Interviewing strangers over a meal since 2008 (as featured in the Washington Post)
The first dinner interview of the year, and the 143rd overall, will be online in a few weeks. Today’s article is a throwback to my 110th interview. In October 2018 I had lunch with Pierre Phipps and Terrance Wilson, also known as gay rap duo Freaky Boiz, to hear about…
Dining With Strangers was dormant for most of 2020 through the end of 2024 for several reasons. I finally resumed the interviews this January, wanting to make good on a promise I made to my late friend John Curry to do so. When I restarted the process of taking strangers…
Singer and actor Azusa Sheshe Dance doesn’t wait for permission to get what she wants. A self-taught performer with a powerhouse voice and a signature shock of pink, she’s carved out a life on her own terms, from a breakout role in a production of “Hairspray” to becoming a beloved…
Demetrius Harmon found fame online several years ago making video comedy skits on the since-defunct app Vine. It gained him a following of more than two million people combined between Instagram and Twitter. Now he’s looking to use that massive audience to spread a positive message. For the 109th dinner…
Want to know what Americans ate 250 years ago? Bennett Rea, featured this summer as the 140th dining stranger, is here to help. He’s the host of hit online series “Cookin’ With Congress,” where he makes often bizarre, occasionally disgusting yet always intriguing recipes from politicians and others from years…
The “Mistress of Melody” Lorraine Bowen, the 47th dining stranger, writes and sings quirky songs about unusual subjects, but also has experience playing in bands with the likes of Billy Bragg. She gained many fans on “Britain’s Got Talent” playing her one-of-a-kind song about cooking the dessert crumble — and…
For someone who spends half his life traveling, Jeb Brooks has the kind of upbeat energy that makes you wonder if he even knows jet lag. For the 141st dinner interview, we met at Filomena — a D.C. institution dripping in Venetian décor and Halloween skeletons — to talk about…
Writer Jonn Elledge (the 131st dining stranger) is writing his next book, “The World as We Built It: A History of Civilisation in 31 Innovations.” Wildfire Books will be publishing it, slated for August 2026. Wildfire Books says in a press release, “The book tracks the ideas and inventions that…
One of New Orleans’ signature culinary items is the poor boy, or po’ boy, sandwich, and Parkway Bakery & Tavern is among its most popular vendors. It was founded in 1911 but closed in 1993. Then along came Jay Nix. For the 108th interview, in September 2018, Jay told me…
Actor Michael Hitchcock (the 65th stranger I met) has a prominent role in the new FX television show “The Lowdown.” It’s described as a “Tulsa noir” and stars Ethan Hawke as a citizen journalist seeking to uncover corruption. Michael plays Ray, an antiques dealer of questionable trustworthiness who is a…