Slate Culture Feed

This week, Slate’s Rebecca Onion joins Julia and Stephen to talk about the Nike shoe story, Air. Then they discuss the new Netflix series Beef. Finally, Slate’s Carl Wilson joins to chat about the first full album by supergroup Boygenius.In Slate Plus, the panel talks about leftovers and food waste, inspired by Tamar Adler's book The Everlasting Meal Cookbook.Email us at culturefest@slate.com.Endorsements: Rebecca: The new memoir Don’t Call Me Home by Alexandra Auder.Julia: Julia is endorsing the activity that is googling things with your kids, as inspired by her family’s deep dive into the history of Fanta while on vacation.Stephen: Jazz pianist Brad Mehldau’s album Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The BeatlesPodcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Yesica Balderrama.Outro music: "Jenny's Alright" by OTE.__Make an impact this Earth Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to bring more parks to more people across the country. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode, Rachelle is joined by Alex Kantrowitz, the writer behind the Big Technology newsletter and podcast. The two discuss the recent changes to Twitter Blue and how paying for Twitter might be a joke, it won’t be for other platforms like Instagram and TikTok. As paid verification models become de rigueur in a bid to woo content creators, what will that mean for the average social media user? Is this all just a giant protection racket? Or is it platforms catering to the people who actually create content for them?This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Rachelle Hampton and Daisy Rosario. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Not too long ago an old clip surfaced of Peter Falk on David Letterman, in which he told an intriguing tale about recording a special Cold War message for Romanian state television. The clip went viral and got our attention — but was it actually true? Did a fictional American detective really help quell a communist revolt?We donned the proverbial raincoat and started sleuthing—at which point Falk’s late night anecdote cracked open into an intricate geopolitical saga that stretches from DC to Bucharest; from a Los Angeles hotel room to the palatial estate of a despot. It’s a story that involves dueling ideologies, dozens of diplomats, and millions of viewers. It’s an honest-to-goodness cold war caper about American soft power behind the iron curtain, and it’s so involved it’s going to take two episodes to solve.  This podcast was written by Willa Paskin, who produces Decoder Ring with Katie Shepherd. This episode was edited by Joel Meyer. Derek John is Slate’s executive producer of narrative podcasts. Merritt Jacob is senior technical director.A special thank you to Andrada Lautaru who translated and worked with me from Romania. Thank you to Carol and Joel Levy, Jonathan Rickert, Alan and Aury Fernandez, Katie Koob, Felix Rentschler, Richard Viets, Jock Shirley, Gabriel Roth, Cameron Gorman, Torie Bosch, Delia Marinescu, David Koenig, Don Giller, Forest Bachner, Corina Popa, David Langbart, William Burr, Asgeir Sigfusson, John Frankensteiner, Tom Hoban, and everyone else who helped with this episode. Thank you to Evan Chung. For research into Romanian T.V., Willa relied heavily on the scholarly work of Dana Mustata, Alexandru Matei, Annemarie Sorescu‐Marinković, and the screening socialism project from the University of Loughborough. She also relied on the work of Dennis Deletant and Timothy W Ryback’s Rock Around the Bloc, a history of rock music in Eastern Europe and the Soviet UnionYou also heard a song in this episode from the Romanian band Phoenix. 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 and want to support us, consider signing 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 www.slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by ESPN’s Kevin Pelton to talk about what went wrong for the Dallas Mavericks and to preview the NBA postseason. Slate’s Jim Newell also joins to discuss Jon Rahm’s Masters win. Finally, they speak with LJ Rader about his Twitter and Instagram accounts Art But Make It Sports. NBA (4:20): Why did the Mavs lose on purpose? And how is the Western Conference shaping up? Masters (24:31): What the year’s first major means for LIV and the future of golf. Art But Make It Sports (44:35): Sports photos + paintings = mash-up magic. Afterball (1:03:30): Stefan on the baseball Hall of Famer who lived in his childhood home. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode, Rachelle Hampton is joined by Terry Nguyen, a culture writer and critic and staff writer for the digital culture newsletter Dirt. The two discuss Angela White, better known as Blac Chyna, who has taken to Instagram to document the process of her cosmetic surgery reversal. She’s been met with near universal praise which raises the question: are we entering a new plastic surgery era where less is more? If we are, what does that mean for the IG baddie of yore? And what does it mean for the increasing amounts of Americans who are receiving cosmetic surgery?This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daniel Schroeder, Daisy Rosario and Rachelle Hampton.Make an impact this Earth Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to bring more parks to more people across the country. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Decoder Ring is back with a new season of cultural mysteries to crack. We'll kick things off with a proper Cold War caper....did Peter Falk, star of the old TV show Columbo, really team up with the U.S. Government to help quell a communist revolution in Romania? Next, we'll get behind the wheel to investigate why it's so hard to park our cars—even though we’ve built so much parking. Finally, with an assist from my kids, we'll take a closer look at a magical being that remains surprisingly free from commercialization: the Tooth Fairy.You can hear these episodes and more on the new season of Decoder Ring. Launching April 12, 2023. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Your stories about the beloved – and complicated – movies you saw that taught you about sex.Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out a note from Anna, fascinating listener 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.

This week, Slate’s own Nadira Goffe and Working co-host Isaac Butler join Dana to talk about Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Then they discuss the new AMC series starring Bob Odenkirk, Lucky Hank. Finally, Slate’s Dan Kois joins to talk about the poet Maggie Smith and an essay that was excerpted from her new memoir, You Could Make This Place Beautiful.In Slate Plus, the panel talks about Phantom of the Opera finally leaving Broadway after more than three decades.Email us at culturefest@slate.com.Endorsements: Nadira: Nadira encourages you to visit the weirdo, small museums in your area that you might not go to otherwise, as inspired by her impromptu visit to the New York Transit Museum. Isaac: The movie The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and the book Dear Committee Members. Dana: A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George SaundersPodcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Yesica Balderrama.Outro music is: "Last Sunday" by OTE__Make an impact this Earth Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to bring more parks to more people across the country. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode, Rachelle Hampton is joined by Justin Richmond, co-host of the music podcast Broken Record and host of the new podcast Started From the Bottom. The two discuss what, if anything, has changed with the online ticketing giant Ticketmaster since ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour dominated headlines. How did Ticketmaster come to account for 70% of the ticketing and live event market? Now that it does, what responsibility do artists have to their fans to keep ticket prices accessible? Can real lasting change be made to system that most agree is broken?This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Daniel Schroeder and Rachelle Hampton.Make an impact this Earth Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to bring more parks to more people across the country. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by the Athletic’s Sabreena Merchant to discuss LSU’s victory over Iowa in the women’s NCAA Tournament. Tennis player Matija Pecotic also joins to talk about how he went from a full-time job to victory on the pro tour. Finally, Jody Avirgan discusses his podcast Good Sport and whether sports debate shows are hurting America. Women’s NCAA Tournament (6:44): The on-court battles and the off-court controversies. Pecotic (31:00): The star of one of the sports world’s best underdog stories tells all. Sports debate shows (54:12): What has Stephen A. Smith wrought? Afterball (01:15:30): Josh on some recent remembrances of Zelmo Beaty. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.