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<p>New York Times critic Dwight Garner says “The Slate Culture Gabfest is one of the highlights of my week.” The award-winning Culturefest features critics Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner debating the week in culture, from highbrow to pop. For more of Slate’s culture podcasts, check out the Slate Culture feed.</p><br><p>Get more Culture Gabfest with Slate Plus! Join to unlock weekly bonus episodes—plus ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from our show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or visit slate.com/cultureplus to get access wherever you listen.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
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<p>L.A. World is a new weekly podcast from L.A. Material, the local news outlet that Julia Turner helped launch earlier this year. The show helps you understand what's happening in Los Angeles. Every episode, Julia is joined by hosts Hayes Davenport and Antonia Cereijido to walk you through L.A.'s top stories, offering context and distinctive insight you can't get anywhere else. A great listen for Angelenos, and for curious people everywhere.</p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p>A eulogistic weepfest? A “valediction forbidding mourning”? A conscious unthroupling? All of the above?</p><br><p>Believe it or not, the time has come for Steve, Dana, and Julia to convene the Culture Gabfest panel for the very last time. </p><br><p>Before saying goodbye, they look back at the very first piece of culture they ever gabbed about on their inaugural episode in February 2008: the film <em>Juno</em>. Does the indie darling written by Diablo Cody, directed by Jason Reitman, and starring Elliot Page as a sardonic, pregnant teenager hold up after 18 years? And, what does rewatching it in 2026 reveal about how culture has changed? They discuss.</p><br><p>Next, the panel welcomes on the grand poobah of SFOPs June Thomas to counsel them through the inevitable change in one’s cultural habits that comes after a big life transition. They get into why June stopped watching TV and the truly wild mix of things in her YouTube algorithm.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, we hear from you our dear, dear listeners. Steve, Dana, and Julia respond to some of your many beautiful emails and voice memos. </p><br><p>In our bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, past Gabfest producers spill the beans on what it was like to make this show over the years.</p><br><p>And, as always, thank you so much for being a listener.</p><br><p><br></p><p><strong>Endorsements</strong></p><br><p><strong>Dana</strong>: The forthcoming book about translating ancient texts by beloved past Gabfest guest Emily Wilson, <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/crossing-the-wine-dark-sea-journeys-through-ancient-literature-emily-wilson/7ac46e1380472f69?ean=9781324099406&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea: Journeys Through Ancient Literature</em></a>.</p><br><p><strong>June</strong>: The podcast <a href="https://draftingthepast.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Drafting the Past</a> hosted by Kate Carpenter about the craft of writing history.</p><br><p><strong>Julia</strong>: Manhattan Beach's indie bookstore <a href="https://pagesabookstore.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pages</a> and <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/on-the-calculation-of-volume-book-i-shortlisted-for-the-2025-international-booker-prize-solvej-balle/39837e132ef254c6?ean=9780811237253" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>On the Calculation of Volume (Book 1)</em></a><em> </em>by Solvej Balle (definitely the first 30 pages and maybe the whole five book series).</p><br><p><strong>Steve</strong>: In addition to the music of <a href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/35iymrFS4VnsKn35ebHKX9?si=4cF4GtENSMq0ZPBPbGbjEg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Red Garland</a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/i-capture-the-castle-deluxe-edition-dodie-smith/b29e25c3ab2fa759?ean=9781250146694&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>I Capture the Castle</em></a><em> </em>by Dodie Smith, and the poem <em>“</em><a href="https://poets.org/poem/writer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Writer</a><em>” </em>by Richard Wilbur, <a href="https://sparrowbushbakery.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sparrowbush Bakery</a>, a tiny, rustic bakery in Livingston, New York that is only open Fridays and Saturdays and serves the best bread made from fresh stoneground flour from locally grown grains you’ll ever taste.</p><br><p><br></p><p><strong>Where in the World to Find the Culture Gabfest</strong></p><br><p><strong>Dana: </strong>Writing <a href="https://slate.com/author/dana-stevens" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">film reviews on </a><a href="http://slate.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Slate.com</a> and kicking around a book idea that is still in the early stages. You can find updates and commentary on <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/thehighsign.bsky.social" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bluesky</a>. </p><br><p><strong>Steve: </strong>In the wind, to the sands... and also working on a <em>new</em> book about, among many other things, the 1980s.</p><br><p><strong>Julia</strong>: Editing <a href="https://lamaterial.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">L.A. Material</a> and soon appearing weekly on L.A. Material's about-to-launch podcast <a href="https://lamaterial.com/podcast" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">L.A. World</a>. Also, on <a href="https://x.com/juliaturner?lang=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Twitter/X</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/msjuliaturner/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/juliaturner.bsky.social" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bluesky</a>.</p><br><p><strong>June</strong>: At her newsletter <a href="https://buttondown.com/WhereAre" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Where Are All the Emails</a>?</p><br><p>For the time being, listeners can also still reach the panel by emailing culturefest@slate.com. And to keep tabs on the Gabfesters, subscribe to their brand-new newsletter, the <a href="https://culture-gabletter.beehiiv.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Culture Gabletter</a>, to receive occasional updates, endorsements and more. </p><br><p><br></p><p>--</p><br><p>Podcast production by the immensely talented Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by the brilliant Daniel Hirsch.</p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p>The Gabfest’s end is nigh but we’ve still got a few bits of culture to gab upon. This week, Steve and Dana are joined by longtime Gabfest star pinch hitter Dan Kois. </p><br><p>First up for consideration: Pixar’s <em>Toy Story 5</em>. In this fifth installment of the computer animation studio’s flagship franchise, the threat to the vital bond between toy and child are computers themselves. Will Pixar, of all entities, save us from the threat of screentime? Maybe not. Is it nice to be back with Woody, Buzz, Jesse and the gang of plushies, dolls, and various transitional objects? Maybe so.</p><br><p>Next, the panel drops into the indie comedy ecosystem of the streaming service Dropout TV and talks about its chaotic cult hit game show <em>Game Changer</em>,<em> </em>now in its eighth season. Does the goofy hijinks therein offer a framework for the future of TV? They discuss. </p><p> </p><p>Finally, supreme, very special friend of the program (SVSFOP) Wesley Morris joins to talk about the <em>New York Times’ </em>package on the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/06/08/arts/declaration-of-independence-words.