Slate Culture Feed

Latest Episodes:

Spoiler Specials: Old Aug 06, 2021

Show notes

On the Spoiler Special podcast, Slate critics discuss movies, the occasional TV show, and, once in a blue moon, another podcast, in full spoiler-filled detail. This week, Slate’s senior editor Allegra Frank is joined by Slate’s web editor Nitish Pahwa to spoil Old, the new thriller directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

When a family takes a relaxing tropical vacation, they make a terrifying discovery. As the children play in the sand on a nearby secluded beach, their parents notice that in the span of just a few hours, their children have suddenly aged. It’s not long before the parents realize that they themselves are aging too! It’s a race against time as they attempt to escape the beach before it’s too late. But can they find a way out?

Note: As the title indicates, this podcast contains spoilers galore.

Email us at spoilers@slate.com.

Podcast production by Morgan Flannery.

Hosts

Allegra Frank is a senior editor at Slate.

Nitish Pahwa isa web editor at Slate and you can read his review here.

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

The Waves: Can Feminists Visit FBoy Island? Aug 05, 2021

Show notes

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Waves producer Cheyna Roth and Slate senior culture editor Allegra Frank take a trip to FBoy Island. They discuss the ups and sexisms of HBO Max’s newest dating show and question why the narrative of women saving men persists. Later in the show, Allegra and Cheyna talk about the deception inherent in these shows and ask why everyone is the same type of beautiful.

Recommendations:

Allegra: Keeping your hands busy during the final days of summer with Pokémon UNITE.

Cheyna: The children’s books authors and illustrators Lauren and Natalia O’Hara, especially their book The Bandit Queen.

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Susan Matthews and June Thomas.

Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com

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

ICYMI: Inside the Reaction Video Economy Aug 04, 2021

Show notes

On today’s episode, Madison and Rachelle try to answer a listener question about whether over-the-top DIY videos are secretly kink content. They end up get pulled into the world of online reaction videos and discuss why these DIY videos are so tempting to react to, how TikTok has made engaging with this content even easier, and if reaction videos are maybe just the internet’s own kink.

Things discussed on the show:

- The toilet bowl punch video

- @sadsadmatt reacting to a TikTok where a girl pours paint on herself in a kiddie pool.

- “42 Holy Grail Hacks That Will Save You a Fortune,” from 5-Minute Crafts on YouTube

-“Your Least Favorite Gross Viral Food Videos Are All Connected to This Guy,” by Ryan Broderick in Eater

- @lixvucy on TikTok reacting to 5-Minute Crafts videos

- @vernonrecords on TikTok reacting to 5-Minute Crafts videos

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

Culture Gabfest: Heads Are Gonna Roll Aug 04, 2021

Show notes

This week, Stephen Metcalf and Dana Stevens are joined by Working co-host and longtime Slate contributor Isaac Butler. First, the panel discusses David Lowery’s new movie The Green Knight, a retelling of the medieval story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Next, they talk about Billie Eilish’s new album Happier Than Ever with Slate music critic Carl Wilson. Finally, the hosts dig into the questions raised by Scarlett Johansson’s breach-of-contract lawsuit over the way Disney handled the release of her movie Black Widow, with Peter Labuza, a historian of creative industries. In Slate Plus, the careers the hosts almost pursued.

Outro music is "Pike Place Market" by Rockin' For Decades

Email us at culturefest@slate.com.

Podcast production by Cameron Drews.

Endorsements

Dana: The word maieutic

Isaac: The audiobooks of Simon Armitage’s translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, narrated by Bill Wallis, and The Death of Arthur, by Sir Thomas Malory, narrated by Philip Madoc

Steve:Picture, by Lillian Ross and Crash Landing on You on Netflix

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.

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

Slate Money: Movies: Glengarry Glen Ross Aug 03, 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.

Mary Childs of Planet Money joins Felix and Emily to talk about the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross, adapted by David Mamet from his play of the same name. They discuss toxic masculinity in the workplace, short-termism, and why this film kept Mary up all night.

