Culture Gabfest
479 episodes - English - Latest episode: 14 days ago - ★★★★★ - 385 ratingsNew 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.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Much Ado About Ren Faire
June 26, 2024 07:00 - 1 hourOn this week’s show, Isaac Butler (co-host of Slate’s Working podcast and the author of The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act) sits in for Julia Turner. The panel first turns their attention to Ren Faire, HBO’s three-part documentary chronicling the surreal power struggle at the heart of America’s largest renaissance festival. Director Lance Oppenheim (Spermworld, Some Kind of Heaven) presents an extraordinary window into the fantastical world, capturing a very specific moment ...
Does Inside Out 2 Get Anxiety Right?
June 19, 2024 07:00 - 1 hourOn this week’s episode, the hosts excavate the psyche and begin by exploring Inside Out 2, a sophisticated children’s movie that tackles the question on every kid’s mind: How does one go about crafting a highly integrated ego? A bevy of new emotions join the motley crew living inside of our teenage protagonist Riley’s mind, most notably Anxiety, voiced brilliantly by Maya Hawke. The film, a sequel to Pixar’s 2015 Academy Award-winner, is filled with wisdom about developmental psychology, but ...
Can The Acolyte Redeem Star Wars on TV?
June 12, 2024 07:00 - 1 hourOn this week’s show, Dan Kois (writer at Slate and author of Hampton Heights: One Harrowing Night in the Most Haunted Neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) fills in for Dana Stevens. The hosts begin by exploring the latest addition to the Star Wars canon, The Acolyte, created by Leslye Headland (Russian Doll). Amandla Sternberg and Lee Jung-jae lead the who-dunnit mystery, and while there is a lot to admire about the show’s visuals and depiction of the Master Jedi, The Acolyte often sags unde...
What Even Is Garfield?
June 05, 2024 08:02 - 1 hourOn this week’s show, the hosts begin by asking the question: What even is Garfield? Jim Davis’ overfed, Monday-hating (even though he’s jobless) cultural figure first appeared in comic strips in the late 1970s, and since then, has been surprisingly resilient, most recently conquering the summer box-office with The Garfield Movie. But who is Garfield, and more perhaps more importantly, why is he a thing? To answer these questions, each host watched (or endured) a different Garfield entity, inc...
Furiosa’s Glower
May 29, 2024 07:00 - 1 hourOn this week’s show, the hosts begin by jumping into Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, a prequel to George Miller’s 2015 Fury Road, in which Anya Taylor-Joy stars as Furiosa, an arachnid beauty who’s stolen as a child and becomes a wasteland road warrior. She’s a “strong, silent type,” typical of the action film genre, but does that trope mean something different with a female protagonist in 2024? The panel discusses. (Read Dana’s review of Furiosa!) Then, the three chat Hit Man, Richard Linklater’s l...
Can Babes Make Childbirth Funny?
May 22, 2024 07:00 - 57 minutesOn this week’s show, the hosts begin by reviewing Babes, Pamela Adlon’s (Better Things, Louie) directorial feature debut starring Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau. Through raunch-comedy and body horror, Babes explores childbirth and pregnancy through a refreshingly unromanticized lens, but does it succeed as a drama? Then, the three switch gears and turn to Interview With the Vampire, AMC’s Anne Rice adaptation that’s now in its second season. What a weird show! The series–starring Jacob Ande...
Damn Dirty Apes
May 15, 2024 07:00 - 1 hourOn this week’s show, the hosts begin by dissecting The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the fourth chapter in the Apes franchise. Set “many generations” in the future, the latest installment (directed by Wes Ball and starring Owen Teague) is an undeniably well-crafted summer blockbuster – but does it achieve the level of complexity and thought its predecessors did? (Read Dana’s review for Slate for further analysis.) Then, it’s onto John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA, a six-part live ...
Ryan Gosling Falls for Emily Blunt
May 08, 2024 07:00 - 1 hourOn 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 c...
Zendaya Plays Doubles
May 01, 2024 07:00 - 1 hourOn this week’s show, the hosts begin by discussing Challengers, Luca Guadagnino’s sexy tennis flick in which Zendaya stars as Tashi Duncan, the muse and lover of two male players, Art (Mike Faist) and Patrick (Josh O’Connor). It’s a smart but silly movie, one that paints a beautifully nested portrait of friendship and rivalry, and explores the complexities of desire. Then, the three dissect Baby Reindeer, an incredibly constructed and emotionally intense psychodrama–and a true-ish tale–by cre...
Taylor Swift’s Messy Maximalism
April 24, 2024 07:00 - 1 hourOn this week’s episode, the panel is first joined by Slate’s music critic, Carl Wilson, to puzzle over The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor Swift’s much-anticipated 11th studio album. Stuffed with 31 tracks, the two-part album is a departure from the billionaire pop star’s otherwise perfectly crafted oeuvre: it’s messy and drippy, and at times, manic and frenetic. Is this secretly a cry for help? And more importantly, when did she find the time to record this thing? Then, the three explore F...
Civil War: What Is It Good For?
April 17, 2024 07:00 - 1 hourOn this week’s show, Slate culture writer (and Very, Very Good Friend of the Show, a.k.a. VVGFOP) Nadira Goffe sits in for Dana Stevens. The three begin with Civil War, writer-director Alex Garland’s (Ex Machina, Annihilation, Men) dystopian travelog starring Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, and Wagner Moura that imagines a burned out, bombed out America in the throes of a raging internal conflict. But who is fighting whom? Our panel discusses. Then, they examine Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show, ...
Dev Patel Goes John Wick
April 10, 2024 07:00 - 1 hourOn this week’s show, the panel is first joined by Slate business and culture writer Nitish Pahwa to discuss Monkey Man, Dev Patel’s dazzling but muddled directorial debut. The ultra-violent action flick stars Patel as Kid, a young man who works his way into a secret brothel for the super rich, hell-bent on finding the police chief who murdered his mother and exacting his revenge. It’s clearly a political statement of a film, rife with references to real-world controversies and corrupt politic...
Beyoncé’s Country Kaleidoscope
April 03, 2024 07:00 - 1 hourOn this week’s show, the panel is first joined by Slate culture writer (and the Gabfest’s Senior Beyoncé Correspondent) Nadira Goffe to dissect Beyoncé’s latest album, Cowboy Carter. Released on March 29th, Cowboy Carter is a 27-track behemoth with a country soul, packed with archival footage and songs that span multiple genres. To call it a country album would be too simplistic, so we’ll stick with Queen Bey’s own words: Cowboy Carter is a Beyoncé album. Then, the three jump into Do Not Expe...
Jon Stewart Returns
March 27, 2024 08:00 - 1 hourOn this week's show, Slate’s Dan Kois (author of Vintage Contemporaries, How to Be a Family, The World Only Spins Forward, and Facing Future) sits in for Julia Turner. The panel first begins with a reboot: In 1999, when Jon Stewart took over, rather indifferently, the helm of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, he changed the media landscape with his comedic chops, serious outrage, and penchant for pointing out politicians' hypocrisies. He’s since left and returned back to the show (which he hos...
Kristen Stewart Pumps Iron
March 20, 2024 08:00 - 57 minutesOn this week’s show, Slate culture writers Nadira Goffe and Dan Kois fill in for Julia and Stephen. First up, the panel dissects Love Lies Bleeding with What’s Next producer Madeline Ducharme. Writer-director Rose Glass’ second feature stars Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian as beefed up, star-crossed lovers, in a twisted and gory love story about two unhealthily enmeshed women. (You can read Madeline Ducharme and Christina Cauterucci’s detailed review of the sex scenes in Love Lies Bleeding h...
The Oscars Are Back, Baby!
March 13, 2024 07:00 - 1 hourOn this week’s show, the panel is first joined by Mark Harris, cultural historian and the author of Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood, to discuss the 96th Academy Awards: a fun, glitzy return to form filled with surprisingly political moments. Then, the three review FX’s Shōgun, a massive epic set in 17th century Japan that many are calling “the new Game of Thrones.” But does it live up to the hype? Finally, the trio examines “Behind F1’s Velvet Curtain,...
Timothée Chalamet Rides the Worm
March 06, 2024 08:00 - 58 minutesOn this week’s show, the panel returns to Arrakis! First up, the trio reviews Dune: Part Two, the (as the title suggests) second part of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 science fiction epic. In it, Timothée Chalamet plays Paul Atreides, the supposed “messiah” of Arrakis, a hostile desert planet rich in spice, in a fantastic feat of world building and worm-riding. Then, they examine God Save Texas, a three-part docu-series streaming on Max that follows three Texan filmmak...