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">six sentences that define America</a> and his essay in it about <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/06/08/arts/nina-simone-mississippi-goddam-civil-rights-song.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddam</a>.”</p><br><p>In our bonus episode, Wesley sticks around to theorize with Steve, Dana, and Julia about the point of even having podcasts about culture.</p><br><p><strong>Endorsements</strong></p><br><p><strong>Dana: </strong>"<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/07/magazine/steven-spielberg-movie-theater-disclosure-day.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">What Steven Spielberg Taught Me About Fear, Catharsis, and Being Human</a>" by Wesley Morris in <em>The</em> <em>New York Times </em>as well as, maybe for the first time ever for Dana in Gabfest history, a piece of technology: the <a href="https://www.apple.com/macbook-neo/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MacBook Neo</a>.</p><br><p><strong>Julia</strong>: The ongoing career—<a href="https://slate.com/podcasts/culture-gabfest/2014/12/making-a-theme-song" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">after composing the Gabfest theme</a>—of the composer Nicholas Britell including <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/03/arts/music/nba-finals-music.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">his work for the NBA </a>and particularly the composition "<a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/agape/1440307473?i=1440307642" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Agape</a>" on the film score of <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/if-beale-street-could-talk-original-motion-picture-score/1440307473" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>If Beale Street Could Talk</em></a>. </p><br><p><strong>Wesley: </strong>The potato salad recipe in Pearl Bailey's cookbook <a href="https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31946946799&dest=USA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Pearl's Kitchen: An Extraordinary Cookbook</em></a><em>.</em></p><br><p><strong>Dan: </strong>Writing fan mail to authors whose work you love. Also, the music of the recently departed South African jazz pianist <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/artist/abdullah-ibrahim/3924942" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Abdullah Ibrahim</a>, particularly the album <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-enja-heritage-collection-mindif/1363873828" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Mindif</em></a>.</p><br><p><strong>Steve</strong>: The semi-fictionalized documentary about David Hockney <a href="https://www.criterionchannel.com/a-bigger-splash" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>A Bigger Splash</em></a><em> </em>and <a href="https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/bigger-splash-reviewed-1975-david-hockney" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Philip French's review of it for BFI</a>. Also, David Denby's 1990 <em>New York Review of Books </em>essay "<a href="https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1990/11/08/the-real-thing/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Real Thing</a>" about the documentarian Frederick Wiseman. </p><br><p>--</p><br><p>Email us your thoughts at <a href="mailto:culturefest@slate.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">culturefest@slate.com</a>. </p><br><p>Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.</p><br><p><br></p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p>Steve, Dana, and Julia gather once more—for almost the last time—to unpack the week’s culture. This week, conversation has to include the cultural, cinematic juggernaut Steven Spielberg and his new film <em>Disclosure Day</em>. Starring Josh O’Connor and Emily Blunt, it’s a sci-fi, action thriller about the longheld Spielbergian obsession: extraterrestrial life. Does it deliver that trademark Spielberg sense of wonder or tired cliches… or both?</p><br><p>Next, they welcome longtime friend of the program Isaac Butler to discuss his new book <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-perfect-moment-god-sex-art-and-the-birth-of-america-s-culture-wars-isaac-butler/56e7f5b850cbfc11?ean=9781639733491&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art, and the Birth of America's Culture Wars</em></a><em> </em>and threats to free expression past, present, and future. </p><br><p>Finally, and for the final time, beloved chartologist Chris Molanphy joins the show to remember Summer Struts past and curate the ultimate shortlist of shortlists. The panel shares their most adored songs from previous years and the tracks that never made the list but should have.</p><br><p>Listen to the <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4ZKirpqJG5l4EUv3lmG2EN?si=2206da4980d84cd0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">final, ultimate, best of Summer Strut shortlist here</a>. And for even more struttin’, you can listen to <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rEAx2mBVOlCw5kaNmzCYP?si=4ad70ab146644754" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ten years of Summer Strut shortlists in one playlist here</a>.</p><br><p>For Slate Plus subscribers, our bonus episode includes even more propulsive, groovy tracks and reflective conversation about what was Summer Strut.</p><br><p><strong>Endorsements</strong></p><br><p><strong>Dana</strong>: Slate’s <a href="https://slate.com/tag/spielberg-week" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spielberg Week</a> and the 2023 conversation between the three philosophers John Vervaeke, Iain McGilchrist, and Daniel Schmachtenberger on "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA5GV-XmwtM" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Psychological Drivers of the Metacrisis</a>."</p><br><p><strong>Chris</strong>: The 2025 music video, directed by Mike Mills and starring Saoirse Ronan, of the Talking Heads classic <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ54eImz88w&list=RDCJ54eImz88w&start_radio=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Psycho Killer</a>.</p><br><p><strong>Julia</strong>: <a href="https://lamaterial.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">L.A. Material's</a> upcoming Culinary Cup, a tournament of Los Angeles restaurants from the national diasporas represented in World Cup teams. </p><br><p><strong>Steve</strong>: Sports. (Latecomers and bandwagon fans welcome! Go Knicks!)</p><br><p>And don’t forget to preorder Isaac Butler’s book <a href="https://mcnallyjackson.com/book/9781639733491" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art, and the Birth of America's Culture Wars</em></a>.</p><br><p>--</p><br><p>Email us your thoughts at <a href="mailto:culturefest@slate.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">culturefest@slate.com</a>. </p><br><p>Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.</p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p>As you may have heard in last week’s episode, the Culture Gabfest is hanging up its microphones after 18 years of cultural commentary. But before our final episode, we’ve still got much to discuss!</p><br><p>On this special guest-packed show, Steve, Dana, and Nadira Goffe have the power! That is the power to get into it with VSFOP Jamelle Bouie about <em>Masters of the Universe</em>, the latest attempt by Mattel to launch their own cinematic universe. They assess the state of IP-driven superhero movies and whether this newest entry—starring Nicholas Galitzine, as the buff, loin cloth-wearing He-Man, and Jared Leto, as the slightly lascivious Skeletor—is more than brand management.