Email: slatemoney@slate.com

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

Twitter: @felixsalmon, @EmilyRPeck

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

Working: Why Opera Composer Jake Heggie Writes Music by Hand Aug 01, 2021

Show notes

This week, host June Thomas talks to composer Jake Heggie, who the Wall Street Journal described as “arguably the world’s most popular 21st-century opera and art song composer.” In the interview, Jake talks about how he fell in love with opera and why he composes all his work on manuscript paper by hand. He also discusses his recent work, Songs for Murdered Sisters, which he created with the help of writer Margaret Atwood and singer Joshua Hopkins.

After the interview, June and co-host Rumaan Alam talk about Joshua’s refined artistic instincts. Then they help a listener who wants to start publishing fiction again after a long break.

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.

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

ICYMI: Da F–k Is Up With DaBaby? Jul 31, 2021

Show notes

On today’s episode, Rachelle and Madison call up an ex-Mormon listener, who provides some further insight into our previous investigation of the BYU Virginity Club and explains why she thinks it’s clear that the person behind the account is unaware of Mormon culture. Then, it’s another round of High Speed Downloads. Rachelle speeds through the controversy surrounding rapper DaBaby, and Madison tells us about Adam Driver becoming a horse.

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

Hit Parade: Tramps Like Us, Part 2 Jul 30, 2021

Show notes

In Part 2 of this episode of Hit Parade, Chris Molanphy continues his analysis of the career and legacy of the legendary and sometimes-misunderstood Bruce Springsteen. In his second decade, Springsteen wasn’t just a hitmaker—he was the archetype: the symbol of flag-waving American rock, even when the song was less patriotism than protest. Advertisers, other pop stars, President Ronald Reagan—everybody glommed onto Bruce, and virtually all of them got him wrong. Just in time for summer, Hit Parade takes on the Boss, pop star. How did Bruce Springsteen invent his persona and find his truth?

Podcast production by Asha Saluja.

Hit Parade episodes are now split into two parts, released two weeks apart. For the full episode right now, sign up for Slate Plus and you'll also get The Bridge, our Trivia show and bonus deep dive. Click here for more info.

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

The Waves: The Olympics Are Still Sexist. Can We Enjoy Them Anyway? Jul 29, 2021

Show notes

On this week’s episode of The Waves, it’s all about the Olympics. Amira Rose Davis, assistant professor of history and African American studies at Penn State University and co-host of the feminist sports podcast Burn it All Down, is joined by Slate’s gymnastics reporter Rebecca Schuman. The pair start with a discussion of the racial and gender inequalities that have permeated the Games, past and present. Then they get into whether it’s time for us all, like Simone Biles, to “nope” out of this complicated tradition. Davis also talks about a recent piece she did for Slate, in which she interviewed several Black women Olympians about their experiences in the Games.

Recommendations:

Amira: Rooting for Guan Chenchen on the beam. She also recommends the podcast Blind Landing, about a disastrous equipment error that had a massive impact on the gymnastics competition in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Rebecca: Watching Anna Cockrell in the 400-meter hurdles and Idalys Ortiz in judo. She also loves Ted Lasso.

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Susan Matthews and June Thomas.

Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com.

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

Culture Gabfest: Capitalist Pigs Jul 28, 2021

Show notes

This week, Steve and Dana are joined by Slate editor and writer Dan Kois. First, the panel discusses the TV show White Lotus, airing on HBO. Then they talk about the Nicholas Cage movie Pig. Finally, the hosts review the second season of the podcast The Plot Thickens, based on the book The Devil’s Candy.

In Slate Plus, the panel talks about their past summer jobs.

Email us at culturefest@slate.com.

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

Outro music is "What We Didn't Do" by Particle House

Endorsements

Dana: The documentary The Truffle Hunters and The Mike White movie School of Rock

Dan:The bookTruck: On Rebuilding a Worn-Out Pickup and Other Post-Technological Adventures

Steve:The pianist Marcin Wasilewski and his album Arctic Riff and the essay “Against Persuasion” by Agnes Callard in the Boston Review.

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.

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

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected