Culture Gabfest

On this week’s show, Julia, Stephen, and Dana are together and talk about Sinners with Slate Culture Writer Nadira Goffe.  Then, they talk about a new animated series from Ramy Youssef called #1 Happy Family USA. Finally, they take a listener's suggestion and listen to a few episodes of the new podcast, Good Hang with Amy Poehler.  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Nadira rejoins the panel to go deep on Sinners.  Email us at culturefest@slate.com [culturefest@slate.com]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

On this week’s show, Julia, Stephen, and Dana are reunited! The panel starts with Apple TV+’s new prestige offering, Your Friends and Neighbors, starring Jon Hamm.  Then, they talk about A Minecraft Movie, already the most financially successful movie of the year. Finally, they bat around the purpose of, and responses to, the all-female Blue Origin flight that happened on Monday.  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, a conversation about The Pitt season finale.  Email us at culturefest@slate.com [culturefest@slate.com].  Endorsements: Dana: What Rough Beast, a new podcast [https://www.whatroughbeastpod.com/] from Gabfest’s own Stephen Metclaf, and for Trumpcast host Virginia Heffernan.  Steve: Read something by poet and writer, Delmore Schwartz. Start here [https://allpoetry.com/The-First-Night-Of-Fall-And-Falling-Rain].  Julia: John Mulaney’s Netflix talk show, Everybody's Live! Though, she does prefer the previous title, Everybody's in LA.  [https://www.gq.com/story/john-mulaneys-everybodys-live-in-person] Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

On this week’s show, Slate’s own Sam Adams sits in for Julia as they discuss the new Michelle Williams limited series “Dying for Sex,” about a woman who leaves her husband to experience a sexual awakening after receiving a breast cancer diagnosis.  Then, the trio discuss the documentary “Secret Mall Apartment” about a group in Rhode Island who managed to keep an apartment in a busy mall for years in the early aughts. Finally, Carl Wilson joins for a conversation about the new album from Lucy Dacus of Boygenius fame.  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel talks about art ripoffs and wonders who owns an idea.  Email us at culturefest@slate.com [culturefest@slate.com].  Endorsements: Dana: In tribute to Val Kilmer, this beautiful obituary by David Hudson via Criterion [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/8768-our-huckleberry-val-kilmer?srsltid=AfmBOorfiM7Fy4peUZxUaBt47r88Xlz8MPSniaTBn7zUq-pPmSSJLaRx].   Sam: Two endorsements: 1. Sarah Snook’s athletic performance in “The Picture of Dorian Gray” on Broadway. 2. The TikTok dance trend to the song Pop Muzik [https://www.tiktok.com/tag/popmuzik?lang=en].  Steve: The album Radio DDR by Sharp Pins [https://sharppins.bandcamp.com/album/radio-ddr]. Steve recommends starting with the track, “Sycophant [https://sharppins.bandcamp.com/track/sycophant-2].”  Bonus endorsement: Val Kilmer’s commentary on David Mamet [https://x.com/JFrankensteiner/status/1907953105842352600] Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Production assistance by Sophie Summergrad, Cameron Drews, and Daisy Rosario. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

On this week’s show, the hosts discuss Apple TV’s latest ode (tragic comedy?) to the movie industry with The Studio. Then, they step up to the plate and take a swing at the baseball film Eephus. Finally, they invite Slate’s Rebecca Onion to discuss the new edition to Panem’s dystopia: Suzanne Collin’s Sunrise on the Reaping [https://slate.com/culture/2025/03/sunrise-reaping-hunger-games-suzanne-collins-booktok.html]. Endorsements: Dana: A French Village Podcast [https://afvpodcast.thebulwark.com/episodes/page/1] Steve: “Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship” [https://grattoncourses.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/responsibility-under-a-dictatorship-arendt.pdf] by Hannah Arendt Dan: Sky Daddy [https://bookshop.org/a/2181/9780593231494] by Kate Folk Podcast production and research by Vic Whitley-Berry. Email us at culturefest@slate.com [culturefest@slate.com]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

On this week’s show, Slate’s Rebecca Onion sits in for Julia. The team discusses Netflix’s current number 1 program Adolescence and what it says about how the descent into incel culture starts young. They then invite Chris Molanphy to talk about Lady Gaga’s new album, MAYHEM. They close out with a discussion on Trump's continued assault against DEI, this time holding funding over the heads of public universities if they don’t end programs that they say advance "racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities." Endorsements: Steve: Lauren Theisen’s review [https://defector.com/four-blanches] of A Streetcar Named Desire Dana: “That’s Life” on the Lady Gaga album Harlequin Rebecca: The Fall [https://mubi.com/en/thefall] Podcast production and research by Vic Whitley-Berry. Email us at culturefest@slate.com [culturefest@slate.com]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]