</p><br><p>Next, they turn to the wild, surreal revenge thriller <em>Is God Is, </em>written and directed by Aleshea Harris based on her stageplay. They talk about how this tale of twin sisters seeking vengeance fits into the growing pantheon of Black horror as well as the ancient canon of revenge tragedies.</p><br><p>Finally, and for the final time, it’s time to talk about Taylor Swift. In the wake of her newest release, the song “I Knew It, I Knew You” for the <em>Toy Story 5 </em>soundtrack, the gang assembles one more time to take up the long-simmering Tay debate. Jody Rosen and Julia jump on the call/enter the Thunderdome for this, of course. </p><p>In a bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, the panel pours one out for the recently shuttered Hampshire College and reflects on the changing landscape of the liberal arts.</p><br><p><br></p><p><strong>Endorsements</strong></p><br><p><strong>Dana: </strong>The interactive, Jazz-playing, transit-obsessed, single purpose website <a href="https://www.trainjazz.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Train Jazz</a>. (Hat tip once more to Rusty Foster's <a href="https://www.todayintabs.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Today in Tabs</em></a><em>.</em>)</p><br><p><strong>Nadira: </strong>The <a href="https://blackfilmarchive.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Black Film Archive</a> which showcases Black films made from 1898 to 1999 currently streaming. Also, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_in_American_music" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">year 2016 in music</a>. </p><br><p><strong>Jody: </strong>For some Gabfest replacement therapy, watching academic lectures on YouTube such as the lectures of art historian John Walsh at Yale Art Galleries—including ones on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I16OHKFlSrA&list=PLqJmQZgy9f_d7fmz6wgcckukGgVC0P87s" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Vincent Van Gogh</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Lr-shFTXRU&list=PLqJmQZgy9f_cqxAiJ76qDJA98xJkgagN1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dutch masters</a>— and cultural historian Eric Lott on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvBnJ8jEPZE" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Racial Masquerade in America</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqw4Ddfptms" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Philippe Petit's legendary tightrope walk between the Twin Towers</a>. </p><br><p><strong>Julia</strong>: Patrick Radden Keefe's new book <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/london-falling-a-mysterious-death-in-a-gilded-city-and-a-family-s-search-for-truth-patrick-radden-keefe/3ae558d23df98afa?ean=9780385548533&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>London Falling</em></a> and the song "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8mY4iWGEmU" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Come Tomorrow</a>" by Patti Scialfa.</p><br><p><strong>Steve</strong>: Following up on last week’s endorsement, Steve can confirm that <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/schande-professor-of-general-literature-j-m-coetzee/6286f7775f67e19c?ean=9780140296402&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Disgrace</em></a><em> </em>by J.M. Coetzee is, in fact, good. Also recommended: <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/offshore-a-novel-penelope-fitzgerald/b41c8e8bac03dd6d?ean=9780544361515&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Offshore</em></a><em> </em>by Penelope Fitzgerald. </p><br><p>--</p><br><p>Email us your thoughts at <a href="mailto:culturefest@slate.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">culturefest@slate.com</a>. </p><br><p>Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.</p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p>This week Steve, Dana, and Julia convene once again—this time with some big news. Also, they make a classic Gabfest episode. </p><br><p>First up, it's the alienating fluorescent buzz, infinite carpeted sprawl, and liminal horror of <em>Backrooms</em>. The new release from A24 is directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons based on his YouTube series which itself was inspired by deep internet lore and a viral piece of creepypasta. Does the uncanny maze of <em>Backrooms </em>go anywhere? They step into the labyrinth to find out. </p><br><p>Next, they’re joined by Gabfest fave Leon Neyfakh to get into another parallel dimension: the world of OnlyFans. They discuss Leon’s new podcast about the ubiquitous platform <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/onlyfantasy/id1692238236" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>OnlyFantasy</em></a>—produced with comedian and OF creator Gracie Canaan.</p><br><p>Finally, it’s a conversation that’s as lively as… well, that’s the question. They take up a recent piece of data journalism in <a href="https://pudding.cool/2026/05/similes/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Pudding </em>analyzing the most common similes</a>.</p><br><p>In a bonus episode, Carl Wilson joins the call (as well as a special endorsement segment) to talk taste. Specifically, they get into how discussions of taste have changed since Carl wrote authoritatively on it 18 years ago in his book <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/let-s-talk-about-love-why-other-people-have-such-bad-taste-carl-wilson/f5cf72ef46f6d822?ean=9781441166777&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Let’s Talk About Love: Why Other People Have Bad Taste</em></a>.</p><br><p><br></p><p><strong>Endorsements</strong></p><br><p><strong>Dana: </strong>The recent Zadie Smith essay in <em>The New York Review of Books </em>"<a href="https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2026/06/11/art-for-our-sakes-zadie-smith/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Art for Our Sakes</a>." </p><br><p><strong>Carl: </strong>The live album <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/happy-today-feat-anna-butterss-jay-bellerose-josh-johnson/1885022834" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Happy Today</em></a><em> </em>by Jeff Parker and ETA IVtet as well as the anthology of poetry <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/on-occasion-poems-for-the-people-sina-queyras/16975218c7e4534f?ean=9781552455227&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>On Occasion: Poems for the People</em></a><em>, </em>with a special Canadian shoutout to the poem "<a href="https://garybarwin.substack.com/p/oh-americans" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Oh Americans</a>" by Gary Barwin.</p><br><p><strong>Julia</strong>: The tranquil, koi fish-rich, and very SoCal <a href="https://lakeshrine.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine</a>. Also, L.A. listeners should join the folks of <em>L.A Material</em>, <em>Punch List</em>, and <em>New York Review of Architecture</em> on June 7 for the event <a href="https://luma.com/5ysm82a3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">LACMA Therapy Session</a> to process all their complicated feelings about the new David Geffen Galleries.</p><br><p><strong>Steve</strong>: The band <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-durutti-column/6558311" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Durutti Column</a> as sampled in the Blood Orange song "<a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-field-feat-the-durutti-column-tariq-al-sabir/1821897447?i=1821897448" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Field</a>." Plus, Steve would love to know what listeners make of the author J.M. Coetzee, particularly his novel <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/schande-professor-of-general-literature-j-m-coetzee/6286f7775f67e19c?ean=9780140296402&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Disgrace</em></a><em>.