Welcome to the dinner party download. This is your icebreaker.

A man goes to the doctor. He knows he's terminally ill.

He goes to the doctor and he says, Doc, has it looking. The doctor says, it's not good.

And he says, well, how much time do I have left? And the doctor says, 10.

And the guy says, 10 what? And the doctor says, 9.

I'm Rico Gagliano.

I'm Brendan Francis Nuneum, and from 89.3 KPCC in Los Angeles, this is the dinner party download.

The show that helps you win your next dinner party.

Our icebreaker this week came from folk singer Sam Amadon.

Thanks Sam.

And later we'll be speaking with our guest of honor, Sundance winning filmmaker Andi Tomoner.

But first, time for small talk.

Rico, this week in the news, it was earthquakes, pirates, evil dictators.

It was like summer blockbuster movie season, except it's April and it's our lives.

So for a little escape, we asked the folks at Marketplace to tell us about some less apocalyptic and less well-known news items.

Jeremy Hobson, New York reporter, what story are you going to be talking about this weekend?

Well, it turns out, Rico, that even reality TV is starting to reflect economic reality.

Oh, my word. How so?

Well, the show Paris Hilton's My New BFF, which I know you're a big fan of.

It turns out the mansion that the contestants live in this new season will cost half as much

as the mansion they lived in last season to save money.

And America weeps.

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