Slate Culture Feed

It’s hard to imagine music fans mourning a break-up of Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation, as a Department of Justice lawsuit requests. But even with this monopolistic middleman out of the way, touring musicians still seem destined to struggle financially.

Guest: Laura Jane Grace, musician

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Anna Phillips.

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On today’s show, we’re joined by Nicky Woolf, the host Fur and Loathing, a new investigative podcast which attempts to solve the decade-old cold case of a chemical attack at the 2014 Midwest Furfest convention. From their show description, “It’s a journey that will bring [Woolf] face-to-face with the challenges this vibrant, often misunderstood subculture faces–including the far-right extremists looking to wreck the community from within.”

This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Petty.” “Jealous.” That’s what many male sportscasters are saying about the women competing against WNBA rookie Caitlin Clark. The former Iowa star is bringing a new level of attention to women’s basketball, but many men who ignored the league for years are now leading the coverage. So how is sexism and racism fueling the way they’re talking about Clark and the rest of the WNBA?

On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by veteran sports journalist Jemele Hill to discuss the way the media treats Clark and the African American players who are competing with her. Hill is a contributing writer to The Atlantic, and wrote about the issue for them in the article, “The One Downside of Gender Equality in Sports.”

Guest: Veteran sports journalist Jemele Hill

Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola

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In this episode, Farhad Manjoo (author of Slate’s r/Farhad column) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about how a 72-year-old introvert can become more social, when it’s okay to pop up unannounced at a romantic partner’s house and expect to have dinner, and whether you’re being unreasonable for not attending a family vacation because you didn’t get the upgrade you requested.

If you want more Dear Prudence, join Slate Plus, Slate’s membership program. Jenée answers an extra question every week, just for members.

Go to Slate.com/prudieplus to sign up. It’s just $15 for your first three months.

This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, and Jenée Desmond-Harris, with help from Maura Currie.

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This week on Working Overtime, host Isaac Butler talks to AJ Ayers, a personal finance expert who specializes in helping creative people manage their money better. In the interview, AJ offers tips on everything from retirement accounts and taxes to homeownership and family planning. 

Do you have questions or advice of your own about the creative process? Reach out at (304) 933-9675 or email us at [email protected].

Podcast production by Cameron Drews.

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After waiting for two strikes to resolve, film and television crews across Hollywood were hungry to return to work. But the work has been slow to come back. As a number of crew union contracts expire at the end of July, how strong is their negotiating position?

Guests: 

Diane Haithman, Senior Entertainment Business Reporter, TheWrap

Diego Mariscal, IATSE local 80 dolly grip

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.

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On this week’s show, the hosts begin by asking the question: What even is Garfield? Jim Davis’ overfed, Monday-hating (even though he’s jobless) cultural figure first appeared in comic strips in the late 1970s, and since then, has been surprisingly resilient, most recently conquering the summer box-office with The Garfield Movie. But who is Garfield, and more perhaps more importantly, why is he a thing? To answer these questions, each host watched (or endured) a different Garfield entity, including Garfield: The Movie (2004), Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006), and the latest film starring Chris Pratt as the titular cat. Then, the three discuss suspense and its nature in relation to fiction, inspired by Kathryn Schulz’s essay for The New Yorker, “The Secrets of Suspense.” It’s a curious, fantastic essay that questions the human impulse to know what happens next. Finally, it’s a visit from the Gabfest’s oldest and closest Friend of the Pod, June Thomas, who speaks with the panel about her essential new book, A Place of Our Own: Six Spaces That Shaped Queer Women’s Culture. 

In the exclusive slate Plus segment, the hosts answer a listener question from Evana: “What is a cultural reference that really bugs Steve/Julia/Dana when they see/hear it being misused or misinterpreted?”

We’re taking submissions for Summer Strut 2024! Send up to three songs that you find particularly strut-worthy to [email protected]. 

Email us at [email protected]. 

Endorsements:

Dana: A wonderful documentary on Apple TV+, From Caligari to Hitler: German Cinema in the Age of the Masses. 

Julia: Koeze’s Cream-Nut All-Natural Peanut Butter (with no added sugar!)

Stephen: The musical stylings of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Read a profile on the duo: “How Gillian Welch and David Rawlings Held Onto Optimism” by Hanif Abdurraqib for The New York Times. Listen to their songs, “Beautiful Boy” and “Picasso,” and check out the YouTube video, “Getting Started with Licks & Fills in the style of Dave Rawlings.” 

Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong. 

Hosts

Dana Stephens, Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf

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In 1990, the cartoon superhero Captain Planet swooped onto TV screens all over the world. He was the brainchild of media mogul Ted Turner, and in the face of impending ecological catastrophe, he had the lofty goal of turning kids into environmental warriors. 

In this episode, we’re going to look at how Captain Planet came to be, what he aspired to do, and how much he really got done. Captain Planet’s mission was noble, but was it also naive? How much of an impact can even the most well-meaning fictional superhero have on very real environmental disasters? And can we really entertain ourselves and our children into solving our hardest problems?

This episode was reported and produced by Olivia Briley. It was edited by Evan Chung. Decoder Ring is produced by Willa Paskin, Evan Chung, Katie Shepherd and Max Freedman. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.

In this episode you’ll hear from Nick Boxer, David Coburn, Marsha Goodman, and  Illac Diaz.

Thank you to Eugene Linden, Dr. Juliette Rooney-Varga, Mary DeMocker, Claire Reynolds, and Kelly Jones.

If you haven’t yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends.

If you’re a fan of the show, please sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring and all other Slate podcasts without any ads and have total access to Slate’s website. Your support is also crucial to our work. Go to Slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. 

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On today’s episode, Rachelle is joined by Slate staff writer and friend of the show, Nadira Goffe. The two revisit last year’s episode breaking down the Tarte brand trip that took over TikTok now that one of the main stars of that debacle, Fannita Legett, is once again TikTok’s main character

This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After decades of wandering and job-hopping, Harvey Milk found his purpose as a gay community leader with growing political ambitions. But his historic election was just the beginning. As John Briggs’ gay teacher ban gained momentum, it was up to Supervisor Milk and his allies to figure out how to stop him. 

Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock all episodes of Slow Burn: Gays Against Briggs. Your subscription also gets you ad-free access to all your favorite Slate podcasts, plus other member exclusive content. Join now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Subscribe” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/slowburnplus to get access wherever you listen.

Season 9 of Slow Burn was written and produced by Christina Cauterucci. Slow Burn is produced by Kelly Jones, Joel Meyer, and Sophie Summergrad. 

Josh Levin is the editorial director of Slow Burn.

Derek John is Slate’s executive producer of narrative podcasts.

Susan Matthews is Slate’s executive editor.

Merritt Jacob is our senior technical director. We had engineering help from Patrick Fort and Madeline Ducharme.

Our theme music is composed by Alexis Cuadrado. Artwork by Ivylise Simones, based on an image of Silvana Nova and a poster designed by Larry Hermsen and the Too Much Graphics Collective. 

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