Slate Culture Feed

John Dickerson talks with author David E. Sanger about his new book, New Cold Wars. They discuss how Russia and China came to reach their new levels of power, the role the Middle East and Obama Administration played in all of this, and more.

Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at [email protected]. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

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On today’s episode, Rachelle and Candice answer listener questions about the rapid rise of Donghua Jinlong, a Chinese company that manufactures glycine. Over the past few weeks, paradoxically deadpan and impassioned videos about the high quality of Donghua Jinlong’s products have taken over TikTok. Are teens actually consuming industrial grade chemicals? Or is something even weirder happening?

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.

In this episode, Bassey Ikpi (New York Times bestselling essay collection, I’m Telling the Truth but I’m Lying) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about an international sisters’ trip gone awry, a husband’s struggle to live with his wife’s mental health issues, and an uncomfortable situation between coworkers.

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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Nostalgia for the 1990s is everywhere, and for a generation of African Americans, perhaps nothing symbolizes the fun of that decade more than Freaknik. A sprawling days-long festival of all the good –and bad– of spring break behavior, at its height, Freaknik drew tens of thousands of partiers each year from around the country to Atlanta. So why did the party stop, and is there any way it could ever come back again?

On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson discusses the Hulu documentary Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told with director P. Frank Williams and executive producer Geraldine Porras..

Guests: P. Frank Williams and Geraldine Porras, the director and executive producer of Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told on Hulu.

Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel

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For this week’s episode of Working Overtime, hosts Ronald Young Jr. and Isaac Butler examine a listener’s question about tackling the stickiest aspects of collaborating on a creative project. Both hosts have had their fair share of nightmare scenarios, but they agree that some of the best practices for collaborating involve having frank conversations before a project begins. 

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 Kevin Bendis and Cameron Drews.

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Candice Lim is joined by We Signed An NDA co-host Ann Maddox, who you may know as Tom Sandoval’s former personal assistant. In March 2023, Maddox was teaching improv to a middle school in Japan when she found out Sandoval and his then-girlfriend Ariana Madix had split. At first, Maddox assumed this was simply routine tabloid fodder, which often plagued her employers as long-time cast members on Vanderpump Rules. But one specific photograph made her realize the rumors were true, which escalated into one of 2023’s biggest online watercooler moments: “Scandoval.” Maddox joins the show to discuss how she got into this line of work, what she knew when Scandoval went down, and what it’s like to have your personal and professional life dissected online.

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.

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 [email protected]. 

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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This week Bryan talks to writer Neil J. Young about his new book Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right. They dig into some of the inherent contradictions of the Gay Right and the pillars of their political strategy and reveal how central whiteness and maleness is to their politic. 

Podcast production by Palace Shaw.

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April is Autism Acceptance Month, and how we’ve come to understand autism has evolved over the past several decades. 

For years, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was thought of as something that needed to be cured. Through better data and years of activism, that misunderstanding is changing.

On this week’s episode of Well, Now we discuss that evolution with Sara Luterman, caregiving reporter for The 19th.

Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry and Ahyiana Angel with editorial oversight by Alicia Montgomery.

Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to [email protected] 

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Patric Gagne says being a sociopath is like having an emotional learning disability. In this episode, she talks about the good and the bad of having limited access to shame and guilt, how she overcame violent compulsions, and becoming a wife and mother. 

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And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is [email protected].

Podcast production by Zoe Azulay.

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