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Spoiler Specials: The Lovebirds May 29, 2020

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 Sam Adams is joined by Willa Paskin and Rachelle Hampton to spoil The Lovebirds, a romantic comedy starring Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani. Leilani (Issa Rae) and Jibran (Kumail Nanjiani) are a couple on the brink of a break up when they find themselves caught up in a murder mystery.

You can read Sam Adam’s review here.

You can read Rachelle Hampton’s investigation into how ripped Kumail was during The Lovebirds here.

You can read Cornelia Channing’s milkshake investigation here.

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

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and access to exclusive shows like Dana Stevens’ classic movies podcast Flashback. Sign up now to listen and support our work.

Email us at spoilers@slate.com.

Podcast production by Rosemary Belson.

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Hit Parade: Shake It Like a Polaroid Picture Edition May 29, 2020

Show notes

A special Hit Parade announcement: Like many media organizations at the moment, Slate is getting hit pretty hard by what's going on with the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to continue doing our work, providing you with all our great podcasts, news and reporting, and we simply cannot do that without your support. So we're asking you to sign up for Slate Plus, our membership program. It's just $35 for the first year, and it goes a long way to supporting us in this crucial moment.

As part of this effort, we're going to be making Full Hit Parade episodes available to Slate Plus members only. To listen to the episode in full, and episodes in future months, you'll need to become a Slate Plus member. This is the best way to support our show and our work, and we hope you will pitch in if you can. Your membership will also give access to everything on Slate.com, you'll get ad-free versions of this and other shows, and you'll get bonus segments and bonus episodes of other Slate podcasts. Plus, once you become a member, you can sign up to do trivia with Chris Molanphy on Hit Parade—“The Bridge” episodes. Please sign up today at slate.com/hitparadeplus. We thank you for your support.

On this preview episode: Outkast is inarguably one of the most important acts in hip hop and pop music history, but their impressive chart runs, and the brand of Atlanta hip hop they championed, was far from inevitable. This is the story of Outkast and how they established Atlanta as a major center of hip hop culture in the United States while racking up some of the most unexpected hits in the history of popular music.

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Culture Gabfest: Never Will I Ever Beef with Chrissy Teigen May 27, 2020

Show notes

This week on the Culture Gabfest, Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner discuss Mindy Kaling’s new television show Never Have I Ever. Next, they talk about Twitter beefs in the time of COVID-19—from Alison Roman to Lana del Rey. Finally, the panel dives into Steve’s comfort watch for this week: Out of Sight.

On the Slate Plus segment this week, Dana and Steve try Sudoku for the first time, as inspired by this recent captivating video.

Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Rachael Allen.

Outro Music: Woke by SINY

Endorsements

Dana: Anne V. Coates’s interview on Out of Sight.

Charlotte Brontë’s Villette, especially as an audiobook.

Julia: “The Miracle Sudoku” video, as discussed in our Plus segment.

“How to Make Wylie Dufresne’s Incredibly Creamy Scrambled Egg Sandwich,” by Wylie Dufresne, as told to Emma Wartzman in Bon Appétit.

Steve: “The Painting Behind the Door,” by Emily Benedek in Tablet magazine.

Singer Laura Marling’s breaking down her guitar chords on social media.

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Working: How Curator Sheena Wagstaff Chooses Art for the Met May 24, 2020

Show notes

Host Rumaan Alam talks about art curation with Sheena Wagstaff, who leads the Metropolitan Museum's program of modern and contemporary art for the Met Breuer and the Met Fifth Avenue. First they discuss the curator’s role of deciding which works of art are culturally important. Then Wagstaff makes her case for why people should see art in person and why it’s such a tragedy that no one is able to see the Met Brauer’s current exhibition of works from prolific German painter Gerhard Richter.

Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com.

Podcast production by Cameron Drews.

And 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 Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. It’s only $35 for the first year, and you can get a free two-week trial now at slate.com/workingplus

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Outward: The Queerness of Quarantine Bubbles May 20, 2020

Show notes

This month, Christina admits to creating a quarantine bubble, and she talks with Bryan and Rumaan about why she felt comfortable joining her friends in this way and why our community seems better-equipped than others to figure out how to make such micro-communities work. Then they discuss two new documentaries on Netflix, A Secret Love and Circus of Books, and unpack how these films tried and failed to reckon with the depths of their subjects while still stirring some warm feelings along the way.

This podcast was produced by Daniel Schroeder.

Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.

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Working: Alison Wright Explains How Actors Get Emotional on Cue May 17, 2020

Show notes

Host June Thomas digs into the craft of acting with Alison Wright, who portrayed Martha on The Americans and now plays Ruth on the new TNT adaptation of Bong Joon-ho’s 2013 movie Snowpiercer (which itself was based on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige). Wright explains how she developed Ruth’s unique accent in Snowpiercer, how she utilizes the tools of Method acting to tap into emotions on stage, and why she thinks Daniel Day-Lewis and Meryl Streep are such impressive actors.

Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com.

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Spoiler Specials: Hollywood May 15, 2020

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 Sam Adams, Matthew Dessem, and Daniel Schroeder spoil Hollywood. Ryan Murphy and co-creator Ian Brennan reimagine a more inclusive golden-age of filmmaking. While the first couple episodes of the Netflix series stay relatively grounded in reality, the series takes a sharp right turn into self-serving fantasy by simplifying the fight for equality and progress within Hollywood.

You can read Sam Adam’s review here.

You can read Matthew Dessem’s Fact Versus Fiction here.

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

Email us at spoilers@slate.com.

Podcast production by Rosemary Belson.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and access to exclusive shows like Dana Stevens’ classic movies podcast Flashback. Sign up now to listen and support our work.

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

Culture Gabfest: Normal People? May 13, 2020

Show notes

This week on the Culture Gabfest, Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner discuss the Hulu adaption of Sally Rooney’s Normal People. Next, they talk about John Krasinski’s Some Good News. Finally, the panel dives into Dana’s comfort watch for this week: In a Lonely Place.

On the Slate Plus segment this week, the panel is joined by Jody Rosen to talk about the music and legacy of Little Richard. Sign up for Slate Plus at Slate.com/cultureplus

Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Rachael Allen.

Endorsements:

Dana: Spike Lee’s short film about New York City.

Julia: The Donut Hole in La Puente, Calif., a trip inspired after reading “Drive-throughs and drive-ins were fading. Coronavirus made them a lifeline” by Carolina A. Miranda in the Los Angeles Times.

Steve: Nick Lowe performing “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding” as part of Rolling Stone’s “In My Room” series. Also, Nick Lowe’s “I Read A Lot.”

Plus, check out Madison Cunningham’s “Dry As Sand.”

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Decoder Ring: Gotta Get Down on Friday May 11, 2020

Show notes

Rebecca Black's music video for Friday was Youtube's most watched video of 2011, thrusting the thirteen-year-old Rebecca into a very harsh spotlight. Dubbed "The Worst Music Video Ever Made" Friday was an almost universal object of derision. This is the story of how Friday came to be, and how nearly a decade after it went viral, it sounds so different than it did back then.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Dear Prudence and Slow Burn. Sign up now to listen and support our work.

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Working: Megan Abbott's Go-To Story Structure May 10, 2020

Show notes

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to crime novelist and TV writer Megan Abbott, who describes her creative-writing rituals, her go-to story structure, and the challenges of adapting one of her novels for television.

After the interview, Isaac and co-host Rumaan Alam talk about the surprising origins of the terms story beat and character beat.

Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com.

Podcast production by Cameron Drews

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