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ICYMI - I Miss The Old TikTok Jan 31, 2026

Show notes

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by writer Laura Wheatman Hill. Her Slate piece, “We Should Just Let TikTok Die,” documents life under TikTok’s new ownership. Algorithm glitches and alleged censorship have users disenchanted with the platform, which is now in the hands of owners friendly to Donald Trump. Some prominent users have already deleted the app, but even if people stay, the old TikTok—with its personalized algorithm and thriving culture—is already dead.

This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, and Kate Lindsay, with help from A.C. Valdez.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia - Starman to Blackstar Edition Part 2 Jan 30, 2026

Show notes

Chameleon: That’s long been the word used to describe David Bowie, pop music’s shapeshifting extraterrestrial. He shifted personas, genres, and looks, emerging from swinging London with psychedelic folk before steamrolling through glam rock, disco, funk, new wave, alt-rock, and even jazz.

Less remarked was Bowie’s savvy about shifting through commercial phases—he wore pop stardom like a costume, too. He drifted in and out of the spotlight, and on and off the charts, before one final chart-topping farewell 10 years ago this month.

Join Chris Molanphy as he takes us from station to station across the chart career of David Bowie, on a journey from Starman to Blackstar.

Get more Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of "The Bridge," and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Culture Gabfest - Is Hamnet this Year’s Oscar Villain? Edition Jan 28, 2026

Show notes

Shuffling under the mortal coil this week (aka hosting the Gabfest), it’s our OG players Steve, Dana, and Julia. Like a morose Danish prince contemplating a human skull, they gaze upon the Oscar nominated Hamnet, based on the novel by Maggie O’Farrell inspired by William Shakespeare’s life. Directed by Chloé Zhao and starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, Hamnet has brought some critics to tears and left others cold. Our hosts share where they landed.

Next, they boot up the Netflix content machine to view The Rip, a new cop caper reuniting Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Do the boys from Boston (illogically playing Miami cops) make good again? Finally, they welcome New Yorker writer Clare Malone to discuss her recent profile of the deeply polarizing, newly-appointed head of CBS News Bari Weiss.

In a special add-on, Isaac Butler leaves a voice memo to share his vituperative take on Hamnet—as outlined in a recent Slate piece. The Hamnet discourse continues in a bonus episode exclusively for Slate Plus subscribers wherein the gang unpacks the film’s ending. Is the play indeed the thing?

Endorsements

Dana: The book Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell especially the audiobook version read by Jessie Buckley.

Julia: The hilarious video of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck with Jimmy Fallon naming all the towns in Massachusetts on The Tonight Show, the sober, intelligent New York Times opinion round table between Lydia Polgreen, David French, and Michelle Goldberg about ICE raids in Minneapolis and the killing of Alex Pretti, and the still deeply timely film I’m Still Here.

Steve: The film Sentimental Value and the double albumSing the Children Over & Sand In My Shoeby the singer/songwriter Kath Bloom as well as the Kath Bloom cover “Come Here” by the band The Concretes.

Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Decoder Ring - Is Culture Stuck? Jan 28, 2026

Show notes

It’s a weird time for culture. There is more of it than ever before, it’s more accessible than ever before, but so little of it feels original. New movies are based on old stories, new songs are recycling old hooks, and fashion trends are cycling so fast that everything’s in.

Has our culture grown stagnant? The author and culture critic W. David Marx thinks so.

His new book, Blank Space, argues that there is a “blank space” in the 21st century where cultural innovation should be. In this episode, David explains to Willa how culture change worked in the 20th century, what changed after the turn of the millennium, and what we might do about it.

This episode was produced by Max Freedman. Decoder Ring is also produced by Willa Paskin, Katie Shepherd, and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.

If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.

Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ICYMI - Thank God For Petty Drama Jan 28, 2026

Show notes

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Slate contributing writer David Mack to discuss the surge of niche celebrity drama unfolding in the midst of a horrifying news cycle. We’re cancelling the “Glambot guy”? Brooklyn Beckham broke up with his family via Instagram Story? Those two hockey podcasters didn’t actually like Heated Rivalry??? This drama is so petty, but also so necessary for staying sane during these times. Which means: We’re breaking down every detail of it.

This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, and Kate Lindsay.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Death, Sex & Money - Maria Bamford Isn't Ready to Joke About Her Divorce Jan 27, 2026

Show notes

Comedian Maria Bamford discusses her separation after a decade of marriage, the wildfires that destroyed her Altadena neighborhood, and starting over in a new apartment.

