Occasional Tapas: Episode 00: Pre-OSCARS discussion featuring guest Riccardo Dragani

PHOTO BY VINCENT L. STEPHENS. COPYRIGHT © 2019 VINCENT L. STEPHENS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Riffs, Beats & Codas readers: This winter I am launching a new podcast called Occasional Tapas: Interesting people discuss topics of interest. The series focuses on art, media, culture, and food. In other words important things that most of us care about deeply. Each podcast will feature myself and a special guest, or guests, with insights on the selected topic. The aim is to offer original, informed perspectives infused with attitude and humor.

Episode 00 features a discussion about the 2019 Academy Award nominees between me and film scholar Riccardo Dragani. We discuss the previous year in film (2018), review the nominees—including who will will and who should win—as well as two controversies regarding 2019’s ceremony: the initial decision to not air certain categories (rescinded since our initial recording) and the lack of an Oscar host. You will hear us munching on some homemade tapas including veggie jambalaya, red beans, yellow rice, sauteed kale and sparkling water.

We assess the winners and the overall Oscars experience in an upcoming post-Oscars podcast so stay tuned! You will find episodes of the podcast here, as well as on iTunes and Spotify.