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Spoiler Specials: Onward Mar 06, 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, Forrest Wickman is joined by Sam Adams and Marissa Martinelli to discuss Onward. Ian and Barley Lightfoot are elf brothers in a modernized magical realm. On Ian’s birthday he receives a gift that will allow him and his older brother to bring back their father for a day. But the spell goes wrong and they are left with half a dad. Can Ian and Barley work together to find the Phoenix Gem and make their father whole before the day is over?

You can read Sam Adams’ article about the movie’s “exclusively gay moment” here.

Note: As the title indicates, spoilers galore.

Email us at spoilers@slate.com.

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Thirst Aid Kit: Flooding the Basement with Ashley C. Ford Mar 05, 2020

Show notes

This week’s guest was once in her underwear on a billboard in Brooklyn, but that’s the least of her accomplishments. Writer and podcast host Ashley C. Ford joined us in the studio to talk about her most pressing Thirst Objects: Chris Pine, Sam Elliott, and Marshawn Lynch. Our conversation was full of laughs, “yeeks” (that’s buttcheeks to the rest of us), American beef, and how a healthy disregard for authority is super hot. It got so good that we decided to forgo Fanfic Wars for bonus thirsting you won’t want to miss.

Slate Plus members get a bonus segment on Thirst Aid Kit each week. Sign up now to listen and support our show.

In this week’s Slate Plus segment, we’re talking about the importance of physical touch. From parental hugs to romantic clutches, we discuss the significance of hands: their size and placement, how a grasp can signal tenderness or dominance, care and support. We also cover the delicate issue of cleanliness.

Our music is by Tanya Morgan. You can find show notes, gifs, and so much more on our Tumblr at thirstaidkitpodcast.tumblr.com. Remember, you can send us your own (short) drabbles by emailing thirstaidkit@slate.com.

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Culture Gabfest: Is Love Blind? Mar 04, 2020

Show notes

This week on the Culture Gabfest, Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and guest host and Slate staff writer Dan Kois talk about the hit Netflix dating reality show Love Is Blind with Slate podcast producer Daniel Schroeder. Next, they discuss tomboys, jumping off of a recent New York Times op-ed. Finally, the panel takes on the coronavirus, analyzing the epidemic through various pieces of culture.

On the Slate Plus segment this week, the panel discusses a New York Times op-ed from an editor whose ex-boyfriend is now dating Lady Gaga.

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Production assistance by Rachael Allen. Additional production help by Rosemary Belson.

Outro Music: 'Shattered & Hollow' by First Aid Kit

Endorsements

Dan: The graphic memoir Tomboy by Liz Prince.

Pitchfork’s Sunday Reviews.

Julia: The viral video where a camera falls from an airplane…

Steve: “No Ghost in the Machine” by Mark Halpern in the American Scholar.

The album Stay Gold by First Aid Kit.

Hosts

Stephen Metcalf

Julia Turner

Dan Kois

Social Media

@slatecultfest on Twitter

https://twitter.com/slatecultfest

@slateculturepodcasts on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/slateculturepodcasts/

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Decoder Ring: The Shop Around the Corner Mar 02, 2020

Show notes

The 1998 romantic comedy You've Got Mail starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan is about the brutal fight between an independent bookstore, The Shop Around the Corner, and Fox Books, an obvious Barnes & Noble stand-in. On this episode of Decoder Ring we explore the real life conflict that inspired the movie and displaced independent booksellers on the upper west side of Manhattan. This conflict illustrates how, for a brief time, Barnes & Noble was a symbol of predatory capitalism, only to be usurped by the uniting force at the heart of the film: the internet.

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Hit Parade: I'm Your Whitney Tonight Edition Feb 28, 2020

Show notes

Eight years after her passing—and 35 years after the release of her debut album—Whitney Houston is about to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Predictably, some rock fans have carped that Houston doesn’t belong in the Hall. But they are not the only ones who, historically, have complained about Houston’s bona fides. In the ’80s, at the apex of her success, black fans complained that Houston was courting white pop fans too eagerly, and forgetting her roots in gospel and R&B.

On the charts, by contrast, Whitney Houston’s achievements are indisputable. But they also might be underrated. Houston’s chart records offer a window into exactly how she crossed over…and whether she deserved the backlash. In this episode, Chris Molanphy walks step by step through Whitney’s storied chart records—including a couple that have gone unheralded—that help explain why she was a seminal, singular figure among black female crossover stars, from Aretha and Diana to Beyoncé.

Podcast production by Justin D. Wright.

