Culture Gabfest

 Welcome to a very special Money On Film miniseries!Over three episodes, Slate Money’s Felix Salmon and Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe revisit three films at the intersection of culture and finance. On this episode, Nadira and Felix take a trip to a bathhouse for spirits in 2001’s Spirited Away.Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, the film follows a girl named Chihiro, who becomes trapped in the spirit world and must save her parents, encountering soot sprites, river spirits, a giant baby, and many more wonderful and terrifying beings along the way.The film is a masterpiece of storytelling and technical animation, but as Felix explains, it also works as a highly developed metaphor for capital and the Japanese economy at the close of the millennium: the bathhouse stands in for a stable but exploitative economic system, beset by outside capital forces, with workers stripped of their names and identities.This is the final episode of the Money On Film miniseries. Thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Dana, Julia (fresh from the launch of her new media venture L.A. Material), and guest host Dan Kois set their gaze to the heavens with a discussion of the lost-in-space adventure yarn Project Hail Mary. Based on the book by Andy Weir and directed by genre movie savants Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the sci-fi blockbuster stars Ryan Gosling and a big rock creature puppet.Next, they hop across the pond for the launch of SNL UK, the British revamp of the venerable American comedy institution. Slate UK contributor and author of Deep Down, Imogen West-Knights joins to share her two pence on the show’s local reception.Finally, the panel turns to Dan Kois’s epic, 8,500 word Slate essay on… bar soap. His opus—or “soapus," if you will— makes a persuasive case for why bar soap is a superior form of foam.In an exclusive Slate Plus bonus segment, the gang gets into a listener question about analog media.EndorsementsJulia: In addition to subscribing to L.A. Material, the great American junk food that is the corndog—the vibes and graphic design of Hot Dog on a Stick at the Santa Monica Pier are swell but seeking listener recommendations for the very best place to get a corndog.Dan: For some '"higher gossip " and a bit of 1800s history, the book Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages by Phyllis Rose.Dana: The work of voice actor Ray Porter in the audiobook of Project Hail Mary and the interview Porter gives on the book podcast Off the Shelf.--Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com. Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

They dig into a rom‑com love triangle that centers on money and matchmaking. They question how financial status shapes partner choice and whether romance is overrated. They critique casting, plot shortcuts, and missed chances to explore class, prenups, and dating in expensive cities. Personal rules about chemistry versus income come up in candid conversation.

Welcome to a very special Money On Film miniseries!Over three episodes, Slate Money’s Felix Salmon and Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe revisit three films at the intersection of culture and finance. On this episode, we’re headed to Wall Street to watch a Felix Salmon favorite: Margin Call, the 2011 thriller-drama starring a long list of famous people, including Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany, Stanley Tucci, Demi Moore, and yes, Kevin Spacey.Directed by J. C. Chandor, the film takes place at an investment bank on the brink of the Great Financial Crisis, as financiers struggle to maintain their balance sheets against the greatest villain of the aughts: mortgage-backed securities.Coming up on Money On Film: the 2025 rom-com Materialists, followed by the animated masterpiece Spirited Away from 2001. See you next time! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Isaac Butler, author and longtime theater and film writer, joins to discuss his forthcoming book The Perfect Moment. They dive into Pixar's quirky Hoppers and whether it revives the studio. They unpack HBO's DTF St. Louis, a middle-age sex comedy mixed with murder mystery. They finish with a lively recap and critique of the 98th Academy Awards.

They debate Maggie Gyllenhaal’s wild Frankenstein retelling and Jessie Buckley’s committed turn. They trace Paul McCartney’s reinvention after the Beatles and the making of Band on the Run. They dive into the rise of vertical micro-dramas on apps like ReelShort and why cheap, cliffhanger-driven shorts hook viewers.

June Thomas, journalist and biographer (working on a Rita Mae Brown book), and Michael Schulman, film and awards historian, dig into Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis concert film and its staging of Vegas-era showmanship. They debate Tracy Morgan’s new sitcom and its 30 Rock lineage. They also wrestle with Netflix’s Famous Last Words series and whether posthumous interviews feel profound or exploitative.

Christina Cauterucci, a Slate senior writer, shares her personal reporting journey around gun ownership in queer communities. The conversation covers her origin story with a handgun and the visceral responsibility of firing one. They discuss why some LGBTQ+ people arm themselves, plus the ambivalent mix of fear, pleasure, and cultural meaning surrounding guns.

Jamelle Bouie, NYT columnist known for sharp cultural and political takes, and Amy Nicholson, LA Times film critic and classic-cinema buff, dig into Emerald Fennell’s campy Wuthering Heights adaptation and its casting choices. They unpack Ryan Murphy’s glossy Love Story about JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, then celebrate the anarchic, nostalgia-forward revival of The Muppet Show.

Nadira Goffe, journalist and culture critic who centers Caribbean music and film, joins the conversation. They revel in Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl spectacle and its Puerto Rican cultural markers. They discuss the intense new film If I Had Legs I’d Kick You and why Rose Byrne’s performance unsettles. They also ponder why the history podcast The Rest Is History has such broad appeal.