Culture Gabfest

This week is a Bizarro Fest featuring associate editor Marissa Martinelli; June Thomas, senior managing producer of Slate podcasts; and Benjamin Frisch, senior producer, Decoder Ring. First, the panel discusses the bizarre experience of watching Annette. Next, they talk about the BBC miniseries, The Pursuit of Love. Finally, they talk about the board game Wingspan with Slate editor and writer Dan Kois. In Slate Plus, the panel answers a listener question about which board game they would choose to play on a first date. Email us at culturefest@slate.com. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Cleo Levin. Outro music is "Death Dance" by Luftmensch. Endorsements June: The writing of all the Mitfords. Especially Hons and Rebels and Poison Penmanship by Jessica Mitford. (As well as the biography Irrepressible: The Life and Times of Jessica Mitford by Leslie Brody). And The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford. Ben: Promises by Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, and The

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to playwright Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu about her play Pass Over, which is the first show to premiere on Broadway after a long shutdown due to COVID-19. In the interview, Antoinette discusses the process of writing the play and describes how Samuel Beckett’s influence “came charging in.” She also talks about the many different versions of the play, current revisions, and her new mission to prioritize self-care.  After the interview, Isaac and co-host June Thomas discuss the continuing importance of Broadway. Then they hear from a listener who wants to know if she’s doing enough research before moving forward with her creative projects.  Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood,

There is always a bunch of hand-wringing surrounding cancel culture, but after your bank account hits a certain threshold, there’s not much more to worry about. On today’s episode, Madison is joined by BuzzFeed’s Scaachi Koul to discuss why Chet Hanks just won’t go away, and what happens when a journalist finds themselves as a character in a YouTuber’s drama. We knew Trisha Paytas would be back on our radar. Make sure to check out Scaachi Koul’s profile of Trisha Paytas, “Don’t Piss Off Trisha Paytas.” If you enjoyed this episode, check out this past Wednesday’s episode about a human bone salesman going viral on TikTok and whether it’s even legal to participate in the human skeleton marketplace. Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Derek John. Support ICYMI and listen to the show with zero ads. Sign up to become a Slate Plus member for just $1 for your first month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you’re running a business, distinguishing yourself is crucial. With almost every industry evolving faster than ever, competition is largely driven and determined by technology. In this episode, Kristen Meinzer is joined by two guests who create and capitalize on disruptive innovations to better serve their customers. First, she talks to Chieh Huang, a serial entrepreneur who has built successful businesses in two of today’s most competitive markets: mobile gaming and e-commerce. Later in the show, you’ll hear from Tracy Hutton. As the CEO of CENTURY 21 Scheetz in Indianapolis, she fosters a culture of going above and beyond for clients.   Guests Chieh Huang: CEO and a Co-founder of Boxed Tracy Hutton: CEO of CENTURY 21 Scheetz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Spoiler Special podcast, Slate critics discuss movies, the occasional TV show, and, once in a blue moon, another podcast, in full spoiler-filled detail.  This week, Slate staff writer Karen Han is joined by Slate’s senior editor Sam Adams to spoil James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, a soft reboot of the original 2016 Suicide Squad.  What happens when the US government brings together a few of the world’s most dangerous supervillains to save the day? You get chaos, blood, gore and The Suicide Squad.   Note: As the title indicates, this podcast contains spoilers galore. Email us at spoilers@slate.com. Podcast production by Morgan Flannery.  Hosts Karen Han is a staff writer at Slate. You can read her review here. Sam Adams is a senior editor at Slate and editor of Slate’s culture blog, Brow Beat.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Waves, show producer and true crime author Cheyna Roth sits down with Rebecca Lavoie, co-host of the Crime Writers On podcast and fellow true crime author. The pair start by talking about the current state of true crime and beg Hollywood to stop making sexy serial killer movies. After the break, Rebecca and Cheyna dissect how the genre treats victims and whether criticisms of true crime are sexist. Recommendations: Cheyna: The pyramid scheme podcast series The Dream and the 2018 episode of Decoder Ring, Clown Panic. Rebecca: True crime documentary Murder on Middle Beach on HBO; Season 1 of The Staircase on Netflix; and the podcast Canary from the Washington Post.   Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Susan Matthews and June Thomas.  Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week is a Bizarro Fest featuring Karen Han, Slate staff writer; June Thomas, senior managing producer of Slate podcasts; and Marissa Martinelli, Slate associate editor. First, the panel is joined by writer Sara Nović to discuss the Sundance hit film CODA. Next, they talk about the dating simulation game Boyfriend Dungeon. Finally, Josh Levin, host of the Slate podcast One Year, comes on to talk about the premiere season of his show.  In Slate Plus, the panel talks about which writer (living or dead) they would choose to pen their biographies, and then which actor they would want to play them in their biopics.  You can read Sara Nović’s interview with CODA star Marlee Matlin in Bustle: “Marlee Matlin Knows How to Make Change.” Email us at culturefest@slate.com.  Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Cleo Levin. Outro music is "Zero Gravity" by ELFL Endorsements June: The podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill from Christianity Today Marissa: The video game Stardew Valley Karen: The

