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Spoilers: Spiderman: Far From Home Jul 12, 2019

Show notes

This week on Spoiler Specials, Sam Adams, Inkoo Kang and Alex Barasch spoil Spider: Far From Home. Does Jake Gyllenhaal make for a good villain? How does the movie’s depiction of high school stack up? Where does the MCU got from now? Listen to them discuss!

Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt. Engineering by Cameron Drews.

This episode is sponsored by Anchor. Anchor is a Spotify-owned company that makes it easy for anyone to make a podcast, for free. Get started at www.anchor.fm/start.

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Fetch the Mallet Jul 10, 2019

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Julia Turner, Dana Stevens, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the film Midsommar, the life and work of the bossa nova progenitor João Gilberto with critic Nate Chinen, and the end of life-hacking with Slate's Laura Miller.

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Summer Strut 2019 Jul 03, 2019

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Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf, and Dana Stevens are joined by Chris Molanphy to discuss the song of the summer and our annual summer strut playlist. You can find our full playlist on Spotify, as well as a shortlist of songs selected on the show.

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Spoilers: Yesterday Jun 28, 2019

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This week on Spoiler Specials, Sam Adams, Inkoo Kang and Chris Molanphy spoil Yesterday. What’s wrong with the movie’s vision of the 2019 music landscape? What was Eleonor Rigby about again? Who’s the best Beatle? Listen to them discuss!

Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt. Engineering by Merritt Jacob.

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Hit Parade: The Lullaby of Broadway Edition Jun 28, 2019

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Musical theater is one of America’s greatest cultural products—and in the mid–20th century, it also dominated the Billboard charts, from My Fair Lady to West Side Story. But the rise of rock and roll in the ’60s sidelined showtunes on the radio. And even when Broadway tried to rock—from Hair to Jesus Christ Superstar—a new generation grew wary of characters breaking into song (unless they were animated mermaids, teapots or lions). And yet, in the 21st century, Broadway music has staged a cultural comeback: taking over our movie screens, making shows out of jukebox hits, and raising a new generation to believe they can rap like Hamilton and Lafayette. In this Tonys month, Hit Parade dances down the Great White Way to chronicle the tangled history of the Broadway musical on the pop charts.

Email: hitparade@slate.com

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Culture Gabfest: Exploding Birkins Jun 26, 2019

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Dana Stevens, Julia Turner, and Stephen Metcalf discuss The Day the Music Burned with Jody Rosen, about the massive loss of master tapes from historically important record labels due to fire, then CBS's The Good Fight with Vulture's Mark Harris, and Sally Rooney's novel Normal People.

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Spoilers: Toy Story 4 Jun 21, 2019

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This week on Spoiler Specials, Dan Kois, Forrest Wickman and Marissa Martinelli spoil Toy Story 4. What’s the logic of the Toy Story Universe? As we ask of all sequels, does this one deserve to exist? Does the movie succeed as a rom-com?

Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt. Engineering by Merritt Jacob.

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Hit Parade: The Invisible Miracle Sledgehammer Edition Jun 20, 2019

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When a band member leaves to go solo, usually it means the band’s best days are over. That’s what everybody thought when Peter Gabriel left Genesis in the ’70s. Except not only did the band survive—fronted by drummer-turned-singer Phil Collins, they got bigger. Then Collins went solo…except he didn’t ditch Genesis. In fact, his success made them bigger—one of the definitive pop bands of the 1980s, as Collins’s monstrous drum sound took over pop music. By mid-decade, current and former members of Genesis—even side projects from its guitarists—were all competing head-to-head on the Billboard charts. On Hit Parade, we explore the knotty family tree of Genesis, the unlikeliest group ever to become a Hot 100 juggernaut.

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Culture Gabfest: You Don't Get to Hate It Jun 19, 2019

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Stephen Metcalf, Willa Paskin, and Marissa Martinelli discuss Big Little Lies season two, the movie The Last Black Man in San Francisco, and The Sims 4, with Slate's Dawnthea Price.

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Spoilers: Late Night Jun 14, 2019

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This week on Spoiler Specials, Dana Stevens, Inkoo Kang and Sam Adams spoil Late Night starring Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson. What do they make of the movie’s take on “diversity hires”? What exactly happened to Hugh Dancy’s character? What did they think of the Slate name check? Listen to them discuss!

Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt. Engineering by Merritt Jacob.

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