On this week’s show, Steve, Dana, and Julia gab about Another Simple Favor, the sequel to Paul Fieg’s 2018 A Simple Favor, which again pits Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick in a twisty, noir comedy.

Next, they discuss Amy Sherman Paladino’s new Franco-American ballet TV confection Étoile. Finally, they confer on the shocking conclave pick of an American pope with New York Times journalist and Vatican-watcher Ruth Graham.

In the exclusive Slate Plus Bonus Episode, the panel spoils the heck out of all the many wild plot turns of Another Simple Favor.

Endorsements:

Dana: The new film April by up-and-coming Georgian filmmaker Déa Kulumbegashvili.

Julia: An essay by Keith Phipps’s about six crucial seconds in The French Connection and the experience of seeing this William Friedken film classic at a repertory cinema near you. 

Steve: The enduringly nourishing poem “Peeling Onions” by Adrienne Rich.

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

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