Culture Gabfest

From a very young age, Britney Spears seemed destined for stardom. The kid from Louisiana had landed a role on the revived Mickey Mouse Club and styled herself as a belter of power ballads. But to score her first No. 1 hit, Spears would team up with an introverted Swedish songwriter named Max Martin. He was trying to write American R&B and instead, through Britney and her high-school dance formations, created a new template for über–American teen-pop. This month, we go inside the Stockholm music factory—and its decades-long history, from ABBA to Ace of Base—that gave rise to a new generation of millennial pop, from the Backstreet Boys and *N Sync to Robyn and Taylor Swift. Email: hitparade@slate.com This episode is brought to you by the following advertisers: Slack, the collaboration hub for work. Learn more at Slack.com. I Travel For, a new podcast that explores what inspires us to travel. Listen and subscribe today at https://apple.co/2DPEWJE. American Express. Don’t do business without it. Learn more ab

Julia Turner, Dana Stevens, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the Coen Bros. new film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, HBO's Elena Ferrante adaptation My Brilliant Friend, and the art of adaptation.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Julia Turner returns with Stephen Metcalf and Dana Stevens to discuss the film Widows, The British import The Bodyguard on Netflix, and the life and work of William Goldman and what the role of screenwriter means today.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Spoiler Specials, Dan Kois and Jeffrey Bloomer discuss the second installment of Fantastic Beasts franchise, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt. This episode is brought to you by the following advertisers:  Slack, the collaboration hub for work. Learn more at Slack.com. I Travel For, a new podcast that explores what inspires us to travel. Listen and subscribe today at https://apple.co/2DPEWJE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dana Stevens, Stephen Metcalf, and Laura Bennett discuss the Melissa McCarthy vehicle Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Netflix's filthy but heartfelt puberty cartoon Big Mouth, and the death of Stan Lee with Slate's Jamelle Bouie.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dana Stevens and Stephen Metcalf are joined by The Atlantic's David Sims, host of the podcast Blank Check to discuss the two new Orson Welles projects on Netflix, Robyn's new album Honey, and the concept of the "blank check" in the film industry.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Spoiler Specials Dana Stevens and Sam Adams discuss Luca Guadagnino's remake of Suspiria. Podcast Production by Danielle Hewitt. This episode is brought to you by the following advertisers: I Travel For, a new podcast that explores what inspires us to travel. Listen and subscribe today at https://apple.co/2DPEWJE. Simple Contacts. To save $20 off your first order, go to simplecontacts.com/SPOILER and use the promo code SPOILER.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a special bonus Halloween episode of Spoiler Specials, Sam Adams, Jeffrey Bloomer and Christina Cauterucci discuss the 11th installment in the Halloween franchise.  Podcast production by Danielle Hewitt Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this spooky scary edition of the show: Dana Stevens, Stephen Metcalf, and Isaac Butler discuss the new Halloween reboot, Netflix's Haunting of Hill House, and the absence of women in horror film direction. This episode is brought to you by the following advertisers: I Travel For, a new podcast that explores what inspires us to travel. Listen and subscribe today at https://apple.co/2DPEWJE. Dream Corp LLC. Catch the new season on Adult Swim.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ong's Hat, or The Incunabula Papers, is a conspiracy theory that arose on the early internet. Combining cutting edge science, mysticism, and obvious hokum, it intrigued thousands of people who tried to find out what it all meant. Today we uncover the secrets of Ong's Hat, the man behind it, and the new art form it inadvertently birthed. Check out our showpage at slate.com/culture/decoder-ring This episode is brought to you by the following advertisers: Aleph Mattresses, a handmade mattress experience: TrustAleph.com Slack, a workplace communication hub. Find out more at slack.com I Travel For, a new podcast that explores what inspires us to travel. Listen and subscribe today at https://apple.co/2DPEWJE ② Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Hit Parade’s “Def Jams Edition,” we told you about rap’s first wave in the ’80s. But in this sequel (don’t believe the hype!) we enter the ’90s with still no No. 1 rap hits on the Hot 100—even though the music was starting to dominate both streets and stores: from conscious rappers like Public Enemy, to gangstas like N.W.A, to left-field innovators like De La Soul. It would take Billboard rebooting its charts in 1991 tallying record sales more accurately than ever with SoundScan data—for rap to get a fair shake on the charts. That boosted a new wave of crossover acts, from P.M. Dawn to Arrested Development to Sir Mix-a-Lot. But rap’s elders were not entirely thrilled at these new chart-toppers…and some rappers literally bum-rushed the show. This episode is brought to you by the following advertisers: Slack, a workplace communication hub. Find out more at slack.com. I Travel For, a new podcast that explores what inspires us to travel. Listen and subscribe today at https://apple.co/2DPEWJE. American Express

Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens discuss the new movie First Man, the Netflix streamer Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, and Slate's New American Songbook with culture editor Forrest Wickman,  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Spoiler Specials, Assistant Editor Marissa Martinelli, Editorial Assistant Rachelle Hampton and Culture writer Inkoo Kang discuss The Hate U Give, the movie starring Amandla Stenberg based on the best selling novel by Angie Thomas. This episode is brought to you by I Travel For, a new podcast that explores what inspires us to travel. Listen and subscribe today at https://apple.co/2DPEWJE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

③ Dana Stevens, Julia Turner, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the new film Private Life, then are joined by Slate's Gabriel Roth to discuss the legacy of Doctor Who and its new season starring Jodie Whitaker, and finally a reading of Kanye West at the White House. This episode is brought to you by the following advertisers: Everlane, premium clothing essentials made with the finest materials, without the traditional markups. To get a special offer exclusive to our listeners, visit everlane.com/culture. Slack, a workplace communication hub. Find out more at slack.com. I Travel For, a new podcast that explores what inspires us to travel. Listen and subscribe today at https://apple.co/2DPEWJE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Julia Turner, Dana Stevens, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the film A Star is Born, the TV documentary America to Me, and bring critic Wesley Morris into the studio to discuss his New York Times Magazine piece "The Morality Wars" about the state of art criticism.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Episode 1 of I Travel For, producer and culinary explorer Otis Gray eats, drinks, and forages his way across Great Britain. From the cultural smorgasbord of London’s Borough Market to an Indian pub in Birmingham to mushroom hunting in the woods of Hereford, Otis’ flavorful journey is guided by the recommendations and generosity of local Brits.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens discuss Jim Carrey and Michel Gondry's new show Kidding, the CBC podcast Uncover: Escaping NXIVM, and the purpose and practice of dad jokes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hotel Art used to be one of the ultimate symbols of bad taste, it was often ugly, kitschy, and strange. Today, the art you find in a hotel is far less likely to be the result of one individual's poor taste, and much more likely to have passed through an entire industry designed to help place art into hotels. Hotel art is now almost universally pleasant, if anodyne. How did this happen? This episode is brought to you by the following advertisers: Slack, a workplace communication hub. Find out more at slack.com. I Travel For, a new podcast from British Airways, American Airlines and Visit Britain. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Intel Optane Memory, learn more today at intel.com/youcould. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Those falsettos, those white suits, those toothy smiles: You think you know the Bee Gees. But their story goes back much further than the ’70s, and it’s full of twists. From their roots as an eclectic harmony band in Australia and their first wave of Beatlesque fame, through their domination of the disco revolution and their years as an punchline, the Bee Gees stayed alive because of the Gibb brothers’ harmonies and especially their impeccable songs. This month, Hit Parade traces the influence of the brothers Gibb on virtually every popular genre, from pop to R&B, rock to easy-listening, country to…yes, even hip-hop.  Email: hitparade@slate.com   This episode is brought to you by the following advertisers: American Express. Don't do business without it. Dialogues, a new podcast from David Zwirner Gallery. Subscribe and listen wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Julia Turner, Dana Stevens, and Gabriel Roth discuss the new season of the podcast Serial, the recent spate of post-#metoo essays by disgraced men, and the Amazon show Forever.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices