Slate's Spoiler Specials

On the Spoiler Special podcast, Slate critics discuss movies, the occasional TV show, and, once in a blue moon, another podcast, in full spoiler-filled detail. For a very special LIVE episode of Spoiler Specials, Slate’s Dana Stevens was joined by Sam Adams, Rachelle Hampton and Rebecca Onion to spoil the Hamilton movie that’s streaming on Disney+. They discuss how well the show has aged, historical inaccuracies, colorblind casting, and even the ending scene that doesn’t appear on the album. 

You can read Sam Adams’ dive into the ending here. 

You can hear more analysis from Dana Stevens here.  

You can even read Marissa Martinelli’s argument to not watch the film here.

Note: As the title indicates, this podcast contains spoilers galore.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and access to exclusive shows like Dana Stevens’ classic movies podcast Flashback. Sign up now to listen and support our work.

Email us at [email protected].

Podcast production by Rosemary Belson. A huge thank you to Faith Smith and Britt Pullie for producing the Slate Live event. 

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On the Spoiler Special podcast, Slate critics discuss movies, the occasional TV show, and, once in a blue moon, another podcast, in full spoiler-filled detail. This week, Dana Stevens, Slate’s movie critic, is joined by Aisha Harris, writer and editor for The New York Times’ Opinion section to spoil Da 5 Bloods.

Spike Lee’s newest film follows a group of Black Vietnam War veterans as they reunite years later. The group returns to Vietnam to find the remains of Stormin’ Norman, their commander who died during the war. While they are there, they try to retrieve a lost cache of CIA gold. At first the search seems easy–too easy. But soon familial tensions, lingering PTSD, and environmental hazards start complicating the mission. How many of the remaining Bloods will make it back out of the jungle?

Plus: Dana and Aisha break down Spike Lee’s employment of numerous film techniques, including an innovative use of four different aspect ratios. 

You can read Sam Adams’ review here. 

You can read Matthew Dessem’s piece on the aspect ratios here.

You can also read Matthew Dessem’s piece on the real story behind the landmine scene here. 

If you want to hear more analysis of Da 5 Bloods, listen to Slate’s Culture Gabfest here. 

Note: As the title indicates, this podcast contains spoilers galore.

Email us at [email protected].

Podcast production by Rosemary Belson. 

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and access to exclusive shows like Dana Stevens’ classic movies podcast Flashback. Sign up now to listen and support our work.

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

On the Spoiler Special podcast, Slate critics discuss movies, the occasional TV show, and, once in a blue moon, another podcast, in full spoiler-filled detail. We have a very special episode this week! Sam Adams is joined by Laura Miller to discuss the new Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Suzanne Collins’ new novel explores President Snow’s origin and descent into one dimensional villainy seen in the Hunger Games trilogy. The story departs from the YA dystopian genre that Collins’ trilogy helped shape. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a more sophisticated, philosophical examination of human nature and the battle of nature versus nurture. How does Coriolanus Snow regain the power and money his family lost during the war? What is his role in the spectacularization of the Hunger Games? What can The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes teach readers about the realities of living in a surveillance state? 

You can read Laura Miller’s review here. 

You can also read Lara Miller’s explanation of the unusual names in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes here.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and access to exclusive shows like Dana Stevens’ classic movies podcast Flashback. Sign up now to listen and support our work.

You can also check out past Spoiler Specials, and you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts. Note: As the title indicates, spoilers galore.

Email us at [email protected].

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

On the Spoiler Special podcast, Slate critics discuss movies, the occasional TV show, and, once in a blue moon, another podcast, in full spoiler-filled detail. This week, Slate’s Sam Adams is joined by Willa Paskin and Rachelle Hampton to spoil The Lovebirds, a romantic comedy starring Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani. Leilani (Issa Rae) and Jibran (Kumail Nanjiani) are a couple on the brink of a break up when they find themselves caught up in a murder mystery. 

You can read Sam Adam’s review here.

You can read Rachelle Hampton’s investigation into how ripped Kumail was during The Lovebirds here.

You can read Cornelia Channing’s milkshake investigation here.  

Note: As the title indicates, this podcast contains spoilers galore.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and access to exclusive shows like Dana Stevens’ classic movies podcast Flashback. Sign up now to listen and support our work.

Email us at [email protected].

Podcast production by Rosemary Belson. 

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

On the Spoiler Special podcast, Slate critics discuss movies, the occasional TV show, and, once in a blue moon, another podcast, in full spoiler-filled detail. This week, Slate’s Sam Adams, Matthew Dessem, and Daniel Schroeder spoil Hollywood. Ryan Murphy and co-creator Ian Brennan reimagine a more inclusive golden-age of filmmaking. While the first couple episodes of the Netflix series stay relatively grounded in reality, the series takes a sharp right turn into self-serving fantasy by simplifying the fight for equality and progress within Hollywood. 

You can read Sam Adam’s review here. 

You can read Matthew Dessem’s Fact Versus Fiction here.

