Culture Gabfest

On this week’s dispatch, Dana is joined by comrades in arms Sam Adams and Isaac Butler to take on Paul Thomas Anderson’s thrilling and incendiary new film One Battle After Another. Starring Leonard DiCaprio, the action epic depicts an America one notch away from our own fractured republic. Does the target of its revolutionary fantasia hit too close? They discuss. Next, they kvell about Long Story Short, the new, time-jumping family comedy from the creators of BoJack Horseman. Finally, they turn to the Great White Way to assess the dire state of the business of Broadway musicals as written about in a recent piece by Michael Paulson in the New York Times. There was so much to say about One Battle After Another, the gang kept gabbing for an exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode. Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com [culturefest@slate.com].  Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Endorsements Sam: If possible, seeing One Battle After Another in its native format VistaVision [https://www.onebattleafteranothermovie.com/]. Isaac: The Criterion Channel’s Robert Altman collection [https://www.criterionchannel.com/directed-by-robert-altman-2] and for a great date night movie Splitsville [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33247023/]. Dana: The writing of the late Kaleb Horton [https://kalebhorton.ghost.io/], particularly his essay "walking through los angeles when the crows are screaming and going through your garbage [https://kalebhorton.ghost.io/walking-through-los-angeles-when-the-crows-are-screaming-and-going-through-your-garbage/]." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

On this week’s episode, Julia and Dana are joined by Slate writer (and Philadelphia native) Nadira Goffe for a conversation rooted in Delaware County about Task, HBO’s new gritty crime drama from the creators of Mare of Easttown.  Next, the hosts give longtime listeners what they’ve been chirping for: a discussion of birding. Specifically, it’s a discussion about the dirtbag, gonzo, totally self-produced and independently released documentary Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching. Finally, they get into the Jimmy Kimmel situation. Why was his show cancelled, then uncancelled, then blacked out from several media markets? What does it mean for the state of free speech and democracy itself? In an exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode, the panel is joined by Dan Kois to delight in Slate’s package on The 25 Best Picture Books of the Past 25 Years [https://slate.com/tag/best-picture-books]. Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com [culturefest@slate.com].  Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Endorsements Nadira: In addition to the Explore.org's Fat Bear Week [https://explore.org/fat-bear-week], the work of singer-songwriter KeiyaA who recently released the tracks "stupid prizes [https://open.spotify.com/track/7cdLicfXPQMLV9XTYCKm0C?si=d29c7c83baf54b42https://open.spotify.com/track/7cdLicfXPQMLV9XTYCKm0C?si=d29c7c83baf54b42]" and "take it [https://open.spotify.com/track/4YPOplh4glirQhau0shF5u?si=42935c3825bb476a]" from her forthcoming album hooke’s law [https://open.spotify.com/prerelease/4Q9zRRQl8PHenYOfWvWo0z?si=9f7f23c163c746e5]. Dana: Seeing Stanley Kubrick’s epic Barry Lyndon [https://parkcircus.com/film/108099-Barry-Lyndon]in its 4K re-release on the best screen you possibly can. Julia: Meghan O'Rourke's New York Times essay "I Teach Creative Writing. This Is What A.I. Is Doing to Students [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/opinion/ai-chatgpt-school.html]." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

On this week’s show, Steve and Dana are joined by guest host Dan Kois to turn the volume up to… well, how hard Spinal Tap II: The End Continues rocks is the question of the day. They debate the mockumentary sequel which reunites the original Tap gang for a surprisingly tender portrait of aged rock stars. Next, they turn their icy gaze at the POV-shifting, soapy series The Girlfriend, starring Robin Wright and Olivia Cooke as the warring mother and girlfriend of a wealthy young man. Finally, they appreciate the life and work of Hollywood’s foremost golden boy/rebel outsider Robert Redford. In an exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode, they savor the recipes of chef Samin Nosrat, who Dan profiled in the New Yorker on the launch of her new cookbook Good Things. Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com [culturefest@slate.com].  Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Endorsements: Dana: The Louis Malle classic two-hander featuring Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn, My Dinner with Andre [https://www.criterionchannel.com/my-dinner-with-andre]. Dan: The newsletter Looking at Picture Books [https://lookingatpicturebooks.substack.com/] by author Mac Barnett and author/illustrator Jon Klassen. Steve: Donna Leon’s Guido Brunetti mystery novels [https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=Donna+Leon]. (And while we’re talking about Italian detectives, the Inspector Montalbano mysteries by Andrea Camilleri [https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=Andrea+Camilleri].) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

On this week’s show, Steve, Dana, and Julia crack open the latest edition of The Paper, a new mockumentary set in the The Office universe. They debate whether the tried and true sitcom formula still delivers and assess its portrayal of local journalism. Next, they share their feelings about two couples who are terrible at sharing theirs in Splitsville, the marriage farce created and starring Kyle Marvin and Michael Angelo Covino with Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona. Finally, the heterofatalist discourse continues in their conversation with Slate music critic Carl Wilson about Man’s Best Friend, the latest release from the spritely, cheeky, and controversy-stirring Sabrina Carpenter.  In an exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode, the panel takes up the business of cultural criticism in a discussion inspired by the recent New York Magazine piece “Do Media Organizations Even Want Cultural Criticism.” Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com [culturefest@slate.com].  Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Endorsements: Julia: The very Julia Turner-coded board games Hues and Cues [https://theop.games/products/hues-and-cues?srsltid=AfmBOophyexml3XKvMabdbUpsLny3qjPJ5XBSF8tpusP-P05RNd-rIS6]. Carl: The documentary Sunday Best [https://www.netflix.com/title/82048609] about Ed Sullivan by the late music journalist Sacha Jenkins and CMAT’s new album Euro-Country and the video playlist [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx4eWUKEAn0lHSMQ5rPqLvA7EBZrI6xs6] that goes with it. Steve: The book Computer Power and Human Reason [https://www.amazon.com/Computer-Power-Human-Reason-Calculation-ebook/dp/B0BWWL5ZGY?ref_=ast_author_dp] by Joseph Weizenbaum. Dana: Astor Piazolla's "Otoño Porteño," played by the Neave Trio [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NskN8QI6rws]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

This week, Steve, Julia and guest host Isaac Butler visit a pre-gentrified 1990s New York to discuss the gritty crime romp Caught Stealing directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Austin Butler (no relation). Next, it’s off to Cooper’s Chase, an English manor turned retirement community, to take up the case of The Thursday Murder Club, Netflix’s new film adaptation of the beloved cozy mystery series. Finally, they assess what the film studio A24’s rise—and potential fall—means for the movie business in their conversation about “Empire of Auteurs,” a recent New Yorker piece by Alex Barasch. In an exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode, they look at the rise and actual, well-documented fall of the longform narrative podcast. Endorsements: Isaac: The Off-Broadway show Ginger Twinsies [https://gingertwinsies.com/], a hilarious, R-rated parody of the Parent Trap. Also, Emily Adrian’s new novel Seduction Theory [https://bookshop.org/p/books/seduction-theory-emily-adrian/22087419?ean=9780316584517&next=t]. Julia: The New Yorker essay “Inside the World of Great ‘British Bake Off [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/09/01/inside-the-world-of-the-great-british-bake-off]’” by former contestant Ruby Tandoh. Steve: The new The Beths album Straight Line Was a Lie [https://open.spotify.com/album/5XbVk30ifqaiI6EiVVjA1p] and the essay “On Resistance [https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v47/n14/adam-phillips/on-resistance]” by Adam Phillips in the London Review of Books. Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com [culturefest@slate.com].  Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]