Culture Gabfest

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Culture Gabfest
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New York Times critic Dwight Garner says “The Slate Culture Gabfest is one of the highlights of my week.” The award-winning Culturefest features critics Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner debating the week in culture, from highbrow to pop. For more of Slate’s culture podcasts, check out the Slate Culture feed. Want more Culture Gabfest? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Culture Gabfest show page. Or, visit slate.com/cultureplus to get access wherever you listen.

  1. 4 DAYS AGO • SLATE PLUS ONLY

    Bonus: Watching Gone with the Wind on a Smart Refrigerator

    On this week’s exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode, Isaac Butler (author of The Method:‌ How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act) sits in for Dana. The hosts tackle a listener question from James: “Are there cultural works that you fully intend to see or experience, but are waiting for an optimal way to do it?”

    11 min

  2. 5 DAYS AGO

    Lots to Say About Say Nothing

    On this week’s show, Isaac Butler (Supreme Friend of the Show and author of The Method:‌ How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act) sits in for Dana. First, the panel is quite verbose about Say Nothing, a limited series that takes place over four generations and is set during The Troubles in Northern Ireland. By dramatizing the real-life events recounted in Patrick Radden Keefe’s 2018 bestseller, the adapted limited series achieves something quite rare: enriching the original text and imbuing it with new meaning. Then, they unpack Emilia Pérez, an utterly captivating musical by writer-director Jacques Audiard that’s about gender transition, drug cartels, and becoming yourself. Finally, the trio discusses Carson the Magnificent, a new biography of the mysterious late-night pioneer that Isaac recently reviewed for The New Yorker. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel answers a listener question from James: “Are there cultural works that you fully intend to see or experience, but are waiting for an optimal way to do it?” Email us at culturefest@slate.com.  Endorsements: Isaac: Blood Test by Charles Baxter.   Julia: Zoe Saldaña in Center Stage. Steve: Alice Neel’s appearance on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show in 1984. Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong.  Disclosure in Podcast Description: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond’s yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond’s YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 5m

  3. 14 NOV · BONUS • SLATE PLUS ONLY

    Bonus: So… How Are You Doing?

    On this week’s exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode, the hosts tackle the complex and concise question on everyone’s minds: how are you doing?

    17 min

  4. 13 NOV

    You Are the Media Now

    On this week’s episode, the hosts tackle A‌ Real Pain, writer-director Jesse Eisenberg’s tale of two cousins (played by himself and Kieran Culkin) who travel to Poland to honor their late grandmother and, in the process, come to understand their family’s history through a new lens. Then, the three drop into the lush, sumptuous world of Like Water for Chocolate, Max’s new six-part limited series adapted from Laura Esquivel’s best-selling novel (which later became a critically acclaimed and internationally successful blockbuster.) Then finally, in a post 2024-election reality, do newsrooms still matter?‌ What role will journalists play over the next few years?‌ And can we solve the attention crisis in America?‌ Our panel discusses.  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel dive into a simple, yet important question: How are you doing?  Email us at culturefest@slate.com.  Endorsements: Dana: On the Media’s latest episode, “The Manosphere Celebrates a Win. Plus, M. Gessen on How to Survive an Autocracy.”  Julia: What better time than now to announce the results of the AMC Nicole Kidman poll!  Steve: “Jessica Mitford’s Escape From Facism” by Noah McCormack.  Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong.  Disclosure in Podcast Description: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond’s yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond’s YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 12m

  5. 7 NOV · BONUS • SLATE PLUS ONLY

    Bonus: Conclave Is Not a Serious Movie

    On the exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode, the panel unpacks the most interesting part of Conclave:‌ that out-of-left-field plot twist. In a classic Slate Spoiler Special, the hosts reveal their true feelings about what happens in the final three minutes of the film, and debate whether it cheapens the movie’s supposed message. Oh, and Dana makes a noise that thoroughly delights Steve towards the end of the show! That part is so fun.

    18 min

  6. 6 NOV

    How Quincy Jones Reinvented American Music

    On this week’s show, Extremely Musical Friend of the Pod (EMFOP)‌ Chris Molanphy joins to memorialize pop’s Renaissance Man, Quincy Jones, who passed away on November 3, 2024. The legendary producer worked with every star under the sun, including Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Chaka Khan, and created the best-selling album in history. (“Thriller,” maybe you’ve heard of it?) Then, the trio mulls over Conclave, a sumptuous new film by director Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front) about what happens when the Pope dies. It’s a fun, pulp-y romp, but does the movie have anything profound to say?‌ Finally, the panel considers Martha, a Netflix documentary about Martha Stewart’s rise to fame – and confronts all of lifestyle guru’s charms, mysteries, and borderline sociopathic tendencies. Mentioned in today’s episode:‌ Hit Parade’s “I Wanna Rock with Q“ series. Conclave review, written by Dana. In the exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode, the panel unpacks the most interesting part of Conclave:‌ that out-of-left-field plot twist. Email us at culturefest@slate.com.  Endorsements: Dana:‌ Will &‌ Harper on Netflix. Steve:‌ Getting lost in “Songs of a Lost World,”‌ a new album by the Cure. Chris:‌ The podcast A Very Good Year. Julia:‌ Throwing a birthday for your house; commissioning a micro-history of your home. Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    1h 13m

  7. 31 OCT · BONUS • SLATE PLUS ONLY

    Bonus: So, What’s the Point of TV?

    On this week’s exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode, the hosts (and Slate senior editor Rebecca Onion, who’s sitting in for Julia) divulge their thoughts, secret feelings, and opinions about watching television. (This conversation was inspired by GQ’s mega-article, “How to Watch TV.”) Should motion smoothing/blurring be left on, or off, at a parent’s house? What happens to the episode when your partner falls asleep? And wait, do we even care about TV anymore?

    14 min

  8. 30 OCT • SLATE PLUS ONLY

    Can Stolen Artifacts Return Time?‌

    On this week’s show, Slate senior editor Rebecca Onion sits in for Julia Turner. First, the hosts examine Dahomey, an audacious new documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Mati Diop (Atlantics.)‌ With a one hour, eight minute run time, Dahomey is an incredibly rich text in a very small package, and contemplates the repatriation of 26 royal treasures plundered from the Kingdom of Dahomey as they journey back to their homeland, which now lies within the Republic of Benin. Then, the three dive into Netflix’s Death, Let Me Do My Special, a one-woman show performed and written by Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.)‌ The special is perceptive, macabre, and whimsical, as Bloom reflects on the pandemic years and the loss of her close friend and collaborator, Adam Schlesinger. Finally, what is Mark Zuckerberg wearing?‌ That is the question Brendon Holder asks in a recent Substack essay and that is bewildering the panel. Is the Meta CEO simply trying to beat the dweeb allegations through oversized t-shirts and a boyish haircut? Or is there something more sinister going on here? In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel discusses the role TV plays in their lives, inspired by a recent mega-article published by GQ, “How to Watch TV.” Email us at culturefest@slate.com. Endorsements: Dana:‌ The AOC‌ and Tim Walz Twitch stream, specifically, the moment when Walz calls Tony Hinchcliffe a “jackwad” following a racist comment. Rebecca:‌ The Voyage Home by Pat Parker. Stephen:‌ Todd Gitlin’s 2001 essay, “Unsafe in any state.” Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong.

    54 min
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About

New York Times critic Dwight Garner says “The Slate Culture Gabfest is one of the highlights of my week.” The award-winning Culturefest features critics Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner debating the week in culture, from highbrow to pop. For more of Slate’s culture podcasts, check out the Slate Culture feed. Want more Culture Gabfest? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Culture Gabfest show page. Or, visit slate.com/cultureplus to get access wherever you listen.

Information

  • Channel
    Slate Podcasts
  • Creator
    Slate Podcasts
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2024
  • Episodes
    525
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    ©2019 The Slate Group
  • Show Website
    Culture Gabfest
  • Provider
    The Slate Group LLC

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