How to make friends & get good gossip
It's Been a Minute
NPR
4.6 • 8.8K Ratings
🗓️ 22 October 2025
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
You'll feel less lonely, take care of people you love, and find out what's really going on in your community. Dinner parties are sort of a lost art, and our notions of what makes a worthy dinner party are being warped by social media. We're here with tips on how to throw one without feeling self-conscious.
Brittany is joined by two dinner party experts: architecture & design journalist Carly Olson and chef & writer Garrett Schlichte. They discuss the pitfalls and pleasures of modern dinner parties, including how to host one without breaking the bank.
(0:00) Why dinner parties are the perfect way to connect
(2:01) Dinner parties of the past vs. now
(4:57) How modern home design prioritizes individualism
(8:32) Why social media discourages community building
(14:00) Advice for throwing a good dinner party
(16:58) How to let go of your anxiety of having people in your home
(19:51) Ban the phones at home!
Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluse
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Transcript
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| 0:18.2 | To you, what is the point of a dinner party today? Garrett, we'll start with you on this |
| 0:23.8 | question. It's about gossip, which is like something that I really believe in as like a delicious |
| 0:29.7 | and important social norm. I think it's like less about like impressing the boss and it's more |
| 0:34.4 | about like what's going on with Jessica? You know what you mean? |
| 0:37.5 | Like, what's happening? |
| 0:38.2 | Like, we need to figure some things out, and we need to talk. |
| 0:43.6 | Hello, hello. |
| 0:44.9 | I'm Brittany Luce, and you're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR, a show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident. |
| 0:59.8 | Yeah. on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident. I love that. |
| 1:01.0 | That's such a good motivator. |
| 1:02.4 | Honestly, gossip is like I always say that I have many reasons to want to live in this |
| 1:08.7 | world. |
| 1:09.5 | But one of the top reasons I want to live a long life |
| 1:12.8 | is to live long enough to have all of my gossip questions answered. I love gossip. I believe in |
| 1:20.2 | it in a positive way. It's not malicious. Sometimes you have to talk. And I think that's where, like, |
| 1:25.9 | for me, it happens. |
| 1:32.6 | But what about you? What about you, Carly? What do you think? Like, what do you think the point of a dinner party is today? |
| 1:46.9 | You know, I've always loved hosting. And I think there's something appealing about creating a party in your own space. It's totally of your own design. and there's something cozy and lovely about having your friends over in your space eating food that you prepared or at least chose for them. |
... |
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