Slate Culture Feed

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by writer Sonia Weiser to discuss her piece, “I Made My Dating Profile Weird on Purpose. It’s Surprisingly Effective.” People have been frustrated with dating apps for some time, but now the rise of AI has made profiles boring and inauthentic. When everyone looks and talks the same, it’s even harder to find a spark. Instead, Sonia and a number of other dating app users have decided to stop taking the apps so seriously, and use them to shitpost their way to finding love instead. 

This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, and Kate Lindsay.

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These days, country and pop acts regularly invade each other’s territory. But in Nashville during the 1970s, “crossover” was a dirty word. Then came two rising stars who offered up a new hybrid of Americana-style pop.

John Denver infused his folk balladry with homespun lyrics about country roads and wide-open skies. Olivia Newton-John sang over twangy melodies that belied her British-Australian roots. Both faced backlash—especially when they started topping the country and pop charts simultaneously and winning prizes that used to go to Nashville legends.

Eventually, both artists outgrew country music. Denver became a ubiquitous entertainer and beloved Muppet wingman. Newton-John dazzled in the film Grease, then reinvented herself as a leather-clad siren unafraid to get physical.

Join Chris Molanphy as he traces the parallel rise of two country-pop titans from the Rocky Mountains to Xanadu.

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Three weeks ago, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum shared an unusual tweet: a cartoon image of himself with his arm draped around a giant, anthropomorphized lump of coal. This piece of coal has big googly eyes and a smudge of a nose, and is wearing a safety vest and a hard hat. He is, frankly, adorable—and he has a name: Coalie.

When Coalie first appeared on the internet, he went viral—ridiculed on social media, in newsletters, and even on late night talk shows. And that’s because this big-eyed, cute piece of coal was widely understood to be coal propaganda, a tool to soften the coal industry’s image.

But the truth about Coalie is more complicated. His origins tell a story about what it’s like for federal employees to try to do their work while navigating the Trump administration’s agenda. Coalie may be widely seen as a mascot for coal mining, but that’s not what he was made for.

In this episode, you’ll hear from Simone Randolph, Director of Communications for the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE); Sara Eckert, formerly of OSMRE; Slate staff writer Nitish Pahwa; and Leah Stokes, who researches climate and energy policy at the University of California, Santa Barbara and co-hosts the podcast A Matter of Degrees.

Thank you to Daniel Raimi, Tony Ho Tran, and Hannah Northey.

This episode was written by Willa Paskin and Evan Chung and produced by Evan Chung, Decoder Ring’s supervising producer. Our show is also produced by Max Freedman and Katie Shepherd. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.

If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at [email protected] or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.

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On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Kat Tenbarge, who wrote “There's nothing funny about the Epstein Files,” to discuss how the internet has turned Jeffrey Epstein into a meme. While dark humor has long been a way to process tragic events, online shitposts about the sex offender and alleged sex trafficker risk minimizing his crimes. Instead of justice, the public is using the newly-released files to score internet points at the expense of victims. 

This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, and Kate Lindsay.

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The sugarcane fields! La casita! Piraguas! Lady Gaga! Ricky Martin! An actual wedding! Bad Bunny’s immense and boisterous Super Bowl Halftime show brought a whole Puerto Rican universe to Levi’s Stadium and into American viewers’ homes. Julia and guest hosts Nadira Goffe and Rebecca Onion revel in the joyful spectacle and are joined by Slate writer Joshua Rivera to decode the inclusive politics of this party. 

Next, the panel examines the bracing, anxiety-inducing film If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. Starring a ferocious and funny Rose Byrne and directed by Mary Bronstein, it’s a jittery, intense portrait of motherhood.

Finally, they discuss the hugely popular podcast The Rest Is History and ponder how two British dudes—Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook—talking about things like the Battle of Carthage captured so much attention and admiration.