J.Lo’s This Is… What Now?
February 28, 2024 08:00 - 1 hourOn this week’s show, the panel is first joined by Wesley Morris, New York Times’ critic at large, to dissect This Is Me… Now: A Love Story, Jennifer Lopez’s bizarre, nutty, yet utterly delicious self-funded vanity project that cost the singer $20 million to produce. (Wesley wrote a brilliant piece about it for the Times.) Then, the three explore 20 Days in Mariupol, the Oscar-nominated documentary by Ukrainian journalist Mstyslav Chernov that depicts the atrocities of the Russia-Ukraine war t...
Mr. & Mrs. Smith: Remarried
February 21, 2024 08:00 - 55 minutesOn this week’s show, the panel begins by dissecting Mr. & Mrs. Smith, the episodic remake of Brangelina’s 2005 espionage film. The Prime Video series stars Donald Glover and Maya Erskine as the titular Smiths, spies who become “married” as a part of the job, and explores partnership in the gig economy in a quieter, smaller, and less glamorous version of the original. Then, they review The Color Purple, a movie-musical adapted from Alice Walker’s seminal novel. The film stars Fantasia Barrino ...
We’re Saving Our Own Lives
February 14, 2024 08:00 - 49 minutesOn this week’s show, the panel returns to 1985 and reviews The Greatest Night in Pop, Netflix’s star-studded documentary about how “We Are the World” (a charity single performed by USA for Africa, a supergroup comprised of the most popular artists not only of the time, but arguably, ever) came to be and the legendary night it was recorded. Although it features cameos from Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, Paul Simon, Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper, and more, the documentary manages to be...
Why Zone of Interest Is Dividing Critics
February 07, 2024 08:00 - 56 minutesOn this week’s show, Extreme Friends of the Pod and co-authors of The World Only Spins Forward, Isaac Butler and Dan Kois, fill in for Dana Stevens and Julia Turner. The hosts begin by dissecting The Zone of Interest, filmmaker Jonathan Glazer’s audacious movie about the Holocaust that’s told through the lens of Nazi commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig as they live their somewhat ordinary lives in a compound outside of Auschwitz. The film has garnered both praise and severe critique fr...
Life and Art, from FT Weekend: Comfort Watch: Something’s Gotta Give (2003)
February 02, 2024 08:00 - 28 minutesFrom our friends at Life and Art, a culture podcast of the Financial Times: This week, we return to an old comfort classic: the 2003 Nancy Meyers romcom Something’s Gotta Give, starring Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson. In it, two middle-aged people fall in love, but only after one heart attack, two younger lovers, some unexpected midnight pancakes and ample bickering. Does the movie still work today? How has the way we depict aging in film changed? And do we miss Nancy Meyers movies? Joining...
American Fiction, Oscar Contender?
January 31, 2024 08:00 - 57 minutesOn this week’s show, Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe and Sam Sanders, host of Vibe Check fill in for Dana Stevens and Julia Turner. The hosts begin with a subversively brilliant Oscar contender, American Fiction, which is Cord Jefferson’s adaptation of Percival Everett’s 2001 novel Erasure. The filmmaker’s debut racked up five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and stars Jeffrey Wright as Thelonius “Monk” Ellis, a frustrated writer, in this heartfelt family melodrama encased in biti...
True Detective’s Coldest Case Yet
January 24, 2024 08:00 - 57 minutesOn this week’s show, Jamelle Bouie (Opinion columnist at The New York Times) sits in for Julia Turner. The hosts first begin with a trip to Ennis, a fictional Alaskan town at the heart of True Detective: Night Country, and review the fourth installment of the HBO Max anthology series. There’s a new showrunner at the helm, Issa López, who brings a desperately needed fresh take on the Lovecraftian True Detective format, along with the series’ two leads, played by Jodie Foster and Kali Reis. The...
When Mean Girls Sing
January 17, 2024 08:00 - 59 minutesOn this week’s show, Nadira Goffe sits in for Julia Turner. The hosts first begin by exploring an updated cult classic: Mean Girls, the movie musical version of the Broadway show based on the iconic 2004 film. The 2024 iteration stars Reneé Rapp as Regina George and Angourie Rice as Cady Heron. Then the three head to 17th century Edo-era Japan and review Blue Eye Samurai, an animated Netflix series about an ambiguously gendered, half-Japanese, half-white samurai (voiced by Maya Erskine) hell-...
