Culture Gabfest

This week, the panel begins with the question: is The Bear’s second season even better than its first? Then, the trio discusses Jennifer Lawrence’s new “sex” comedy, No Hard Feelings. Finally, they examine an essay by Jonah Weiner of Blackbird Spyplane, “Is Ssense hurting the cool-clothes eco-system?” about the online clothing emporium that’s growing like a weed.

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel dives into former New York Times film critic—and current Book Review critic—A.O. Scott’s recent piece, “Everyone Likes Reading. Why Are We So Afraid of It?”

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Endorsements:

Dana: Access and Engagement Curator at the Brontë Parsonage Museum — The Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth is hiring! Dana thinks someone out there must be perfect for this wonderful job: a part-time Access and Engagement curator at the former home of the Brontë family and where Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall were written. Applications close on Sunday, July 2nd.

Julia: Cédric Grolet on Instagram — The French pastry chef (who works as executive pastry chef at Le Meurice in Paris) posts beautifully shot baking videos to his Instagram and TikTok. In them, he demonstrates how to make fruity, complex pastries at a huge scale. The result is perfection.

Stephen: “Cancelled” by Amia Srinivasan — Published by the London Review of Books, “Cancelled” is philosopher Amia Srinivasan’s exploration of the role of fee speech on campus. In it, she asks “Who gets to speak?” and details the ways academic freedom is currently being suppressed.

Outro music: “Zero Gravity” by ELFL

Podcast production by Cameron Drews and Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong.

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On this week’s show, Julia and Stephen are joined by Slate writer and senior editor, Sam Adams. Why do we tell fictional stories about real people?‌ The panel ponders this question as they discuss two biopics: The Apprentice and Saturday Night. The Apprentice is an uncanny portrait of Donald Trump, a young striver under the tutelage – and spell – of his mentor, Roy Cohn. But does the film offer any new information or ideas? Saturday Night, on the other hand, is the often obnoxious tale of the frenetic 90-minute countdown before Saturday Night Live’s first broadcast in 1975. Finally, the panel is joined by The Atlantic staff writer Charlie Warzel to discuss his recent and prescient piece, “I’m Running Out of Ways to Explain How Bad This Is.”

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel discusses f*cking profanity, a conversation inspired by a listener question from Jonathan.

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Endorsements:

Sam: Separated, a documentary by Errol Morris. (Read Sam’s review here.)

Julia: Ten, Nine, Eight, a wonderful children’s book by Molly Bang.

Steve: Laura Miller’s book review of Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell for Slate.

Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong.

`This week on the Culture Gabfest, Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner dive into Ford v Ferrari before the Oscars this weekend. Next, they discuss Netflix’s reality show The Circle with Slate’s editorial director—and Circle-enthusiast—Laura Bennett. Finally, they analyze the controversy surrounding Jeanine Cummins’s American Dirt with Los Angeles Times staff writer Daniel Hernandez.

On the Slate Plus segment this week, the panel discusses Super Bowl ads with Slate’s Justin Peters.

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Production assistance by Rachael Allen.

Outro Music: ‘The Circle Theme (Netflix)’ by Patrizio Knight

Hosts

Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner

Endorsements

Dana: “‘Jojo Rabbit’ Captures the Horror and Absurdity of our Trumpian Moment,” by Masha Gessen in The New Yorker.

Julia: The Good Wife.

Steve: Cheer (specifically, La’Darius’s brother’s face).

“The Money Behind Trump’s Money,” by David Enrich in The New York Times Magazine.

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On this week’s show, Dana and Stephen are joined by Supreme Friend of the Podcast (SFOP) Isaac Butler, author of The Method:‌ How the Twentieth Century Learned to‌ Act. The trio first explores The Wild Robot, DreamWork Animation’s handcrafted, lovingly made film that’s the surprise of the year. Lupita Nyong’o voices ROZ, an old-fashioned robot powered by supremely advanced A.I. who must learn about and adapt to her new wild surroundings.

Then, they dissect Nobody Wants This, a new Netflix series starring Kristen Bell (who plays a sex podcaster) and Adam Brody as a hot rabbi. Although there are obvious charms, the show’s “will they, won’t they” rom-com beats can often feel, at best, gratingly familiar, and at worst, bizarre and unthoughtful, particularly in its portrayal of Jewish women.

Finally, the Criterion Collection, is “a catalog so synonymous with cinematic achievement that it has come to function as a kind of film Hall of Fame,” writes Joshua Hunt for The New York Times. The panel dives into the wonderful world of ‘Closet Picks,’ a viral video format in which celebrities and movie buffs head into the Criterion Collection stockroom and pluck high-quality DVDs and Blu-rays off its shelves while explaining their personal significance.

Also mentioned in this episode:‌

• “The Wild Robot Has an Intelligence That’s Anything But Artificial” by Dana Stevens for Slate.
• “‘Nobody Wants This’ Pits Jewish Women Against ‘Shiksas.’ Nobody Wins.” By Jessica Grose for The New York Times.

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel extols the joys of being on the ground. Inspired by Chris Black’s column for GQ, “How I Learned to Love a Layover,” the trio discusses how they spend their time in airports.

Email us at [email protected].

Endorsements:

Dana:‌ “Abbas Kiarostami’s Childhood Films,”‌ a collection of 17 films by the renowned Iranian filmmaker made about or for children.

Isaac:‌ The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, directed by Isao Takahata.

Stephen:‌ “The Song That Connects Jackson Browne, Nico and Margot Tenenbaum”‌ by Bob Mehr for The New York Times.

Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong.

On this week’s show, the hosts chew over Nightbitch, Marielle Heller’s (Queen’s Gambit, Can You Ever Forgive Me, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, MacGruber), fourth feature film. Amy Adam stars as “Mother,” a former artist who has given up her creative pursuits to care for her infant son full-time — a transition so taxing, that she begins dissociating and transforming into a dog at night. And while there’s a lot to like here (it’s an adaptation of Rachel Yonder’s magical realism novel of the same name, for example), does the film ever achieve lift-off?

Then, the three rip Black Doves to shreds, Netflix’s latest espionage show starring Keira Knightly, Sarah Lancashire, and Ben Whishaw that has far too many plot holes to name (although, Stephen does try to.) Finally, the panel digs into the strange case of Luigi Mangione, the suspected shooter in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson — and the internet’s sardonic, if not jubilant, reaction to the fatal shooting.

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel explores the celebrity look-alike contest: a puzzling and mildly delightful phenomenon that’s been sweeping the nation. (Read Nadira Goffe’s excellent reporting on the Timothée Chalamet tournament that started it all, here.)

FINAL CALL: We are down to the final week! To submit your question for our annual call-in show (for inspiration, check out last year’s episode), please call (260) 337-8260 to leave us a voicemail, or record a voice note and email it to us at [email protected].

Or, email us at [email protected] if you just want to gab.

Endorsements:

Dana: The Year of Lear audiobook, written by James Shapiro and narrated by Robert Fass.

Julia: Tree.fm — a project by Sounds of the Forest and aporee, where you can tune into forest soundscapes from around the world.

Stephen: A cover of Richard and Linda Thompson’s “Down Where the Drunkards Roll,” performed by Loudon Wainwright III and Rufus Wainwright.

Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong.

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