</em></p><br><p>(Also, make sure to subscribe to Carl's fantastic newsletter <a href="https://carlwilson.substack.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Crritic!</a>)</p><br><p>--</p><br><p>Email us your thoughts at <a href="mailto:culturefest@slate.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">culturefest@slate.com</a>. </p><br><p>Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.</p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p>This week, the OG three Steve, Dana, and Julia dig into the visually stuffed, Marxist smorgasbord that is Boots Riley’s latest film <em>I Love Boosters</em>. Starring Keke Palmer and Demi Moore, the candy-colored agitprop is about exploitation, the fashion world, shoplifting as class warfare, and— as they discuss—perhaps more than one movie can handle. </p><br><p>Next they turn from Marx to Freud and analyze the critically adored reality TV phenomenon <em>Couples Therapy</em>,<em> </em>now entering its fifth season. Is the office of Dr. Orna Guralnik a site of transcendent psychological revelation or panoptic exploitation? They unpack.</p><br><p>Finally, they talk <em>lingvo </em>itself by way of <a href="https://harpers.org/archive/2026/06/love-language-katie-thornton-esperanto/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a recent article in <em>Harpers </em>by Katie Thornton</a> about the unlikely resurgence of interest in the artificial language Esperanto. </p><br><p>In a bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, they answer a listener question about what long-running pieces of culture they’ve stuck with over years.</p><br><p><em>Ĝuu</em>!</p><br><p><strong>Endorsements</strong></p><br><p><strong>Dana</strong>: The book <a href="https://www.abebooks.com/9780631154877/Artificial-Language-Movement-Large-Andrew-0631154876/plp" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Artificial Language Movement</em></a> by Andrew Large about the centuries-long history of utopic language projects.</p><br><p><strong>Julia: </strong>Lena Dunham’s memoir <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/famesick-a-memoir-lena-dunham/051a699f988a479a?ean=9780593129326&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Famesick</em></a> and <a href="http://dialed.gg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dialed.gg</a>, the internet’s latest color perception test.</p><br><p><strong>Steve</strong>: The music of the indie shoegaze band Slowdive—particularly the album <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4i21O3uVh5palcfFhCjlT7?si=ON6QAmsBStW_ippYKoZuig" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Souvlaki</em></a>—and the solo efforts of its frontman Neil Halstead—particularly the song “<a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/7nQDSyEeO2pZOjRmOkTzLD?si=87c52bac77574620" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Witless or Wise”</a> and the album <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/6nWn2IqFMPLfo5fEi42XOe?si=Bt2O8G1_ScqqLQxmN78XhA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Palindrome Hunches</em></a>; check out Steve’s <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/453gxQVv3s8pzCTXahnjlw?si=cac23533443d43d9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mega playlist for more</a>.</p><br><p>---</p><br><p>Email us your thoughts at <a href="mailto:culturefest@slate.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">culturefest@slate.com</a>. </p><br><p>Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.</p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p>This week, we’ve got an all-guest-host panel with Gabfest faves Isaac Butler, Sam Adams, and June Thomas guiding the discourse… straight to hell. In this case, hell is the romantic relationships depicted in the buzzy indie horror <em>Obsession</em>. This rom-com/horror mashup—marking Curry Barker’s impressive feature directorial debut—deals with questions of codependency and consent. But the real question: is <em>Obsession </em>worth the online obsession? </p><br><p>Next, they turn their gaze to the spooky titular island of <em>Widow’s Bay </em>and discuss the new series starring Matthew Rhys in another horror/comedy genre experiment. Finally, they debate whether most kids’ books are “crud?” Or really, is the recent online furor over comments in children’s book creator Mac Barnett’s new book <em>Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children </em>merited?</p><br><p>In a bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, the gang gather over the topic of book clubs.</p><br><p><strong>Endorsements</strong></p><br><p><strong>June: </strong><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/get-in-the-inside-story-of-labour-under-starmer-patrick-maguire/22216577?ean=9781847928375&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Get In: The Inside Story of Labor Under Starmer</em> </a>by Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund, a detailed and readable analysis of Keir Starmer's unlikely rise to power.</p><br><p><strong>Sam</strong>: The latest film of indie, animated short auteur Don Hertzfeldt "<a href="https://vimeo.com/ondemand/papertrail2026" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Paper Trail</a>."</p><p> </p><p><strong>Isaac</strong>: The novel <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-oppermanns-lion-feuchtwanger/df8bf5e685ddeec4?ean=9781946022332&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Oppermanns</em></a><em>, </em>a family saga by Lion Feuchtwanger written in real time during Hitler’s rise<em>. </em>(And, as a bonus peek into Feuchtwanger's post-war milieu, check out Salka Viertel’s autobiography <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-kindness-of-strangers-salka-viertel/440451ee508ff016?ean=9781681372747&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Kindness of Strangers</em></a><em>.</em>)</p><br><p>--</p><br><p>Email us your thoughts at <a href="mailto:culturefest@slate.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">culturefest@slate.com</a>. </p><br><p>Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.</p><br><p><br></p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p>On this week’s show, our panel of Dana, Steve, and Sam Adams are on the case. The case: is the movie <em>Sheep Detectives</em> a real movie and is it any good? The answer: it’s a star-studded cozy murder mystery based on a best-selling book about ungulate sleuths… and yeah, it might just be the surprise word-of-mouth delight of the season.</p><p> </p><p>Next, they take up the proverbial conch shell to assess <em>Lord of Flies</em>, the new Netflix limited series adaptation of William Golding’s classic novel from the creator of <em>Adolescence.</em></p><br><p>Finally, they’re joined by longtime Slate book reviewer Laura Miller who understandably has some thoughts and feelings about the recent piece by <em>New York Times </em>book critic Dwight Garner “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/books/review/ai-book-reviews.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Where Have All the Book Reviews Gone?</a>”</p><br><p>In an exclusive bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, Laura sticks around to report back from her viewing of the strange mess that is the new <em>Animal Farm</em> adaptation.</p><br><p><strong>Endorsements</strong></p><br><p><strong>Laura</strong>: The new book by philosopher and polymath C. Thi Nguyen <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-score-how-to-stop-playing-somebody-else-s-game-c-thi-nguyen/10cacf42dab73bd5?ean=9780593655658&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Score: How To Stop Playing Somebody Else’s Game</em></a>. </p><br><p><strong>Steve</strong>: The music of the Brazilian recording artist <a href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/6ijeN3MhwnbRfo86gH5McZ?si=w4gRdLi2R3GoulZ25Gu6Qg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sessa</a> and the chamber music piece <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/7rC6IrCzShnanTdT87w1JT?si=I_7x0WkqQzOi6OUiRrf1rQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Quartet for the End of Time</em></a><em> by O</em>livier Messiaen.