Much Ado About Anyone But You
January 10, 2024 08:00 - 59 minutesOn this week’s show, the hosts are first joined by Slate’s Heather Schwedel to discuss Anyone But You, a paper-thin adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, whose combined good looks and star wattage aren’t enough to save the flimsily written rom-com. (Although, despite the film’s rocky start, it’s become a sleeper smash at the box-office.) Then, the panel explores Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron (which premiered under the name, How D...
Willy Wonka, Naive Sweetheart?
January 03, 2024 08:00 - 57 minutesOn this week’s show, the hosts begin by jumping into the fantastical world of Wonka, a prequel to Roald Dahl’s enduring novel that explores the origins of its famously impish character, Willy Wonka, portrayed here by a wide-eyed, sugary sweet Timothée Chalamet. The musical film, directed by Paul King (Paddington, Paddington 2) isn’t the kind of movie you want to pick on–it undoubtedly has a warm heart–but has the effect of watching a lucrative homework assignment. Then, the three switch gears...
Encore: Barbenheimer Blockbuster Bonanza
December 27, 2023 08:00 - 57 minutesThis week, we revisit one of our favorite episodes of 2023! The panel begins by examining Barbie, Greta Gerwig’s hot pink, record-breaking movie about the iconic Mattel doll. Then, the trio dives into Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which chronicles the life of the “Father of the Atomic Bomb,” and explores whether the film achieves its aims. Finally, they are joined by Slate’s Chris Molanphy to discuss the controversy behind country singer Jason Aldean’s latest song, “Try That In A Small Tow...
Annual Call-In Show 2023
December 20, 2023 08:00 - 1 hourThis week, it’s the yearly call-in episode! Steve, Dana, and Julia dive into questions submitted by Culture Gabfest listeners. Outro music: “Forbidden Love” by OTE Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Kat Hong. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows. You’ll also be supporting the work we do here on the Culture Gabfest. Sign up now at Sla...
Emma Stone’s Horny Frankenstein Movie
December 13, 2023 08:00 - 56 minutesThis week, the panel is joined by Slate writer and senior editor Sam Adams to dissect Poor Things, director Yorgos Lanthimos' horny, steampunk Frankenstein tale about Bella Baxter (played by Emma Stone), a pregnant woman who commits suicide then is brought back to life by a brilliant scientist (Willem Dafoe), with an eccentric caveat: She now has the brain of her unborn fetus. Then, the three remember Norman Lear, the late television pioneer and American icon who died at the age of 101 and wh...
The Beyhive Swarms the Box Office
December 06, 2023 08:00 - 57 minutesThis week, the panel begins by exploring Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé with Slate culture writer (and Beyhive stan) Nadira Goffe. The renowned pop diva’s theatrical debut works both as a well-oiled concert documentary as well as a surprisingly heartfelt deconstruction of Knowles’ previously impenetrable image of perfection. Then, the three consider Todd Haynes’ May December, an emotionally curious, tonally dissonant study of life’s gray areas starring Natalie Portman, longtime collaborator J...
Napoleon Attempts to Conquer
November 29, 2023 08:00 - 57 minutesThis week, Dana and Julia are joined by Jamelle Bouie, Opinion columnist at The New York Times and co-host of Unclear and Present Danger. The panel begins by diving into Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, a visually sumptuous biopic starring Joaquin Phoenix that attempts to chronicle the legendary historical figure’s life and reduce him to human size, yet fails to do so within its 2 ½ hour runtime. Then, the three jump into Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, a new eight-part animated Netflix series that offers a...
Nathan Fielder Goes Even Fuller Cringe
November 22, 2023 08:00 - 51 minutesThis week, the panel begins by reviewing The Curse, a cringe-worthy Showtime series co-produced by Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie. Fielder and Emma Stone star as Asher and Whitney Siegel, a newlywed couple at the center of a reality HGTV show built on narcissism, gentrification, and lies. Then, the three jump into Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, which Dana describes as a “sadsack Christmas classic,” starring Paul Giamatti as a curmudgeonly misanthrope professor alongside newcomer Dominic Se...
Nicolas Cage is Your Nightmare
November 15, 2023 08:00 - 59 minutesThis week, Dana and Stephen are joined by Supreme Friend of the Pod, Isaac Butler, who co-hosts Slate’s Working podcast and is the author of The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act (which is now available in paperback!). The panel begins by pondering Dream Scenario, a provocative new film from Norwegian writer-director Kristoffer Borgli. The nightmarish social satire stars Nicolas Cage as Paul Matthews, a hapless middle-aged biology professor who begins appearing randomly in peop...
