Slate Culture Feed

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by ESPN’s Jeff Passan to discuss the World Series matchup between the Astros and Nationals. The Ringer’s Kevin Clark also joins to talk about the Rams’ deal for Jalen Ramsey, and Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl assesses the U.S. men’s national soccer team. World Series (01:45): How Houston and Washington made it and what to watch for when they square off. Jalen Ramsey (19:47): Are the Rams outsmarting the rest of the NFL or outsmarting themselves? U.S. soccer (34:59): Gregg Berhalter’s gotten off to a rough start. Is it time for the USMNT to cut bait and start over? Afterballs (53:18): Stefan on the genius of @DonZemmer and Josh on a baseball walk-off conundrum. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The writer and poet traces the joy and shame of learning about sex, mourning his mother, and finally feeling financially comfortable.Subscribe to our newsletter at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter and we'll send you weekly audio picks, behind the scenes updates and letters from our listener inbox. Follow the show on Twitter @deathsexmoney and Facebook at facebook.com/deathsexmoney.Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Stevens, Stephen Metcalf, and Julia Turner discuss the Breaking Bad movie El Camino, The Great British Baking Show, and the streaming wars and the future of television. In Slate Plus, the panel discuss the work of critic Harold Bloom who died this week with professor Al Filreis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by the Athletic’s Ethan Strauss to talk about LeBron James’ comments on China; the Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh discusses the Nationals’ playoff run and why baseballs aren’t flying as far; and Ed Caesar assesses marathon record breakers Eliud Kipchoge and Brigid Kosgei. LeBron, the NBA, and China (02:19): Why the league’s travails are getting worse, and what the NBA can (and should) do about them. MLB playoffs (20:50): The Nationals’ starting pitching triumphs and the decline of home runs in the postseason, explained. Marathoners (40:03): How Eliud Kipchoge broke the two-hour barrier and Brigid Kosgei shattered the women’s world record. Afterballs (58:59): Stefan on CTE romance novels and Josh on shaking press boxes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this monthly mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy is joined by Aisha Harris, culture editor for The New York Times’ Opinion section. Aisha and Chris discuss the Janet Jackson album Rhythm Nation 1814, the topic of the  most recent full-length episode of Hit Parade. Aisha tells Chris about her early Jackson fandom, picks her all-time favorite Janet songs, and offers her opinion on the relevancy and influence of Janet’s sound today. Plus, Chris gives an inside scoop on the song template that Jackson’s longtime producers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, used to generate multiple chart-topping hits. Chris quizzes a Slate Plus listener with some music trivia, and the contestant turns the tables with a chance to stump Chris with a trivia question of his own. While this episode is available to all listeners, our trivia round is open only to Slate Plus members. If you are a member—or once you become a member—enter as a contestant here. Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email a voice memo to hitparade@slate.com. Podcast production by Asha Saluja.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf, and Dana Stevens discuss the film Joker, Transparent's musical finale episode, and the question of Gwyneth Paltrow with critic Wesley Morris. Producer's Note: You’ve probably noticed that this feed now features a lot of Slate culture podcasts beyond just our show. We’ve heard that some of you would prefer to get just the Culture Gabfest in your feed. If that’s you, Slate has created a new feed that should meet your needs. You can find it by searching for “Culture Gabfest” in Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by Slate’s Joshua Keating to talk about the NBA’s China kerfuffle. ESPN’s Sam Miller also joins to discuss the baseball playoffs and David Epstein assesses Alberto Salazar’s doping suspension and the world track and field championships in Qatar. NBA and China (02:02): How Daryl Morey’s tweet about the Hong Kong protests instigated an international incident and what the NBA should do about it. MLB playoffs (17:29): Does the Nationals’ bullpen strategy make sense? Can anyone beat the Astros? Salazar and Qatar (35:42): Why the legendary track coach got suspended, and what to make of the hot and poorly attended world track and field championships. Afterballs (55:26): Stefan on carrying jockstraps and Josh on a DVR patent war. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Dear Prudence and Slow Burn. Sign up now to listen and support our work.In the early 1990's Bart Simpson became a breakout star while also becoming a target in the culture war, culminating in president George HW Bush speaking out against The Simpsons as an example of a degenerate American family. Today on Decoder Ring we try and figure out why the H-E double hockey sticks people were so worked up about Bart Simpson by examining the great underachiever t-shirt controversy, bootleg Bart merchandise, the rise of the religious right, and more.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Betsy Mayotte knows that the student loan system is overcomplicated⁠—she worked inside of it for 20 years. Now she's tackling borrowers' problems, one email at a time. Explore more than 4,000 of your stories about student loans, find out where you fit in the student loan landscape and get resources for dealing with your debt at deathsexmoney.org/studentloans.Subscribe to our newsletter at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter and we'll send you weekly audio picks, behind the scenes updates and letters from our listener inbox. Follow the show on Twitter @deathsexmoney and Facebook at facebook.com/deathsexmoney.Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf and Dana Stevens discuss the new Judy Garland biopic Judy with Slate's Sam Adams, Netflix's Unbelievable with Slate's Inkoo Kang, and welcome Simon Doonan back to the show to discuss his new book about the art and history of drag. In Slate Plus, more from the conversation with Simon Doonan.This episode is brought to you by Everlane. Check out your personalized collection today at everlane.com/culture.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.