Culture Gabfest

Stephen Metcalf and June Thomas are joined by a rotating third chair including Julia Turner, Heather Schwedel, and Benjamin Frisch to discuss Showtime's On Becoming a God In Central Florida, ESPN's The Sterling Affairs, and Taylor Swift's new album, Lover. In Slate Plus the panel discusses sports and their relationship to being a fan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Stephen Metcalf and Julia Turner are joined by guest host and pop culture aficionado Isaac Butler to discuss the cinematic ode to The Boss, Blinded By The Light. Then they dive into why they love the wacky, unique vibes of AMC’s Lodge 49. And finally, discuss the 25 year old phenomenon that is Friends and why the show’s popularity doesn’t seem to be waning any time soon. And in Slate Plus, the subtle art of the ice cream order. Links:Blinded By the LightLodge 49“The Dud Abides” By Laura Miller "Attractive People Being Funny While Doing Amusing and Sometimes Romantic Things" by Willa PaskinThis episode is brought to you by Everlane. Check out your personalized collection today at everlane.com/culture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

June Thomas, Benjamin Frisch, and Rachelle Hampton discuss Richard Linklater's Where'd You Go Bernadette, HBO's A Black Lady Sketch Show, and Slate's list of the 25 most important characters of the past 25 Years with Forrest Wickman. In Slate Plus, the panel adds their own picks to the important characters list. This episode is brought to you by Everlane. Check out your personalized collection today at everlane.com/culture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Aisha Harris, and Gabriel Roth discuss Jennifer Kent's new film The Nightingale, Amazon's streaming show The Boys, and the work of Toni Morrison with Sarah J. Jackson, professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens discuss the new film The Farewell, Netflix's glass-blowing show Blown Away, and the life of legendary theater director Hal Prince with Isaac Butler. In Slate Plus, Steve explains why he left Twitter. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. We're looking for a new production assistant! This is a paid, part-time position based in our office in Brooklyn, NY. Send an email with an attached resume and cover letter to [email protected] with the subject line "production assistant". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner discuss Tarantino's Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, Netflix's The Great Hack documentary, and a piece about chronic lyme disease in The Cut. In Slate Plus: Once Upon a Time In Hollywood spoilers. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. We're looking for a new production assistant! This is a paid, part-time position based in our office in Brooklyn, NY. Send an email with an attached resume and cover letter to [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens discuss the new version of Disney's The Lion King with the New York Times's Aisha Harris, the social media app TikTok with Slate's Daniel Schroeder, and the TV series about Roger Ailes, The Loudest Voice. In Slate Plus: the panel discusses the new trailer for the film CATS. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner discuss the film Peterloo, the newly-streaming classic anime Neon Genesis Evangelion with Slate's Benjamin Frisch, and the legacy of Mad Magazine with Slate's Dan Kois. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Dana Stevens, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the film Midsommar, the life and work of the bossa nova progenitor João Gilberto with critic Nate Chinen, and the end of life-hacking with Slate's Laura Miller. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf, and Dana Stevens are joined by Chris Molanphy to discuss the song of the summer and our annual summer strut playlist. You can find our full playlist on Spotify, as well as a shortlist of songs selected on the show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Stevens, Julia Turner, and Stephen Metcalf discuss The Day the Music Burned with Jody Rosen, about the massive loss of master tapes from historically important record labels due to fire, then CBS's The Good Fight with Vulture's Mark Harris, and Sally Rooney's novel Normal People. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Willa Paskin, and Marissa Martinelli discuss Big Little Lies season two, the movie The Last Black Man in San Francisco, and The Sims 4, with Slate's Dawnthea Price. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Culture Gabfest is live from The High Line in New York City to discuss the movie Late Night with Inkoo Kang, the life and work of Dr. John with Chris Molanphy, and King Lear with Isaac Butler. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Stevens and Stephen Metcalf are joined by a rotating third chair of Slatesters to discuss Rocketman with Forrest Wickman, HBO's Chernobyl with Sam Adams, and the podcast Headlon: Running From COPS with Inkoo Kang. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens discuss the movie Booksmart, what it's like to lose 250 thousand dollars on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on the occasion of its cancelation with Slate's Justin Peters, and Dana's new podcast Flashback with K. Austin Collins. In Slate Plus: the panel picks their favorite TV show endings. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Stevens, Julia Turner, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the new, third film in the John Wick saga, the second season of Amazon's Fleabag, and the New York Times package on generation X and the concept of generations as a useful metric. In Slate Plus, the panel each recommend a piece of gen X art. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf, and Dana Stevens discuss the movie Long Shot, Netflix's new series Dead to Me, and the legacy of camp and the MET Gala with Slate's Bryan Lowder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf, and Isaac Butler discuss the new documentary Knock Down the House about women competing in Democratic primaries, the new animated sitcom Tuca and Bertie, and then Father of the Bride, the new album from Vampire Weekend with critic Carl Wilson. In Slate Plus, Dana calls in to talk about her time at the San Fransisco Silent Film Festival. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf, and Dana Stevens discuss Avengers: Endgame with Marvel-ologist Jamelle Bouie, the FX series Fosse/Verdon, and the dispute between Hollywood writers and agents with the screenwriter and Scriptnotes co-host John August. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stephens, and the New York Times' Aisha Harris discuss Beyonce's Homecoming documentary, Jordan Peele's new Twilight Zone, and the Mueller Report at literature with Marie Claire's Karen Schwartz. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Stevens, Stephen Metcalf, and Dan Kois discuss the fire at Notre Dame cathedral with New Yorker staff writer Lauren Collins, the new animated film Missing Link, and the saga of country/hip hop mega-hit Old Town Road with Slate's Chris Molanphy. This episode is brought to you by Everlane. Check out your personalized collection today at everlane.com/culture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens discuss the stunning film Diane, FX's What We Do in the Shadows, and the debut album by Billy Eilish: WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner and Dana Stevens are joined by The Atlantic film critic and co-host of the Blank Check podcast David Sims to discuss Tim Burton's remake of Dumbo, the life and work of Agnès Varda, and the social media kerfuffle over "St. Louis style" sliced bagels. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Dana Stevens, and Willa Paskin discuss Jordan Peele's new film Us, Hulu's comedy series Shrill, and the bestselling book Dreyer's English with the author, Benjamin Dreyer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Stevens, Isaac Butler, and Benjamin Frisch discuss HBO's documentary The Inventor about the Theranos scandal, the meteoric rise of Rupaul's Drag Race, and Netflix's awkward attempt at branding itself in the wake of cancelling the beloved show One Day at a Time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Dana Stevens, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the blockbusting Captain Marvel, Hulu's girl-puberty comedy Pen15, and the article Guilty with Seth Stevenson, about Seth coming to terms with being part of jury that convicted a man who didn't deserve it. In Slate Plus, Seth and the panel discuss their own personal experiences on a jury. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens break our usual format to do an in-depth discussion of the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland by director Dan Reed about two men allegedly abused by Michael Jackson. First the panel discuss the documentary, then are joined by Slate writer Christina Cauterucci to discuss how the film treats the victims for good and ill, and then discuss the future of Jackson's musical legacy with Slate music critic Carl Wilson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Dana Stevens, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the Oscars ceremony and its various controversies, Comedy Central's new show The Other Two, and how letter boards took over Instagram and our visual culture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and K. Austin Collins discuss the film Bohemian Rhapsody, the bonkers true crime documentary Abducted in Plain Sight, and the death of the Mars rover Opportunity. To skip our spoiler segment on Abducted in Plain Sight, skip ahead to timecode 41:15. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Stevens, Julia Turner, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the film If Beale Street Could Talk, the TV phenomenon The Masked Singer with The Gist's Mike Pesca, and finally they deconstruct "The Stew"—the viral recipe that's seemingly everywhere. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Julia Turner, Dana Stevens, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the Oscar-nominated film Vice, the Netflix streamer Sexual Education, and what to make of Netflix's "ratings" numbers with Slate TV critic and the host of Decoder Ring, Willa Paskin. This episode is brought to you by Capterra. Try it today, for free, at Capterra.com/CULTURE. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Stevens, Julia Turner, and Sam Adams discuss the dueling Fyre Festival documentaries on Netflix and Hulu with Slate writer Shannon Palus, Glenn Close best actress vehicle The Wife, and the 2019 Academy Award Nominations.This episode is brought to you by Slack, the collaboration hub for work. Learn more at Slack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Dana Stevens, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the Golden Globs-conquering film Green Book with Vanity Fair's K. Austin Collins, Netflix's Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, and the art of the pan and the state of the bad review in criticism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Dana Stevens, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the court farce The Favourite, the awards frontrunner Roma, and the year in movies and Slate's Movie Club. This episode is brought to you by Slack, the collaboration hub for work. Learn more at Slack.com. Doctors Without Borders, donate today at doctorswithoutborders.org.Fabletics, get two leggings for just $24 at fabletics.com/culture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Stevens hosts a selection of a few of our favorite Slate Plus bonus segments, offering them to our regular listeners for the first time. You'll hear Steve, Julia and Dana on being reunited with favorite childhood books, the great book vs. movie debate, the pain of writing a book with Sam Anderson, and whether to power through a book you don't like with Willa Paskin. This episode is brought to you by Doctors Without Borders. Donate today at doctorswithoutborders.