Culture Gabfest

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the new season of 30 Rock, the refund offer from Baby Einstein, and the genius – and crossover potential – of country music star Brad Paisley. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no set...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the media circus surrounding the Colorado “Balloon Boy,” the case for and against circumcision in New York Magazine, and the new documentary on the 40th anniversary of comedy troupe Monty Python. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subs...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Spike Jonze’s film adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are, the notion that comedians are starting to take aim at President Obama, and a series on obesity in America by Slate’s Daniel Engber Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions....

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the blackmail scandal surrounding David Letterman’s sexual relationship with some of his female employees, the New Yorker’s profile of Hollywood blogger Nikki Finke, and Conde Nast’s decision to shutter Gourmet Magazine Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy in...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Roman Polanski’s arrest in Switzerland and possible extradition to California for sentencing on a decades old sexual abuse case, the new Fox TV musical drama Glee, and the New York Times Magazine cover story on gay teenagers Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for ea...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the recent spate of politicians (real and fictional) on TV, led by President Obama on Letterman; Jane Campion’s new film about John Keats and Fannie Brawne; and Neil Patrick Harris as Emmy Awards host with guest June Thomas Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for eas...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Kanye West’s outburst at the VMAs and other recent examples of bad manners by celebrities; the new, prime-time, Jay Leno Show; and an exhibition of Claude Monet’s paintings of water lilies at New York’s Museum of Modern Art Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for eas...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens and Julia Turner chat about the release of the new digitally remastered Beatles box set, bellies on models and hipsters and the new Mike Judge film, "Extract." Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via App...

In this week's Culture Gabfest Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens are joined by Slate's John Swansburg and Jody Rosen. Topics on deck include, Mad Men's Musical Episode, pop star Taylor Swift, and the new Vogue documentary "The September Issue." Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. M...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Quentin Tarantino’s new WWII fantasy, Inglourious Basterds, with special guest Ron Rosenbaum; the new, long-delayed, season of the fashion design reality series Project Runway; and the winning sketches of Steve. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructio...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Ponyo, the new film by Hayao Miyazaki, Japan’s master animator; the to do over Whole Foods CEO John Mackey’s opinion on health care reform; and the legacy of the late Les Paul, via the musings of three rock guitar gods. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy in...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the passing and the films of 80s auteur John Hughes, the distortion of rock concert ticket prices by forces corporate and renegade, and the rise of cultural tourism. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Meryl Streep’s new movie about Julia Child, Julie & Julia; Amazon’s beloved, vexing Kindle e-reader; and Josh Levin’s new series on Slate about the end of America. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts ge...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the arrival of Judd Apatow’s third movie, Funny People; the rapid disappearance of the music magazine; and the controversies over some of the new psychological disorders that might be included in the DSM-V. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. M...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni’s struggle with bulimia, and the glut of nominations for the 61st Emmy Awards. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Pod...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Bruno, the confrontational new comedy from Sacha Baron Cohen; the links between Goldman Sachs and each of the major financial bubbles of the last 80 years; and a new book on the decline of French food and wine by Slate’s Mike Steinberger. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podc...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the memorial service for Michael Jackson, Michael Mann’s new depression-era bank robber movie Public Enemies, and the various uses they’ve found for the website UrbanDictionary.com. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via App...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the recent spate of celebrity deaths, starting with Michael Jackson and the lesser lights – Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon and Billy Mays – eclipsed by his passing, the way obituaries have changed in the internet era, and what makes a good obit. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/p...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Woody Allen’s new film Whatever Works, the HBO vampire drama True Blood, and A Vindication of Love, Cristina Nehring’s defense of swooning passion. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—n...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Twitter’s role in the post-election protests in Iran, nostalgia for a grittier New York City, and Times Square’s pedestrian makeover. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup requir...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Stephen Colbert’s trip to Baghdad and his guest editorship of Newsweek, the Tony awards and the year in Broadway an, and the end of General Motors (and American car culture?) as we know it. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics (plus guest gabber Troy Patterson) discuss Conan O’Brien’s first night as the host of the Tonight Show, the reality show/tabloid phenomenon Jon & Kate Plus 8, and UP, from non-stop hit factory Pixar. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subs...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the return (er, relapse?) of the rapper Eminem, whether working with your hands is the new outlet for cultural elitism, and the forthcoming memoir by former Kennedy intern/lover Mimi Beardsley Alford. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the end (and future) of the network television season, the Maureen Dowd plagiarism scandal, and the idea of happiness as explored by a 70 year-old Harvard psychology study. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcas...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the new Star Trek movie directed by J.J. Abrams, Wanda Sykes’s routine at the White House Correspondents’ dinner, and the new line of upscale McCafé coffee drinks at McDonald’s. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple P...