Comedian and South Carolinian Aziz Ansari will be here on July 11 to discuss his new book Modern Romance, but if you want to get a little sneak peek before buying your tickets, listen to this week’s episode of This American Life.
Sandwiched between a tale of Girl Guides in a Chinese concentration camp and the reading of an 1853 article about a Virginia slave auction is a segment recorded at one of Ansari’s shows — make that focus groups — in New York. Ansari shares the stage with sociologist Eric Klinenberg, his co-author for Modern Romance, and they’re gathering data for the book — specifically, text messages that are the first contact between guys and girls who are interested in each other. It’s probably the funniest sociological research you’ll ever listen to.
Tickets to Ansari’s upcoming show are $52, and include a copy of the book. You can pick up your copy of Modern Romance at Blue Bicycle Books now through July 11 (and of course, if you just want the book, you can get it there any time).
We posted the book trailer on our first post about the event, but here it is again in case you missed it.
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