Slate Culture Feed

Joel Anderson, Stefan Fatsis, and Josh Levin discuss the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win over the 49ers, the performances of Patrick Mahomes and Brock Purdy, and how the new overtime rules played out. CNBC’s Alex Sherman also comes on to explain whether a new multi-network streaming deal will change how we watch sports.   How the Chiefs won (3:41):  This Mahomes guy is pretty good.   Overtime (20:07):  Did...

On today’s show, Rachelle makes her triumphant return. She’s joined by A.W. Ohlheiser, a senior technology reporter and editor at Vox, who recently wrote about the  complicated lives and deaths of TikTok’s illness influencers . As Ohlheiser wrote, “These stories — whether held in an archive of personal letters, a widely discussed lecture, or on the For You pages of millions — are all shaped by the...

Barbra Streisand: star of stage and screen. Oscar-winner, film director and TV producer. Culture warrior and meme generator . Yes, all that—but don’t get it twisted: Barbra’s legend rests in her catalog of hit songs—and that voice. Even as culture vultures consume her recent doorstop of a memoir My Name Is Barbra , what’s getting overlooked are Streisand’s awesome musical benchmarks, especially on...

We’re back with a new batch of cultural mysteries! This year, we’re putting out more new episodes—like many more of them. We’ll be diving down a new rabbit hole every two weeks all year long. Starting with a question hiding in plain sight: why do so many coffee shops look the same? We’re also heading back to the early 1990s to ask if you can successfully sell a soda by celebrating that it’s just…...

On this week’s show, Extreme Friends of the Pod and co-authors of The World Only Spins Forward , Isaac Butler and Dan Kois, fill in for Dana Stevens and Julia Turner. The hosts begin by dissecting The Zone of Interest , filmmaker Jonathan Glazer’s audacious movie about the Holocaust that’s told through the lens of Nazi commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig as they live their somewhat ordinary...

Candice Lim is joined by culture critic and reporter Cyrena Touros to break down the battle between Universal Music Group and TikTok. On February 1, UMG started pulling their artists’ music from TikTok after their licensing contract expired. This meant creators weren’t able to interact with music from artists like Taylor Swift, Drake and Olivia Rodrigo. UMG claims this drastic move was necessary t...

Joel Anderson and Josh Levin are joined by the Athletic’s Chantel Jennings to discuss women’s college basketball stars JuJu Watkins and Caitlin Clark. The Washington Post’s Will Hobson also joins to talk about his piece on the broken promises of the NFL’s concussion settlement. Finally, U.S. senator and New York Knicks legend Bill Bradley discusses his one-man show Rolling Along.   Watkins and Cla...

Candice Lim is joined by Julian Sewell ( @juliansewell ), the creator of TikTok’s most famously snubbed actress: Paloma Diamond. In March 2023, Sewell posted a  TikTok  parodying the behavior of nominated actors at the Academy Awards. Posted days before the actual ceremony, the video gained millions of views immediately and made Paloma the protagonist of Sewell’s faux universe. Since then, Sewell...

From our friends at Life and Art, a culture podcast of the Financial Times: This week, we return to an old comfort classic: the 2003 Nancy Meyers romcom Something’s Gotta Give, starring Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson. In it, two middle-aged people fall in love, but only after one heart attack, two younger lovers, some unexpected midnight pancakes and ample bickering. Does the movie still work tod...

On this week’s show, Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe and Sam Sanders, host of Vibe Check fill in for Dana Stevens and Julia Turner. The hosts begin with a subversively brilliant Oscar contender, American Fiction , which is Cord Jefferson’s adaptation of Percival Everett’s 2001 novel Erasure . The filmmaker’s debut racked up five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and stars Jeffrey Wright...

Candice Lim is joined by Slate writer Nadira Goffe to break down the latest developments surrounding Nicki Minaj’s beef with rapper Megan Thee Stallion. On January 26, Megan Thee Stallion released “Hiss,” which takes aim at several unnamed parties. Fellow rapper Minaj took offense to certain lyrics, leading her to post about Megan for 72 hours on social media and ultimately, release a diss track t...

Joel Anderson, Stefan Fatsis, and Josh Levin discuss the 49ers’ comeback win over the Lions and the Chiefs’ victory over the Ravens. The Washington Post’s Ben Golliver also joins to talk about the spate of high-scoring games in the NBA.   49ers-Lions (3:44):  Did Dan Campbell’s coaching moves cost Detroit?   Chiefs-Ravens (18:50):  Patrick Mahomes won again. Lamar Jackson flopped.   NBA scoring (3...

