ICYMI - You Keep Falling For Secret Ads

Culture Gabfest - One Last Taylor Swift Throwdown Edition

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! 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 Masters of the Universe, 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. Next, they turn to the wild, surreal revenge thriller Is God Is, 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. 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 Toy Story 5 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.  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. Endorsements Dana: The interactive, Jazz-playing, transit-obsessed, single purpose website Train Jazz [https://www.trainjazz.com/]. (Hat tip once more to Rusty Foster's Today in Tabs [https://www.todayintabs.com/].) Nadira: The Black Film Archive [https://blackfilmarchive.com/] which showcases Black films made from 1898 to 1999 currently streaming. Also, the year 2016 in music [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_in_American_music].  Jody: 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 Vincent Van Gogh [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I16OHKFlSrA&list=PLqJmQZgy9f_d7fmz6wgcckukGgVC0P87s] and Dutch masters [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Lr-shFTXRU&list=PLqJmQZgy9f_cqxAiJ76qDJA98xJkgagN1]— and cultural historian Eric Lott on Racial Masquerade in America [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvBnJ8jEPZE] and Philippe Petit's legendary tightrope walk between the Twin Towers [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqw4Ddfptms].  Julia: Patrick Radden Keefe's new book London Falling [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] and the song "Come Tomorrow [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8mY4iWGEmU]" by Patti Scialfa. Steve: Following up on last week’s endorsement, Steve can confirm that Disgrace [https://bookshop.org/p/books/schande-professor-of-general-literature-j-m-coetzee/6286f7775f67e19c?ean=9780140296402&next=t] by J.M. Coetzee is, in fact, good. Also recommended: Offshore [https://bookshop.org/p/books/offshore-a-novel-penelope-fitzgerald/b41c8e8bac03dd6d?ean=9780544361515&next=t] by Penelope Fitzgerald.   -- Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com [culturefest@slate.com].  Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

What Next - What's the Beef with Screwworm?

After being eradicated in the United States in the ‘60s, screwworm is back—at a time when beef is even more in demand and the American herd is already depleted. How long will consumers be forced to choose between high prices and, ugh, turkey burgers? Guest: Kevin Draper [https://www.nytimes.com/by/kevin-draper], New York Times business correspondent covering the agricultural industry. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus [http://slate.com/whatnextplus] to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Madeline Ducharme, Patrick Fort, Rob Gunther and Paige Osburn. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

ICYMI - You Keep Falling For Secret Ads

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Rachel Karten [https://milkkarten.com/], a social media consultant and the writer of Link In Bio [https://www.linkinbio.news/]. Storytimes and other caught-on-camera content frequently goes viral on social media, but now companies have started manufacturing their own skits to secretly advertise themselves. Countless “ambassadors” are telling the same fake stories all over TikTok, with links to brands in their bios but not disclosing that they are trying to get viewers to buy products. Even worse, people keep falling for it. The more we earnestly engage with these made-up scenarios, the more we push the secretly-sponsored content into people’s feeds. Will anyone stop them? This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay, with help from A.C. Valdez. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

What Next - Trump’s B-Team

Why would Trump choose Bill Pulte to be the new acting Director of National Intelligence? Pulte may not have a background in national security, but since he was already Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, you have to admit it was convenient to hire from the batch of people who were already around. Guest: Andrew Egger [https://x.com/EggerDC], White House correspondent for the Bulwark [https://substack.com/@eggerdc].  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus [http://slate.com/whatnextplus] to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Madeline Ducharme, Patrick Fort, Rob Gunther and Paige Osburn. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Slate Money - Money Talks: 500 Years of the Dollar

In this Money Talks: Author and financial journalist Brendan Greeley [https://www.ft.com/brendan-greeley] tells Elizabeth Spiers [https://www.elizabethspiers.com/] about his new book The Almighty Dollar [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/634502/the-almighty-dollar-by-brendan-greeley/]—and the astonishing power this currency held long before the founding of the United States. Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/slate-money/id876523888] and Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/2AgxNbNcUOckZSww9mk8mX]. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Money&utm_source=episode_summary] to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.