Culture Gabfest

On this week’s show an all-star team of super agents join Julia to gab including guest host Amy Nicholson, film critic for the Los Angeles Times. Their first mission: Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, the supposed final installment of the Tom Cruise action juggernaut. Like Cruise on to a vintage biplane, Dana jumps on the call to discuss all the film’s death-defying stunts, clunky exposition, and lasting cultural impact. Next, they’re joined by Slate senior editor Rebecca Onion to dish on Sirens, Netflix’s pastel-hued dramedy starring Meghan Fahey, Milly Alcock, and Julianne Moore. Finally, Slate’s music critic Carl Wilson arrives to grapple with the hugely successful, but critically polarizing, new Morgan Wallen album I’m the Problem. In an exclusive Plus segment, Amy, fresh from the Riviera, shares with Julia and Dana her favorite films and moments from the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. Endorsements: Amy: The 19th season of the British game show Taskmaster [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRWvNQVqAeWKt7kCUfEMdJi40m7H58CJd], wherein a group of comedians are made to do impossible tasks by host Greg Davies. Carl: The Mock Trial-centric live episode of the musical improv podcast Off Book [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ivf58k53nu0], and the podcast [https://art19.com/shows/off-book] itself while you’re at it.  Julia: The quintessentially American, summertime experience of eating a hotdog on a ferry as well as the 2011 film Money Ball [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210166/]. You can also hear more from Amy on her podcast Unspooled [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unspooled/id1381507437] and from Carl on his substack Crritic! [https://carlwilson.substack.com/].  Want more Culture Gabfest? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Culture Gabfest show page. Or, visit slate.com/cultureplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

In this week’s show, Dana and Julia are joined by guest host Isaac Butler to go through the A24, bromance looking glass to discuss Friendship, the surreal cringe comedy starring I Think You Should Leave’s Tim Robinson and the always friend-crushable Paul Rudd. Next, they share their thoughts on Final Thoughts: Jerry Springer, the new podcast by Prologue Projects and Leon Neyfakh about the improbable and complex story of the infamous talk-show host and one-time progressive politician. Finally, they circle the drain of cultural apocalypse vis-a-vis a conversation on a recent Atlantic piece by Spencer Kornhaber about the possible decline of nothing less than Western culture itself. In an exclusive Slate Plus Bonus Episode about a recent essay by Issac in Slate, Dana and Julia find out how he went from thinking the actor Tom Hardy was a grunting, incomprehensible B-list Brando to a delightful, albeit weird, screen star. Want more Culture Gabfest? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Culture Gabfest show page. Or, visit slate.com/cultureplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

On this week’s show, Steve, Dana, and Julia gab about Another Simple Favor, the sequel to Paul Fieg’s 2018 A Simple Favor, which again pits Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick in a twisty, noir comedy. Next, they discuss Amy Sherman Paladino’s new Franco-American ballet TV confection Étoile. Finally, they confer on the shocking conclave pick of an American pope with New York Times journalist and Vatican-watcher Ruth Graham. In the exclusive Slate Plus Bonus Episode, the panel spoils the heck out of all the many wild plot turns of Another Simple Favor. Endorsements: Dana: The new film April [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/april_2024] by up-and-coming Georgian filmmaker Déa Kulumbegashvili. Julia: An essay by Keith Phipps’s about six crucial seconds in The French Connection [https://thereveal.substack.com/p/what-happens-when-you-cut-six-seconds] and the experience of seeing this William Friedken film classic [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067116/] at a repertory cinema near you.  Steve: The enduringly nourishing poem “Peeling Onions” by Adrienne Rich [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?volume=101&issue=4&page=7]. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

On this week’s show, it’s one of the Gabfest’s most cherished traditions: the yearly call-in show. Dana, Julia, and Stephen answer listen-submitted questions that run the gamut – can cooking for one be a joy? Should philosophy be studied more? And how did you make your most recent friend?  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel gets into Lena Dunham's latest addition to the canon of "writers writing about moving out of New York." Email us at culturefest@slate.com [culturefest@slate.com].  Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong and Palace Shaw. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

On this week’s show, Julia Turner is joined by Slate’s own Dan Kois and Sam Adams. They start by talking about the second season of Andor, the Star Wars series that might have more in common with The Wire than The Mandalorian.  Then, they talk about The Wedding Banquet, a remake of the Ang Lee classic. Finally, they get into the story of the discovery of a new color called olo.  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Julia, Sam, and Dan answer a listener question about a piece of art that they appreciated more with age.  Email us at culturefest@slate.com [culturefest@slate.com].  Endorsements: Dan: While being on a quest for a new cookbook, but also struggling to find a cookbook that feels surprising, finally came across Third Culture Cooking: Classic Recipes for a New Generation by Zaynab Issa [https://moonpalacebooks.com/item/jpo2KjG8N1Xy_oFIWDnwzw].  Sam: David Thomas [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Thomas_(musician)], frontman and only permanent member of the band Pere Ubu, died last week. To get into his work, start with the collection Terminal Tower: An Archival Collection [https://pereubumusic.bandcamp.com/album/terminal-tower]. Also, check out this obit that Slatester Carl Wilson wrote for his newsletter [https://carlwilson.substack.com/p/david-lynn-thomas-1953-2025].  Julia: Colors Are Nice, a Little Golden Book [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36840423-colors-are-nice]that manages to capture Julia’s feeling about color.  Podcast production by Palace Shaw. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]