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 Hobbit  to retellings of  Greek mythology , the ability to analyze pop culture, cite sources and listen to spoken essay...

Do you watch the Grammy Awards every year and groan, or even yell at the screen? Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy sure does. But he has a weird hot take: The Grammys are better off not trying to be cool. They should reward the popular stuff—especially younger people’s music. Where the Recording Academy actually goes wrong is rewarding the old stuff—legendary artists long past their prime, from Frank...

Candice Lim talks to Mychal Threets ( @​​mychal3ts ), a Bay Area librarian by day and beloved TikTok creator by night. In December 2023, Threets was the target of a negative tweet that called his TikToks weird. But in a shocking twist, the internet ran to Threet’s defense, praising his work and platform as a librarian. Threets joins the conversation to talk about his reaction to that moment, his n...

On this week’s show, Jamelle Bouie (Opinion columnist at The New York Times) sits in for Julia Turner. The hosts first begin with a trip to Ennis, a fictional Alaskan town at the heart of True Detective: Night Country , and review the fourth installment of the HBO Max anthology series. There’s a new showrunner at the helm, Issa López, who brings a desperately needed fresh take on the Lovecraftian...

Joel Anderson, Stefan Fatsis, and Josh Levin discuss Kansas City’s win over Buffalo in the NFL playoffs. Adam Duerson also joins to talk about the collapse of Sports Illustrated and ESPN’s Myron Medcalf comes on for a conversation about second-generation athletes (and how they make us feel old).    Chiefs-Bills (5:00):  How Patrick Mahomes took down Josh Allen again.   Sports Illustrated (21:49):...

Candice Lim is joined by Slate staff writer Luke Winkie for a mailbag episode. They dive into listener questions about hot topics such as Stanley cups, Josh wine and the two tunnels dumbfounding the internet. Do you have an internet query, trend or phenomenon you just can’t wrap your head around? Let us help! Send your internet conundrums to  icymi@slate.com  and we just might read your email on a...

Candice Lim is joined by Milly Tamarez and Alise Morales, the co-hosts of  Go Touch Grass  — a new podcast that dives into the online gossip and niche drama you’ve missed this week. They dive into their internet diaries, which include Heather Gay memes, West Elm Caleb conspiracy theories and what happens when AI bots cheat on each other. This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Ros...

On this week’s show, Nadira Goffe sits in for Julia Turner. The hosts first begin by exploring an updated cult classic: Mean Girls , the movie musical version of the Broadway show based on the iconic 2004 film. The 2024 iteration stars Reneé Rapp as Regina George and Angourie Rice as Cady Heron. Then the three head to 17th century Edo-era Japan and review Blue Eye Samurai , an animated Netflix ser...

Joel Anderson, Stefan Fatsis, and Josh Levin discuss the opening weekend of the NFL playoffs. They also talk about the departures of coaching legends Nick Saban, Bill Belichick, and Pete Carroll. Finally, Ben Rothenberg joins to discuss his new biography of tennis star Naomi Osaka.   NFL playoffs (3:17):  How did the Detroit Lions franchise turn itself around?   Saban, Belichick, and Carroll (26:0...

Candice Lim is joined by Vox culture reporter Aja Romano to explain the rapid  social media rise  of Gypsy Rose Blanchard. On December 28, 2023, Blanchard was released from prison after serving eight years following the brutal murder of her mother. Almost immediately, Blanchard became a social media celebrity who currently has more than 8 million followers on Instagram and 9 million followers on T...

Do you watch the Grammy Awards every year and groan, or even yell at the screen? Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy sure does. But he has a weird hot take: The Grammys are better off not trying to be cool. They should reward the popular stuff—especially younger people’s music. Where the Recording Academy actually goes wrong is rewarding the old stuff—legendary artists long past their prime, from Frank...

Hear about the new life for Death, Sex & Money, with new episodes coming soon! In the meantime, subscribe to Anna's newsletter here to keep in touch and help shape this new era of the show. And tell us your favorite Death, Sex & Money episodes in a review on Apple Podcasts to help new listeners get to know us as all our archives move to our new home. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

Candice Lim is joined by Wailin Wong, co-host of NPR’s  The Indicator from Planet Money . They dissect the drama and mayhem surrounding Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate World Cruise — a nine-month trip that TikTokkers on land and sea that we can’t stop talking about. The cruise is scheduled to visit more than 60 countries over 274 nights, but since it left Miami in December, passengers have been uploadi...