</p><br><p><strong>Sam</strong>: <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-wager-a-tale-of-shipwreck-mutiny-and-murder-david-grann/b1f2a00fc56cba78?ean=9780307742490&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder</em></a><em> </em>by David Grann.</p><br><p><strong>Dana</strong>: The audiobook <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Patrick-Stewart-Performs-the-Complete-Sonnets-of-William-Shakespeare/William-Shakespeare/9781668108444" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Patrick Stewart Performs the Complete Sonnets of William Shakespeare</em></a>. </p><br><p>--</p><br><p>Email us your thoughts at <a href="mailto:culturefest@slate.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">culturefest@slate.com</a>. </p><br><p>Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.</p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p>This week, Julia Turner and Dana Stevens are joined by Slate’s own Rebecca Onion to discuss The Devil Wears Prada 2, BEEF season 2, and the NYT’s best living songwriters package with Slate’s music critic Carl Wilson. </p><br><p>Twenty years on, we return to the world of The Devil Wears Prada. In the sequel, Andy, Anne Hathaway’s character, must save Runway Magazine from the forces of capital, who are selling the Vogue-analogue for parts, as Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly struggles to hang on to her own power. The movie has a lot to say about the state of journalism and media with plot lines seemingly ripped from the gossip pages, but does it all come together in the edit? We discuss. </p><br><p>Then, the second season of A24’s anthology series BEEF stars Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan as a volatile millennial couple who enter into a feud with a younger couple, played by Cailee Spaeny and Charles Melton. Set at a rich Californian golf resort and its environs, the show satirizes class and generational resentments as the characters scramble to claim the scraps of their betters at the expense of everyone else. The characters are mostly unlikeable, and the premise might be a little less original than the first season, but given BEEF’s stacked cast and pedigree, does the show sizzle? </p><br><p>Finally we’re joined by Carl Wilson, Slate’s music critic and author of the newsletter “<a href="https://carlwilson.substack.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Crritic!”</a> to discuss the New York Times package:<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/magazine/greatest-american-songwriters-alive.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> The 30 Greatest Living Songwriters.</a> Carl submitted a ballot for the list, and the polished version isn’t too far from his submission. He gets into his picks and discusses what the list is saying about the field of songwriting and the idea of a songwriter as it’s been expanded to include non-traditional instrumentation and digital composition. But like all lists it has sparked debate about the inclusions (Carole King, Stevie Wonder) the exclusions (Randy Newman, Liz Phair, David Byrne) and whether Taylor Swift’s inclusion was solely to get an interview. Together with Carl, we try and make sense of the list and talk about our favorites. </p><br><p>As promised, here is Carl’s full ballot (The asterisks indicate people who Carl voted for but who have since died):</p><br><p>Willie Nelson</p><p>Smokey Robinson </p><p>Bobby Braddock </p><p>*Brian Wilson</p><p>Bob Dylan</p><p>Carole King</p><p>Randy Newman</p><p>Dolly Parton</p><p>Stevie Wonder</p><p>*Sly Stone</p><p>The Flatlanders (Butch Hancock/Jimmie Dale Gilmore/*Joe Ely)</p><p>Tom Waits & Kathleen Brennan</p><p>Nile Rodgers</p><p>David Byrne</p><p>Mark Eitzel</p><p>Chuck D & the Bomb Squad</p><p>Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis</p><p>Stephin Merritt</p><p>Liz Phair</p><p>John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats)</p><p>Missy Elliott & Timbaland</p><p>The Love Junkies (Hillary Lindsey/Lori McKenna/Liz Rose)</p><p>Outkast (Big Boi/Andre 3000)</p><p>Josh Osborne/Brandy Clark/Shane McAnally</p><p>Phoebe Bridgers</p><br><p><strong>Endorsements</strong>: </p><br><p><strong>Julia: </strong>The SNL sketch featuring Teana Taylor,<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQC0U5reTb4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Grandpa At The Wedding.</a></p><br><p><strong>Rebecca:</strong> The new<a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/82709727" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Lord Of The Flies adaptation</a> on Netflix. </p><br><p><strong>Dana: </strong>The article in Vogue:<a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/meryl-streep-anna-wintour-may-cover-2026-interview" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Meryl Streep and Anna Wintour on Power, Fashion, and Acting the Part</a> by Chloe Malle.</p><br><p>Email us your thoughts at <a href="mailto:culturefest@slate.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">culturefest@slate.com</a>. </p><br><p>Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.</p><br><p><br></p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p>This week, Dana, Steve, and Nadira Goffe assess if we as a culture can ever really escape Neverland— namely, the gigantic and fraught legacy of Michael Jackson. They unpack the biopic <em>Michael. </em>Directed by Antoine Fuqua, starring Jackson’s own nephew Jaafar Jackson, and produced by much of the Jackson family, the film is chock full of musical numbers and light on the troubling aspects of the singer’s life. Does it ever rise above King of Pop hagiography? They discuss.</p><br><p>Next, they take up <em>Half Man</em>, the new limited series from <em>Baby Reindeer </em>creator Richard Gadd. It’s a brutal look at a toxic male relationship. Is its unflinching eye too unflinching? Perhaps.</p><br><p>Finally, how can one become cultured? What does that even mean!? Such are the questions raised by <em>T Magazine</em>’s recent special issue “How to Be Cultured.” Our panel debates the package’s various high brow listicles, takes their quiz, and Nadira even makes her own culture list as rebuttal! (See below.)</p><br><p>In an exclusive bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, our hosts share which cultural figures they think would make for good biopic subjects.</p><br><p><strong>Endorsements</strong></p><p><strong>Nadira</strong>: The new EP <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/6wXgjwwY1YLZhAQupPi3m4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NAIL</a> from Yves, particularly the <a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/2VdbARHQxe2Oo0PRlXpg4I?si=e980abd1b85e4dd4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">title track</a>, and <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/688Kh9FEef2uaJOXFtOtXp" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Curtis Live!</a> the live album by Curtis Mayfield, especially the song "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/5VETCvX0BpeIEG9cxdqS5E?si=4e3684ad46134011" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Makings of You</a>."</p><br><p><strong>Steve: </strong>The poem "<a href="https://allpoetry.com/Like-The-Train's-Beat" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Like the Train's Beat</a>" by Philip Larkin.</p><br><p><strong>Dana</strong>: The book <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/on-michael-jackson-margo-jefferson/6dac0acbd58edfba?ean=9780307277657&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>On Michael Jackson</em></a> by Margo Jefferson about Michael Jackson's complicated cultural place.