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens gather around the holiday hearth to answer listener questions in our annual call-in special! They answer questions about hobbies, British imports (with guest June Thomas), how having children has changed their cultural diet, and much more. Due to some technical difficulties, we connected to Julia for the introduction and first question on a phone line before restoring her regular recording setup. This episode is brought to you by the following advertisers: Helix, a new kind of DNA testing. Try today for a deep discount at helix.com/culture. Warby Parker, try their home try-on program for free today at warbyparker.com/CULTURAL.Fabletics, get two leggings for just $24 at fabletics.com/culture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Stevens, Stephen Metcalf, and Julia Turner discuss the movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, reappraise the Christmas film classic Love, Actually, and the year in TV. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf, and Dana Stevens discuss Ralph Breaks the Internet, the Netflix documentary Dogs and the use of cliches in speech and writing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf, and Dana Stevens discuss the film Support the Girls, the LeCarre TV adaptation Little Drummer Girl, and the saga of a writer at Thrillist who may or may not have killed a great burger joint. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Dana Stevens, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the Coen Bros. new film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, HBO's Elena Ferrante adaptation My Brilliant Friend, and the art of adaptation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner returns with Stephen Metcalf and Dana Stevens to discuss the film Widows, The British import The Bodyguard on Netflix, and the life and work of William Goldman and what the role of screenwriter means today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Stevens, Stephen Metcalf, and Laura Bennett discuss the Melissa McCarthy vehicle Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Netflix's filthy but heartfelt puberty cartoon Big Mouth, and the death of Stan Lee with Slate's Jamelle Bouie. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Stevens and Stephen Metcalf are joined by The Atlantic's David Sims, host of the podcast Blank Check to discuss the two new Orson Welles projects on Netflix, Robyn's new album Honey, and the concept of the "blank check" in the film industry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this spooky scary edition of the show: Dana Stevens, Stephen Metcalf, and Isaac Butler discuss the new Halloween reboot, Netflix's Haunting of Hill House, and the absence of women in horror film direction. This episode is brought to you by the following advertisers:I Travel For, a new podcast that explores what inspires us to travel. Listen and subscribe today at https://apple.co/2DPEWJE.Dream Corp LLC. Catch the new season on Adult Swim. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens discuss the new movie First Man, the Netflix streamer Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, and Slate's New American Songbook with culture editor Forrest Wickman, Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

③ Dana Stevens, Julia Turner, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the new film Private Life, then are joined by Slate's Gabriel Roth to discuss the legacy of Doctor Who and its new season starring Jodie Whitaker, and finally a reading of Kanye West at the White House. This episode is brought to you by the following advertisers:Everlane, premium clothing essentials made with the finest materials, without the traditional markups. To get a special offer exclusive to our listeners, visit everlane.com/culture.Slack, a workplace communication hub. Find out more at slack.com.I Travel For, a new podcast that explores what inspires us to travel. Listen and subscribe today at https://apple.co/2DPEWJE. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Dana Stevens, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the film A Star is Born, the TV documentary America to Me, and bring critic Wesley Morris into the studio to discuss his New York Times Magazine piece "The Morality Wars" about the state of art criticism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Dana Stevens, and Gabriel Roth discuss the new season of the podcast Serial, the recent spate of post-#metoo essays by disgraced men, and the Amazon show Forever. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner discuss the 40th anniversary re-release of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, whether Taylor Swift represents Trump-era art with critic Jody Rosen, and fan fiction with Laura Miller. The Culture Gabfest is brought to you by the Platinum Card from American Express. There’s a world of experiences waiting to open up with the Platinum Card. Backed by the services and security of American Express.And by Rocket Mortgage from Quicken Loans. Home plays a big role in your life. That’s why Quicken Loans created Rocket Mortgage. It lets you apply simply and understand the entire mortgage process fully, so you can be confident that you’re getting the right mortgage for you. To get started, go to RocketMortgage dot com/culture.And by The Bureau, Sundance Now’s exclusive spy series called “both cerebral and gadget-filled” by the New York Times. Start your free 30-day trial of Sundance Now today by going to sundancenow.com and using the promo code culture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.