Slate Culture Feed

This week, Jamelle Bouie sits in for Dana as the panel begins by reviewing She Said, the new film about investigating the Harvey Weinstein story. Then, a discussion about the Hulu limited series Fleishman is in Trouble. Finally, they chat about the auction of Joan Didion’s private items.  In Slate Plus, the panel talks to the very online Jamelle Bouie about the recent wild weeks of Twitter.  Email us at culturefest@slate.com. Endorsements Jamelle: The Criteron release of Spike Lee’s Malcolm X. Biopics have fallen out of style for the most part. I rewatched it last year and I came away struck not just by the sheer ambition of it, but the extent to which it is such a love letter to classic Hollywood.   Julia: My endorsement is episode 10 of Andor. It’s a great episode in a bunch of ways, but also the episode ends with an incredible monologue by Stellan Sarsgaard. It’s an incredible piece of writing and performance.  Steve: I like this song. I don’t know much about it, but a friend sent it to me. It’s Super Rich Kids and it’s a cover of a Frank Ocean song. This version is from Trio SR9 featuring Malik Djoudi Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Yesica Balderrama. Outro music is "Did I Make You Wait" by Staffan Carlen.If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows. You’ll also be supporting the work we do here on the Culture Gabfest. Sign up now at Slate.com/cultureplus to help support our work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For about two decades towards the end of the Victorian era, in the 1870s and 1880s, a large bustle-enhanced bottom was the height of fashion. In this episode we explore how it’s connected to today’s big booty craze. We look at the bustle’s history with a curator fascinated by old undergarments; consider the various theories about its popularity with the author Heather Radke; and then hone in the tragic story of Sarah Baartman. The bustle may be old-fashioned, but it still has a lot to tell us about race, sex, power and how much people know, or let themselves know, about what they put on everyday.We hear from Heather Radke, author of Butts: A Backstory, as well as Kristina Haughland, Janell Hobson, Pamela Scully, and Maria Garcia. Special thanks to Wesley Stevens and Daisy Rosario. This podcast was written by Willa Paskin, who produces Decoder Ring with Katie Shepherd. This episode was edited by Andrea Bruce. Derek John is Slate’s Executive Producer of Narrative Podcasts. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.If you haven’t please yet, subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends.If you’re a fan of the show, I’d love for you to sign up for Slate Plus.  Slate Plus members get to listen to Decoder Ring without any ads. Their support is also crucial to our work. So please go to Slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel Anderson, Stefan Fatsis, and Josh Levin are joined by Slate’s Eric Betts to discuss the U.S. men’s national team’s 1-1 draw against Wales. They also discuss the controversial opening days of the World Cup. Finally, they assess the Warriors’ and Lakers' early-season woes and Kyrie Irving’s return to the Brooklyn Nets. USA-Wales (4:24): How the USMNT fizzled after a promising start. FIFA (35:06): What’s happening in Qatar, and what the media is (and isn’t) saying about it. NBA (47:21): What’s wrong with the league’s most star-laden teams? Afterball (1:07;12): Josh on the next big star in American tennis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Death, Sex & Money’s new three-part series about estrangement, we talk to listeners about cutting family ties, leaving religion, and ending friendships. We also talk to listeners on the other side of estrangement, still desperately wishing for contact, and about what happens after the break. Hear more starting Wednesday, November 30th. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode, Rachelle is joined by Lizzie O’Leary, the host of Slate’s tech podcast What Next: TBD. The two discuss Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, whether or not Musk has broken any laws and what the future of the platform might look like.This podcast is produced by Daniel Schroeder, Daisy Rosario, Emily Charash and Rachelle Hampton. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Punk was meant to be angry. But the so-called Angry Young Men of the late ’70s U.K. scene were secret sophisticates in punk clothing. They delivered withering lyrics and snarling attitude over melodies a pop fan could love.In so doing, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson and Graham Parker helped transform a slew of back-to-basic styles—pub-rock, power-pop, post-punk—into the catchall category New Wave. It would take over the charts at the turn of the ’80s. But the launch of the MTV era forced these sardonic troubadours to adjust their songwriting for a New Romantic age.Join Chris Molanphy as he chronicles the history of three men who wrote the book on alternative rock before it had a name.Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Some conversations I’m just not willing to engage in anymore.”Check out Matt’s photo series of other Korean adoptees, Where are you really from?. And Chrishana and Sarah talked about reading Big Friendship, Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman’s book – we recorded an episode with them in the summer of 2020. Plus, the Pandemic Toolkit we mentioned, full of activities and coping mechanisms for stress and isolation, still lives here.Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox, and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter, and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.Got a story to share? Email us at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode, Rachelle is once again joined by Daisy. The pair dive deep into the digital etymology of the phrase “invited to the cookout” which, in the past few years, has been applied to figures from Bill Nye the Science Guy to Justin Timberlake. They discuss the phrase’s roots in African American Vernacular English and the future of The Cookout.This podcast is produced by Kevin Bendis, Rachelle Hampton, Daisy Rosario and Daniel SchroederThanks Avast.com! Learn more about Avast One at Avast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Nadira Goffe sits in for Julia as the panel begins by reviewing the Black Panther sequel, Wakanda Forever. Then, a discussion about the Selena Gomez documentary, My Mind & Me. Finally, they chat about Gen Z’s impact on the midterms and the election of Maxwell Alejandro Frost. In Slate Plus, the panel talks about the art they resisted at first, but came to love.  Email us at culturefest@slate.com.Endorsements Dana: I will recommend Spielberg, a 2017 documentary about Steven Spielberg that I happened to watch on HBO because I was reviewing his new movie The Fablemans which is auto-biograohical or semi-autobiographical and has a lot of stuff about his childhood. So naturally I went back to try and what his actual childhood was like. Low and behold, this doc about Spielberg is really good. Available to stream on HBOMax.Nadira: I was inspired by the Selena Gomez documentary to bring something that is a piece of celebrity journalism. The 15K word piece Frank Sinatra has a Cold by Gay Talese is one of my favorite pieces of journalism ever. There’s a really fun version on Neiman Storyboard with annotations both by someone interviewing Gay Talese and then Gat Talese responding to those questions. Also, I don’t know how familiar you are with Moses Sumney but he is a queer Ghananian-American artist from California who makes, I’d describe it as etherial avant-garde jazz rock. He’s so good. The lack of performing during the pandemic pushed him to make a sort of live conceptual concert film called BLACKALACHIA that he released last year. I saw him perform a live version of this concert film arrangement earlier this year in Brooklyn and it was one of the top 10 live shows in my life. Steve: In the forthcoming New York Times Magazine, but it’s already up on the web, there is a longform interview with Brian Eno. The thing about Eno is, talk about someone who deserves the elder statesman label! He’s just stayed so vital and he’s such an intellectual. It’s a great interview. I could go on and on about Eno. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Yesica Balderrama.Outro music is "Any Other Way" by Particle House.If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows. You’ll also be supporting the work we do here on the Culture Gabfest. Sign up now at Slate.com/cultureplus to help support our work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the history of viral images, #TheDress has got to be in the top 10. This unassuming photo of a party dress kicked off a global debate when people realized they were seeing it completely differently. Is it black and blue, or white and gold? In today’s episode, we’ll talk to someone who was there when the photo was first taken, and the BuzzFeed writer whose post briefly broke the internet. Then we go down the optical rabbit hole with a neuroscientist who’s been studying the The Dress for years. What does it reveal about the nature of truth?This podcast was written by Willa Paskin, who produces Decoder Ring with Katie Shepherd. This episode was edited by Andrew Adam Newman. Derek John is Slate’s senior supervising producer of narrative podcasts. Merritt Jacob is senior technical director.We’ll hear from Paul Jinks, Cates Holderness, Pascal Wallisch, and David McRaney author of the book How Minds Change. Here’s the optical illusion of the strawberries mentioned in the episode and created by Professor Akiyoshi Kitaoka.If you haven’t please yet, subscribe and rate our feed in Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends.If you’re a fan of the show, I’d love for you to sign up for Slate Plus.  Slate Plus members get to listen to Decoder Ring — and every other Slate podcast — ad-free. Their support is also crucial to our work. So please go to Slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today.Check out Remote Works here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.