</p><br><p><br></p><p><strong>Nadira's Culture List:</strong></p><p>(Editor’s Note: Nadira added two things since our discussion — we’re all still staying curious and expanding our cultural horizons!)</p><p><br></p><ol><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pudIZbCRq_c" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">“Throw Some Ds on It”</a> — Rich Boy (Song; 2007)</li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhJqhMZODLI" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">“Jealous Guy”</a> — Donny Hathaway covering John Lennon live (Song; 1972)</li><li>Any vlogger on YouTube, but particularly the work of<a href="https://youtu.be/bzE-IMaegzQ?si=uT-CtB7woWzARYvk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Casey</a><a href="https://youtu.be/WxfZkMm3wcg?si=c8hLkZNMgPRsX3vN" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Neistat</a></li><li><a href="https://www.hbomax.com/shows/happily-ever-after/10f439ec-d86d-4d03-8304-c6b07972457b?utm_source=universal_search" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child</em></a><em> (TV Show; 1995)</em></li><li><a href="https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0OB9NDUVQKFRSYRSCHT2A784TI" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Fleabag</em></a><em> </em>(TV Show; 2016-2019)</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_(manga)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Monster</em></a><em> </em>(Anime Series, currently avail. on<a href="https://www.netflix.com/watch/81409869?source=35" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Netflix</a>; 2004)</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Making_Sense" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Stop Making Sense</em></a><em> </em>(Movie; 1984)</li><li><a href="https://www.hulu.com/movie/the-devil-wears-prada-35ee3632-230a-4e4b-8520-46063f9282a3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Devil Wears Prada</em></a><em> </em>(Movie; 2006)</li><li><a href="https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/step-up-2-the-streets/umc.cmc.34pm63awtceb19k7v3jfy0un?action=play" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Step Up 2: The Streets</em></a><em> </em>(Movie; 2008)</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tampopo" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Tampopo</em></a> (Movie; 1985)</li><li><a href="https://www.netflix.com/watch/81002747?source=35" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse</em></a><em> </em>(Movie; 2018)</li><li><a href="https://www.hbomax.com/movies/original-cast-album-company/519df7ee-acbf-435b-9368-50823f127014?utm_source=universal_search" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Original Cast Album Company</em></a><em> </em>(Movie; 1970)</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quo_Vadis,_Aida%3F" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Quo Vadis, Aida?</em></a> (Movie; 2004)</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playing_in_the_Dark" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Playing in the Dark</em></a> — Toni Morrison (Book; 1992)</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow,_and_Tomorrow,_and_Tomorrow_(novel)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow</em></a> — Gabrielle Zevin (Book; 2022)</li><li>Any painting by Kerry James Marshall, but particularly<a href="https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250919-the-coded-messages-in-a-21st-century-masterpiece-kerry-james-marshall" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> “School of Beauty, School of Culture”</a> and<a href="https://www.artforum.com/news/lacma-gifted-kerry-james-marshalls-portrait-of-the-artist-as-a-shadow-of-his-former-self-242269/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> “Portrait of the artist as a shadow of his former self”</a></li><li><a href="https://fallingwater.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Fallingwater</a>, Frank Lloyd Wright (Architecture; 1964)</li></ol><p><br></p><p>--</p><br><p>Email us your thoughts at <a href="mailto:culturefest@slate.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">culturefest@slate.com</a>. </p><br><p>Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.</p><br><p><br></p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p>Steve, Dana, and Julia convene once more for a rousing Gabfest. First up, it’s <em>Mother Mary</em>. David Lowery’s strange psychodrama centers on a pop star, played by Anne Hathaway, reuniting with her estranged friend and costume designer, played by Michaela Coel, and the menacing piece of red chiffon that haunts them both. </p><br><p>Next, they turn to another pair of mothers in <em>Margo’s Got Money Troubles</em>. The new series stars Elle Fanning as a new single mom— and Michelle Pfeiffer as her mom— who turns to OnlyFans to make ends meet. </p><br><p>Finally they welcome back Gabfest favorite Caity Weaver to dish on her epic quest to find the best free restaurant bread in America— <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/05/best-free-restaurant-bread-america/686582/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">as chronicled in her hilarious and insightful piece in <em>The Atlantic</em>.</a></p><br><p>In an exclusive bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, Julia shares a behind-the-scenes peek into the founding of her new local media startup <a href="https://lamaterial.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">L.A. Material</a>. </p><br><p><strong>Endorsements</strong></p><br><p><strong>Dana: </strong>The completely unscripted shows of <a href="https://www.improvisedshakespeare.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Improvised Shakespeare Company</a>—on tour now.</p><br><p><strong>Caity: </strong>The live album <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/0LmHN5Es93TYwXBSDn36lu?si=7I_v386uTcGU00DYRWWrnA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Sam Cooke at the Copa</em></a>, especially the song "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/6jF3FFsAvliEqH0mWrkOla" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Best Things in Life Are Free</a>"—the best bread certainly is.</p><br><p><strong>Julia: </strong>The sitcom <a href="https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-tv/the-fall-and-rise-of-reggie-dinkins" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins</em></a> which really hits its stride after a few episodes.</p><br><p><strong>Steve: </strong>The novel <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-go-between-l-p-hartley/0b84ad341966f8e8?ean=9780940322998&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Go-Between</em></a> by L.P. Hartley as well as Paul Buchanan, of the band <a href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/1GWV70Reko15eV2nHCm0bM?si=rlASns7hQpShFsVFY_7Phg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Blue Nile</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il1X8y2Pr6Q" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">covering David Bowie’s "Ashes to Ashes.</a>"</p><br><p>--</p><br><p>Email us your thoughts at <a href="mailto:culturefest@slate.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">culturefest@slate.com</a>. </p><br><p>Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.</p><br><p><br></p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p>Richard Pryor redefined comedy by telling the truth, even when it scorched him.Today, we’re sharing a preview of a new podcast, <a href="https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/big-lives" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Big Lives,</a> and a special episode about Pryor.