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 films) while discussing the future of film.

In Slate Plus, the panel responds to Parul Sehgal’s article “The Case Against the Trauma Plot” in the New Yorker.

Email us at [email protected].

Endorsements

Dana: The magical work of Swedish stop-motion animator Niki Lindroth von Bahr. Four of her animated shorts can be found on the Criterion Channel, but you can find one—The Burden—on Amazon Prime.

Julia: A recipe for Italian rainbow cookies adapted by Bon Appétit from Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone (of popular eateries Carbone and Torrisi Italian Specialties).

Steve: First, his monster music playlist of mellow deep cuts, which includes work from Rickie Lee Jones’ great ‘81 album Pirates, particularly the song “Living It Up.” Second: Susan Tallman’s criticism for the New York Review of Books as a whole, but particularly  her recent review of Jasper Johns titled “The House That Johns Built,” inspired by a Johns catalog titled Jasper Johns: Mind/Mirror.

Podcast production by Asha Saluja. Production assistance by Nadira Goffe.

Outro music is Freak Out! by Zorro.

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