18

FRIDAY

You’ve tried to distance yourself from the dirty world of money. You’ve entered a serious state of denial about the extra 10 G’s your grubby.com Web-design job has dropped in your lap. The millions you inherited from Aunt Myrtle when she had a run-in with cardiac arrest are just sitting in your checking account earning a paltry 2-percent interest. And yet, when All Things Considered fades and you hear that jaunty 5/4 theme and the words “This is Marketplace,” you welcome David Brancaccio’s ever-confident voice with an open heart and a relieved sigh, sure that only he can guide you through the ups and downs of the Information Age’s open markets. Should this mystical sage ever come to your city—perhaps pushing something he’s written about how Americans handle financial windfalls—you’ve promised yourself that you’ll be there. Now’s your chance: Brancaccio discusses Squandering Aimlessly: My Adventures in the American Marketplace at 7 p.m. at Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Free. (202) 364-1919. (Justin Moyer)