Marisa Silver/Courtesy Marisa Silver

Icebreaker: O. Henry award-winning author Marisa Silver walks into a joke.

Small Talk: Geek Love, Pork Detectors, and Killer Looks The staff at Marketplace tell you about some news items your dinner guests probably missed.

A History Lesson With Booze: Ronnie Biggs and the “Rob Me Ronnie” This month back in 2001, Ronnie Biggs, an unrepentant UK criminal who spent decades as a fugitive, returned to England for a pint of bitter, knowing full well he’d be arrested for his role in one of the most audacious robberies in UK history. We asked Robert Krajewski, of Adventure Bar & Lounge in London to create a drink to help us escape.

The “Rob Me Ronnie”

In a shaker, combine:

• 1.5 oz. Beefeater gin
• 1/2 oz. Galliano vanilla liqueur
• 1/4 oz. of simple syrup

Shake well with ice, and pour over 1 oz of London Pride Real Ale in a martini glass.

Drink with your palm in, index and middle fingers in a V facing England.

Guest of Honor: Marisa Silver Marisa Silver writes handsome stories about ugly things. Her new book Alone With You is a collection of short stories that examine how relationships with people push and pull our emotional lives. Before turning to fiction, Silver made several feature films, including Permanent Record — notable for both its Joe Strummer score and the actually good performance by a pre-Matrix Keanu Reeves. She talks to Rico about her curiosity, life’s beautiful mysteries, and watching people puke demons out of their bodies.

The Main Course: Parasite-aurants Pal’s Takeaway is a permanent pop-up restaurant hidden inside a nondescript bodega in the heart of San Francisco’s Mission District. Brendan finds that it’s not just another twist on the food micro-entrepreneur trend (although it is that), but it’s also a metaphor for how neighborhoods can change harmoniously. (Oh yeah, and it’s also a place to get the best organic-loco-hand crafted sandwiches in San Francisco)

One For The Road: Ariel Pink - “Round and Round” Ariel Pink is the avant-pop-weirdo musician’s avant-pop-weirdo musician. Revered for his hundreds of lo-fi home recordings that blend pop with sentimental psychedelia and sonic experimentation, this new track from his upcoming album is a squeaky-clean dream that draws inspiration from Michael Jackson, blue-eyed soul, and Pink’s sweet, sad, heart.

Music In This Episode:

The Sea & Cake - “The Argument”

The Wedding Present - “Signal”

Link Wray - “Jack the Ripper”

Tipsy - “Liquordelic”

Esquivel - “Street Of Dreams”

The Sex Pistols feat. Ronnie Biggs - “No One Is Innocent”

The Ventures - “Fugitive”

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - “Up Jumped the Devil”

The Mollys - “Parasite”