</p><br><p>Every week, hosts Kai Wright and Emmanuel Dzotsi dig into the BBC archive to explore the story behind the icons who shape our culture—trailblazers like David Bowie, Meg Ryan, Amy Winehouse, and Tina Turner—and better understand how each legend set the stage for our contemporary cultural landscape. </p><br><p>In this preview, Kai and Emmanuel look at how Richard Pryor rose from a Peoria, Illinois brothel to become comedy’s GOAT, only to then wrestle with racism, fame, desire, and self‑destruction. If you like what you hear, find more episodes of Big Lives on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/big-lives/id1877935081" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts,</a> <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1HSrTmsPQyBSJiDbDdfZif" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spotify,</a> or wherever you get podcasts.</p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p>On this week’s show, Dana, Steve, and Dan Kois get into cultural topics of various scales. First, they examine <em>The Christophers</em>, the latest film from Steven Soderbergh<em>.</em> The small scale two-hander starring Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel about an aging artist and an upstart forger is intentionally intimate, but is it too slight? They discuss.</p><br><p>Next, they pick up their cultural magnifying glasses to peep at <em>The Miniature Wife</em>, the new marital comedy series starring Matthew Macfadyen and Elizabeth Banks about a scientist who accidentally aims his shrink ray on his wife. Is this diminutive premise too small for its multiple episode execution? They discuss. </p><p> </p><p>Finally, they take up the small but mighty objects apparently floating at the bottom of many an it girl’s purse: cigarettes. They respond to a recent piece in the Ankler <a href="https://theankler.com/p/cigarettes-get-a-sequel-hollywoods" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">“Cigarettes Get a Sequel: Hollywood’s ‘Cool’ Bad Habit Is Back.</a>”</p><br><p>In an exclusive bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, the panel gazes at the vast expanse of space and talks about Artemis II’s mission to the far side of the moon. </p><br><p><strong>Endorsements</strong></p><br><p><strong>Dan</strong>: The novel <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/possession-man-booker-prize-winner-a-s-byatt/7bb013b17fc58719?ean=9780679735908&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Possession </em>by A.S. Byatt</a>.</p><br><p><strong>Steve: </strong>The essay in <em>New York Review of Books </em>“<a href="https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2026/04/23/from-the-rooftops-of-tehran/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">From the Rooftops of Tehran</a>,” an anonymous first person account of life under fire from American and Israeli bombs.</p><br><p><strong>Dana</strong>: The radio show <em>Shocking Blue </em>on New York’s WFUV from the DJ <a href="https://wfuv.org/users/delphine-blue" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Delphine Blue</a>— if you miss it on Saturday nights 8pm-11pm when it airs, check out at <a href="https://wfuv.org/archives" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WFUV’s archives</a> to listen to episodes after broadcast.</p><br><p>--</p><br><p>Email us your thoughts at <a href="mailto:culturefest@slate.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">culturefest@slate.com</a>. </p><br><p>Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.</p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p>What’s the worst thing Steve, Dana, and Julia have ever done? And would you still love them if you knew the answer to that question? That’s not a subject for today’s episode, but these three do get into <em>The Drama</em>, the dark, polarizing rom-com directed by Kristoffer Borgli starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson which is animated by such disquieting inquiries.</p><br><p>Next, it’s time for elk meat, Montana golden hour, and feckless city slickers as our hosts take on Taylor Sheridan’s latest <em>The Madison. </em>Starring Michelle Pfeiffer, our hosts agree it’s an effective Western soap opera but is its Red State agitprop worth the price of admission?</p><br><p>Finally… <em>there’s good boy.</em> With their curly mop tops and wet eyes, doodle dog hybrids have nuzzled their way into Americans’ hearts. What does that say about us? The hosts discuss these questions and more raised in a recent <em>New Yorker </em>piece by John Seabrook, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/03/23/how-doodles-became-the-dog-du-jour" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>How Doodles Became the Dog du Jour</em></a><em>.</em></p><br><p>In a bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, they have a spoiler-rich conversation divulging all of <em>The Drama’s</em> dirty secrets.</p><br><p><strong>Endorsements</strong></p><p><strong>Dana</strong>: The latest from children's book author (and Dana's partner) Rowboat Watkins, <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/mousestache-moosestache-rowboat-watkins/8ecf69a24fd064c2?ean=9781797233918&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Mousestache, Mooosestache</em></a> about a riotous world overrun with mustaches. </p><br><p><strong>Julia</strong>: The memoir <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-wanderers-a-story-of-exile-survival-and-unexpected-love-in-the-shadow-of-world-war-ii-daniela-gerson/524dc8cdb24d670e?ean=9780306834301&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Wanderers</em></a> by immigration journalist Daniela Gerson detailing her unlikely family history.</p><br><p><strong>Steve: </strong>Book three of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/those-who-leave-and-those-who-stay-elena-ferrante/28b84d39d9dd9e7b?ean=9781609452339&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay</em></a><em> </em>and the work of singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith, including his cover of Bob Dylan's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2cqiEa7dJ4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">"Tight Connection to My Heart"</a> and <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/2OkFWyya2MrukljOm5awF8?si=DK_NZQBVTOu-bu0lJREG3w&nd=1&dlsi=d054eb1fc46444f5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">his self-titled debut album</a>. </p><br><p>--</p><br><p>Email us your thoughts at <a href="mailto:culturefest@slate.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">culturefest@slate.com</a>. </p><br><p>Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.</p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p>On this week’s show, Dana is joined by Slate’s own Nadira Goffe and Richard Lawson, of the <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/critical-darlings/id1885681327" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Critical Darlings</em></a><em> </em>podcast. Their first agenda item is <em>Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat</em>, the second installment of the workplace comedy/reality show hybrid which places an unknowing everyman in a made-up scenario populated entirely by actors. Does the second season deliver a heart-warming moral test in the form of comedy or a manipulative prank? They discuss.</p><br><p>Next for more funhouse mirror television, they take up <em>Bait</em>, the Riz Ahmed-starring and created show about a Riz Ahmed-like actor vying for the role of James Bond. The show is stuffed with ideas and Ahmed’s charm, but they debate whether its conceptual martini sufficiently shaken or stirred.</p><br><p>Finally, it’s time to go out, wear something nice, and push as they take a listen to <em>Sexistential</em>, the new album by Swedish dance pop queen Robyn. Though the “Dancing On My Own” singer has a new partner on the dancefloor in her young son, motherhood and midlife make for some real club classics.</p><br><p>On a bonus episode for Plus subscribers, they take up the question, as posed in a recent <em>New Yorker </em>article, of whether “plagiarism is that bad?”