Slate Culture Feed

Jennifer is about to send her oldest child off to college in the fall—and her kid isn’t the only one who’s anxious about the transition. On this episode of How To!, host Carvell Wallace and Jennifer talk with Christine Self, director of parent and family relations at Texas Tech University, about navigating a huge change, making the most of campus visits, talking about alcohol, and how much access you actually need to your kid’s life.

Resources mentioned: 

You're On Your Own (But I'm Here If You Need Me) by Marjorie Savage

College Ready

Grown and Flown

If you liked this episode check out: How To Take a Gap Year and How To Pick a College (and Actually Afford It).

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.

The show is produced by Rosemary Belson, with Kevin Bendis. Our technical director is Merritt Jacob and our supervising producer is Joel Meyer.

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Long before Celine Song was nominated for an Academy Award for her directorial debut, Past Lives, she was a struggling playwright in New York City with a side hustle: matchmaking. In this episode, Celine talks about how that experience inspired the plot of her new A24 movie, Materialists, starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal.

This podcast was produced by Zoe Azulay. 

Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.

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, Ben Lindbergh and  Lindsay Gibbs break down the NBA Finals and the savvy draft and trade decisions that led to this year’s showdown between two small-market teams. They also unpack the NHL Finals rematch between Edmonton and Florida and whether a Canadian team can finally reclaim glory. Finally, they speak with New York Times sports business reporter Ken Belson about looming tax code changes proposed by the Trump administration that could spell major headaches for NFL owners.

On the bonus episode available exclusively for Slate Plus members, the panel discusses the vibe-crushing  “foul up 3,” strategy plaguing the end of high-stakes NBA games. 

NBA Finals (4:41): Pacers vs. Thunder

NHL Finals (19:49): Panthers vs. Oilers

Sports Tax Issues (31:10): Will Trump kneecap sports team owners?

(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 Ben Richmond.

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On this episode: Zak, Elizabeth and Jamilah help a listener who just got told that her toddler is overweight. Now, she’s wishing the pediatrician hadn’t said anything — and she’s also feeling like she failed as a parent. So, we’re here to explain how she didn’t fail… and talk about what healthy bodies can look like.

And then, we’ll circle up for a round of checkins… and on Slate Plus, we muse on whether it’s just a phase.

If you’re not part of the Slate Plus community, we hope you’ll consider joining! Keep reading to learn how.

Zak’s check-in: un-unibrow?

Elizabeth’s check-in: date with Oliver <3  

Jamilah’s check-in: age brackets 

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

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Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay are joined by Sara Petersen, author of Momfluenced, to chat about season two of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Mormon women once pioneered mommy blogging, so how did we get from vlogging to…swinging? The influencers who make up the reality show cast, known as “MomTok,” claim their racy antics are breaking stigmas and modernizing gender roles. In reality, they’re weaponizing their misunderstanding of feminism for their own personal gain. 

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

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The story of Nevermind, Nirvana’s genre-defining breakthrough, is a familiar one. Less well known is the saga of Billboard’s Modern Rock chart—and how college-rock staples of the 1980s like R.E.M. and The Cure gave way to heavier, more commercially dominant groups of the ‘90s like Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and The Smashing Pumpkins. What sparked the grungification of the charts? How did Modern Rock become the new Top 40? And how did the Seattle sound pave the way for post-grunge bands like Sublime, Third Eye Blind, and even Creed?

Join Chris Molanphy as he explores alternative rock’s evolution from the cutting edge to the middle of the road.

Podcast production by Olivia Briley and Kevin Bendis

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In this episode, Jenée is joined by Seema Yasmin, an Emmy Award-winning journalist, poet, medical doctor, author, and professor.

Together, they’ll help a listener set on decorating their home with their old burlesque photos and posters without looking too narcissistic, another feeling isolated when her friends invite her ex-girlfriend to parties and events, a listener upset that their friend didn’t stick up for them after their music choices got them labeled a “horrific bigot,” and a listener concerned their friends are becoming doomsday preppers.  

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This week’s podcast is produced by Jenée Desmond Harris, Maura Currie, and Daisy Rosario, with special thanks to Anuli Ononye and Sophie Summergrad.

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On this episode: Zak, Elizabeth and Jamilah are talking about a tricky dynamic between a stepson and his step-grandparents. Our listener doesn’t differentiate between her stepson and her bio kids in her home — but when her parents interact with the kids, it’s a different story. So, our listener is wondering what’s normal… and how to patch up this issue with her husband, who’s upset by it.

After that, of course, we’ll circle up for a round of triumphs and fails.

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie. 

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Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay are going back to college and telling the tale of two Greek life chefs on TikTok. Kevin Ashton gained almost 5 million followers after posting recipes and behind-the-scenes footage of his life as a sorority house chef at the University of Nevada, Reno. Beloved by students who review his meals on their accounts, Ashton has brought a new spotlight onto the less glamorous side of Greek life. In contrast, pastry chef Grant Grocost has found an audience taking his followers into the messy frat house he cooks for at the University of Tennessee. Both chefs have gained traction from fans who create videos comparing the two and specifically their relationships to the students they cook for. But is the beef between Kevin and Grant, or between TikTok and Greek life?

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay, with production assistance from Kevin Bendis.

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On this week’s show an all-star team of super agents join Julia to gab including guest host Amy Nicholson, film critic for the Los Angeles Times. Their first mission: Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, the supposed final installment of the Tom Cruise action juggernaut. Like Cruise on to a vintage biplane, Dana jumps on the call to discuss all the film’s death-defying stunts, clunky exposition, and lasting cultural impact.

Next, they’re joined by Slate senior editor Rebecca Onion to dish on Sirens, Netflix’s pastel-hued dramedy starring Meghan Fahey, Milly Alcock, and Julianne Moore. Finally, Slate’s music critic Carl Wilson arrives to grapple with the hugely successful, but critically polarizing, new Morgan Wallen album I’m the Problem.

In an exclusive Plus segment, Amy, fresh from the Riviera, shares with Julia and Dana her favorite films and moments from the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.

Endorsements:

Amy: The 19th season of the British game show Taskmaster, wherein a group of comedians are made to do impossible tasks by host Greg Davies.

Carl: The Mock Trial-centric live episode of the musical improv podcast Off Book, and the podcast itself while you’re at it. 

Julia: The quintessentially American, summertime experience of eating a hotdog on a ferry as well as the 2011 film Money Ball.

You can also hear more from Amy on her podcast Unspooled and from Carl on his substack Crritic!. 

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Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch.

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