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Slate Podcasts

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.

Culture Gabfest

On this week’s show, the hosts chew over Nightbitch, Marielle Heller’s (Queen’s Gambit, Can You Ever Forgive Me, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, MacGruber), fourth feature film. Amy Adam stars as “Mother,” a former artist who has given up her creative pursuits to care for her infant son full-time — a transition so taxing, that she begins dissociating and transforming into a dog at night. And while there’s a lot to like here (it’s an adaptation of Rachel Yonder’s magical realism novel of the same name, for example), does the film ever achieve lift-off? 
Then, the three rip Black Doves to shreds, Netflix’s latest espionage show starring Keira Knightly, Sarah Lancashire, and Ben Whishaw that has far too many plot holes to name (although, Stephen does try to.) Finally, the panel digs into the strange case of Luigi Mangione, the suspected shooter in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson — and the internet’s sardonic, if not jubilant, reaction to the fatal shooting.
In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel explores the celebrity look-alike contest: a puzzling and mildly delightful phenomenon that’s been sweeping the nation. (Read Nadira Goffe’s excellent reporting on the Timothée Chalamet tournament that started it all, here.)
FINAL CALL: We are down to the final week! To submit your question for our annual call-in show (for inspiration, check out last year’s episode), please call (260) 337-8260 to leave us a voicemail, or record a voice note and email it to us at culturefest@slate.com. 
Or, email us at culturefest@slate.com if you just want to gab. 
Endorsements:
Dana: The Year of Lear audiobook, written by James Shapiro and narrated by Robert Fass. 
Julia: Tree.fm — a project by Sounds of the Forest and aporee, where you can tune into forest soundscapes from around the world. 
Stephen: A cover of Richard and Linda Thompson’s “Down Where the Drunkards Roll,” performed by Loudon Wainwright III and Rufus Wainwright. 
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.
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The Strange Lionization of Luigi Mangione

On this week’s show, it’s one of the Gabfest’s most cherished traditions: the yearly call-in show. Dana, Julia, and Stephen answer listen-submitted questions that run the gamut – can cooking for one be a joy? Should philosophy be studied more? And how did you make your most recent friend? 

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel dishes about pottery. Listener Dave asks: “what's your relationship to pottery? How do you drink your hot beverages in the morning or throughout the day? And then, is it okay to use an art object utilitarianly?” Oh, and the hosts have a lot to say. 

Email us at culturefest@slate.com. 

Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong.
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Annual Call-In Show 2024

On this week’s show, Slate staff writer Nadira Goffe sits in for Stephen. First, the panel explores Babygirl and its kinks. The latest feature from Dutch writer-director Halina Reijn stars Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson, and is fascinated by sex (mostly, as a concept.) Then, the three puzzle over Nickel Boys and the film’s audacious use of first-person point-of-view in filmmaker RaMell Ross’ adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Nickel Boys. Finally, what does a Hollywood smear campaign look like? The trio discusses the messy legal and PR conflict embroiling Blake Lively and former It Ends With Us co-star and director, Justin Baldoni. 
In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel checks in with Julia and production assistant Kat, as they share their experiences of the L.A. wildfires. 
Email us at culturefest@slate.com. 
Endorsements:
Nadira: Transa by Red Hot Org. Specifically, “Is It Cold In The Water” performed by Moses Sumney and ANOHNI.
Julia: Niksa sleep masks.
Dana: Exploring your local college radio stations. She likes WFUV (owned by Fordham University) and Columbia University’s WKCR. 
Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry. Production assistance by Kat Hong.
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Babygirls and Nickel Boys

Slate critics Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens discuss FX's Cold War era throwback television show The Americans, whether Amazon is ruining literature, and the matriculation of trigger warnings into the college classroom.
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The Culture Gabfest: Prime Directive Edition

Everyone's a guest this week on the Culture Gabfest with Slate's Mike Pesca, John Swansburg, and Jessica Winter filling in for our usual hosts. The guest gabbers discuss the movie Muppets Most Wanted and what the Muppets mean to kids in 2014. Next, it's High Maintenance a fictional web series that follows a pot dealer into clients' homes, and lastly the effects of e-payments on tipping.
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The Culture Gabfest: The Green Handshake Edition

Slate critics Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens discuss Errol Morris' study of Donald Rumsfeld in his latest documentary "The Unknown Known," HBO's tech industry send up "Silicon Valley," and why faster isn't necessarily better when it comes to reading.
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The Culture Gabfest: My Little Dictaphone Edition

Slate critics Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and guest Gabber Jacob Weisberg discuss Stephen Colbert's move to late night television, chat with author Adam Begley about the legacy of John Updike, and then it's a Guggenheim field trip to check out the exhibit, "Italian Futurism, 1909-1944: Reconstructing the Universe."
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The Culture Gabfest: The Silent "T" Party Edition

Slate critics Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens discuss Scarlett Johansson as a man-eating femme fatale in the arthouse horror flick "Under the Skin," the legacy of Gabriel Garcia Marquez with journalist and critic Paul Berman, and why you won't see derp in Gawker's new style guide.
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The Culture Gabfest: GGMFTW Edition

Slate critics Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens discuss French economist Thomas Picketty and his intellectual blockbuster, "Capital in the Twenty-First Century," comedian John Oliver's weekly fake-news show, and spring cleaning with Slate's Bryan Lowder.
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The Culture Gabfest: Gild This Edition

Slate critics Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens are live in Montreal this week as part of the 16th Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival. This week the gabbers discuss the Canadian Sci-Fi thriller Orphan Black, the film Hateship Loveship which is an adaptation Alice Munro’s short story, and Slate’s Carl Wilson joins the gabbers to talk about using Celine Dion as a measuring stick for taste.
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The Culture Gabfest: Live from Montreal Edition

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. 
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As In Her Royal Highness Edition

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