On today’s episode, Rachelle and Madison try to figure out if it’s legal to buy and sell human remains. They’re joined by Tanya Marsh, a professor at Wake Forest who specializes in funeral and cemetery law, to find out what the legal system says about the human bone market, the ethical questions surrounding such a market, and why we still have rights even after we die. If you’d like to know more about the history of the human bone trade, check out this video, “Can You Legally Buy a Real Human Skeleton?” Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Derek John. Support ICYMI and listen to the show with zero ads. Sign up to become a Slate Plus member for just $1 for your first month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s August, and Outward is leaning into the heat. First, Christina, Bryan, and Rumaan gab about the beach. Why, exactly, are queer beaches so delightful? Is there a secret geography of finding the gay beach? They then talk to GirlFlexx, a female dom stripper who performs largely for straight women in a traditionally male style -- and kills it in adoration and tips. Items discussed on the show: An ice cream cake you can make "in the back of your car." The upcoming Chromatica remix album, confirmed by Lady Gaga. Outsports.com's coverage of the Olympics. Provincetown's citizen scientist effort to contact trace a Delta variant outbreak. A lawyer who fought for marriage equality helped disgraced Governor Andrew Cuomo discredit abuse victims. A primer on lesbian dom strippers. Gay Agenda Bryan: Lindsay Morris and Ruth Padawar's photo essay about Camp I Am. Rumaan: Colm Toibin's The Master. Christina: The L Word: Generation Q. This podcast was produced by Katya Kumkova. Please send feedback, topic ideas, and advice

This week, host June Thomas talks to Charlie Jane Anders, author of many novels and a new book of writing advice, Never Say You Can't Survive. In the interview, Charlie Jane offers tons of detailed writing tips and explains how escaping into fictional worlds can help people endure hard times.  After the interview, June and co-host Rumaan Alam discuss some of Charlie Jane’s writing tips, and then Rumaan talks about his recent profile of author Jason Reynolds, which was published in the New Yorker.  Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Little Mood—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For many TikTok users, it’s been impossible to escape #BamaRush, the week of sorority recruitment at the University of Alabama. On today’s episode, Madison and Rachelle explain, how rush week actually works, why it’s flooded our feeds, and what its popularity says about whiteness, wealth, and class on the app. Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Derek John. Support ICYMI and listen to the show with zero ads. Sign up to become a Slate Plus member for just $1 for your first month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the late ’70s and early ’80s, a scene and a sound cropped up on the West Coast: polished, perfectionist studio musicians who generated sleek, jazzy, R&B-flavored music. About a quarter-century later, this sound was given a name: Yacht Rock. The inventors of the genre name weren’t thinking about boats…well, unless the song was Christopher Cross’s “Sailing.” Yacht Rock was meant to signify deluxe, yuppified, “smooth” music suitable for playing on luxury nautical craft. Whatever you call it, this music really did command the charts at the turn of the ’80s: from Steely Dan to George Benson, Michael McDonald to Kenny Loggins, Toto to…Michael Jackson?! Believe it: even Thriller is partially a Yacht Rock album. This month, Hit Parade breaks down what Yacht Rock was and how it took over the charts four decades ago—from the perfectionism of “Peg,” to the bounce of “What a Fool Believes,” to the epic smoothness of “Africa.” This episode was released in August 2020 exclusively for Slate Plus listeners. Sign up for S