Check out if Maria is coming to your city on her comedy tour: https://mariabamford.com/tourdates

Listen to our previous Death, Sex & Money interviews with Maria:

Anna and Maria talk in 2023 about her memoir Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult

Anna and Maria talk in 2020 about growing up and her special Weakness Is The Brand

Podcast production by Andrew Dunn and Zoe Azulay

Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.

And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hang Up and Listen - We Got Our Brady-back, Brady-back, Brady-back. Jan 27, 2026

Show notes

Hosts Alex Kirshner, Lindsay Gibbs, and Ben Lindbergh recap NFL conference championship weekend, where the Patriots braved a blizzard better than the Broncos, and Sam Darnold proved that resurrected quarterbacks really can win it all.

Later, they get into Trinity Rodman’s three-year NWSL deal that keeps her in D.C., but has caught the ire of the players’ union.

The panel wraps with a breakdown of the Mets' busy offseason and whether they can actually come out on top in 2026.

On the bonus episode, available exclusively for Slate Plus members, the panel discusses Alex Honnold's white-knuckle climb of the Taipei 101 tower live on Netflix.

NFL (4:16): Resurrection Bowl

Trinity Rodman (23:27): Cap space for star power

The Mets (41:04): Can we still LOL?

(Note: time codes are only accurate for Slate Plus members, who listen ad-free.)

Get more Hang Up and Listen with Slate Plus! Join for weekly bonus episodes of Hang Up and Listen and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Hang Up and Listen show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or visit slate.com/hangupplus for access wherever you listen.

You can email us at hangup@slate.com.

Podcast production and editing by Kevin Bendis, with production assistance from Patrick Fort.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ICYMI - Social Media Bans Are No Match For Teens Jan 24, 2026

Show notes

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Washington Post reporter Tatum Hunter, who interviewed Australian teens about the country’s new social media ban. Platforms like Instagram and Reddit are now required to keep under-sixteens off their apps, but it didn’t take long for the teens to outsmart these new restrictions. As similar legislation is introduced across the world, no one knows if these bans are actually effective—or if they hurt teens more than they help.

This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, and Kate Lindsay.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Culture Gabfest - Game of Thrones Buddy Comedy Edition Jan 21, 2026

Show notes

This week, our Gabfest panel includes Steve and guest hosts Nadira Goffe and Laura Miller with a typically eclectic collection of topics. First up, Dana hops on the call to decode the unspoken truths and dream imagery of Kleber Mendonça Filho’s film The Secret Agent. Set in 1970s Recife, Brazil and starring a very charming Wagner Moura, the film is a heterodox brew of political thriller, magical realism, and attentive character study about the everyday surreality of life under dictatorship.

Next, it’s back to Westeros with a discussion of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a Game of Thrones prequel set 100 years before the original show based on George R.R. Martin’s fantasy epic. Grounded and surprisingly funny, don’t expect dragons in this knight’s tale.

Finally, they turn to “Gluttons for Punishment,” a recent Vulture article by Lila Shapiro about UPenn religious studies professor Justin McDaniel using some extreme, unorthodox measures to get his students to finish books.

In an exclusive bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, the panel talks to Laura about the secret pleasures of wood stacking as discussed in her recent piece “The Art of the Holzhausen.”

Endorsements

Nadira: Some melancholy shoegaze pop from Scandinavia, specifically the albums Goodbyehouse by Snuggle and Big City Life by Smerz.

Laura: The novels of Robert Jackson Bennett in his Shadow of the Leviathan series including Hugo-winning The Tainted Cupand A Drop of Corruption.

Steve: The Substack essay “The Wall Looks Permanent Until It Falls Down” by Adam Bonica about the cost of American exceptionalism.

And a bonus one from Dana: Pictures of Ghosts, the documentary by The Secret Agent director Kleber Mendonça Filho about Recife, Brazil in the 1970s.

Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ICYMI - Craigslist Will Outlive Us All Jan 21, 2026

Show notes

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by internet culture writer Jennifer Swann, whose recent piece for Wired featured the users who are still turning to Craigslist for apartment hunting and second-hand shopping, despite newer, flashier alternatives. In fact, it’s precisely because Craigslist hasn’t changed at all in the past 30 years that people keep coming back. While so many other early websites have been lost to time, how has Craigslist endured?

This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, and Kate Lindsay.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.