Slate Culture Feed

Jaimie Seaton got used to a lavish upper class lifestyle while married to her banker husband and living overseas. Then she got divorced, and her financial picture totally changed. This episode was part of our 2018 series  Opportunity Costs: Money and Class in America . Find out more at  deathsexmoney.org/class . Read Jaimie's essay for BuzzFeed here .  Did you know we have a weekly email newslette...

AOL Instant Messenger launched 25 years ago, but at the time nobody understood exactly how important it would be in shaping the way we all interact online. On today’s show, Rachelle and Madison talk to AIM expert Caroline Moss about the early years of the platform, the playful shenanigans people got up to on there as teens, and how it led us to the world of always being online. Caroline hosts the...

This week, the panel begins by pondering Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut, The Lost Daughter . Then, the panel gushes about the fresh workplace comedy Abbott Elementary . Finally, the panel discusses everyone's latest obsession : the word game Wordle. In Slate Plus, the panel enters spoiler territory as they continue to puzzle out The Lost Daughter . Email us at culturefest@slate.com . Endors...

Joel Anderson, Stefan Fatsis, and Josh Levin discuss the NFL’s Super Wild Card Weekend. Then they talk about the rise of the Memphis Grizzlies’ Ja Morant. Finally, Defector’s Kalyn Kahler joins for a conversation about nepotism in NFL coaching.   NFL (4:50):  Do expanded playoffs mean worse games?   Ja Morant (24:55):  Was his block the best ever? Is he the NBA’s next superstar?   Nepotism (44:54)...

Yellowjackets is a new series on Showtime about a team of high school girls who, while on a flight to a soccer game, crash in the Canadian wilderness. It follows their struggle for survival and how that experience shaped those who made it out of the woods alive. On today’s show, Madison and Rachelle sing their own personal Yellowjackets praises , explain why it’s the latest addition to the Puzzle...

Daryl Hall and John Oates: Their songs were earworms, their videos cheap and goofy. John Oates’s mustache and Daryl Hall’s mullet are relics of their time. And…for about five years, their crazy streak on the pop charts was comparable to Elvis, the Beatles and the Bee Gees. They were also more cutting-edge than you may realize, essentially inventing their own form of cross-racial new wave after spe...

The author and popular Peloton instructor tells me about running through trauma, changing careers, and how motherhood has changed how she values her time. Listen to our "Anthems of Change" playlist on Spotify. Are you subscribed to our newsletter? You should be! Every Wednesday, we send out podcast listening recommendations, your stories from our inbox, and behind-the-scenes updates from the show....

Empaths and the great book exchange pyramid scheme are filling up our feeds again. On the show today, Rachelle and Madison explain why every few months, posts circulate about a book exchange that sounds too good to be true, and why empaths aren’t really a thing—unless you’re in a science fiction story. Plus, they play Wordle ! Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Derek John. Hosted on Acast....

This week, author and co-host of Slate’s Working podcast, Isaac Butler fills in for Steve ( pre-order Isaac's book! ). First, the panel debates the merits of Adam McKay’s star-studded cautionary tale Don’t Look Up . Then, the panel is joined by film historian and journalist Mark Harris to outline the debt we owe to the late Sidney Poitier—a legend whom he speaks about in his book Pictures at a Rev...

Hey Hit Parade fans! Here's an episode from another show we think you’ll like.  Slate's history podcast One Year introduces you to people and ideas that changed American history, one year at a time. The new season of One Year covers 1995, a year when homegrown terrorists attacked Oklahoma City and America went online. This episode is about “Macarena”—yes, that “Macarena,” the song and the dance th...

Joel Anderson, Stefan Fatsis, and Josh Levin discuss Georgia’s win over Alabama in the college football title game. Then they break down the wild ride that was the Chargers-Raiders NFL regular-season finale. And tennis writer Ben Rothenberg helps unpack the saga of unvaccinated Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open. College football (2:44):  How the Bulldogs took down the Tide.   Chargers-Raiders...

Elmo has been filling up the TikTok and Twitter feeds these past few weeks with his unique pronunciations and feud with a pet rock. On today’s episode, Rachelle and Madison try to chart the arc of this recent virality, and explain why Elmo is a member of the Black community. They also watched Hype House on Netflix so you don’t have to. Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Derek John. Hosted...

Huge Ma, founder of the website TurboVax, a.k.a. “Vax Daddy,” is running for office, and Taylor Swift has claimed 2022 as her own. On the show today, Madison and Allegra talk about how branding queen Taylor Swift is feeling 2022, and then Madison interviews Huge about creating TurboVax, how his online experiences have informed his campaign, and which Taylor Swift track is the theme of his campaign...

This week, the panel begins by breaking down just what makes HBO’s pandemic series Station Eleven so successful with Slate’s senior managing producer of podcasts and co-host of Slate’s Working podcast, June Thomas. Next, the panel appreciates the legacy that writer Joan Didion left behind. Finally, the panel rehashes the 2021 edition of Slate’s Movie Club (including Dana’s list of the year’s best...

Joel Anderson, Stefan Fatsis, and Josh Levin discuss the College Football Playoff and bowl game opt-outs. ESPN’s Mechelle Voepel also joins for a conversation about Becky Hammon, who chose to leave the NBA to become the head coach of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces. Finally, they talk about the life and legacy of John Madden.   College football (3:33):  What are the sport’s real issues and what problems...

From “woke bae” to “woke-a-cola,” the word  woke  has taken the internet and mainstream media by storm. But how many people who use the word actually know what it means? On today’s episode, Rachelle  and  Madison  (but, really, mostly Rachelle) explain the decades-old origins of the word, and how its meaning has evolved as it’s gone from being sung as a call to “stay woke” by the likes of Erykah B...

In part 2 of this holiday episode of Hit Parade, Chris Molanphy dives deep into radio, streaming and Billboard chart data of some your favorite holiday hitmakers to compare their long legacies to the majority-merry ways they are consumed today. And none has been more condensed by Christmas than another artist who was once famous enough to go by her first name: Brenda. A ’60s chart dominator and do...

"I want it, so I take it." A serial shoplifter explains why she steals, and how—and we hear about what's happened in her life since we first talked four years ago.  Thanks to Tasbeeh Herwees for her help with this story. You can find Tasbeeh's article for  GOOD Magazine  about the shoplifting community on Tumblr  here . To listen to our 2017 episode featuring your responses to Alice's story, click...

It’s the final episode of the year, and a chance to look back at all the ways the internet has gone wrong in 2021. On today’s show, Rachelle and Madison invite Tracy Clayton and Josh Gwynn , hosts of the podcast Back Issue , to join them as they discuss all the trends, memes, and moments of 2021 internet that have no place cropping back up in 2022. Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Derek...

This week, Steve, Dana, and Julia tackle some listener questions in our annual call-in show. Topics include: favorite pieces of art, culture their children introduced them to, and previous years’ endorsements that have become staples in the panel’s lives. In Slate Plus, the panel continues to field some stellar listener questions.  Email us at culturefest@slate.com . There are no endorsements this...

Josh Levin and Joel Anderson are joined by ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz to talk about Christmas Day in the NBA. Washington Post health reporter Dan Diamond also joins to discuss the past, present, and future of COVID in sports. Finally, Josh, Joel, and Stefan Fatsis interview Mitchell S. Jackson about his award-winning story on Ahmaud Arbery and running while Black.   NBA (3:37):  How did the Warriors an...

Martha Stewart loves to tell people on Instagram about the products she likes, but these posts look suspiciously like ads. On today’s episode, Madison and Rachelle scroll through Martha’s feed to look at all the things she raves about, talk about why she might be breaking the rules, and discuss how the social media advertising guidelines are much more flexible than we realize. Podcast production b...

Custer's Revenge is widely considered one of the worst video games ever made. Originally released as part of a series of Swedish Erotica-branded adult games for the Atari 2600, Custer's Revenge involves moving a pixelated General Custer across the screen to rape an Indigenous woman tied to a post. It's unfathomably racist, sexist, and un-fun to play. Today on Decoder Ring we tell the story of how...

I share some of the advice, tools, movies, and TV shows that I savored in 2021. Looking for The Favorites File from Kendra Adachi? Find it here  at The Lazy Genius Collective.  If you're thinking about year-end giving, please consider donating to Death, Sex & Money. You'll be supporting the work we do here at the show, and the community we're building together. Donate now at  deathsexmoney.org...

Neopets, a kid-friendly site from the early 2000s that let users raise digital pets and play games with them, has fallen far from its peak popularity. The nostalgic luster of it also seems to be fading, following the site’s recent failed attempt at Neopet NFTs—not to mention its years-old, mostly broken user interface. On today’s show, Madison and Allegra look back at the happier times of Neopia p...