</p><br><p><strong>Endorsements</strong></p><br><p><strong>Richard</strong>: The compulsively watchable time travel family drama <a href="https://www.hallmarkplus.com/details/TV_SHOW/collection/WAYHNA00/the-way-home" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Way Home</em></a>, a Hallmark Channel Original. (And subscribing to <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/critical-darlings/id1885681327" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Critical Darlings</a>)</p><br><p><strong>Nadira</strong>: The ten minute disco cover of "<a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/1O5KH9jazzisCNv2AXOUyo" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bridge Over Troubled Water</a>" by Linda Clifford and the album <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/wor%24t-girl-in-america/1867530577" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA</em></a> by Slayyyter. </p><br><p><strong>Dana</strong>: The new book by Mason Currey <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/making-art-and-making-a-living-adventures-in-funding-a-creative-life-mason-currey/48d2061522305029?ean=9781250824523&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Making Art and Making a Living</em></a><em> </em>as well as his newsletter <a href="https://masoncurrey.substack.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Subtle Maneuvers</em></a><em>.</em></p><br><p>--</p><br><p>Email us your thoughts at <a href="mailto:culturefest@slate.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">culturefest@slate.com</a>. </p><br><p>Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.</p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p> Welcome to a very special <em>Money On Film</em> miniseries!</p><br><p>Over three episodes, Slate Money’s Felix Salmon and Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe revisit three films at the intersection of culture and finance. On this episode, Nadira and Felix take a trip to a bathhouse for spirits in 2001’s <em>Spirited Away</em>.</p><br><p>Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, the film follows a girl named Chihiro, who becomes trapped in the spirit world and must save her parents, encountering soot sprites, river spirits, a giant baby, and many more wonderful and terrifying beings along the way.</p><br><p>The film is a masterpiece of storytelling and technical animation, but as Felix explains, it also works as a highly developed metaphor for capital and the Japanese economy at the close of the millennium: the bathhouse stands in for a stable but exploitative economic system, beset by outside capital forces, with workers stripped of their names and identities.</p><br><p>This is the final episode of the <em>Money On Film</em> miniseries. Thanks for listening!</p><br><p><br></p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p>This week, Dana, Julia (fresh from the launch of her new media venture <a href="https://lamaterial.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">L.A. Material</a>), and guest host Dan Kois set their gaze to the heavens with a discussion of the lost-in-space adventure yarn <em>Project Hail Mary. </em>Based on the book by Andy Weir and directed by genre movie savants Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the sci-fi blockbuster stars Ryan Gosling and a big rock creature puppet.</p><br><p>Next, they hop across the pond for the launch of <em>SNL UK</em>, the British revamp of the venerable American comedy institution. Slate UK contributor and author of <a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/deep-down-the-intimate-emotional-and-witty-2023-debut-you-don-t-want-to-miss-imogen-west-knights/ecfdde4e4a08dc27?ean=9780349727097&next=t&" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Deep Down</em></a><em>, </em>Imogen West-Knights joins to share her two pence on the show’s local reception.</p><br><p>Finally, the panel turns to Dan Kois’s epic, 8,500 word Slate essay on… <a href="https://slate.com/life/2026/02/bathroom-soap-bar-cleaning-health-america.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">bar soap</a>. His opus—or “soapus," if you will— makes a persuasive case for why bar soap is a superior form of foam.</p><br><p>In an exclusive Slate Plus bonus segment, the gang gets into a listener question about analog media.</p><br><p><strong>Endorsements</strong></p><br><p><strong>Julia: </strong>In addition to subscribing to <a href="https://lamaterial.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">L.A. Material</a>, the great American junk food that is the corndog—the vibes and graphic design of <a href="https://hotdogonastick.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hot Dog on a Stick</a> at the Santa Monica Pier are swell but seeking listener recommendations for the very best place to get a corndog.</p><br><p><strong>Dan: </strong>For some '"higher gossip " and a bit of 1800s history, the book <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/parallel-lives-five-victorian-marriages-phyllis-rose/9a523f5a6a2a3fe1?ean=9780394725802&next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages</em></a> by Phyllis Rose.</p><br><p><strong>Dana</strong>: The work of voice actor Ray Porter in the <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Project-Hail-Mary-Audiobook/B08G9PRS1K?srsltid=AfmBOoooJFJjFr9fC7oqObtuT7TXzmLjsUygw-FS7lBHGx90ZjDlUCLF" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">audiobook of <em>Project Hail Mary</em></a><em> </em>and the interview Porter gives on the book podcast <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/38-how-ray-porter-created-the-voices-of-project-hail-mary/id1800771701?i=1000754828349" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Off the Shelf</a>.</p><br><p>--</p><br><p>Email us your thoughts at <a href="mailto:culturefest@slate.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">culturefest@slate.com</a>. </p><br><p>Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.</p><br><p><br></p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p>Welcome to a very special <em>Money On Film</em> miniseries!</p><br><p>Over three episodes, Slate Money’s Felix Salmon and Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe revisit three films at the intersection of culture and finance. On this episode, Felix and Nadira discuss dating and money in Celine Song’s 2025 romantic comedy <em>Materialists</em>, which centers on a love triangle between a millionaire matchmaker (Dakota Johnson), a hunky financier (Pedro Pascal), and an old flame and out-of-work actor (Chris Evans). While not particularly romantic or comedic, the film raises questions about the role money plays in modern dating, how we select partners based on financial viability, and whether romance itself might be a bit overrated.</p><br><p>Next time on <em>Money On Film</em>: <em>Spirited Away</em>. See you then!</p><br><p><br></p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
<p>Welcome to a very special <em>Money On Film</em> miniseries!</p><br><p>Over three episodes, Slate Money’s Felix Salmon and Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe revisit three films at the intersection of culture and finance. On this episode, we’re headed to Wall Street to watch a Felix Salmon favorite: <em>Margin Call</em>, the 2011 thriller-drama starring a long list of famous people, including Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany, Stanley Tucci, Demi Moore, and yes, Kevin Spacey.</p><br><p>Directed by J. C. Chandor, the film takes place at an investment bank on the brink of the Great Financial Crisis, as financiers struggle to maintain their balance sheets against the greatest villain of the aughts: mortgage-backed securities.</p><br><p>Coming up on <em>Money On Film</em>: the 2025 rom-com <em>Materialists</em>, followed by the animated masterpiece <em>Spirited Away</em> from 2001. See you next time!</p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
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