1,997 episodes
Slate Culture Slate Podcasts
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4.7 • 124 Ratings
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John Dickerson’s Navel Gazing: The Sneaky Pitfalls of the To-Do List
This episode will be available for free starting May 11th.
In this week’s essay, John discusses the Pomodoro Routine (among other productivity routines), why he especially needs a meditation pillow, and how a particular teacher captured his heart.
Notebook Entries:
Notebook 75, pages 8 and 9. September 2021
OReinstating the Pomodoro Routine…
Starting Marshall again…
Write Brice…
Send Laura the larger project list…
Work on budget to get accounts in order
Meditation pillow upstairs.
Notebook 18. December 6, 2009
Instapaper
Alpha Smart
Richard Hugo on poetry
Degrees of Gray In Philipsburg.
Notebook 18, page 105. June 4, 2011
Visit to Mr. Mead. He was playing piano as we entered. [During our conversation, he asked]: do you find your work fulfilling? Do you have a close circle of friends? Questions about life and living it well…
References:
Getting Things Done - David Allen
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey
The Questions That Will Get Me Through the Pandemic - John Dickerson
43 Folders - Merlin Mann
The Hardest Job in the World - John Dickerson
Essays of E.B. White
“Merlin Mann” - Tina Essmaker for The Great Disconnect
More about Ernest “Boots” Mead
“Because Buying New Running Shoes is More Fun Than Actually Running” - Merlin Mann for 43 Folders
Atomic Habits - James Clear
The Creative Habit - Twyla Tharp
Free Agent Nation - Daniel Pink
“Sharon Salzberg On: Openness, Not Believing the Stories You Tell Yourself, and Why the Most Powerful Tools Often Seem Stupid at First” - Ten Percent Happier
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Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.
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Bryan talks to the creator of Queering the Map, a digital archive of queer stories from around the globe
This week Bryan talks to Lucas LaRochelle, the creator of the online platform Queering the Map. Queering the Map is a community-generated digital archive and map of LGBTQ2IA+ experiences around the globe. They dig into the map’s beginnings, stories from the platform, and how this archive has been able to share queer joy, sorrow, and possibility across continents and in 23 languages.
Podcast production by Palace Shaw.
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Culture Gabfest: Ryan Gosling Falls for Emily Blunt
On this week’s show, the hosts begin by diving head-first into The Fall Guy, director David Leitch’s love letter to stunts and stunt people. It’s a rom-com starring action set pieces, in which stuntman Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) falls for his director and ex-flame, Jody (Emily Blunt). The film is very telling about the work that goes into making an action flick… but does The Fall Guy ever achieve liftoff? Then, they debate I Saw the TV Glow, Jane Schoenbrun’s impressive second feature that chronicles the friendship between Owen and Maddy, and their fascination with the fictional show The Pink Opaque. I Saw the TV Glow obsesses over what’s real and not real–and is said to be an allegory for being trans–in a way that’s brave and admirable, but often depressing to watch. Finally, the panel is joined by Lydia Polgreen, Opinion columnist for The New York Times and co-host of the Matter of Opinion podcast, to discuss her reporting on the student protests unfolding in New York City. A few of the media mentioned: “Columbia, Free Speech and the Coddling of the American Right” and “The Student-Led Protests Aren’t Perfect. That Doesn’t Mean They’re Not Right.” by Polgreen; “The Takeover,” an on-the-ground report by the staff of the Columbia Daily Spectator for New York Magazine; the Columbia Revolt documentary.
In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel discusses the question that’s been roiling TikTok: For women, would you rather be alone in the woods with a man or a bear?
Email us at culturefest@slate.com.
Endorsements:
Dana: “Kindness,” a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye, which she read on the On Being podcast. You can explore more of Shihab Nye’s poetry here.
Julia: (1) A congratulations to former Los Angeles Times film critic Justin Chang for his Pulitzer Prize. (2) The Work of Art: How Something Comes From Nothing by Adam Moss.
Stephen: Saxophonist Frank Morgan, specifically, his album Listen to the Dawn. And you can listen to Steve’s playlist for Julia here.
Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong.