In an exclusive bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, it’s time for some Wednesday morning quarterbacking to size up the big game’s real players: the commercials.

Endorsements

Nadira: The new album of footwork music OVERTIME by the underground hip hop outfit usertime and Marsh crane as well as the new album URGH by the English–French noise rock band Mandy, Indiana.

Rebecca: The novel The Director by Daniel Kehlmann and the 2011 appropriately moody Bronte adaptation Wuthering Heights directed by Andrea Arnold.

Julia: The new cookbook by Joshua McFadden Six Seasons of Pasta — try all the absurd little steps at least once, the cheese gravel is good!

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Email us your thoughts at [email protected]. 

Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.

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On the air, Yesi Ortiz is a warm, flirty host for a popular L.A. hip hop station. Off the air, she’s a single mother of six adopted kids. Managing both roles, plus romance, is a challenge.

This episode originally aired in 2015. 

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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].

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Hosts Alex Kirshner, Lindsay Gibbs, and Ben Lindbergh break down the Seattle Seahawks’ brickwall defense in the Super Bowl, plus Bad Bunny’s refreshing halftime performance.

The panel then pivots to the stranger corners of the NBA trade deadline before welcoming college sports writer Jesse Dougherty, who discusses his experience as part of the Washington Post sports desk that was recently eliminated in a round of mass layoffs.

Ben has an Afterball on Team USA’s World Baseball Classic glow-up.

On the bonus episode, available exclusively for Slate Plus members, the panel talks about week one of the Olympics.

Super Bowl (3:06): The Only Thing More Powerful Than Hate Is Love

NBA Trades (22:10): Anthony Davis is banished to Washington

Washington Post cuts (39:36): A historic sports section is no more

Afterballs (01:04:44): Ben on a new WBC dream team

(Note: time codes are only accurate for Slate Plus members, who listen ad-free.)

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You can email us at [email protected].

Podcast production and editing by Kevin Bendis, with production assistance from Patrick Fort.

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On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Mia Sato, reporter at The Verge and author of the recent piece, “The rise of the slopagandist.” Creators like Nick Shirley are claiming to be journalists, making unfounded accusations against immigrants that directly result in ICE raids, including the unrest in Minneapolis that resulted in the death of two civilians. The content is lazy and designed to generate outrage, but is only becoming more influential as traditional journalism continues to decline. 

This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, and Kate Lindsay.

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This week, Steve, Dana and guest host Sam Adams talk anti-authoritarian art in its many forms. First, they take up It Was Just an Accident, the Cannes Palme d’Or-winning film by Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi. Inspired in part by Panahi’s own experience being imprisoned for critiquing the Iranian government, his new film—made in secret from the regime— holds back little in its sharp political critique, rage, and… a surprising amount of comedy.

Not surprising in its amount of comedy— but maybe in its frequently anti-authoritarian politics—is Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! The documentary series about the showbiz legend, produced by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio, is a loving portrait of the long, unmatched, and revolutionary in its own way, career of Brooks.

Inspired by the recent release “Streets of Minneapolis” by Bruce Springsteen, the panel dedicates its final segment to the state of protest music in 2026. Joined by music critic Carl Wilson, of the Slate and Crritic!, they discuss the long tradition and still potent power of singer/songwriters with acoustic guitars—and the many political artists who defy that stereotype. To hear some of the music they talked about, plus several more current protest songs, check out our 2026 Protest Playlist.

In our bonus episode for Plus subscribers, the gang eulogizes the divine comic genius of Catherine O’Hara.

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On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Alex Kirshner, Slate contributing writer and host of Hang Up And Listen. Back in September, Alex wrote about Brick, the plastic gadget he says “broke his phone addiction.” It seems like now more than ever, people want off their phones, and are trying everything from Brick to dumb phones to make it happen. They’re also, ironically, posting all about it, which begs the question: Do we really want to get offline, or do we just want people to think we do? 

This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, and Kate Lindsay.

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