Slate Culture Slate Podcasts

This week, host June Thomas talks to Francesca Zambello, artistic director of the Washington National Opera. In the interview, Francesca discusses the process of creating a brand new ending for Puccini’s unfinished final opera Turandot, from recruiting a composer and librettist to deciding on the visual language of the show. She also talks about her early career working overseas, the wide range of productions at the National Opera, and the kinds of shows that attract new opera fans. 

After the interview, June and co-host Ronald Young Jr. talk about the ethics of changing or updating an artist’s work after their death.  

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, June asks Francesca if there are any other operas that she’d like to update or re-frame. 

Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675.

Podcast production by Cameron Drews.

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In this week’s essay, John discusses Mothers’s Day, playing tennis with the Attorney General, medical scares, and more
 
Notebook Entries:
Notebook 19, page 16. April 2011
Is it possible, through applied thought, to become systematic in an approach to life? If you were to do that how would you proceed? 

Notebook 16, page 6. July 26, 2005
“I’m here with a bunch of midshipmen and wondering what there is to do around here.” - Boy trying to hit on a girl working @ The Reef in Castine, ME.

Notebook 15, page 30. September 2004
Head problems:
Sunday 9/5 morning
Tuesday 9/7 evening
Wednesday 9/8 before lunch

Notebook 22, page 22. April 24, 2014
Question: 
What did you want to be when you were a kid? 

What do you want to be now?

Why the difference?


Notebook 9. 1995
“That’s just the ticket the doctor ordered”

Notebook 13. 2001
“Free as a clam”

Notebook 17, page 67. December 2006
The man sitting next to me has a face on the boil and garlic and old booze on his breath. When he sleeps, he sighs. For this leg of the flight I am wrapped in his breathy gumbo.

Notebook 15, page 7. April 2004
“In all these there are messages for those who use their reason.” - Quran quotation

Notebook 15, page 80. 2005
Would like to meet her.

Notebook 54. July 26, 2020
“Writing requires a reader. You can’t do it alone.” - John Cheever

Notebook 15, page 71. 2005
In the light of sobriety not sure what this means

Notebook 13. March 2001
Yesterday I played tennis with John Ashcroft the atty. general of the U.S.

Notebook 13, page 108. December 11, 2001
Anne just called. There is one little heartbeat beating in her today. Everything is okay for this hurdle. I must say, I was really worried.

Notebook 20, page 10. December 24, 2013
“Sometimes Dad says weird stuff, just ignore him” - Anne to kids about me

Notebook 15, page 84.
“Life goes on,” Hayawi says. “We are in the middle of a war [in Iraq] and we still smoke the water pipe.”

Notebook 45, page 24. April 16, 2019
Our savior lives by the manner in which we live.

Notebook 19, page 23. 2011
People on their mobile phones in England say goodbye a lot: “Cheers, alright then, speak to you soon, ta.” (That’s four ways of saying goodbye). Amelia tells the story of a man who thanked a ticket-taker by saying “Ta, magical, cheers.”

References:
Disaster on the Penobscot - John Henry Fay for Naval History Magazine
One Man’s Meat by E.B. White
The House at Allen Cove I E.B. White House Tour - New England Magazine
Little Plastic Castle - Ani Defranco
“Two Years of War: Taking Stock” - Anthony Shadid for the Washington Post
 
Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.
Email us at navelgazingpodcast@gmail.com
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On today’s show, Rachelle is joined by internet culture writer and reporter Kate Lindsay whose recent Bustle article “My Therapist is a TikTok Star” explores the complicated dynamics that emerge when patients run into their therapists online.
This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton.
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Haiti has suffered under decades of crises, but the latest may be its most intractable. Violent criminals are now effectively in charge of the country, after years of assassinations and political instability left a power vacuum. As a new international force prepares for an intervention, A Word host Jason Johnson discusses the current troubles with Patrick Gaspard, leader of the Center for American Progress. They explore how Haiti fell into such dire circumstances, the role that American guns and policy have played, and how Haitian Americans and the U.S. government could help Haiti find stability.

Guest: Patrick Gaspard, chief of the Center for American Progress

Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola

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In this episode, Dear Prudence editors Paola de Varona and Bryan Lowder join Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about how to deal with a spouse who says he needs friends but has already alienated yours, how to introduce a partner to religious parents, and why guests who spent a free weekend at a lake house would feel entitled to pack up all the leftovers and take them home.
If you want more Dear Prudence, join Slate Plus, Slate’s membership program. Jenée answers an extra question every week, just for members.
Go to Slate.com/prudieplus to sign up. It’s just $15 for your first three months.
This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, and Jenée Desmond-Harris, with help from Maura Currie.
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When OpenAI showed a demo for the latest version of ChatGPT —the one that you can chat with, you know, with your voice—one of the voices sounded eerily familiar. And instead of a victory lap, it was a reminder of all of the implications for intellectual property and one’s own basic human likeness that this technology carries with it.

Guest: Sigal Samuel, senior reporter for Vox's Future Perfect and co-host of the Future Perfect podcast.

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