Does Voice-Over Kill the Killer?
November 08, 2023 08:00 - 57 minutesThis week, the panel is joined first by Isaac Butler, co-host of Slate’s Working podcast and author of The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act, to debate the merits of David Fincher’s The Killer and whether the director’s latest “thriller” (which stars Michael Fassbender) is a masterful example of craft or simply a logic-free time-suck. Then, Dana, Julia, and Stephen explore the world of Letterboxd, the self-proclaimed “Goodreads of movies” that may be the only positive social me...
Priscilla's Heartbreak Hotel
November 01, 2023 07:00 - 55 minutesThis week, the panel begins by discussing Priscilla, Sofia Coppola’s new film starring Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi that’s based on Priscilla Presley’s memoir, Elvis and Me, and features an otherworldly courtship, gilded cages, and whole lot of mumbling. Then, the three review Anatomy of a Fall, an excellent French movie directed and co-written by Justine Triet that, on the surface, looks like a courtroom drama, but dives deep into the discrepancies and lies that make up a marriage. Finally...
Scorsese’s Killer Epic
October 25, 2023 07:00 - 59 minutesThis week, the panel begins by reviewing Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese’s film based on David Grann’s 2017 non-fiction book about the plot of white Americans to steal the Osage Nation’s headrights in the 1920s, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone. Then, the three are joined by Dan Kois, writer and editor at Slate and author of Vintage Contemporaries, to puzzle over Slayers: A Buffyverse Story, a scripted audio series based on Buffy: The Vampire Slayer that’s written and...
Swifties at the Movies
October 18, 2023 07:00 - 57 minutesThis week, the panel begins by diving into Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, a glittery and extremely fun concert movie starring the singer-songwriter-producer-mogul that’s already become the highest grossing concert documentary of all time. Then, they discuss Beckham, a surprisingly candid four-part docu-series on Netflix directed by Fisher Stevens that chronicles the footballer’s meteoric rise to stardom and paints an intimate portrait of his home life with Victoria Adams, a.k.a. Posh Spice. Fin...
Roald Dahl, Wes Anderson Style
October 11, 2023 07:00 - 57 minutesThis week, the panel begins by reviewing The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar, Wes Anderson’s faithful adaptation of a 1977 Roald Dahl short story, that doubles as a sumptuous meta-commentary on the director’s exacting approach to his craft. Then, the three discuss The Super Models, Apple TV+’s docu-series that glossily chronicles the lives and careers of Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, and Linda Evangelista, a.k.a. The It Girls of ‘90s fashion. Finally, they puzzle through ...
Is the Golden Bachelor Bachelor Gold?
October 04, 2023 07:00 - 57 minutesThis week, the panel begins by dissecting The Golden Bachelor, the latest spin-off of the classic reality TV series starring a 72-year-old bachelor searching for love amongst a group of women in their 60s, 70s, and 80s. Sincerity ensues… or does it? Then, the three return to the ‘80s to discuss A24’s re-release of Stop Making Sense, Jonathan Demme’s seminal 1984 Talking Heads concert movie that’s widely regarded as the apex of the genre. Finally, they investigate the celebrity apology video a...
Gael García Bernal and Gay Lucha Libre
September 27, 2023 07:00 - 58 minutesThis week, Dana and Stephen are once again joined by Kat Chow, author of the memoir Seeing Ghosts. The panel begins by jumping into the ring with Cassandro, the oddly conflict-adverse biopic about the lucha libre superstar and exótico gay icon, Saúl Armendáriz, who is played terrifically by Gael García Bernal in a provocative, tour-de-force performance. Then, the trio wades into comedian–and future Daily Show host hopeful–Hasan Minhaj’s thorny web of lies with Slate staff writer, Nitish Pahwa...
A Haunting in Venice Kicks Off Spooky Season
September 20, 2023 07:00 - 58 minutesThis week, Stephen and Dana are joined by long-time friend of the pod and co-host of Slate’s Working podcast, June Thomas. The panel begins by puzzling over the return of Kenneth Branagh’s Hercule Poirot in A Haunting in Venice, the actor-director’s third Agatha Christie whodunit adaptation. Then, they dig into Jann Wenner’s disastrous New York Times interview with David Marchese in which the Rolling Stone co-founder manages to disgrace himself in almost every conceivable way. Finally, the tr...
Is Rotten Tomatoes Certified Rotten?
September 13, 2023 07:00 - 53 minutesThis week, Stephen and Dana are joined by guest host Kat Chow, journalist and author of the 2021 memoir Seeing Ghosts. The panel begins by wading through HELL, Chris Fleming’s new hour-long comedy special that’s both puzzling and delightfully goofy. Then, the three consider Astrakan, a deeply dark and unsettling first feature from director David Depesseville, and attempt to parse through the film’s (intentionally?) ambiguous messages. Finally, they conclude by discussing Rotten Tomatoes, the ...
Bottoms Queers the High School Comedy
September 06, 2023 07:00 - 56 minutesThis week, the panel jumps into Bottoms, the chaotic second feature from director and co-writer Emma Seligman that satirizes… something (what that thing is, they have yet to discover). They then discuss Telemarketers, a Michael Moore-style documentary that exposes the telemarketing industry’s dark underbelly in a weirdly captivating tour de force. Finally, the trio takes on Strike Force Five, a new Spotify podcast hosted by late-night veterans Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, John...
Gran Turismo is Cynical and Glorious
August 30, 2023 07:00 - 59 minutesThis week, Julia is joined by Slate associate culture writer Nadira Goffe and Jamelle Bouie, opinion columnist at The New York Times. The panel begins by test driving Gran Turismo, a sports movie that is essentially a Playstation commercial based on popular intellectual property and “real life.” Then, they explore Mask Girl, a visually stylish K-drama that tackles men, capital letters, systemic violence, Korean beauty standards, and fame through smart social satire. Finally, the three discuss...
Passages Is Not For the Prudes
August 23, 2023 07:00 - 58 minutesThis week, Dana is joined by Slate’s books and culture columnist, Laura Miller, and senior editor Rebecca Onion (who are filling in for Julia and Stephen). The panel begins by unraveling Passages, the sexy but also, at times, repelling feature from director Ira Sachs about a complicated love triangle. The film received a controversial NC-17 rating from the Motion Picture Association. Then, they head to Detroit to discuss Justified: City Primeval, FX’s revival of the Raylan Givens cult classic...
Ninja Turtle...Masterpiece?
August 16, 2023 07:00 - 58 minutesThis week, the panel begins by dissecting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, a zany piece of intellectual property that’s been taken off the shelf by Jeff Rowe, Seth Rogan, and a slew of animators and turned into a critical darling. Then, the trio reviews The Retrievals, a five-part narrative podcast hosted by Susan Burton for The New York Times and Serial Productions that chronicles the systematic ways American healthcare continually denies, discounts, and ignores women’s pain thro...
Summer Strut 2023
August 09, 2023 07:00 - 1 hourThis week, the panel is joined by pop critic and chart analyst (and host of Slate’s Hit Parade podcast) Chris Molanphy for our annual Summer Strut episode. The four dive into the longest listener-suggested summer playlist to date (this year, it’s a 682 song behemoth that adds up to approximately 42 hours!) and take turns in an electric, strut-ty roundtable discussion of their top picks. You can find their collective favorites here in the Summer Strut '23 Shortlist: https://open.spotify.com/p...
Theater Camp Breaks a Leg
August 02, 2023 07:00 - 56 minutesThis week, the panel begins by diving into Theater Camp, a mockumentary-style comedy about gloriously talented misfits. Then, they pay tribute to Sinéad O’Connor, the dearly missed Irish singer, songwriter, and activist whose 1992 performance on Saturday Night Live rocked the world. Then, the trio is joined by screenwriter (and co-host of the Scriptnotes podcast) John August to discuss the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, what’s going on in Hollywood, and how this “double strike” feels different th...
Barbenheimer Blockbuster Bonanza
July 26, 2023 07:00 - 56 minutesThis week, the panel begins by examining Barbie, Greta Gerwig’s hot pink, record-breaking movie about the iconic Mattel doll. Then, the trio dives into Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which chronicles the life of the “Father of the Atomic Bomb,” and explores whether the film achieves its aims. Finally, they are joined by Slate’s Chris Molanphy to discuss the controversy behind country singer Jason Aldean’s latest song, “Try That In A Small Town.” In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the pa...