Culture Gabfest
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.
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Slate: The Culture Gabfest, The In Bruno Verita...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Bruno, the confrontational new comedy from Sacha Baron Cohen; the links between Goldman Sachs and each of the major financial bubbles of the last 80 years; and a new book on the decline of French food and wine by Slate’s Mike Steinberger.
43 min
802
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, The Smooth Criminal...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the memorial service for Michael Jackson, Michael Mann’s new depression-era bank robber movie Public Enemies, and the various uses they’ve found for the website UrbanDictionary.com.
41 min
803
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, The Everybody's Dea...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the recent spate of celebrity deaths, starting with Michael Jackson and the lesser lights – Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon and Billy Mays – eclipsed by his passing, the way obituaries have changed in the internet era, and what makes a good obit.
38 min
804
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, The Failed Species ...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Woody Allen’s new film Whatever Works, the HBO vampire drama True Blood, and A Vindication of Love, Cristina Nehring’s defense of swooning passion.
42 min
805
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, The Heavy Traffic E...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Twitter’s role in the post-election protests in Iran, nostalgia for a grittier New York City, and Times Square’s pedestrian makeover.
42 min
806
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, The Middle of the R...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Stephen Colbert’s trip to Baghdad and his guest editorship of Newsweek, the Tony awards and the year in Broadway an, and the end of General Motors (and American car culture?) as we know it.
40 min
807
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, The Posh New Digs E...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics (plus guest gabber Troy Patterson) discuss Conan O’Brien’s first night as the host of the Tonight Show, the reality show/tabloid phenomenon Jon & Kate Plus 8, and UP, from non-stop hit factory Pixar.
40 min
808
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, The Boo-Effing-Hoo ...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the return (er, relapse?) of the rapper Eminem, whether working with your hands is the new outlet for cultural elitism, and the forthcoming memoir by former Kennedy intern/lover Mimi Beardsley Alford.
38 min
809
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, The Mature Adaptati...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the end (and future) of the network television season, the Maureen Dowd plagiarism scandal, and the idea of happiness as explored by a 70 year-old Harvard psychology study.
42 min
810
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, The Franchise Reboo...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the new Star Trek movie directed by J.J. Abrams, Wanda Sykes’s routine at the White House Correspondents’ dinner, and the new line of upscale McCafé coffee drinks at McDonald’s.
41 min
811
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, The Performance Anx...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the use of so-called neuro-enhancing drugs to aid study or work, the plight of the embattled-but-seemingly-safe-for-now newspaper the Boston Globe, and which upcoming summer movies they’re most looking forward to (or looking forward to hating).
37 min
812
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, The Oh My God Ugly ...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss their adventures in the world of Twitter, the new HBO feature adaptation of the documentary Grey Gardens, and the surprising web obsession with the gifted but plain singer Susan Boyle.
45 min
813
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, The Empty Calories ...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the new film Sugar and A.O. Scott's (flawed?) concept of Neo-Neo Realism, Levi Johnston's interview on the Tyra Banks show, and the war between sugar and high fructose corn syrup.
55 min
814
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, The Why Do I Know T...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Paul Rudd and Jason Segal's bromance in the new movie I Love You, Man, the implications of the Obamas' vegetable garden, and the minor duststorm kicked up over off-the-record media chatroom JournoList.
46 min
815
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, Commodified Girl Po...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the new movie version of the classic graphic novel Watchmen, a new book on the canon of female American writers called A Jury of Her Peers by Elaine Showalter, and a tween-style makeover for kiddie cartoon hero Dora the Explorer.
40 min
816
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, Public Disgust Edition
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner discuss the Academy Awards, Rick Santelli's rant, the Octomom, and the backlash over a juice carton.
41 min
817
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, The Enough Already ...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez's admission that he used a banned substance while playing for the Texas Rangers, the proposed $500,000 salary cap for executives of publicly held banks that might benefit from the newest round of bailouts, the "25 Random Things About Me" frenzy on Facebook, and the Grammys.
41 min
818
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, The Brace for Impac...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Barack Obama's inauguration, Hua Hsu’s Atlantic Montly piece on the end of white demographic dominance, Daniel Bergner’s NYT Magazine piece on the vexing question of female desire and the death of author John Updike.
43 min
819
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, You Again? Edition
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the Golden Globe awards (and awards-season ennui), the long-delayed return of TV's pro-torture hit 24, and the Biggie Smalls biopic Notorious.
35 min
820
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, "Valkyrie Gives You...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens and June Thomas discuss Tom Cruise's role as a one-eyed Nazi in Valkyrie, Bruce Springsteen's exclusive deal with Wal-Mart, and the year in culture.
36 min
821
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, Undead Again Edition
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner discuss Leno and late night TV, the dire state of the publishing industry, and Hollywood's ultimate back-from-the-dead star, Mickey Rourke.
32 min
822
Slate: The Culture Gabfest, The Love Me for Who...
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner discuss the new movie Milk, Beyonce, and Black Friday.
31 min
823
Slate: The Culture Gabfest Identity Crisis Edition
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the Malcolm Gladwell phenomenon, Michelle Obama's role as First Lady and Mom-in-Chief, and the post-Obama buzz kill of Prop 8.
32 min
824
Slate: The Culture Gabfest Wow Edition
In this week’s Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Obama, Obama, and Obama. What happened with the election, how the media covered it and what lies ahead for culture under future President Barack Obama.
34 min
825
Slate: The Culture Gabfest Bad Therapy Edition
In this week’s Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the catharsis they felt watching Oliver Stone's W., and revisit past Gabfest topics, including the ongoing Fey/Palin tragicomedy, Rachel Maddow's success and environmentalism after the financial crisis.
31 min