This week, Dana, Julia, and Stephen bring you their yearly call-in episode where they answer questions from Culture Gabfest listeners. 

In Slate Plus, the panel answers one final question from a listener named James. 

Email us at culturefest@slate.com.

Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Yesica Balderrama.

Outro music: "Blue Nights and Yellow Days" by Matt Large.

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New Year's Call-In Show

New York Times critic Dwight Garner says “The Slate Culture Gabfest is one of the highlights of my week.” The award-winning Culturefest features critics Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner debating the week in culture, from highbrow to pop. For more of Slate’s culture podcasts, check out the Slate Culture feed.

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Entertainment News

On this week’s show, the hosts begin by dissecting The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the fourth chapter in the Apes franchise. Set “many generations” in the future, the latest installment (directed by Wes Ball and starring Owen Teague) is an undeniably well-crafted summer blockbuster – but does it achieve the level of complexity and thought its predecessors did? (Read Dana’s review for Slate for further analysis.) Then, it’s onto John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA, a six-part live Netflix special that aired during the streaming giant’s comedy festival. The conceit is thus: Netflix is a Joke attracts the best comedians in the world to LA, John Mulaney interviews them. But the final product is much stranger than that description, both a rejection and reinvention of the tired late-night talk show format, in which Mulaney interviews celebrities and non-celebrities, airs sketches, and delivers long monologues on the character of LA. Is Everybody’s in LA chaotic and sloppy, or a ragged delight? Our panel discusses. Finally, the trio is joined by Slate’s music critic, Carl Wilson, to eulogize the legendary musician and “producing engineer” (his preferred title) Steve Albini. Known for recording albums with Joanna Newsom, Nirvana, and the Pixies, among others, Albini considered himself a documentarian of sound and a technical expert, and brought his punk-rock ethic to everything he did. Read Steve Albini’s essay, “The Problem with Music” and his letter to Nirvana.
In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel discusses cultural arbitrage with Slate’s music critic, Carl Wilson, inspired by W. David Marx’s essay for The Atlantic, “The Diminishing Returns of Having Good Taste.” 
Email us at culturefest@slate.com. 
Endorsements:
Dana: “Who’s Afraid of Judith Butler?” – a profile of the philosopher and gender theorist by Parul Sehgal for The New Yorker.
Julia: “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter.
Stephen: The delightful, catchy, and exuberant (with a tincture of melancholy) music of New Zealand band, Yumi Zuma. (Check out Steve’s playlist here.) 
Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong. 
Hosts
Dana Stephens, Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf
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Damn Dirty Apes

On this week’s show, the hosts begin by diving head-first into The Fall Guy, director David Leitch’s love letter to stunts and stunt people. It’s a rom-com starring action set pieces, in which stuntman Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) falls for his director and ex-flame, Jody (Emily Blunt). The film is very telling about the work that goes into making an action flick… but does The Fall Guy ever achieve liftoff? Then, they debate I Saw the TV Glow, Jane Schoenbrun’s impressive second feature that chronicles the friendship between Owen and Maddy, and their fascination with the fictional show The Pink Opaque. I Saw the TV Glow obsesses over what’s real and not real–and is said to be an allegory for being trans–in a way that’s brave and admirable, but often depressing to watch. Finally, the panel is joined by Lydia Polgreen, Opinion columnist for The New York Times and co-host of the Matter of Opinion podcast, to discuss her reporting on the student protests unfolding in New York City. A few of the media mentioned: “Columbia, Free Speech and the Coddling of the American Right” and “The Student-Led Protests Aren’t Perfect. That Doesn’t Mean They’re Not Right.” by Polgreen; “The Takeover,” an on-the-ground report by the staff of the Columbia Daily Spectator for New York Magazine; the Columbia Revolt documentary. 
In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel discusses the question that’s been roiling TikTok: For women, would you rather be alone in the woods with a man or a bear? 
Email us at culturefest@slate.com. 
Endorsements:
Dana: “Kindness,” a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye, which she read on the On Being podcast. You can explore more of Shihab Nye’s poetry here.
Julia: (1) A congratulations to former Los Angeles Times film critic Justin Chang for his Pulitzer Prize. (2) The Work of Art: How Something Comes From Nothing by Adam Moss. 
Stephen: Saxophonist Frank Morgan, specifically, his album Listen to the Dawn. And you can listen to Steve’s playlist for Julia here.
Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong. 
Hosts
Dana Stephens, Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf
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Ryan Gosling Falls for Emily Blunt

