Also, can they do something about my debilitating inability to talk to strangers at parties?
External validation!
ReplyDeleteThese guys do a short thing on Marketplace on Fridays and I always mean to listen to this but forget. So, thanks for the reminder!