Slate Culture Feed

A fat suit is a custom-made costume with one goal: to make an actor appear fat without them actually having to be fat. It’s typically a unitard filled with mattress foam and other wiggly, jiggly bits—but it’s also so much more than that, an embodiment of all our cultural hang-ups about fatness. In today’s episode we’re going to consider the fat suit from all angles: how it’s made, how it’s changed, and why it continues to exist.You’ll hear from Dawn Dininger, Royce Best, Amy Farrell, Hazel Cills, Mia Mask, and Matthew Mungle.This episode was written and produced by Katie Shepherd. It was edited by Willa Paskin. Decoder Ring is also produced by Evan Chung and Max Freedman. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. We had mixing help from Kevin Bendis.Special thank you to: Mike Marino, Jacqui Lucey, Gina Tonic, Kate Young, Barbara Miller and The Museum of the Moving Image.If you haven’t yet, please 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, please sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring and all other Slate podcasts without any ads and have total access to Slate’s website. Your support is also crucial to our work. Go to Slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s show, the hosts begin by reviewing Babes, Pamela Adlon’s (Better Things, Louie) directorial feature debut starring Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau. Through raunch-comedy and body horror, Babes explores childbirth and pregnancy through a refreshingly unromanticized lens, but does it succeed as a drama? Then, the three switch gears and turn to Interview With the Vampire, AMC’s Anne Rice adaptation that’s now in its second season. What a weird show! The series–starring Jacob Anderson as Louis de Pointe du Lac and Eric Bogosian as the titular cynical interviewer–brings the novel’s queer subtext to the surface, and is camp in every sense of the word. Finally, the trio is joined by Mikael Wood, the Los Angeles Times’ pop music critic to discuss Billie Eilish’s latest album, Hit Me Hard and Soft. (You can read Wood’s review here.) Produced with her brother Finneas, Hit Me Hard and Soft offers a new way of thinking about the 22-year-old, and features songs like “Birds of a Feather” and “Lunch,” a fun, lusty track about being into girls. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel answers a question from long-time listener, James: “What things that you love have you been introduced to by advertising?”Email us at culturefest@slate.com. Endorsements:Dana: This week’s endorsement comes with a brag: Dana’s daughter is going to Julliard! Through that, they discovered the wonderful documentary, Creating a Character: The Moni Yakim Legacy. Julia: Two clarifications and an extremely sumptuous sweater recommendation. First, the fashion Substacks mentioned on a previous episode were I Want to be Her!, Girls of a Certain Age, and Blackbird Spyplane. Second, a wool sweater from Dana Lee Brown. Stephen: The Time of the Last Persecution, an album by the English singer-songwriter Bill Fay, released in 1971. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Production assistance by Kat Hong. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Candice Lim is joined by Yowei Shaw (former co-host of NPR’s Invisibilia) to discuss her new podcast Proxy, which takes listeners through the psychological aftermath of a layoff, starting with Shaw’s own layoff from NPR. In March 2023, the public radio institution laid off approximately 10 percent of its staff, resulting in the cancellation of four podcasts, including Invisibilia. Shaw, along with her team, was working on an upcoming season of the podcast when they were suddenly without jobs. More than a year later, Shaw is back with Proxy, which investigates layoff culture and asks questions like “Is there a good way to lay off employees?” and “Why did my HR representative smile when they laid me off?”This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before going on a kite-skiing trip to the Chilean mountains, Jim Harris and his longtime girlfriend broke up. She wanted to settle down, and he wanted to keep adventuring. On that trip, Jim broke his back and became paralyzed. After eight months of non-stop physical therapy his progress seemed to be stalled until one night at a concert he took magic mushrooms and noticed new movement in muscles that hadn’t worked since his accident. In this episode, Anna and Jim talk about his process of recovery, finding new identity, relationships, and ways to adventure and explore. You can see Jim’s art and a portfolio of his wilderness adventures at PerpetualWeekend.com, and we first heard about Jim from an article in Outside Magazine.  Podcast production by Andrew Dunn.Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel Anderson, Stefan Fatsis, and Josh Levin discuss the Pacers’ and Timberwolves’ Game 7 wins in the NBA’s conference semifinals. Slate’s Alex Kirshner also joins to talk about Scottie Scheffler’s arrest at the PGA Championship. Finally, they review Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s ultra-conservative commencement speech.NBA playoffs (3:11): Looking back at a pair of historic road victories. Scheffler (20:18): A bizarre weekend at Valhalla for the world’s no. 1 golfer. Butker (35:47): The Catholic football player launched himself into a culture war.Afterball (51:53): Stefan on where Giannis Antetokounmpo grew up and what he overcame.(Note: time codes are only accurate for Slate Plus members, who listen ad free.)Want more Hang Up and Listen? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page, or visit slate.com/hangupplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s show, Rachelle is joined by Aisha Harris, co-host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour and author of Wannabe: Reckonings With the Pop Culture That Shaped Me. The two discuss Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show, the latest venture from the comedian behind the Emmy-award winning stand-up special Rothanial. In contrast, Reality Show has been greeted with a mixed critical reception but both Aisha and Rachelle agree that it’s a fascinating project by one of our generation’s most experimental comedians.This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Girl groups have long been underestimated—even by the producers and managers who created them.For women listeners, girl groups narrated profound emotions and expressed personal freedom—even when the singers were not so free themselves. For male listeners, girl groups provided inspiration, and a way to express matters of the heart.And for all listeners across rock and soul history, girl groups pushed music forward. In the ’60s, the Shirelles, Marvelettes, Ronettes and Shangri-Las kept rock afloat between Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In the ’70s and ’80s, girl groups from the Emotions to Exposé rebooted dance music. In the ’90s, En Vogue, TLC and Destiny’s Child fused hip-hop style with old-school soul—and the Spice Girls fired up a new generation through Girl Power.Join Chris Molanphy as we shimmy and strut through decades of bops to give girl groups the respect they deserve. You’ll love them tomorrow, because friendship never ends.Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.Want more Hit Parade? Join Slate Plus to unlock monthly early-access episodes. Plus, you’ll get ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s show, the hosts begin by dissecting The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the fourth chapter in the Apes franchise. Set “many generations” in the future, the latest installment (directed by Wes Ball and starring Owen Teague) is an undeniably well-crafted summer blockbuster – but does it achieve the level of complexity and thought its predecessors did? (Read Dana’s review for Slate for further analysis.) Then, it’s onto John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA, a six-part live Netflix special that aired during the streaming giant’s comedy festival. The conceit is thus: Netflix is a Joke attracts the best comedians in the world to LA, John Mulaney interviews them. But the final product is much stranger than that description, both a rejection and reinvention of the tired late-night talk show format, in which Mulaney interviews celebrities and non-celebrities, airs sketches, and delivers long monologues on the character of LA. Is Everybody’s in LA chaotic and sloppy, or a ragged delight? Our panel discusses. Finally, the trio is joined by Slate’s music critic, Carl Wilson, to eulogize the legendary musician and “producing engineer” (his preferred title) Steve Albini. Known for recording albums with Joanna Newsom, Nirvana, and the Pixies, among others, Albini considered himself a documentarian of sound and a technical expert, and brought his punk-rock ethic to everything he did. Read Steve Albini’s essay, “The Problem with Music” and his letter to Nirvana.In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel discusses cultural arbitrage with Slate’s music critic, Carl Wilson, inspired by W. David Marx’s essay for The Atlantic, “The Diminishing Returns of Having Good Taste.” Email us at culturefest@slate.com. Endorsements:Dana: “Who’s Afraid of Judith Butler?” – a profile of the philosopher and gender theorist by Parul Sehgal for The New Yorker.Julia: “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter.Stephen: The delightful, catchy, and exuberant (with a tincture of melancholy) music of New Zealand band, Yumi Zuma. (Check out Steve’s playlist here.) Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong. HostsDana Stephens, Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rachelle and Candice dive into their mutual obsession: the Selling Sunset subreddit. Across seven seasons, the Netflix reality show has taken viewers into a glamorous and over-the-top real estate agency in Los Angeles. Aside from selling mansions, the show’s most successful endeavor has been its online community, built on social media platforms like Reddit. r/SellingSunset has more than 250,000 followers with eagle-eyed fans posting daily about episode plotlines and off-season social media activity. Following the release of Selling the OC’s third season, ICYMI is rounding up the subreddit’s favorite moments from the original series and throwing in a few of their own.This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vivian’s eating disorder started in college. She meticulously tracked calories and the number on the scale. Once she graduated she became less rigid with food, but her fixation with numbers took a new form: budgeting and saving money. In this episode, Anna talks to Vivian about her long and complicated relationship to mental math, how tracking calories and paychecks has helped distract her from painful loss, and how she’s managing with her money anxieties now as she plans a wedding and prenup.Want to hear more about relationships and money? Check out an episode we made all about wedding costs last summer. And if you heard last week’s episode about a mobile health care clinic in rural Virginia, we have an important update from local reporting on the high levels of executive pay at the Health Wagon, which just prompted the Virginia legislature to cancel $800,000 of line item funding for the nonprofit. It's a developing story we'll be following.Podcast production by Zoe Azulay Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.