Slate Culture Feed

We’re back with a new batch of cultural mysteries! This year, we’re putting out more new episodes—like many more of them. We’ll be diving down a new rabbit hole every two weeks all year long. Starting with a question hiding in plain sight: why do so many coffee shops look the same? We’re also heading back to the early 1990s to ask if you can successfully sell a soda by celebrating that it’s just… OK?

You can hear these episodes and more on Decoder Ring — now in your feed every two weeks beginning Feb. 14. Make sure to follow us so you never miss an episode.

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Candice Lim is joined by culture critic and reporter Cyrena Touros to break down the battle between Universal Music Group and TikTok. On February 1, UMG started pulling their artists’ music from TikTok after their licensing contract expired. This meant creators weren’t able to interact with music from artists like Taylor Swift, Drake and Olivia Rodrigo. UMG claims this drastic move was necessary to ensure appropriate compensation for their artists and songwriters. But TikTok fired back, saying UMG was putting “their own greed above” the interests of UMG’s artists because TikTok is a free marketing and discovery platform for their talent. So who’s the real villain here and how will musicians and creators cope during this battle?

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

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On this week’s show, Extreme Friends of the Pod and co-authors of The World Only Spins Forward, Isaac Butler and Dan Kois, fill in for Dana Stevens and Julia Turner. The hosts begin by dissecting The Zone of Interest, filmmaker Jonathan Glazer’s audacious movie about the Holocaust that’s told through the lens of Nazi commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig as they live their somewhat ordinary lives in a compound outside of Auschwitz. The film has garnered both praise and severe critique from critics, many of whom are split on Glazer’s detached aesthetic and imaginative approach to depicting genocide. The Zone of Interest has racked up five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Then, the three dive into Nyad, the (maybe?) true story of marathon swimmer Diana Nyad, as she attempts to swim unassisted from Cuba to Florida. Annette Bening stars in the titular role alongside Jodie Foster, both of whom are up for Oscars (Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively). Finally, what is a good director, anyway? What does it look like, what does it mean, and is there a difference between producing, screenwriting, and directing – or is it some strange amalgamation of all three? These questions come from a listener, Emily, and the panel attempts to answer them. 

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel discusses their film preferences while airborne, inspired by David Mack’s essay for Slate, “What Makes a Perfect ‘Plane Movie’?”

Email us at [email protected]. 

Outro music: "Pull Me Out" by Mike Stringer.

Endorsements:

Isaac: Dheepan (2015), an exquisitely directed movie from filmmaker Jacques Audiard. In it, three Tamil refugees must pose as a family to flee war-torn Sri Lanka but land in a Paris suburb blighted by drugs. 

Dan: For anyone in or heading to New York, check out Cole Escola’s play “Oh Mary!” The comedian stars as a miserable, suffocated Mary Todd Lincoln and takes place in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. (You can also find Escola’s episode of Slate’s Working podcast here.) 

Steve: Rebecca Solnit’s meditation on the Bay Area, loneliness, and the human impulse towards succession: “In the Shadow of Silicon Valley” for the London Review of Books. 

Podcast production by Cameron Drews and Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong. 

Hosts

Isaac Butler, Dan Kois, Stephen Metcalf

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Super Bowl LVIII is this Sunday, amid decades of controversy surrounding football’s impact on traumatic brain injuries.

But for many athletes, these long-term effects can be felt well before making it to the pros: on high school and college teams.

On Well, Now this week: Maya and Kavita talk with physical therapist and concussion specialist John Doherty about the science surrounding youth contact sports and what we know about their relationship with brain injuries down the road.

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

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

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On today’s episode of Hear Me Out… dear colleague. 

The way universities and colleges handle sexual assault cases has changed a lot in the last 13 years. Part of that is because of the sheer vastness of the higher education system; everyone does everything differently.

But federal guidance has also shifted with each of the last three administrations… and our guest today argues that none of those systems have worked. In fact, they’ve all been unmitigated failures.

Lara Bazelon of the University of San Francisco joins us to argue that existing systems should be burned down — and replaced with restorative justice. 

If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: [email protected]

Podcast production by Maura Currie.

You can skip all the ads in Hear Me Out by joining Slate Plus! Sign up now at slate.com/hearmeoutplus for just $15 a month for your first three months.

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Dry January has come and gone, but the conversation about alcohol—and rethinking our relationship with it—is still very much with us. This week’s listener, Natalie, wants to move past the abundance vs. abstinence debate and talk about a third option: thoughtful moderation. In this episode, Courtney Martin brings on journalist Rosamund Dean, author of Mindful Drinking: How Cutting Down Can Change Your Life and Well, Well, Well, a Substack about living better, for longer. She shares how she found moderation through mindfulness—and how you can too. 

If you or someone you know is struggling with excessive drinking, consider contacting SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP. You can also find a local Alcoholics Anonymous meeting by visiting aa.org.

If you liked this episode, check out: How To Stick to Your New Year’s Resolutions

Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen.

How To’s executive producer is Derek John. Joel Meyer is our senior editor/producer and our producer is Rosemary Belson. 

Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now at slate.com/howtoplus.

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In this Money Talks, Bianca Bosker, author of “Get the Picture,” chats with Felix Salmon about her adventures going undercover in the fine art world. Bianca worked as a museum security guard and gallery assistant, among other gigs, and got an inside peak at the smoke and mirrors of creating, collecting, and curating.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and an additional segment of our show every week. You’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Slate Money. Sign up now at slate.com/moneyplus to help support our work.

Podcast production by Jared Downing and Cheyna Roth.

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Joel Anderson and Josh Levin are joined by the Athletic’s Chantel Jennings to discuss women’s college basketball stars JuJu Watkins and Caitlin Clark. The Washington Post’s Will Hobson also joins to talk about his piece on the broken promises of the NFL’s concussion settlement. Finally, U.S. senator and New York Knicks legend Bill Bradley discusses his one-man show Rolling Along.

Watkins and Clark (4:29): The biggest stars in women’s hoops are living up to the hype.

Concussion settlement (23:50): Retired players with dementia aren’t getting the money they believe they’re owed.

Rolling Along (44:24): Why the politician and basketball star is telling the story of his life.

Afterball (1:03:22): Josh on Zach LaVine, L.T. Levine, and athlete name homophones.

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This week, host Isaac Butler talks to Anthony Davis, a Pulitzer Prize winning opera composer whose work includes the 1986 opera X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, which was recently revived and produced for the Metropolitan Opera. In the interview, Anthony discusses the inspiration for X and the many genres he drew from to compose its music. He also talks about how to craft a story using music and why it’s important to him to make political art. 

After the interview, Isaac and co-host June Thomas discuss creative career pivots and the act of finding inspiration from eavesdropping. 

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Anthony and Isaac talk about their mutual love of science fiction. 

Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to [email protected] or give us a call at (304) 933-9675.

Podcast production by Cameron Drews.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus to help support our work.

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The number of TV streaming services is going up—and so is the cost and so are the number of ads. Cordcutters are finding themselves back to cable prices and inconveniences. And these changes don’t just impact the TV viewing experience - they impact the types of shows that get made in the first place. 

Guest: Alex Cranz, managing editor at the Verge. 

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