Slate Culture Feed

In a matter of days, Jimothy the raccoon went from a neighborhood mascot to a viral sensation. But unlike the internet animals who came before him, Jimothy has no owners, and isn’t protected by a zoo. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Garbage Day researcher and editor Adam Bumas to talk about how Jimothy stole the hearts of the internet (except for Kate) and what that could mean for his future. Not only has he had to adapt to his disability in the wild, but now anyone hoping to catch a glimpse could find him, and potentially harm him in pursuit of their own viral moment. 

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

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

The man behind artful and goofy comedies like The Righteous Gemstones and Eastbound and Down talks about finding his people at an upstart public film program in North Carolina, crafting characters that are nothing like himself, and nurturing a community of like-minded filmmaker friends far away from Hollywood. 

He also discusses his new short story collection Thrilling Tales of Modern Men. 

Podcast production by Cameron Drews. 

Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.

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 email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is [email protected].

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Is AI romance inevitable? And who are the people in these relationships? Bridget Todd, host of There Are No Girls On The Internet, joins us to talk about her new audiobook Love At First Prompt, where she speaks to real people who have found solace and comfort with AI chatbots.

Get more of ICYMI with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of ICYMI and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the ICYMI show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/icymiplus for access wherever you listen.

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

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

Jay-Z recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of his debut Reasonable Doubt with a three-night residency at Yankee Stadium featuring superstar guests like Pharrell, Nas, Alicia Keys and, of course, Beyoncé. The marathon event was a tribute to one of rap’s most influential and successful icons—but it was also a reminder that many of Jay-Z's biggest hits were collaborations that showcased the talents of other—often women—artists.

Join Chris Molanphy as he traces the decades-long history of Hova’s hitmaking, and how he deftly sought the assistance of female collaborators to push his biggest songs to No. 1.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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

The app-ification of dating has made meeting people even more difficult. But no one ever talks about what comes after: when you are in a relationship with someone, and have brand new digital etiquette to decipher. When do you hard launch? How much should you post each other? And is it really that bad if they’re still liking other people’s thirst traps? On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Slate senior editor Tony Ho Tran, whose long-term relationship took place mainly online before the pair could live in the same place. While there are still plenty of digital minefields out there, could the thing that ruined dating actually be responsible for making relationships…better?

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

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

In the mid-1970’s, a small college radio station created an evening program catering to a new socioeconomic group referred to as the “new Black middle class.” The show was called “The Quiet Storm” and it grew so popular that an entire genre of music would spring up alongside it.  Artists like Anita Baker, Luther Vandross, and many more would find massive success in the genre, performing smooth and sexy songs you could turn on after a long day.  

Audio producer Christopher Johnson made a piece about The Quiet Storm for the legendary podcast about design 99% Invisible and he joins Anna to talk about why Quiet Storm music will always feel like home to him.

You can listen to The Quiet Storm playlist from 99% Invisible here and check out the seasons of Slow Burn that Christopher worked on here:  Season 3 - Biggie and Tupac and Season 4 - David Duke.  

This episode was produced for DSM by Andrew Dunn. 

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].

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

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An uncomfortable amount of the internet has been influenced by Barstool Sports. Many prominent online figures, particularly women, hail from the website, and the media company has planted its flag in everything from internet culture to crypto. Upon reading founder Dave Portnoy’s memoir, however, all Scaachi Koul found was an angry man made up of grudges. In this episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Koul to talk about Barstool’s legacy, its secret influence on the internet, and why, despite this, Dave Portnoy is so bitter about it all.

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

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

Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon is one of the most played, purchased and praised albums of all time. Yet its enduring legacy might be its supernatural chart longevity. Officially, the 1973 long-player has spent nearly a thousand weeks on the Billboard album chart. But that number probably understates its past performance, not to mention its future potential, with new generations of teenagers discovering Dark Side every year

Join Chris Molanphy as he explores Pink Floyd's deathless totem and traces the band’s evolution from ’60s psychedelic curios to dorm-room poster icons. Will Dark Side be able to hold onto the all-time Billboard record into the 2030s?

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Get more Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for bonus episodes of "The Bridge" and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen.

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Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket have expanded from letting people bet on just sports to everything from political events to reality TV, and even the weather. But by injecting financial incentives into things like disease outbreaks, we’re even more susceptible to bad actors and manipulation. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by creator Austin Evans to talk about the spread of prediction markets, and how a tool once believed to help us make sense of society ended up making everything even more chaotic.  

***GET TICKETS TO OUR LIVE SHOW HERE!!!!***

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

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

Most of us use GPS—the Global Positioning System—on a daily basis: to find our location when we’re driving, running, shopping, dating, and so much more. But GPS is even more important, and more vulnerable, than you think.

In the last few years, GPS interference has been reported all over the world, from war zones to shipping routes to public squares. What was once the fanciful plot of a Bond movie—bad guy manipulates GPS to start World War III—is increasingly plausible. How did the world come to rely so heavily on such an unreliable system?

In this episode of Decoder Ring, host Willa Paskin talks to journalist Katherine Dunn, author of the new book Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World. You’ll learn how GPS works, why it was created, how it became so ubiquitous, and why it’s now under attack. You’ll also hear from Dr. Todd Humphreys, an aerospace engineer who manipulated GPS to trick an $85 million superyacht into following his direction—for science, of course.

This episode was written and produced by Max Freedman. It was edited by Willa Paskin and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Our intern is Phoebe Mulder.

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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Sources for This Episode 

Burgess, Matt. “When a tanker vanishes, all the evidence points to Russia,” WIRED, Sep. 21, 2017.

Dunn, Katherine. Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2026.

Dunn, Katherine. “How to Hack a Superyacht,” The Walrus, Jun. 13, 2026.

Hopper, Nate. “The Thorny Problem of Keeping the Internet’s Time,” The New Yorker, Sep. 30, 2022.

Hopper, Nate. “The Timekeeper of Ukraine,” The Atlantic, Sep. 21, 2024.

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