Interviewing strangers over a meal since 2008 (as featured in the Washington Post)
If you’ve ever wanted to see actor and writer Stephen Tobolowsky (the 66th dinner stranger) perform, you’ve got a great chance to do so next month in Los Angeles at one of his six performances in a play. Stephen, perhaps best known as insurance salesman Ned Ryerson in the movie…
Marijuana smuggling is a big focus of the 35th Throwback Thursday, my August 2011 dinner at since-closed Lana in Charleston, South Carolina, with author Jason Ryan. He told me about his book “Jackpot: High Times, High Seas and the Sting That Launched the War on Drugs,” a non-fiction account of…
Congratulations to comedian Alex English (the 112th stranger featured on this site) who will be part of the cast launching a reboot of the “National Lampoon Radio Hour” as a podcast. The original radio comedy series, from 1973, featured Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner and more. According to Variety,…
Side note before today’s throwback: Apologies for not uploading a dinner interview since my June lunch in New York with adult model DeAngelo Jackson, but I *finally* sat down with a stranger for the 122nd interview last week and the 123rd will be happening next week. They’ll be online later…
Jane Lynch, featured on this site as the 116th stranger along with her occasional performing partner Kate Flannery, is working on a new Netflix comedy show that’s said to be a modern day take on “The Golden Girls.” According to Variety, Jane is working on the show alongside singer Cyndi Lauper…
Want to see me embarrass myself? The 33rd Throwback Thursday is for you. On a July 2011 trip to New York City I had lunch with Julia Kulakova, a renowned dancer who also teaches a class in gypsy dancing. Before our meal — a lengthy and lovely meal at the…
New York Times-bestselling author Gary Krist (the 70th stranger featured on this site) most recently wrote “The Mirage Factory,” a marvelous non-fiction book tracking three notable figures during Los Angeles’ boom period from 1900 to 1930. The LA Times last week had praise for Gary’s work as part of a broader…
Here’s the 32nd Throwback Thursday article; my June 2011 dinner with DC resident Katelyn Sornik, who told me about her blog that covered life as a vegan. On the blog, New Kid On The Vegan Block, she posted recipes, restaurant reviews and other articles about her life as a vegan….
There are just two weeks left to enjoy the great food and drink at Dino’s Grotto, the DC restaurant whose owner Dean Gold I profiled for Dining With Strangers in May 2018. Dean — whose life before becoming a restaurateur included selling wine, studying economics, selling dope to jazz musicians,…
The 31st Throwback Thursday is to May 2011, when I dined at DC’s Acqua al 2 with Pastor Patrick Walker of the New Macedonia Baptist Church in Southeast Washington. I wanted to learn about his church’s prominent campaign against the push for marriage equality in the city, but that led…