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The Authority: Betrayal Dec 24, 2019

Show notes

Welcome to The Authority, Slate’s deep dive into the world(s) of HBO’s His Dark Materials. Each week, Slate’s scholars of experimental theology Dan Kois and Laura Miller discuss the new HBO series and Philip Pullman’s original trilogy. This week, they’re discussing the season finale, “Betrayal.” Plus, a closer look at New Line’s 2007 attempt to film The Golden Compass with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. Why did that movie fail so badly?

Join the conversation:

Email: asktheauthority@slate.com

Dan Kois on Twitter: @dankois

Laura Miller on Twitter: @magiciansbook

Podcast production by Phil Surkis, with engineering assistance from Melissa Kaplan and Asha Saluja.

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Outward: Special Episode: The Inheritance Dec 23, 2019

Show notes

OIn this special bonus episode of Outward, Bryan and a guest panel of multigenerational gay men devote a whole hour to The Inheritance, a seven-hour, two-part play by Matthew Lopez that won many awards for its recent run in London and is currently dominating discussions on Broadway. There will be spoilers!

While it’s length, ambition, and engagement with the AIDS crisis have invited comparisons to Tony Kushner’s “gay fantasia on national themes” Angels in America, The Inheritance’s driving concern is a bit more personal: If gay men think of ourselves as a community spanning generations, what happens when a huge swath of that community is lost to plague, the survivors deeply traumatized, and younger cohorts must therefore come of age and figure out what it means to be gay in the wake of a tragedy that shapes everything around us? Borrowing a line from E.M. Forester’s Howard’s End, on which the play is based, The Inheritance desperately wants gay men to “connect” across age and loss — but is that kind of connection really possible?

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Hit Parade: Make My Wish Come True Edition Dec 23, 2019

Show notes

Music fans in 2019 are gobsmacked that the No. 1 song in America is not only a Christmas song but a 25-year-old recording: Mariah Carey’s holiday perennial “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Even more amazingly, it’s the first Christmas song to top Billboard’s Hot 100 in 61 years, since “The Chipmunk Song” in December 1958. This leads to so many “whys”: Why were there no Christmas No. 1s for six decades? Why didn’t ’60s, ’70s and ’80s holiday classics like “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” “Feliz Navidad” and “Last Christmas” become Hot 100 hits? Why did Carey’s classic not chart in 1994, when it was released—and why did it only start charting in the 2010s and seem to get more popular every year this decade?

In this special holiday edition of Hit Parade we answer all of these questions, and explain how virtually everything had to change about the music business for Mariah’s Christmas chestnut to reach No. 1: from Billboard chart rules, to digital music technologies, to even the tragic passing of a fellow music diva. It all combined to give Carey her incredible 19th No. 1 on the Hot 100—just one chart-topper away from the Beatles.

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Spoiler Specials: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Dec 20, 2019

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, Dana Stevens is joined by Forrest Wickman, Sam Adams and Marissa Martinelli to discuss Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Director J.J. Abrams seemed committed to fan service; even if it made the final episode of the Skywalker saga worthy of some eyerolls. Well, committed to fans - except those shipping Poe and Finn - despite the film touting the franchise's first same-sex kiss. With the final battle looming, will Rey discover who she really is? Will she be persuaded by Kylo Ren to join the dark side? Or will they join forces? And how does ‘forcetiming’ play into all of this?

You can read Sam Adams’ review here.

You can also check out past Spoiler Specials, and you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts. Note: As the title indicates, spoilers galore.

Email us at spoilers@slate.com.

Hosts

Dana Stevens is Slate’s movie critic.

Forrest Wickman is Slate’s culture editor.

Sam Adams is a Slate senior editor and the editor of Slate’s culture blog, Brow Beat.

Marissa Martinelli is a Slate assistant editor.

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Thirst Aid Kit: The 2019 Thirst Report Dec 19, 2019

Show notes

What a year 2019 has been! After a 9-month hiatus, Thirst Aid Kit found a new home at Slate and we had much to catch up on— so much so that we weren’t able to get to as many listener-submitted drabbles or Thirst Sommelier requests as we wanted. In this episode, we correct that oversight by answering some questions from our tumblr page, helping a couple of Thirst Buckets find a new Nick Miller from New Girl and a new Nicholas Braun (aka Cousin Greg of Succession) to crush on, and by reading some drabbles about Chris Evans, Frank Ocean, and Chris Pang. We also highlight some key moments in thirst: Manny Jacinto’s infamous jawline, Keanu Reeves’ Renaissance, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s everything, Chris Evans’ knitwear in Knives Out, plus Adam Driver and Harry Styles. Thank you to all of our listeners, old and new, for lusting out loud with us. We’ll be back in the new year, and until then, stay thirsty!

Follow us on Twitter @ThirstAidKit. Bim is @bimadew and Nichole is @tnwhiskeywoman. Our music is by Tanya Morgan. You can find show notes, gifs and so much more on our Tumblr at thirstaidkitpodcast.tumblr.com. You can make use of our Thirst Sommelier service by calling and leaving a BRIEF message at (510) 984 4778. That’s (510) 9-THIRST. We also love fanfic — send us your drabbles (along with your pronouns) and we might read them out on the show! We’re at thirstaidkit@slate.com.

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Culture Gabfest: "Peloton Prisoner" Edition Dec 18, 2019

Show notes

Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner talk to TV critic Willa Paskin about the state of the medium, discuss Mariah Carey's surprise Christmas number one hit, and discuss the Peloton ad that has the internet atwitter.

This episode is brought to you by Everlane. Check out your personalized collection today at everlane.com/culture.

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The Authority: The Fight to the Death Dec 17, 2019

Show notes

Welcome to The Authority, Slate’s deep dive into the world(s) of HBO’s His Dark Materials. Each week, Slate’s scholars of experimental theology Dan Kois and Laura Miller discuss the new HBO series and Philip Pullman’s original trilogy. This week, they’re discussing episode 7, “The Fight To The Death,” in which Lyra travels to Svalbard and meets lofur Raknison, the ruler of the panserbjørne.

Join the conversation:

Email: asktheauthority@slate.com

Dan Kois on Twitter: @dankois

Laura Miller on Twitter: @magiciansbook

Podcast production by Phil Surkis, with engineering assistance from Melissa Kaplan.

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

Spoiler Specials: Uncut Gems Dec 13, 2019

Show notes

Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), owner of a small jewelry store in Manhattan, racked up a gambling debt while the rest of his life is collapsing. He’s trying to avoid creditors when his shop receives an illegal gem from Ethiopia. This rock, Ratner thinks, is his ticket out of debt. He temporarily trades Kevin Garnett, of the Boston Celtics, the rock for Garnett’s NBA Championship. Ratner pawns the ring to bet on the championship game. Will The Celtics win? Will Garnett get his ring back? Will Ratner finally get out of debt?

You can read Dana Stevens’ review here.

You can also check out past Spoiler Specials, and you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts. Note: As the title indicates, spoilers galore.

Email us at spoilers@slate.com.

Podcast Production by Rosemary Belson.

Hosts

Dana Stevens is Slate’s movie critic.

Jeffrey Bloomer is a Slate senior editor. He edits and writes for the human interest and culture sections.

Heather Schwedel is a Slate staff writer.

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Thirst Aid Kit: Randall Park: He Has the Range Dec 12, 2019

Show notes

Does Randall Park know what he does to us? We only ask because whether it’s performing a classic prank as Asian Jim on The Office or punching Keanu Reeves in Always Be My Maybe, Randall keeps showing us he’s one to watch, whether on network TV, in lesser known indie films, or in superhero franchises. He’s an “overnight” success only if you typically sleep for 15 years a night — and the result is he leaves his fingerprint on every script he touches. Plus he’s got the cutest smile, the warmest eyes, and that low key ‘grown man heat’ we’ll never get tired of. PS: Get ready for Fanfic Wars. This one’s a banger. You’ve been warned!

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Culture Gabfest: Impenetrable Façade Edition Dec 11, 2019

Show notes

Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner discuss The Marriage Story, speak with author Simon Doonan about the death of the department store window display, and debate whether social media killed our sense of time - and the 2010s as a decade.

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