Hosts
Dana Stephens, Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf
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How the Jalapeño Lost Its Heat
The jalapeño is the workhorse of hot peppers. They’re sold fresh, canned, pickled, in hot sauces, salsas, smoked into chipotles, and they outsell all other hot peppers in the United States. These everyday chilies are a scientific and sociological marvel, and tell a complicated story about Mexican food and American palates.
In today’s episode, we meet Dallas-based food critic Brian Reinhart, who fell in love with spicy Mexican cuisine as a teenager. Recently, Brian started to notice that the jalapeños he’d buy in the grocery store were less and less hot. So he called up an expert: Dr. Stephanie Walker, who studies chili pepper genetics at New Mexico State University. She explains that the food industry has been breeding milder jalapeños for decades – a project led by “Dr. Pepper” himself, Benigno Villalon.
Finally, Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano puts the jalapeño in context, as part of an age-old cycle in Americans’ obsession with Mexican food: one more ingredient that’s been “discovered,” celebrated, then domesticated.
Brian Reinhart’s article about the jalapeño ran in D Magazine. Gustavo Arellano’s book is called Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America.
This episode was produced by Evan Chung, who produces the show with Katie Shepherd and Max Freedman. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.
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ICYMI: How Kate Middleton’s Disappearance Redefined Monoculture
This week, ICYMI and the Never Post podcast are collaborating on two episodes surrounding 2024’s biggest internet monocultural moment: Kate Middleton’s disappearance. It’s been more than a month since Kate announced she’d started preventative chemotherapy treatments following a cancer diagnosis. Which means it’s also been just over a month since conspiracy theories about the princess ran rampant across the internet. As an increasingly algorithmic internet silos us further into our own little content niches, all-consuming events like Kate Middleton’s disappearance are fewer and far between. So what does it take, in 2024, to capture the internet’s attention and create these rare monocultural moments?
This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton.
This episode was made in collaboration with the Never Post team, which includes Hans Buetow, Mike Rugnetta, Jason Oberholtzer and Wil Williams.
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Well, Now: Overcoming a Complicated Pregnancy
For many, pregnancy is a time of heightened and joyful anticipation. There are doctor’s appointments, tests, preparation…All with a focus on bringing home a healthy baby.
The other side of pregnancy–the complications–is not readily discussed.
On this week’s episode of Well, Now we discuss all of these potential roadblocks with economist Emily Oster. In her latest book The Unexpected: Navigating Pregnancy During and After Complications, she arms patients with the data they need to advocate for themselves in their appointments.
If you enjoyed this episode, check out: How a Former Surgeon General Took on a $5,000 ER Bill
Well, Now is hosted by Kavita Patel, MD and Maya Feller, MS, RD, CDN.
Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry with editorial oversight by Alicia Montgomery.
Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to wellnow@slate.com
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Customer Reviews
Wish we had this in the uk
I don’t listen to every episode because sometimes the subjects don’t interest me, but when i do listen the quality of analysis is brilliant. I rate all three presenters but I love Julia the most (thank you for staying despite moving to LA) as I find her to have a more common sense approach and unlike one other reviewer I love her voice, I could listen to her all day. Steve can be a bit pompous sometimes, despite having a beautiful way with words. Dana is great too, very authentic and smart of course. I wish we had a cultural review show of this quality in the uk.
Love the content, hate the mixing
I love love love the content of this podcast but the mixing of it often makes it a pain to listen with headphones in and even with Monoaudio set on my headphones. For a podcast with more than one host it’s understandable that you’d have it set so the voices come from different directions but if one of the hosts is doing a long intro or an ad it’s so annoying to have to predominantly hear it through only one headphones for up to 10 minutes. Please fix this!! Everything else is brilliant!
Charmingly illuminating
After having listen to a verity of podcasts across a spectrum of topics, I am impelled to say that this is by far the most entertaining I have listened to.
The show has been going on for around five years and at this point the panel have the show down to a fine art. The show covers three cultural topics during the course of an episode and this can include a movie, TV show, article, exhibition or just about anything that would be deemed culturally interesting. I love the breadth of the topics that are discussed and the brilliant way each panelist has their own unique take.
But what really sets this show apart from all others that I have listened to is the panelists themselves. Their opinions and witty and urbane repartee are such a pleasure to listen to that I would follow them to whatever subject they wanted to talk about. So I urge you join the delightful Dana Stevens, the joyful Julia Turner and Stephen Metcalfe on their wonderful, wild ride.