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Dinner Parties Are Great, But 'Brunch Is Hell'

WUNC News | By Anita Rao,
Frank Stasio
Published December 14, 2017 at 12:14 PM EST
Brendan Francis Newnam and Rico Gagliano say forget brunch- throw a dinner party.
Courtesy of 'Brunch is Hell'
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Brunch is Hell
Brendan Francis Newnam and Rico Gagliano say forget brunch- throw a dinner party.

Brendan Francis Newnam and Rico Gagliano are experts at hosting dinner parties, or at least virtual ones. As the hosts of the podcast and radio show “Dinner Party Download,” they guided audiences through 400 conversations about culture, history, arts and food – all packaged in segments that represented different phases of a dinner party, like “small talk,” “cocktails,” and “guest of honor.” 

A conversation with hosts of the podcast and radio show 'Dinner Party Download,' Brendan Francis Newnam and Rico Gagliano about their new book 'Brunch Is Hell: How to Save The World by Throwing A Dinner Party'.

Their radio show ended earlier this month, but they have not stopped their dinner-party advocacy. Newman and Gagliano are now on a book tour for their new work “Brunch Is Hell: How to Save The World by Throwing A Dinner Party” (Little, Brown and Company/2017). 

Host Frank Stasio talks with Newnam and Gagliano about why they hate brunch, the guidelines for hosting a dinner party, and how to have a good conversation. Newnam and Gagliano partner with Winston-Salem’s public radio station WFDD to host a ticketed event this Saturday, Dec. 16 at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem. 

Copyright 2017 North Carolina Public Radio
Anita Rao
Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.
See stories by Anita Rao
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio