Slate Culture Feed

On this week’s show, it’s the return of a Cultfest favorite: The Annual Summer Strut Episode! As per tradition, the panel is joined by Slate’s pop music critic and chart analyst (and host of the podcast Hit Parade ) Chris Molanphy to celebrate his tenth (!!) year of Summer Strutting —before the four dive into their favorite picks from this year’s massive playlist, populated with song recommendatio...

Today, we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes from this January about longform video essays. In this episode, Candice Lim is joined by Anisa Khalifa, a podcast producer and host of The Broadside from WUNC. They dissect the phenomenon surrounding video essays, which are not exactly new to YouTube, but finding a captivated audience in Gen-Z and millennial culture. From deep dives into  The Ho...

When Angela first started working at a debt collection agency, she says she barely understood what her job was. "I was so completely awestruck that people didn't pay their bills," she told Anna in 2019, when this episode originally aired. Angela ended up working as a collector for 15 years, working her way up and getting monthly bonuses for getting people to pay up. But then, in 2018, she was accu...

Morgan Campbell, Stefan Fatsis, and Josh Levin discuss Noah Lyles’ stunning win in the men’s 100 meters and Sha’Carri Richardson’s silver in the women’s. Slate’s Christina Cauterucci explains the controversy about the women boxers accused of failing a gender-eligibility test. Plus, Olympics potpourri, including NBC’s announcing fails, tennis genius, and archery thrills. 100 meters (2:34): Noah Lyl...

Candice Lim and Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe curate the internet’s best memes and moments from the 2024 Paris Olympics thus far. From the best Snoop Dogg moment to their favorite Olympic TikToker , they begin with the question on everyone’s mind: who’s winning the gold medal for best Olympic crush? This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario and Candice Lim, with producti...

On this week’s show, the panel is joined by Jamelle Bouie (New York Times Opinion columnist and Friend of the Pod) to discuss Deadpool & Wolverine , Marvel’s R-rated superhero flick starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman that’s dominating at the box office. Then the four assess the onslaught of Kamala Harris memes sweeping the internet right now and the role social media will play in this yea...

On today’s episode, Candice Lim and Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe break down the  allegations  surrounding YouTuber and podcaster Cody Ko. In May, fellow YouTuber Tana Mongeau alleged that Ko had sex with her when she was 17 and he was 25. While covered by outlets such as  Rolling Stone , the controversy did not pick up steam until commentary YouTuber D’Angelo Wallace posted a  15-minute video...

If you’re lucky, it’s possible you’ve never thought much about sitting. It’s just something your body does, like breathing or sleeping. But in the last decade or so, sitting has stepped into the spotlight, as a kind of villain. In today’s episode, Slate’s Dan Kois tells us about his radical experiment to go without sitting for an entire month. Then to understand why sitting is under attack we look...

During the 1988 Summer Olympics, diver Greg Louganis was competing under extreme pressure. In the preliminary round, he split his head open on the diving board, got stitched up, and decided to stay in the competition. He was also carrying a secret that only a few people knew: six months before the Olympics began, Greg learned that he was HIV positive.  Despite those obstacles, Greg went on to win...

Joel Anderson, Morgan Campbell, and Stefan Fatsis discuss the Dream Team’s opening-game win at the Paris Olympics. Gymnastics writer Rebecca Schulman joins to assess whether a calf injury might derail Simone Biles’ quest for redemption. And, the Games’ first scandal: Canadian soccer Spygate. Dream Team (4:53): Led by Kevin Durant and LeBron James, Team USA crushed Nikola Jokic and Serbia it its Ol...

Candice Lim is joined by Slate writer Luke Winkie to break down the curiously indefinable “Zynternet.” Substack writer  Max Read  coined and defined the term as “a broad community of fratty, horndog, boorishly provocative” (mostly) men in their 20s and 30s who obsess over college sports, light domestic beers and Zyn nicotine pouches. On today’s episode, ICYMI asks who the “Zynternet” is performing...

“Summer in the City.” “I Feel the Earth Move.” “Bette Davis Eyes.” “Whoomp! There It Is.” “Get Lucky.” “Espresso.” What do these big summer hits all have in common? None of them was Billboard’s official Song of the Summer. Wait…there’s an official Song of the Summer? Isn’t that something that just happens organically? Every year, it seems everybody has an opinion on this musical national pastime....

On this week’s show, the panel gets swept up by Twisters , and begins by discussing director Lee Isaac Chung’s standalone sequel starring Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones. (For the record, the original 1996 disaster flick, Twister , is a near-perfect, Gabfest-approved comfort watch ). Sure, Chung’s reboot isn’t as weird as the original, and the modern-day renderings of completely plausible natura...

Candice Lim is joined by Patrick Hosken to discuss the downfall and disappearance of MTV News. In May 2023, Paramount Global  laid off  25 percent of its workforce, which included MTV News staffers like Hosken. A year later, Hosken had a new job at Rochester’s CITY Magazine when he clicked on his own MTV News articles and  discovered  they were gone because the website had been taken down. On toda...

From a young age, James T. Morrison used drugs to help him feel better. He started with pills that were prescribed to him–medications like Xanax and Klonopin–but he soon moved on to basically whatever he could get his hands on. In this episode, James discusses his experience with substance use disorder, housing instability, and the criminal justice system. At a time when public officials and polic...

Joel Anderson, Josh Levin, and the CBC’s Morgan Campbell check in on the WNBA at the halfway point of a historic season. They also talk about ESPN’s list of the 100 greatest pro athletes of the 2000s. Finally, they interview Rose Eveleth about their podcast Tested , on the history of sex testing in sports. WNBA (4:19): What’s the story with the new TV deal? How did the WNBA All-Stars beat the Olym...

Today, we’re bringing you an episode from our friends and colleagues over at  What Next: TBD . Guest host, Cheyna Roth is joined by  Ash Nelson , journalist and author of “ The Lost Art of the DVD Extra ” for Slate. The two discuss the downsides of the streaming era are coming into focus for movie fans—uncontrollable, changing libraries; lower fidelity; lack of extras and features. Can all of thes...

On this week’s show, the panel begins by dissecting Longlegs , director Osgood Perkin’s viral horror movie starring Nicolas Cage that’s sweeping the box office. Aided by a clever marketing campaign, Longlegs is undoubtedly the summer’s “you gotta see it” horror flick, but does the Silence of the Lambs copycat live up to the hype? Then, the three jump (or is it herkie?) into Greg Whiteley’s latest...

Candice Lim is joined by Bloomberg Businessweek reporter Amanda Mull, whose pieces investigate your favorite  big-box stores , the cult of  exercise  and the  girlboss  economy. They dive into Mull’s internet diary, which includes her golden rule for arguing online, her most beloved  @dril  tweets and why she’s changed her mind on Peloton. This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy R...

Lawn ornaments are everywhere—but for something so ubiquitous, they’re also mysterious. What’s the person with the flamingo or the gargoyle in their yard trying to say—and why do they want to say it so publicly? From the garden-variety to the not so common, the adorable to the odious—lawn ornaments speak volumes, without saying a word. In this episode, we travel from Germany to England and back ho...

San Francisco mayor London Breed grew up learning again and again about the dangers of drugs and addiction. She lived in public housing in the city in the 1980’s and saw friends and family members in her community get hooked, get sick, and sometimes pass away. Fast forward to now, and San Francisco is seeing sky-high overdose numbers (though they’re down a bit from last year), and the city has ear...

Copa America (7:03): A security breakdown outside the stadium marred Argentina’s 1-0 win over Colombia. U.S. soccer ( 21:19): Will a big-name European replace Gregg Berhalter? Crossword puzzles (34:26):  An interview about the art of solving crosswords really fast.  (Note: time codes are only accurate for Slate Plus members, who listen ad free.) Want more Hang Up and Listen? Subscribe to Slate Plu...

Candice Lim is joined by Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe to play a game of High Speed Downloads, where they get 60 seconds to break down an internet story they’re obsessed with. From the rapidly rising star of the “ Hawk Tuah girl ” to the awkward BET Awards moment involving Taraji P. Henson and TikTok star Keith Lee, they also give some advice on what to do if you catch someone cheating on your...

“Summer in the City.” “I Feel the Earth Move.” “Bette Davis Eyes.” “Whoomp! There It Is.” “Get Lucky.” “Espresso.” What do these big summer hits all have in common? None of them was Billboard’s official Song of the Summer. Wait…there’s an official Song of the Summer? Isn’t that something that just happens organically? Every year, it seems everybody has an opinion on this musical national pastime....

On this week’s show, June Thomas (co-host of Slate’s Working podcast and the author of A Place of Our Own ) sits in for Julia Turner. The panel first explores The Bear , now in its third season, and questions whether Christopher Storer’s beast has become too self-aware. Then, they discuss Fancy Dance , a profoundly moving film by Native writer-director Erica Tremblay starring Lily Gladstone that’s...