On this week’s show, the hosts begin by discussing Challengers, Luca Guadagnino’s sexy tennis flick in which Zendaya stars as Tashi Duncan, the muse and lover of two male players, Art (Mike Faist) and Patrick (Josh O’Connor). It’s a smart but silly movie, one that paints a beautifully nested portrait of friendship and rivalry, and explores the complexities of desire. Then, the three dissect Baby Reindeer, an incredibly constructed and emotionally intense psychodrama–and a true-ish tale–by creator and star Richard Gadd. The seven-part series is currently dominating Netflix and explores themes including masculinity, sexuality, and abuse. Finally, what is a magazine now? The hosts consider this question, inspired by Jessica Testa’s article for The New York Times profiling Highsnobiety, a store-website-production agency-clothing line hybrid that recently won a National Magazine Award for general excellence, the publication’s first nomination and win at the “Oscars of the magazine world.” 
In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel jumps into a classic spoiler special and discusses the final scene of Challengers. 
Email us at culturefest@slate.com. 
Outro music: "The Red Light Special" by Matt Large
Endorsements:
Dana: A piece of Britain everyone can access: Mr Bates vs The Post Office on Hulu. 
Julia: Samin Nosrat’s recipe for Clam Pasta, which can be found in her book, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. 
Steve: 
“How Penelope Fitzgerald became a late blooming novelist.” By Henry Oliver. 
Hosts
Dana Stephens, Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf
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Zendaya Plays Doubles

On this week’s episode, the panel is first joined by Slate’s music critic, Carl Wilson, to puzzle over The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor Swift’s much-anticipated 11th studio album. Stuffed with 31 tracks, the two-part album is a departure from the billionaire pop star’s otherwise perfectly crafted oeuvre: it’s messy and drippy, and at times, manic and frenetic. Is this secretly a cry for help? And more importantly, when did she find the time to record this thing? Then, the three explore Fallout, a post-apocalyptic drama series adapted from the extremely popular role-playing video game of the same name. Executive produced by Jonathan Nolan (Westworld, Person of Interest) and streaming on Prime Video, Fallout certainly achieves a high level of immersive world-building, but do the stories and characters fare the same? Finally, Becca Rothfeld, the Washington Post’s non-fiction book critic, joins to discuss her triumphant first book, All Things Are Too Small: Essays in Praise of Excess, in which she rebukes the culture’s affinity for minimalism and makes the case for living in a maximalist world. 
In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, it’s part two of the Ambition versus Contentment discussion (courtesy of a listener question from Gretel): How should a parent approach cultivating ambition in a child, if at all? The hosts discuss. 
Email us at culturefest@slate.com. 
Outro music: "Ruins (Instrumental Version)" by Origo
Endorsements:
Dana: The Teacher’s Lounge, a film by German-Turkish director Ilker Çatak. It was a Best International Film nominee at the 96th Academy Awards. (Also, Ebertfest in Champaign, Illinois!)
Julia: Kristen Wiig’s Jumanji sketch on Saturday Night Live, inspired by Dana. 
Stephen: The British band Jungle, introduced to him by his daughter. A few favorite songs: “Back on 74,” “Dominoes,” and “All of the Time.” 
Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong. 
Hosts
Dana Stevens, Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf
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Taylor Swift’s Messy Maximalism

On this week’s show, Slate culture writer (and Very, Very Good Friend of the Show, a.k.a. VVGFOP) Nadira Goffe sits in for Dana Stevens. The three begin with Civil War, writer-director Alex Garland’s (Ex Machina, Annihilation, Men) dystopian travelog starring Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, and Wagner Moura that imagines a burned out, bombed out America in the throes of a raging internal conflict. But who is fighting whom? Our panel discusses. Then, they examine Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show, an eight-part series on Max depicting a very different civil war. Here, the exemplary sit-down stand-up comedian goes to war with himself, his public image, and the very nature of “reality.” It’s “Seinfeld meets reality TV meets Sylvia Plath,” and is a painfully naked confessional that begs the question: “Is Jerrod Carmichael trolling us?” (Read Nadira’s fantastic piece, “Who Did People Think Jerrod Carmichael Is?” Finally, the trio turns to “gaslighting,” the pop psychology term up for debate in Leslie Jamison’s essay for The New Yorker, “So You Think You’ve Been Gaslit.” Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year in 2022, is “gaslighting” a handy term used to describe harmful behavior? Or has “gaslighting” become so ubiquitous, it’s lost all meaning? The panel gets into it. 
In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the hosts explore stuffed animals (including but not limited to: Squishmallows, Jelly Cats, and “lovies”), the difference between a blanket and blankie, and the joys of embracing one’s inner child, inspired by Valerie Trapp’s essay for The Atlantic, “Welcome to Kidulthood.” 
Email us at culturefest@slate.com. 
Outro music: "200 Dont's" by Conditional
Endorsements:
Nadira: (1) The Wiz revival on Broadway. 
(2) Costco! 
(3) Willow Smith’s new song, “b i g f e e l i n g s” off of her upcoming album, empathogen. 
Julia: G. T. Karber’s book of puzzles, Murdle: 100 Simple to Impossible Mysteries to Solve Using Logic, Skill, and the Power of Deduction. “It’s a cross between an LSAT logic puzzle and a murder mystery.” 
Stephen: Becca Rothfeld’s debut essay collection, All Things Are Too Small: Essays in Praise of Excess. (Becca will be on the show next week to discuss! For extra credit, grab a copy of her book and come prepared.)
Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong. 
Hosts
Nadira Goffe, Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf
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New Year's Call-In Show

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