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.”
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.
