Culture Gabfest

The King was an  animatronic lounge singer who performed in Chuck E. Cheese locations in the 1980's and early 90's, but then he disappeared. The King was a victim of a conflict known as the pizza wars, when Chuck E. Cheese faced off against its rival, Showbiz Pizza for pizza arcade supremacy. The foot soldiers in the pizza war were the animatronic bands that staffed each location—including The King. This episode is a chronicle of the pizza war, with the founder of Chuck E. Cheese, Nolan Bushnell, it's rival, Showbiz Pizza's Aaron Fechter, the people who designed the characters and animatronics, and the people who continue loving these characters, like Jared Sanchez, who continue to create work with these once discarded creatures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Spoiler Specials, Marissa Martinelli, Inkoo Kang and Heather Schwedel spoil Always Be My Maybe starring Ali Wong and Randall Park. What is the movie’s stance on food authenticity? What did they think of the Keanu cameo? Is it weird that Netflix references Netflix in its own movies?  Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt. Engineering by Merritt Jacob. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dana Stevens and Stephen Metcalf are joined by a rotating third chair of Slatesters to discuss Rocketman with Forrest Wickman, HBO's Chernobyl with Sam Adams, and the podcast Headlon: Running From COPS with Inkoo Kang.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Spoiler Specials, Marissa Martinelli, Inkoo Kang and Heather Schwedel spoil the Amazon Prime Original series Fleabag. Is the hot priest really that hot? Should there be a season 3? Is the show deserving off all of the hype? All that and more, in spoiler filled detail. Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt. Engineering by Cameron Drews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens discuss the movie Booksmart, what it's like to lose 250 thousand dollars on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on the occasion of its cancelation with Slate's Justin Peters, and Dana's new podcast Flashback with K. Austin Collins. In Slate Plus: the panel picks their favorite TV show endings.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Spoiler Specials, Dana Stevens, Jeffrey Bloomer and Christina Cauterucci spoil Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut Booksmart. Does the movie push to teen comedy genre forward? Is the high school depicted in the film realistic? How accurate are the queer characters in the film? Listen to them discuss! Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt. Engineering by Merritt Jacob. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dana Stevens, Julia Turner, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the new, third film in the John Wick saga, the second season of Amazon's Fleabag, and the New York Times package on generation X and the concept of generations as a useful metric. In Slate Plus, the panel each recommend a piece of gen X art.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the second episode of Flashback, movie critics Dana Stevens and K. Austin Collins discuss the 1970 film Wanda, directed by Barbara Loden. This podcast will soon be available for Slate Plus members only. Visit slate.com/flashback to sign up and subscribe now. Production by Chau Tu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Spoiler Specials, Sam Adams, Forrest Wickman, and Matthew Dessem discuss the action movie John Wick III. Does the laughable extremism of the violence in the movie, excuse the actual violence in the movie? Are stunt dogs really that talented or was that CGI? What was that ending and does it even matter? Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf, and Dana Stevens discuss the movie Long Shot, Netflix's new series Dead to Me, and the legacy of camp and the MET Gala with Slate's Bryan Lowder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Spoiler Specials, June Thomas is joined by podcast producers, Daniel Schroeder and Benjamin Frisch to discuss Pokémon: Detective Pikachu. The hosts share their extensive knowledge of the Pokémon universe as they try to break down to lore for Pokémon newbies. They also share their thoughts on the Pokémon world as depicted in the movie and why plot doesn't really make much sense.  Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf, and Isaac Butler discuss the new documentary Knock Down the House about women competing in Democratic primaries, the new animated sitcom Tuca and Bertie, and then Father of the Bride, the new album from Vampire Weekend with critic Carl Wilson. In Slate Plus, Dana calls in to talk about her time at the San Fransisco Silent Film Festival.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf, and Dana Stevens discuss Avengers: Endgame with Marvel-ologist Jamelle Bouie, the FX series Fosse/Verdon, and the dispute between Hollywood writers and agents with the screenwriter and Scriptnotes co-host John August. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Videomate: Men is a VHS tape released in 1987 featuring 60 single men pitching themselves as dates to women on the other side of the TV screen, who could connect to these eligible bachelors from the comfort of their homes. In retrospect, Videomate: Men is bizarre and hilarious, but at the time it was one of many manifestations of what was known as video dating. To find out how anyone thought this was a good idea, Decoder Ring examines the weird and forgotten world of video dating in the 1970's, 80's, and 90's to find out why video dating once seemed like the future, and if that future is still yet to come.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Spoiler Specials, Dana Stevens is joined by Forrest Wickman and New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie to discuss Avengers: End Game. How does movie Thanos differ from comic book Thanos? We know the “de-snappening” is coming, but how do they pull it off? Was this a satisfying end game?  Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spin̈al Tap was right: Death sells. When musical icons die, their songs and albums climb the charts all over again—sometimes, a legendary artist even scores his or her only No. 1 hit. In this very special episode recorded live from the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, Hit Parade pours one out for the legends who topped the charts from beyond the grave. Chris is joined by some of America’s top music writers to discuss the unusual circumstances that brought everyone from Otis Redding to Janis Joplin, John Lennon to Kurt Cobain, Biggie Smalls to Prince to the top of the charts after their untimely passings.  Email: hitparade@slate.com    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stephens, and the New York Times' Aisha Harris discuss Beyonce's Homecoming documentary, Jordan Peele's new Twilight Zone, and the Mueller Report at literature with Marie Claire's Karen Schwartz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Spoiler Specials, Marissa Martinelli, Daniel Schroeder and Rachelle Hampton discuss After, the teen romance film based off of One Direction fan fiction. Where, exactly, was this movie set? Can we be sure half of the script wasn’t made by a text generator? How does the movie compare to its predecessors like Twilight? Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt. Engineered by Merritt Jacob. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dana Stevens, Stephen Metcalf, and Dan Kois discuss the fire at Notre Dame cathedral with New Yorker staff writer Lauren Collins, the new animated film Missing Link, and the saga of country/hip hop mega-hit Old Town Road with Slate's Chris Molanphy. This episode is brought to you by Everlane. Check out your personalized collection today at everlane.com/culture.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this latest episode of Slate’s weekly Game of Thrones podcast, Sam Adams, June Thomas, and Dan Kois recap the season 8 premiere, “Winterfell.” The three chat about all the reunions, Dany’s faults, Cersei’s war strategy, whether the Night King is actually a good leader, and the Worst Person in Westeros. To subscribe to the Game of Thrones TV Club and follow all of Slate's Game of Thrones coverage, visit slate.com/gameofthrones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices