Works-in-progress by guitarist Marc Ribot. Wordplay, with lexicographer Erin McKean, "They Might Be Giants" singer/songwriter John Linnell and Boston College junior Billy Hurley. An artful diatribe against bad table manners. And the latest in a series of characters created for The Next Big Thing by David Cale.

That's the Cap Sauce
Boston College student Billy Hurley provides an etymology of the phrase Next Big Thing listeners have voted as Word of the Year 2005. Produced by Julie Subrin.

Use It or Lose It
Activist lexicographer Erin McKean sets her sights on singer/songwriter John Linnell of the group "They Might Be Giants." She's hoping he'll bring back to common parlance some words that are threatened by obsolescence.

I Hate the Way You Eat
Next Big Thing producer Pejk Malinovski's meditation on mealtime is enough to make you vow never to dine with your family again.

Melody
Sometimes it takes a random encounter to gain perspective on one's life. That seems to be the case for Chris Alton, a 41-year-old actor. Alton is the latest in a series of characters created and performed for The Next Big Thing by David Cale. Produced by Emily Botein.

In Security
A look at the latest advances in airport security, as imagined by improvisational actors Mary Purdy and Bradley Dean Whyte. Produced by Curtis Fox.

Marc Ribot Himself
Avant-garde guitarist and composer Marc Ribot has played with Tom Waits, the Lounge Lizards, Marianne Faithfull, Elvis Costello and many others. Here, host Dean Olsher invites him to do his own thing. And so he does — ranging far and wide, from cowboy tune to mutated jazz standard. Produced by Matt Lieber.

WNYC archives id: 42365