News outlets and opinion writers have called it: The traditional dinner party is dead. But are dinner parties really so bad? Or are we just bad at hosting them?

This hour, the history of dinner parties and some advice from people who turn party-hosting into an art form.

GUESTS:

• Rand Richards Cooper: Fiction writer, contributing editor at Commonweal, and the restaurant critic for the Hartford Courant
• Nandita Godbole: Author of several cookbooks including Masaleydaar: Classic Indian Spice Blends; she also writes the blog Curry Cravings
• Julia Skinner: Culinary historian and food writer whose work includes the book Our Fermented Lives

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Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired October 26, 2023.