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Working: Charlie Jane Anders on Her New Book of Writing Advice Aug 15, 2021

Show notes

This week, host June Thomas talks to Charlie Jane Anders, author of many novels and a new book of writing advice, Never Say You Can't Survive. In the interview, Charlie Jane offers tons of detailed writing tips and explains how escaping into fictional worlds can help people endure hard times.

After the interview, June and co-host Rumaan Alam discuss some of Charlie Jane’s writing tips, and then Rumaan talks about his recent profile of author Jason Reynolds, which was published in the New Yorker.

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.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Little Mood—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus.

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ICYMI: How #BamaRush Took Over TikTok Aug 14, 2021

Show notes

For many TikTok users, it’s been impossible to escape #BamaRush, the week of sorority recruitment at the University of Alabama. On today’s episode, Madison and Rachelle explain, how rush week actually works, why it’s flooded our feeds, and what its popularity says about whiteness, wealth, and class on the app.

Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Derek John.

Support ICYMI and listen to the show with zero ads. Sign up to become a Slate Plus member for just $1 for your first month.

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Hit Parade: What a Fool Believes, Part 1 Aug 13, 2021

Show notes

In the late ’70s and early ’80s, a scene and a sound cropped up on the West Coast: polished, perfectionist studio musicians who generated sleek, jazzy, R&B-flavored music. About a quarter-century later, this sound was given a name: Yacht Rock. The inventors of the genre name weren’t thinking about boats…well, unless the song was Christopher Cross’s “Sailing.” Yacht Rock was meant to signify deluxe, yuppified, “smooth” music suitable for playing on luxury nautical craft.

Whatever you call it, this music really did command the charts at the turn of the ’80s: from Steely Dan to George Benson, Michael McDonald to Kenny Loggins, Toto to…Michael Jackson?! Believe it: even Thriller is partially a Yacht Rock album. This month, Hit Parade breaks down what Yacht Rock was and how it took over the charts four decades ago—from the perfectionism of “Peg,” to the bounce of “What a Fool Believes,” to the epic smoothness of “Africa.”

This episode was released in August 2020 exclusively for Slate Plus listeners. Sign up for Slate Plus now to get episodes in one installment as soon as they're out. You'll also get The Bridge, our trivia show and bonus deep dive. Click here for more info.

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One Year: Roots: The Saga of Alex Haley Aug 12, 2021

Show notes

Alex Haley’s Roots displayed the brutal realities of slavery to more than 100 million Americans. The book and mini-series also made a bold claim: that Haley was the first Black American to trace his lineage all the way back to Africa, and to a specific ancestor captured into slavery. What would it mean, for Haley and America, if he hadn’t found what he said he’d found?

For more of this show, subscribe to One Year on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

Slate Plus members get to hear more about the making of One Year and more about the culture of 1977 in supplementary episodes this season. Get access to those episodes, listen to the show without any ads, and support One Year by signing up for Slate Plus for just $1 right now.

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Culture Gabfest: Summer Strut 2021 Aug 11, 2021

Show notes

This week, Steve and Dana are joined by Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy for our annual Summer Strut episode. First, they discuss this year’s song of the summer and how one particularly passionate fan base gained control of the charts. Then, the panel announces their favorite song picks from the mammoth playlist of listener suggestions and explain why they love them.

In Slate Plus, the panel does a couple additional rounds of strut picks.

Sumer Strut Final Selections:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ypwIOuhN3ClV9lvynRl88?si=ff5da2bfa5a04b1b

Summer Strut Full List:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1iLdLhunJkTq9F4CeHkCJR?si=f1b8d195db414fd5

Past “Summer Strut” Gabfests are available here: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020.

Email us at culturefest@slate.com.

Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Cleo Levin.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts, a bonus segment in each episode of the Culture Gabfest, full access to Slate's journalism on Slate.com, and more. Sign up now at slate.com/cultureplus.

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ICYMI: Inside Tumblr’s Latest Meltdown Aug 11, 2021

Show notes

Tumblr is once again trying a new way to monetize its content, but will its users allow it? On today’s episode, Rachelle is joined by fellow former Tumblr teen Allegra Frank to discuss their own origins on the platform, Tumblr’s numerous attempts to make money, and why the users who called a strike over its new Post+ feature might not have the best understanding of the legal system. (We reached out to some copyright professors to find out.)

Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Derek John.

Support ICYMI and listen to the show with zero ads. Sign up to become a Slate Plus member for just $1 for your first month.

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Slate Money: Movies: Sense and Sensibility Aug 10, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to Slate Money Goes to the Movies, a miniseries in which Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and a different guest each week discuss popular business-themed movies.

For the final episode of the season, author and Slate Money favorite, Taffy Brodesser-Akner returns to talk about Sense and Sensibility….and, in a major plot twist, the JLo vehicle Maid in Manhattan! They’ll discuss what these two films could possibly have in common, the villainization of gold diggers, and why Emily felt Sense and Sensibility was a horror film.

Email: slatemoney@slate.com

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

Twitter: @felixsalmon, @EmilyRPeck

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Working: Artist Shahzia Sikander on the Painting That Launched Her Career Aug 08, 2021

Show notes

This week, host Rumaan Alam talks to artist Shahzia Sikander about her decades-long career as a painter and multimedia artist. In the interview, Shahzia discusses the process behind her painting “The Scroll,” which she created as an undergraduate student in Pakistan. She also talks about her relationship to the concept of “tradition” and her unwillingness to either break or conform to it.

After the interview, Rumaan and co-host Isaac Butler discuss the importance of demystifying artwork.

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Shahzia grapples with the way her art was received in the 1990s and the tendency to look at her work through the narrow lens of her biography.

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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ICYMI: TikTok Is Making People … Read … Books? Aug 07, 2021

Show notes

On today’s episode, Rachelle and Madison crack open some romance novels and talk about BookTok, the realm of TikTok where readers can find hyper-personal recommendations and niche memes about the horny books everybody is reading. They discuss how TikTok has caused some books to reappear on the New York Times bestseller list, Rachelle’s love of The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, and why the top priority when it comes to reading is fun.

Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Derek John.

Support ICYMI and listen to the show with zero ads. Sign up to become a Slate Plus member for just $1 for your first month.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Decoder Ring: Selling Out Aug 06, 2021

Show notes

In 2001, Oprah Winfrey invited Jonathan Franzen to come on her show to discuss his new novel The Corrections. A month later she withdrew the invitation, kicking off a media firestorm. The Oprah-Franzen Book Club Dust-Up of 2001 was a moment when two ways of thinking about selling out smashed into each other, and one of them—the one that was on its way out already— crashed and burned in public, barely to be seen again. So today on Decoder Ring, what happened to selling out? This is the last episode of our current season. See you in a few months!

If you love the show and want to support us, consider joining Slate Plus. With Slate Plus you can binge the whole season of Decoder Ring right now, plus ad free podcasts, bonus episodes, and much more.

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