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Thirst Aid Kit: We Love James McAvoy, That’ s All Feb 27, 2020

Show notes

Nichole is ill this week, but there could be no better Thirst Object to rouse her from her sickbed than Glasgow-born actor James McAvoy! We looked into McAvoy’s uncanny knack for matching intense vulnerability with deeply attractive stoicism to make for an irresistible presence. Whether he’s playing a defiant but insecure Cyrano on stage or coming into his own in roles in Atonement, Wanted, or the X-Men films, James slakes all thirsts: slender or bulked up, au naturel or putting on an accent, blockbuster or indie project. And we can’t seem to look away.

Slate Plus members get a bonus segment on Thirst Aid Kit each week. Sign up now to listen and support our show.

On Slate Plus, it’s another installment of Explain Yourself, in which we speak to Vulture staff writer and frequently outrageous thirsty tweeter Hunter Harris about the distinct (but entirely resistible to us!) allure of Adam Driver. In essence: he’s A Large Boy! And people—including Hunter—like Large Things. :eyes emoji:

Our music is by Tanya Morgan. You can find show notes, gifs and so much more on our Tumblr at thirstaidkitpodcast.tumblr.com. Remember, you can send us your own (short) drabbles by emailing thirstaidkit@slate.com.

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

Culture Gabfest: Portrait of Taylor on Fire Feb 26, 2020

Show notes

This week on the Culture Gabfest, Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and guest host and Slate staff writer Dan Kois talk about Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Next, they discuss Taylor Swift’s documentary Miss Americana. Finally, the panel dives into “garbage language” a.k.a corporate buzzwords—unnecessary or effective?

On the Slate Plus segment this week, the panel discusses a contentious subject—whether Leonardo DiCaprio was already a star before Titanic?

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Production assistance by Rachael Allen. Additional production help by Rosemary Belson.

Outro Music: 'The Man' by Taylor Swift

Endorsements

Dan: Reading Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Halland Bring Up the Bodiesbefore The Mirror & the Light, the third book in the trilogy, is released March 10.

Julia: Golden State by Ben H. Winters.

Steve: “Reading Sade in the Age of Epstein” by Mitchell Abidor in The New York Review of Books.

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How To!: Write the Perfect Breakup Song with Ben Folds Feb 24, 2020

Show notes

This is an episode of our advice show How To! with Charles Duhigg.

Lorenzo is a dental student with big dreams—of becoming a rock star. Lorenzo plays a mean guitar at open mic night, but there’s one thing holding him back: He doesn’t know how to write his own songs. In this episode of How To!, we bring in master songwriter Ben Folds, former frontman of Ben Folds Five, and author of A Dream About Lightning Bugs: A Life of Music and Cheap Lessons. Many of those lessons are about how anyone can unlock their creativity. Ben breaks down his own music, and tinkers with Lorenzo’s attempt at writing a break-up song. He tells him to embrace cliché, then slip in something unexpected. Also, switch the first lyric with the second. Will it work?

Do you have a problem that needs a creative solution? Send us a note at howto@slate.com.

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Spoiler Specials: Emma. Feb 21, 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, Marissa Martinelli and Heather Schwedel discuss Emma. Though certainly not the first adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel, director Autumn de Wilde’s film humanizes the familiar characters and departs at times from the source material to bring a certain freshness to this comedy. Will Emma’s meddling still result in matchmaking errors? How far does she have to go to right her wrongs? And what’s with the inopportune nosebleed?

You can read Marissa Martinelli’s review here.

Note: As the title indicates, spoilers galore.

Email us at spoilers@slate.com.

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

Thirst Aid Kit: The Deceptive Deference of Clive Owen Feb 20, 2020

Show notes

Clive Owen: is he dangerous or is he the love of our lives? As someone wise once asked, why not both? When Clive steps into a scene, we don’t know if he’s about to deliver a soul-stealing kiss or a scathing takedown, but we move to the edge of our seats to catch every second of it. From Chancer to Closer, Sin City to The Knick, and beyond, Clive’s demanding presence brings us to our knees, and we find we’re quite all right with that.

Slate Plus members get a bonus segment on Thirst Aid Kit each week. Sign up now to listen and support our show.

On Slate Plus, we discuss the erotic fixation on the extended leg of a woman. Using scenes from Carmen Jones, Boomerang, From Dusk Till Dawn, and Something New, we examine the power play found in women’s feet—and areas north.

Our music is by Tanya Morgan. You can find show notes, gifs, and so much more on our Tumblr at thirstaidkitpodcast.tumblr.com. If the spirit moves you, send us your own drabbles by emailing thirstaidkit@slate.com.

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