Q+A: Brendan Newnam and Rico Gagliano, Dinner Party Download

A 15-minute podcast can do a lot of things: it can make you smarter (Thanks, iTunesU!). It can make you healthier (Hey there, Nutrition Diva!). And it can even make you thriftier (You win, Vanguard.) But of all the podcasts I've listened to, there's only one that has consistently made me more entertaining: The Dinner Party Download. (You can read my review of it here.)

With the help of its socially savvy hosts, Brendan Newnam and Rico Gagliano, I've always got a few good jokes and newsworthy conversation starters up my sleeve. The new-ish podcast was honored by iTunes last month as one of the best podcasts of 2008 for good reason: it's fast-paced, well produced, funny, and useful times seven.

Both hosts agreed to answer a few questions below, including the podcasts they listen to during their down time, the most challenging parts of putting together the podcast, and Tom Jones' dirty joke that never made it to air.

How did you guys decide to start this podcast?

Brendan: Well, we tried to play music together and that didn’t work because neither of us is any good. This show was the easiest way for me to give my friends and acquaintances what they want from me: musica recommendations, food tips, quirky news information and info about emerging trends. Truly, no one really listens to anyone unless they are being talked about or unless the person is providing them information they can use. So the DPD was really born of deep cyncism about the motivations of others. Oh and also I love to eat, drink, laugh and think.

Rico: I take exception to Brendan’s slanderous characterization of my musicianship, but on all other counts I pretty much agree. This show is a classic example of finding a format that allows us to talk about the stuff we’d be talking about anyway. And the idea of something useful AND fun—generally it seems like it’s one or the other on most of the radio we hear—held major appeal to us. A side note: I’ve always really liked the idea of just owning up to the fact that there’s an element of competition at dinner parties—and the fact that you can make yourself seem like a genius at one even though you barely know what you’re talking about. Journalists are dinner party champs—we know just enough about everything to dazzle people for about two hours. Then our brains turn into pumpkins.

Last month, iTunes named the Dinner Party Download as one of the best podcasts of 2008. Has the nod had an impact?

Brendan: The biggest impact has probably been within our own company. We’ve always gotten a lot of love from our audience (Read: our parents), but after we made the list people starting acting less annoyed when we approached them to be in our Small Talk segment. Also, the cash prize really went a long way towards eliminating my law school loans.

Rico: What he said. Plus it definitely makes it easier to get the really famous celebrities to take us seriously—or at least not openly laugh in our faces—when we approach them for interviews. Getting that nod from iTunes also kind of set a bar for us, in a healthy way. It inspires us to try to live up to the hype.

What podcasts do you like to listen to?

Brendan: I work at Marketplace from 7:30 to 4:00 everyday and then I work on the DPD from 4 to 10 – I don’t have a whole lot of time to listen to podcasts, but when I do I tend to listen to the blue chips: Radiolab (Sick! Really, the crème de la crème. It makes the DPD sound like a garbled answering machine message), This American Life, Studio 360, BBC Documentaries, Grammar Girl, Filter)

Rico: I tend to gravitate towards podcast mini-series, almost always in the music realm. A while back Rolling Stone serialized an entire unedited interview between Jann Wenner and John Lennon, circa 1970—an incredible listen. Otherwise I’ll catch up on This American Life and, yes, Radioworks. One thing about us public radio hipsters: we’re predictable.

Even though your podcast is just 15 minutes or so, it's got a lot of interviews and information that you've got to nail down to make it happen. Can you talk about your favorite and most challenging parts of putting together a show like this?

Brendan: Listening to the finished product in my car when I’m driving home. To paraphrase Dorothy Parker, I don’t like writing, I like having written. That said, I love radio, I love being able to approach anyone I want with a microphone…and if they’re serving food all the better! I also enjoy bantering with Rico between the segments. He genuinely cracks me up.

Rico: Ditto on the cracking-each-other-up part. The challenge, for me, is boiling each segment down to its absolute most interesting essence without being MTV-shallow. Case in point: our interview with Lamont Dozier. Here’s one of the most legendary pop songwriters in history, and he was so warm and funny and full of fascinating anecdotes, and we could only use two and half minutes of the interview. The show’s short running time forces us to get to the meat fast, and the meat has to be as complex and tasty as possible, because we can’t give you that much of it and we’re serving very discerning diners. Ideally it’s the audio equivalent of a good piece of sushi.

Brendan: Dude, you really butchered that meat metaphor.

Any good jokes that didn't make the podcast because of its family-friendly nature?

Brendan: Nope. In fact I can’t even think of a good joke that made the podcast, period. We decided to include the Icebreaker because we wanted to resuscitate the joke, but it turns out there is nothing to resuscitate. The joke is dead.

Rico: Brendan’s right, but I enjoy watching the joke’s corpse get kicked around. Also, for some reason Brendan did not leap at the opportunity to tell the deeply blue joke Tom Jones told us which failed to make the cut. Here’s the short version: A guy goes to the doctor and says, “I have a problem with my penis.” He undresses and he’s got a member the size of a corn nibblet. The doctor laughs uproariously, to the man’s chagrin. Finally the doctor regains composure and apologizes. “I’m sorry,” he says, “Now what exactly is the problem you’re having with your penis?” The man says, “It’s swollen.”

Reading it now, I’m not sure if the joke is funny, or if I just enjoyed hearing Tom Jones—with his rich Welsh accent—repeatedly say “penis.”

What's the most important thing you've learned since doing this podcast?

Brendan: That it takes a lot of effort to make something seem effortless. Making a fifteen minute show with six segments takes as long as it would making an hour long show with six segments. We still have to conceive of the show, book the guests, arrange the interviews, prep for the interviews, record the interviews, edit the tape, write the pieces, write the continuity and record the show. That’s a lot of work for two boys with day jobs.

Rico: Here here! In a perfect world we’d have a staff of twelve, six of whom would only be there to mix us drinks and administer shoulder rubs to relieve the stress. I also now give other comedy radio shows and podcasts a little more leeway in the humor department. Turns out it’s really, really hard to make something consistently funny using only audio. Any moment that hits your funnybone is a triumph of wit and craft over technology.

If there's anything you wish I would have asked, you can ask and answer it here.

Brendan: “Does it bother you to be so attractive and have your good looks go unrecognized because you work in radio?” Yes.

Rico: “Would you please accept this certified check for one million dollars?” Yes! Though I’d prefer pounds sterling.