Alex Haley’s Roots displayed the brutal realities of slavery to more than 100 million Americans. The book and mini-series also made a bold claim: that Haley was the first Black American to trace his lineage all the way back to Africa, and to a specific ancestor captured into slavery. What would it mean, for Haley and America, if he hadn’t found what he said he’d found? For more of this show, subscribe to One Year on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Slate Plus members get to hear more about the making of One Year and more about the culture of 1977 in supplementary episodes this season. Get access to those episodes, listen to the show without any ads, and support One Year by signing up for Slate Plus for just $1 right now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tumblr is once again trying a new way to monetize its content, but will its users allow it? On today’s episode, Rachelle is joined by fellow former Tumblr teen Allegra Frank to discuss their own origins on the platform, Tumblr’s numerous attempts to make money, and why the users who called a strike over its new Post+ feature might not have the best understanding of the legal system. (We reached out to some copyright professors to find out.) Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Derek John. Support ICYMI and listen to the show with zero ads. Sign up to become a Slate Plus member for just $1 for your first month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Steve and Dana are joined by Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy for our annual Summer Strut episode. First, they discuss this year’s song of the summer and how one particularly passionate fan base gained control of the charts. Then, the panel announces their favorite song picks from the mammoth playlist of listener suggestions and explain why they love them. In Slate Plus, the panel does a couple additional rounds of strut picks. Sumer Strut Final Selections: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ypwIOuhN3ClV9lvynRl88?si=ff5da2bfa5a04b1b Summer Strut Full List: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1iLdLhunJkTq9F4CeHkCJR?si=f1b8d195db414fd5 Past “Summer Strut” Gabfests are available here: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020. Email us at culturefest@slate.com. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Cleo Levin. Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts, a bonus segment in each episode of the Culture Gabfest, full access to Slate's journalism on Slate.com, and more. Si

Welcome to Slate Money Goes to the Movies, a miniseries in which Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and a different guest each week discuss popular business-themed movies.  For the final episode of the season, author and Slate Money favorite, Taffy Brodesser-Akner returns to talk about Sense and Sensibility….and, in a major plot twist, the JLo vehicle Maid in Manhattan! They’ll discuss what these two films could possibly have in common, the villainization of gold diggers, and why Emily felt Sense and Sensibility was a horror film. Email: slatemoney@slate.com Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Twitter: @felixsalmon, @EmilyRPeck Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, host Rumaan Alam talks to artist Shahzia Sikander about her decades-long career as a painter and multimedia artist. In the interview, Shahzia discusses the process behind her painting “The Scroll,” which she created as an undergraduate student in Pakistan. She also talks about her relationship to the concept of “tradition” and her unwillingness to either break or conform to it.  After the interview, Rumaan and co-host Isaac Butler discuss the importance of demystifying artwork.  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Shahzia grapples with the way her art was received in the 1990s and the tendency to look at her work through the narrow lens of her biography.  Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews.  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Litt

On today’s episode, Rachelle and Madison crack open some romance novels and talk about BookTok, the realm of TikTok where readers can find hyper-personal recommendations and niche memes about the horny books everybody is reading. They discuss how TikTok has caused some books to reappear on the New York Times bestseller list, Rachelle’s love of The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, and why the top priority when it comes to reading is fun. Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Derek John. Support ICYMI and listen to the show with zero ads. Sign up to become a Slate Plus member for just $1 for your first month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2001, Oprah Winfrey invited Jonathan Franzen to come on her show to discuss his new novel The Corrections. A month later she withdrew the invitation, kicking off a media firestorm. The Oprah-Franzen Book Club Dust-Up of 2001 was a moment when two ways of thinking about selling out smashed into each other, and one of them—the one that was on its way out already— crashed and burned in public, barely to be seen again. So today on Decoder Ring, what happened to selling out? This is the last episode of our current season. See you in a few months! If you love the show and want to support us, consider joining Slate Plus. With Slate Plus you can binge the whole season of Decoder Ring right now, plus ad free podcasts, bonus episodes, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Spoiler Special podcast, Slate critics discuss movies, the occasional TV show, and, once in a blue moon, another podcast, in full spoiler-filled detail. This week, Slate’s senior editor Allegra Frank is joined by Slate’s web editor Nitish Pahwa to spoil Old, the new thriller directed by M. Night Shyamalan.  When a family takes a relaxing tropical vacation, they make a terrifying discovery. As the children play in the sand on a nearby secluded beach, their parents notice that in the span of just a few hours, their children have suddenly aged. It’s not long before the parents realize that they themselves are aging too! It’s a race against time as they attempt to escape the beach before it’s too late. But can they find a way out?    Note: As the title indicates, this podcast contains spoilers galore. Email us at spoilers@slate.com. Podcast production by Morgan Flannery.  Hosts Allegra Frank is a senior editor at Slate.  Nitish Pahwa is a web editor at Slate and you can read his review here.  Learn mor