Culture Gabfest

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the use of so-called neuro-enhancing drugs to aid study or work, the plight of the embattled-but-seemingly-safe-for-now newspaper the Boston Globe, and which upcoming summer movies they’re most looking forward to (or looking forward to hating). Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.co...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss their adventures in the world of Twitter, the new HBO feature adaptation of the documentary Grey Gardens, and the surprising web obsession with the gifted but plain singer Susan Boyle. 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...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the new film Sugar and A.O. Scott's (flawed?) concept of Neo-Neo Realism, Levi Johnston's interview on the Tyra Banks show, and the war between sugar and high fructose corn syrup. 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...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Paul Rudd and Jason Segal's bromance in the new movie I Love You, Man, the implications of the Obamas' vegetable garden, and the minor duststorm kicked up over off-the-record media chatroom JournoList. 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. Member...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the new movie version of the classic graphic novel Watchmen, a new book on the canon of female American writers called A Jury of Her Peers by Elaine Showalter, and a tween-style makeover for kiddie cartoon hero Dora the Explorer. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs f...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner discuss the Academy Awards, Rick Santelli's rant, the Octomom, and the backlash over a juice carton. 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...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez's admission that he used a banned substance while playing for the Texas Rangers, the proposed $500,000 salary cap for executives of publicly held banks that might benefit from the newest round of bailouts, the "25 Random Things About Me" frenzy on Facebook, and the Grammys. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If yo...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Barack Obama's inauguration, Hua Hsu’s Atlantic Montly piece on the end of white demographic dominance, Daniel Bergner’s NYT Magazine piece on the vexing question of female desire and the death of author John Updike. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instr...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the Golden Globe awards (and awards-season ennui), the long-delayed return of TV's pro-torture hit 24, and the Biggie Smalls biopic Notorious. 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 Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens and June Thomas discuss Tom Cruise's role as a one-eyed Nazi in Valkyrie, Bruce Springsteen's exclusive deal with Wal-Mart, and the year in culture. 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...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner discuss Leno and late night TV, the dire state of the publishing industry, and Hollywood's ultimate back-from-the-dead star, Mickey Rourke. 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...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner discuss the new movie Milk, Beyonce, and Black Friday. 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 required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priv...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the Malcolm Gladwell phenomenon, Michelle Obama's role as First Lady and Mom-in-Chief, and the post-Obama buzz kill of Prop 8. 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 required. Hos...

In this week’s Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Obama, Obama, and Obama. What happened with the election, how the media covered it and what lies ahead for culture under future President Barack Obama. 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 acce...

In this week’s Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the catharsis they felt watching Oliver Stone's W., and revisit past Gabfest topics, including the ongoing Fey/Palin tragicomedy, Rachel Maddow's success and environmentalism after the financial crisis. 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. Membe...

In this week’s Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the Nobel Prize for Literature's snub of American writers, Tina Fey's pitch-perfect imitation of Governor Palin, and the lack of interest in the recent trial of OJ Simpson. 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 financial meltdown, a trillion and counting, the ominous death of author David Foster Wallace, and more from that lovable comedy duo, Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. 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 g...

In this week’s Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the dissection of Sarah Palin's personal life in the tabloids, the new Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC and the hyper-quirky PC ad featuring heroes from yesteryear, Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. 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 subscribe...

In this week’s Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the merits and frivolities of Mad Men, the odds that Tropic Thunder will revive Tom Cruise's career, and the new documentary film, Man On Wire. 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 se...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the Beijing Olympics and "The Redeem Team," the too-famous-too-fast Seth Rogen and his new film, Pineapple Express, and the death of comedian Bernie Mac. 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 ac...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Joss Whedon's new web-only musical show "Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog," Starbucks' abrupt move to shutter a sizable number of its stores in the US and abroad, and Google's newest challenger in the search field, Ceil. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy ins...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the new Batman movie The Dark Knight, the New Yorker Magazine's cover depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as anti-American Mujahideen, and the mysterious relationship between Madonna and Alex Rodriguez. 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. Membe...

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the re-release of Liz Phair's feminist indie rock masterpiece Exile in Guyville, the media’s semi-hysterical reaction to news of a "pregnancy pact" amongst teenage girls at a high school in Gloucester, MA, and the death of comedian George Carlin. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate....

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Vanity Fair's sprawling, dishy takedown of President Clinton, Sex and the City's boffo success in movie theatres, and the ear-splitting arrival of mixed martial artist Kimbo Slice on CBS. 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 v...

Our critics discuss the counter-evolutionary nature of monogamy, the aesthetically promiscuous -- and recently departed -- artist Robert Rauschenberg, and Barack Obama's affinity for the work of novelist Philip Roth, the great bard of infidelity. 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 subsc...