Culture Gabfest

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. In this week’s episode, Forrest Wickman and Sam Adams discuss the first ever Fast & Furious spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw. Are Hobbs and Shaw really that different? Exactly how many tow trucks equal one helicopter? Why did The Rock need someone to throw him a t-shirt before the final fight scene? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens discuss the new film The Farewell, Netflix's glass-blowing show Blown Away, and the life of legendary theater director Hal Prince with Isaac Butler. In Slate Plus, Steve explains why he left Twitter. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.  We're looking for a new production assistant! This is a paid, part-time position based in our office in Brooklyn, NY. Send an email with an attached resume and cover letter to talent@slate.com with the subject line "production assistant". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Spoiler Special podcast, Slatecritics discuss movies, the occasional TV show, and, once in a blue moon, another podcast, in full spoiler-filled detail. In this week’s episode, Dana Stevens, Inkoo Kang and Mathew Dessem spoil Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. Will this really be Tarantino’s second to last movie? Is Cliff Booth a total Kato Kaelin? And what’s that ending all about? Listen to discuss!  You can also check out past Spoiler Specials, and you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts. Note: As the title indicates, each installment contains spoilers galore. Email: spoilers@slate.com Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner discuss Tarantino's Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, Netflix's The Great Hack documentary, and a piece about chronic lyme disease in  The Cut. In Slate Plus: Once Upon a Time In Hollywood spoilers. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.  We're looking for a new production assistant! This is a paid, part-time position based in our office in Brooklyn, NY. Send an email with an attached resume and cover letter to productionassistant@slate.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, Hit Parade explores the legacy of songs by The Beatles topping the charts...without The Beatles. This is the story of how a discarded Beatles song, a superstar vanity cover, and a bizarre disco medley managed to top the charts with Beatles songwriting credits, but without the fab four.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens discuss the new version of Disney's The Lion King with the New York Times's Aisha Harris, the social media app TikTok with Slate's Daniel Schroeder, and the TV series about Roger Ailes, The Loudest Voice. In Slate Plus: the panel discusses the new trailer for the film CATS. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Spoiler Specials, Dana Stevens, Sam Adams and Daniel Schroeder spoil Midsommar. What’s the least lame way to pronounce the title of the movie? Is the film too similar to Hereditary? Is the plot too telegraphed? Listen to them discuss! Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt. Engineering by Merritt Jacob. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner discuss the film Peterloo, the newly-streaming classic anime Neon Genesis Evangelion with Slate's Benjamin Frisch, and the legacy of Mad Magazine with Slate's Dan Kois.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last half century the decorative pillow has been crowding out our sitting and sleeping spaces, multiplying across our beds and couches decade by decade. For some, decorative pillows are a fun design accent, for others a symbol of useless overconsumption. Today on Decoder Ring we explore the world of the decorative pillow to try and figure out why they've become so ubiquitous and what they tell us about our homes, interior design, and the way we develop our tastes.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Spoiler Specials, Sam Adams, Inkoo Kang and Alex Barasch spoil Spider: Far From Home. Does Jake Gyllenhaal make for a good villain? How does the movie’s depiction of high school stack up? Where does the MCU got from now? Listen to them discuss! Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt. Engineering by Cameron Drews. This episode is sponsored by Anchor. Anchor is a Spotify-owned company that makes it easy for anyone to make a podcast, for free. Get started at www.anchor.fm/start. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Julia Turner, Dana Stevens, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the film Midsommar, the life and work of the bossa nova progenitor João Gilberto with critic Nate Chinen, and the end of life-hacking with Slate's Laura Miller.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf, and Dana Stevens are joined by Chris Molanphy to discuss the song of the summer and our annual summer strut playlist. You can find our full playlist on Spotify, as well as a shortlist of songs selected on the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Spoiler Specials, Sam Adams, Inkoo Kang and Chris Molanphy spoil Yesterday. What’s wrong with the movie’s vision of the 2019 music landscape? What was Eleonor Rigby about again? Who’s the best Beatle? Listen to them discuss! Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt. Engineering by Merritt Jacob. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Musical theater is one of America’s greatest cultural products—and in the mid–20th century, it also dominated the Billboard charts, from My Fair Lady to West Side Story. But the rise of rock and roll in the ’60s sidelined showtunes on the radio. And even when Broadway tried to rock—from Hair to Jesus Christ Superstar—a new generation grew wary of characters breaking into song (unless they were animated mermaids, teapots or lions). And yet, in the 21st century, Broadway music has staged a cultural comeback: taking over our movie screens, making shows out of jukebox hits, and raising a new generation to believe they can rap like Hamilton and Lafayette. In this Tonys month, Hit Parade dances down the Great White Way to chronicle the tangled history of the Broadway musical on the pop charts.    Email: hitparade@slate.com    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dana Stevens, Julia Turner, and Stephen Metcalf discuss The Day the Music Burned with Jody Rosen, about the massive loss of master tapes from historically important record labels due to fire, then CBS's The Good Fight with Vulture's Mark Harris, and Sally Rooney's novel Normal People.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Spoiler Specials, Dan Kois, Forrest Wickman and Marissa Martinelli spoil Toy Story 4. What’s the logic of the Toy Story Universe? As we ask of all sequels, does this one deserve to exist? Does the movie succeed as a rom-com?    Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt. Engineering by Merritt Jacob. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When a band member leaves to go solo, usually it means the band’s best days are over. That’s what everybody thought when Peter Gabriel left Genesis in the ’70s. Except not only did the band survive—fronted by drummer-turned-singer Phil Collins, they got bigger. Then Collins went solo…except he didn’t ditch Genesis. In fact, his success made them bigger—one of the definitive pop bands of the 1980s, as Collins’s monstrous drum sound took over pop music. By mid-decade, current and former members of Genesis—even side projects from its guitarists—were all competing head-to-head on the Billboard charts. On Hit Parade, we explore the knotty family tree of Genesis, the unlikeliest group ever to become a Hot 100 juggernaut. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Metcalf, Willa Paskin, and Marissa Martinelli discuss Big Little Lies season two, the movie The Last Black Man in San Francisco, and The Sims 4, with Slate's Dawnthea Price.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Spoiler Specials, Dana Stevens, Inkoo Kang and Sam Adams spoil Late Night starring Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson. What do they make of the movie’s take on “diversity hires”? What exactly happened to Hugh Dancy’s character? What did they think of the Slate name check? Listen to them discuss! Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt. Engineering by Merritt Jacob. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Culture Gabfest is live from The High Line in New York City to discuss the movie Late Night with Inkoo Kang, the life and work of Dr. John with Chris Molanphy, and King Lear with Isaac Butler.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices