The Dinner Party Download

This week: To celebrate our 300th episode, we’re telling the DPD origin story! You’ll hear pieces of our first-ever episode (yes, spooky)… highlights from format-busting conversations with Spike Lee and Elaine Stritch… Advice (and jeers) from our public radio peers… Behind-the-scenes tales that we’ve never shared before… And a chat with two very special guests, […]

This Week: Actor Oscar Isaac (“Ex Machina,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”) isn’t bullish on ‘the future’ (but his is bright)… Fran Drescher and her dog laugh in the face of our etiquette questions… The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne turns our party into a Lynch-ian dreamscape… Mary Norris, copy editor at the New Yorker, shares […]

Welcome to the first episode of “Speakeasy,” an occasional special podcast in which we share never-before-heard bits that didn’t make it into our weekly episodes. Think of it like the casual little bistro beside our bustling restaurant. On this inaugural podcast, Aubrey Plaza and Brendan invent a new morning beverage – the breakfast martini; Zachary […]

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 […]

This week: Actor Zachary Quinto gets a memento from Tennessee Williams… Soul singer Leon Bridges steps back in time… Comedian Sara Schaefer aces her hygiene homework… Beating food waste, in new ways… The most costly art heist in US history inspires a bitter cocktail (made by a former art guard!)… A soundtrack from post-punk band […]

This week: Ethan Hawke’s intimate portrait of an artist… The ladies of “Broad City” riff on their fave BFFs… Newly-minted *novelist* David Duchovny sees a baby wolf and flees… Troubadour Vetiver serenades our party with the sounds of Brazil… One modern man’s quest to find Atlantis… An artist types his way through the canon… And […]

This week: “Chappie” star Dev Patel on acting alongside robots and Dames… Dave Barry brings a machete to our etiquette segment… Author Tania James sees life (and loss) through the eyes of a child elephant… Singer Lady Lamb makes a playlist for us, and for her best friend Shervin…”The Cat in the Hat” trumps Dick […]

Encore Broadcast: Actor Jason Schwartzman – star of the new film “Listen Up Philip” – pits his ego against Brendan’s… A soundtrack from Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo inspires hand-holding… Iconoclastic artist Barbara Kruger points and doesn’t shoot… And Jack Black and Kyle Gass of Tenacious D shred etiquette to pieces. Also, humorist Simon Rich ponders barbarism […]

This week: Actor Titus Welliver on shooting a gun, canonically … Corin Tucker doesn’t think her band’s music is too awful … Tracee Ellis Ross shares the gift of laughter and a loopy life coach … Comedian Maz Jobrani helps our listeners confront stereotypes and racism, with jokes … Hollywood costume creator Colleen Atwood reveals […]

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 […]