Episode 134: Anjelica Huston, Doomsday Planes, and Things about Chicken Wings
Anjelica Huston /Photo by: Patrick Randak (NBC)
This week: Actress Anjelica Huston reveals her secret good-luck charm … Writer-provocateur Caitlin Flanagan blends etiquette, therapy, and cake… “The Artist’s” James Cromwell talks quiet… Chickens with four wings… Greeks invade Britain… We toast the end of the world… A poem from imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo… Plus, nurture-over-nature, and a Major find from the Asteroids Galaxy Tour.
Icebreaker: Krys Lee
Krys Lee, whose debut story collection “Drifting House” comes out this week, finds some humor in North Korean-American relations.
Small Talk: Jessica CoenJessica Coen, editor-in-chief of women’s culture website Jezebel, talks about introducing Greek culture to English universities. That’s Sororities…not Socrates.
A History Lesson With Booze: The Doomsday PlaneThis week in 1961, at the height of the cold War, the U.S. created “Operation: Looking Glass” to oversee its nuclear response from above… should the worst happen on the ground. Learn about the special fleet of “Doomsday Planes,” then toast the fact that we’ve never needed to use them with this cocktail:
“If You Push the Button…”, as tested by Derek Brown, mixologist and co-owner of The Passenger and The Columbia Room in our nation’s capital.
Combine in a shaker:
- 3/4 oz. Bourbon
- 3/4 oz. Dry Amontillado Sherry
- 1/2 oz. Cointreau
- 1/2 - 3/4 oz. fresh-squeezed OJ
- Dash Orange Bitters
- Dash Allspice Dram
Strain into a glass - no ice - and hope you never get to the end.
Guest List: James Cromwell's Silent TypesActor James Cromwell has starred in TV shows like Six Feet Under and ER, and in films including “L.A. Confidential” and “Babe.” His role as a taciturn farmer in the latter earned him an Oscar nod. In the silent film “The Artist” (up for 10 Academy Awards) Cromwell plays another character whose actions speak volumes: a faded movie star’s loyal driver. So he seemed like a perfect candidate to spotlight notable “silent types” in cinema, those actors who can convey everything with a look.
Etiquette: Caitlin Flanagan
Social critic and writer Caitlin Flanagan (now of The Atlantic) stirs up controversy pretty regularly. Though she says she fits the liberal mold (supporting abortion rights and gay marriage) — she’s raised the ire of feminists by championing stay-at-home motherhood and suggesting sex is a “wifely duty.” Flanagan’s new book, Girl Land, visits another touchy subject: the fraught space between little girl-dom and womanhood. She takes on listeners’ etiquette questions, then tells a story that absolutely takes the cake.
Eavesdropping: Perry Link, for Liu Xiaobo
Chinese writer and activist Liu Xiaobo was represented by an empty chair when he was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2010; he was a political prisoner in China at the time. He still is… but his essays and poetry have been gathered in a new book called No Enemies, No Hatred. We overhear the book’s translator - and leading Chinese scholar - Perry Link give voice to one of Liu’s poems called “Alone in Winter.”
Chattering Class: Nature versus Nurture
Jesse Prinz, philosophy professor at CUNY, challenges the contemporary thinking that our genes predetermine our life patterns. He gives Brendan three talking points about nature-nurture from his new book “Beyond Human Nature: How Culture and Experience Shape our Lives”.
Main Course: Our Thing for Wings
This Sunday, as the Patriots and Giants clash in the Super Bowl, Americans will consume more food than on any other day this year except Thanksgiving…and a lot of it will be chicken wings. Brendan talks with Tom Super, VP of Communications for the Chicken Council (yes, it exists), about America’s other favorite pastime.
Guest of Honor: Anjelica Huston
Oscar-winner Anjelica Huston first caught the camera’s eye as a model on the 1970’s fashion circuit. She went on to garner acclaim for a slew of roles in films by some of the greatest directors of all time — including Woody Allen and her father, John Huston. Now she’s taking her talents to Broadway (sort of), portraying a veteran musical producer in the new NBC series Smash — premiering Monday. Anjelica tells Rico about Ireland, life in the glare, her fashion days… and her lucky charms.
Soundtrack: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour- "Major"Danish band The Asteroids Galaxy Tour just released a new album of horn-filled dance pop called Out of Frequency… but it sounds to us like they’re on the right wavelength. The funk-inflected track “Major” is a perfect warm-up for the big game.
Other Music in this week’s show:
The Sea & Cake - “The Argument”
Aphex Twin - “Boy/Girl Song”
Tipsy - “Liquordelic”
Esquivel - “Dancing In The Dark”
MIA - “Paper Planes” (DFA Remix)
Audrey Ryan - “Red War”
Maserati - “Ambassador Of Cinema”
Carter Burwell - “Blood Trails”
William Alwyn - Theme to “Odd Man Out”
Depeche Mode - “Enjoy the Silence”
El Ten Eleven - “Hot Cakes”
Ruins - “Loving Recklessly Seeded A Human”
(Traditional) - “Hurry to the Flower Fair”
Roni Size - “Mad Cat”
Link Wray - “Run Chicken Run”
The Pogues - “Wild Cats Of Kilkenny”
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - “Major”
Re: Caitlin Flanagan’s discussion about unwed motherhood. I believe many people ask whether a mother-to-be is married (or about to be) because of statistics that show children born to single mothers are more likely to be a burden on society. Nobody worries about Bristol Palin; she has well-to-do parents to fall back on. But, the sad truth is that too many offspring of single mothers end up being supported by taxpayers. Judge Judy reminds her litigants who happen to be unwed parents that she’s paying for their children. It might be rude to ask such a question to the grandmother-to-be, but it is our business if the rest of us end up paying that child’s bills.
Fascinating to listen to Ms. Flanagan defend her snide and snarky book, “Goodbye to All That” as misunderstood, and then go on to mock and insult each of the people asking for etiquette advice on her segment.
You mentioned Operation Looking Glass and threw out a figure for the total number of miles traveled. If I recall, that figure was 200-some-odd thousand miles. It didn’t sound quite right to me so I did a little checking.
29 years x 365.25 days/year x 24 hours/day = 254,214 hours in flight. 254,214 hours x 600 miles/hour (cruising speed of the E-6) = 152,528,400 miles.
Sorry… I couldn’t resist.
Dave Jenkins