Slate Culture Feed

Slate contributing writer and co-host of the podcast Split Zone Duo, Alex Kirshner is back in the host chair this week. Joining Alex is the founder of the Power Plays newsletter, Lindsay Gibbs , and Yahoo Sports’ Charles McDonald . The panel comb through NFL Week 1, the American near victories at the US Open, and Angel Reese’s season-ending injury. In the Bonus episode, Slate Plus members can hear...

Candice Lim is joined by Wailin Wong, the co-host of NPR’s  The Indicator from Planet Money . Back in January, ICYMI explained everything you needed to know about  Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate World Cruise  — a nine-month trip that TikTokkers on land and sea couldn’t stop talking about. Today, we’re checking in with our favorite boat that’s finally coming home, dispatching everything from geopolitic...

On this week’s show, Slate’s books and culture columnist, Laura Miller, sits in for Julia. The panel begins with KAOS , Netflix’s new series that reimagines Greek mythology in modern times. Created by Charlie Covell ( End of the F***ing World ), KAOS stars Jeff Goldblum as Zeus, alongside a host of excellently cast deities. But is the show too self-satisfied and high off its own supply?‌ The three...

Candice Lim is joined by Rolling Stone writer  CT Jones  and  Switched on Pop  producer  Reanna Cruz  to hold a retrospective on the internet history of Charli XCX, the founder of brat summer and a decades-long digital icon. They’re going all the way back to 2012, when a girl from Essex named Charlotte Aitchison hit the main stage with “ I Love It. ” They’ll dissect their first Charli XCX memories...

Your stories about how navigating weight and body size inside a relationship has sometimes made your partnerships stronger…and sometimes broken them apart. Since we originally recorded this episode in 2021, the way we talk about weight loss has changed with drugs like Ozempic. We want to hear more of your stories about weight and love especially if you’ve taken new weight loss medications. How has...

Candice Lim is joined by Zakiya Gibbons, the host and creator of the reality dating podcast  Hang Up .  On today’s episode, they explain YouTube’s biggest phenomenon of the past year —  Skibidi Toilet . The animated, dystopian web series was created by Alexey Gerasimov, whose toilets have broken the internet and wracked up more than 43.5 million subscribers. Skibidi Toilet’s biggest fans seem to b...

For decades—literally since Woodstock—female musicians had battled music-industry perceptions that amassing too many of them, on the radio or on the road, was bad for business. And yet, by the ’90s, women were vital to the rise of alt-rock and hip-hop on the charts: from Suzanne Vega to Queen Latifah, Tracy Chapman to Sheryl Crow, Natalie Merchant to Missy Elliott. Sarah McLachlan harnessed this e...

On this week’s show, the hosts begin by reviewing Bad Monkey , a breezy new crime drama on Apple TV+ starring Vince Vaughn as a former police officer turned health inspector. It’s everything a summer show should be: laid-back, easy on the eyes, and set in warm, sunny Florida. Then, speaking of returns, the panel turns back the clock and tackles Homicide:‌ Life on the Street, a groundbreaking cop s...

In the late 1970s, a new and unusual concept for a restaurant chain emerged in California—video games plus bad pizza plus animatronic characters. The result was Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theatre, an immensely popular chain with a pizza rat for a mascot. But the strangeness only starts there. Decoder Ring dives into the formation of Chuck E. Cheese’s and its rival, ShowBiz Pizza Place; the confl...

Candice Lim is joined by Slate culture writer  Nadira Goffe  and former host of Vox’s  The Weeds   Jonquilyn Hill . Vice President Kamala Harris has been a public servant for more than 20 years, but her internet history is just as storied and rife with  awkward singing ,  baffling laughter , and accidental  viral hits . From coconut trees to Venn diagrams, ICYMI dives into Harris’ relationship wit...

Climate activists Jess Serrante and Joanna Macy are 60 years apart. They’re also close friends who’ve been sharing stories and commiserating about the state of the world for the past 10 years. When Jess experienced a crisis and started questioning whether her activism was really effective, Joanna provided a framework that changed everything.  In this episode, Anna talks to Jess about what she’s le...

Slate contributing writer and co-host of the podcast Split Zone Duo, Alex Kirshner hosts this week’s Hang Up and Listen. Alex is joined by The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh and founder of the Power Plays newsletter, Lindsay Gibbs for a discussion of private equity in the NFL and college football. Later, they break down the National Women’s Soccer League and the NWSL Players Association's new collective b...

Candice Lim is joined by internet culture reporter and Embedded writer Kate Lindsay to explain Hannah Neeleman, better known as Ballerina Farm — the Mormon, Julliard-trained dancer who married a JetBlue nepo baby and became one of this year’s most intriguing, yet controversial influencers. They’ll check in on the state of tradwives, trace how Neeleman got here, and ask whether Ballerina Farm is a...

Candice Lim is joined by writer, podcaster and YouTuber Allison Raskin, whose new book  I Do (I Think)  about Gen-Z and millennial marriages comes out October 15th. On today’s episode, Raskin takes us through her internet diaries which include the  Substack  app and her favorite internet conspiracy theories. But first, Raskin talks about her good (and bad) memories of working at Buzzfeed in its he...

On this week’s show, Rebecca Onion and Jenny Zhang fill in for Stephen. First, the panel tackles HBO’s Industry . The show is in its third season and has seen a huge increase in viewership. But is it a show worth of the coveted Sunday night timeslot? Then, they explore Alien: Romulus , a new addition to Xenomorph lore, with a controversial cameo. Finally, the panel talks about Sephora, beauty cult...

Crystal met Hugh Hefner when she was 21 and he was 81. They spent 10 years together at the Playboy mansion before he died and she became a widow. In this episode she reflects on their marriage, and how she’s changed since.  Crystal Hefner’s memoir is called Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself . Podcast production by Zoe Azulay Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate!...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin reflect on hosting Slate’s sports podcast, which debuted in July 2009. Retrospective (6:51): How the show attempted to be an antidote to traditional sports talk radio. Old Afterballs (30:55): Josh on a 1934 battle between a scorpion and a spider. Stefan with an update to “Proud to Be an Astro” from Ball Four . New Afterballs (51:17): Josh on listener comments after the...

Candice Lim is joined by Unladylike’s Cristen Conger, whose new podcast  Conspiracy, She Wrote  unravels women’s overlooked roles in today’s conspiracy culture. On today’s episode, they’re diving into Conger’s internet diaries, from her golden rules for engaging online to the conspiracy theory she secretly believes in. This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario and Candice Li...

On this week’s show, June Thomas (author of A Place of Our Own: Six Spaces That Shaped Queer Women’s Culture ) and Dan Kois (author of Hampton Heights ) fill in for Dana and Stephen. First, the panel tackles It Ends With Us starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni (the latter also directed and produced the film.) It’s a big, glossy melodrama laced with a domestic violence plot, and is the first fi...

Candice Lim is joined by Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe to play High Speed Downloads. On today’s episode, they’ll have exactly one minute to explain some of their favorite internet stories of late, including the mess surrounding  It Ends With Us ,  why a  Team USA gymnast  has been asked to return her bronze medal, and what it means to be “ very demure .” This podcast is produced by Se’era Spra...

“Hysteria” is an ancient word carrying thousands of years of baggage. Though the terminology has changed, hysteria has not gone away, and in its most baffling instances it can even be contagious. The idea of a mass psychogenic illness can be hard to wrap your head around. A group of people begins experiencing physical symptoms, because of something that started in one of their minds? In today’s ep...

When Miranda July entered her early forties, she noticed a grim feeling emerge. “It wasn't coming from me,” she said, “I guess it came from this lack of imagery, or stories, or even just basic medical information about what was going to happen next with my body.” The dearth of information and near absence of cultural mythology about perimenopause and menopause became the catalyst for her novel All...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin discuss the Dream Team’s close calls on the road to gold, and the U.S. women’s basketball team’s narrow victory, too. They break down the quick overhaul of the U.S. women’s soccer team, which won its first gold medal since 2012. Finally, they assess whether the visually beautiful and athletically compelling Paris Games restored the Olympics’ luster. Basketball (4:12):...

Candice Lim is joined by internet culture writer Steffi Cao, whose  Substack  recently started an advice column all about internet etiquette. On today’s episode, they’re answering reader questions such as: Should I report unhinged Facebook behavior? And should I get into political fights in the DMs? This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario and Candice Lim. Hosted on Acast....

For decades—literally since Woodstock—female musicians had battled music-industry perceptions that amassing too many of them, on the radio or on the road, was bad for business. And yet, by the ’90s, women were vital to the rise of alt-rock and hip-hop on the charts: from Suzanne Vega to Queen Latifah, Tracy Chapman to Sheryl Crow, Natalie Merchant to Missy Elliott. Sarah McLachlan harnessed this e...