Martin Dahinden is the Ambassador of Switzerland to the United States. He’s also the 83rd stranger to dine with me for this site. His staff at the Swiss Embassy were incredibly generous to arrange an evening meal last week for Martin and me, taking place at the gorgeous Swiss Residence…
In Transit
There’s an interesting new site launched called In Transit, in which blogger Evy approaches random strangers while traveling and asks them for their life story. As described on her “About The Blog” page, In Transit “explores the stories and lives of people who are waiting in areas of transit. Why…
Interview 81: Night Of The DC Dead
Vaughn Irving wants to scare you senseless. He’s one of the creative minds behind DC Dead, a temporary attraction for Halloween. Groups of people sign up to enter an abandoned building and must attack — or in my case, more likely run screaming from — hordes of zombies that have…
Podcasting With Strangers
Just wanted to say a thank you to the podcast Take 3 for mentioning Dining With Strangers. The weekly podcast by Danielle Sills and Sara Shookman of WKYC Channel 3 in Cleveland, Ohio, features local and national news and cultural discussions. I’m honored their thought my website was interesting enough…
Welcome To Night Vale
It’s always nice to see former dining strangers enjoying success. So I was suitably giddy to see actor Cecil Baldwin (the 10th stranger) appear on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night. He was on the show to promote the podcast Welcome To Night Vale, presented as a radio…
Fred Melamed Follow-Up
Here’s a brief follow-up on what actor Fred Melamed (stranger 76) has been up to since we got dinner in Beverly Hills in May. First, he’s one of the actors in the new Hulu series Casual. During our meal at the Palm (accompanied by Fred’s wonderful wife Leslee Spieler Melamed)…
Attend FuckUp Nights
Eager to learn from other peoples’ business failures? Then get to The Coupe restaurant in Washington, DC, on Thursday October 15, at 7pm. That’s where the group FuckUp Nights will be hosting the latest in its series, or “volumes,” of events where people share their calamities and what they learned…
The Lion’s Den
Jazz vocalist Aaron L. Myers II — the 52nd stranger featured on this site — is gearing up for the release of his second album, The Lion’s Den, which will be available starting October 2. I met Aaron in Washington, DC, in January 2014. Over a decent meal of Mediterranean…
Stephen Tobolowsky’s Storytelling
Actor Stephen Tobolowsky is recognizable from hundreds of television and movie appearances, often easily remembered as the endlessly energetic insurance salesman Ned Ryerson from Groundhog Day. But Stephen is also an expert storyteller, and is putting that skill to good use in a film released today called The Primary Instinct….
Interview 80: After The Storm — Part II
Sometimes I stay in touch with the strangers I meet. During the Labor Day weekend, I traveled to New Orleans to reconnect with three former strangers to find out what they’ve been up to since we dined together. Zydeco dancer teacher Mary Burns, cover band member Buzzy “Beano” Langford and…