Note: As the title indicates, this podcast contains spoilers galore.

Email us at [email protected].

Podcast production by Rosemary Belson.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and access to exclusive shows like Dana Stevens’ classic movies podcast Flashback. Sign up now to listen and support our work.

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

On the Spoiler Special podcast, Slate critics discuss movies, the occasional TV show, and, once in a blue moon, another podcast, in full spoiler-filled detail. This week, Slate podcast producer Daniel Schroeder and Slate staff writer Rachelle Hampton discuss Netflix’s new reality dating show: Too Hot to Handle. Ten attractive contestants are thrown together on an island to compete over a $100,000 prize. To win the money, they need to form bonds that are more than skin deep. The catch is they can’t have any sexual contact - even with themselves - for the remainder of “the retreat.” For every sexual encounter, the group loses money out of the prize pot. Can the sexy singles restrain themselves, even when workshops and drama challenges their resolve? 

You can read Rachelle Hampton’s review here.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and access to exclusive shows like Dana Stevens’ classic movies podcast Flashback. Sign up now to listen and support our work.

Note: As the title indicates, this podcast contains spoilers galore.

Email us at [email protected].

Podcast production by Rosemary Belson.

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

On the Spoiler Special podcast, Slate critics discuss movies, the occasional TV show, and, once in a blue moon, another podcast, in full spoiler-filled detail. This week, Sam Adams is joined by Slate’s Television Critic Willa Paskin to spoil Netflix’s hit documentary series Tiger King. The hit series is an increasingly sordid tale of wild characters conning each other out of zoos. The show’s standout character is Joe Exotic, whose charisma and personality are made for reality television. He has a long time feud with Carole Baskin, who runs the nonprofit Big Cat Rescue and is actively trying to shut private zoos down. Will Carole succeed? What happens when Joe tries to hire someone to murder Carole? And when will anyone focus on the questionable conditions forced on the big cats?

You can read Sam Adams’ review here and his story about the artists behind Joe Exotic’s music here. 

You can read Willa Paskin’s piece about Carole Baskin here. 

Note: As the title indicates, this podcast contains spoilers galore.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and access to exclusive shows like Dana Stevens’ classic movies podcast Flashback. Sign up now to listen and support our work.

Email us at [email protected].

Podcast production by Rosemary Belson. 

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

On the Spoiler Special podcast, Slate critics discuss movies, the occasional TV show, and, once in a blue moon, another podcast, in full spoiler-filled detail. This week, Slate staffers Marissa Martinelli, Daniel Schroeder, and Megan Kallstrom spoil Star Trek: Picard, which picks up years after Admiral Jean-Luc Picard has separated from Starfleet over ideological differences. The Star Trek legend has retreated into retirement on Earth when the daughter of an old friend—the android Data—shows up, leading Picard to amass a new crew to track down her sister before sinister forces beat him to it.

You can read Marissa Martinelli’s review here.

You can read Megan Kallstrom’s piece here. 

Note: As the title indicates, this podcast contains spoilers galore.

Email us at [email protected].

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and access to exclusive shows like Dana Stevens’ classic movies podcast Flashback. Sign up now to listen and support our work.

Podcast production by Rosemary Belson. 

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

Flashback is usually available only to Slate Plus members. Sign up now to listen to the archive and future episodes.

In the new episode of Flashback, movie critics Dana Stevens and K. Austin Collins discuss the psychological drama What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), directed by Robert Aldrich.

Other titles mentioned in the episode:

Sunset Boulevard (1950), directed by Billy Wilder

Limelight (1952), directed by Charlie Chaplin

All About Eve (1950), directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Singing in the Rain (1952), directed by Gene Kelly

Gypsy (1962), directed by Mervin LeRoy

Mommie Dearest (1981), directed by Frank Perry

Feud (2017), created by Ryan Murphy

Parachute Jumper (1933), directed by Alfred E. Green

Sadie McKee (1934), directed by Clarence Brown

Psycho (1960), directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Witness for the Prosecution (1957), directed by Billy Wilder

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), directed by Orson Welles

Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), directed by Robert Aldrich

What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969), directed by Lee H. Katzin and Bernard Girard

Kiss Me Deadly (1955), directed by Robert Aldrich

Three Days of the Condor (1975), directed by Sydney Pollack

Comments or suggestions? Email us at [email protected]

Production by Chau Tu.

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On the Spoiler Special podcast, Slate critics discuss movies, the occasional TV show, and, once in a blue moon, another podcast, in full spoiler-filled detail. This week, Slate Senior Editor Sam Adams is joined by Slate Staff Writer Rebecca Onion to spoil Contagion, Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 pandemic movie. Not dissimilar to the coronavirus, the fictional virus, MEV-1, started off transferring from infected animals to humans. MEV-1 infected Gwyneth Paltrow’s character on a work trip. Then she traveled back to the Midwest, spreading the virus. Can the institutions in charge find a vaccine before the virus decimates society? 

You can read Rebecca Onion’s piece about the lessons to take from Contagion here.

You can read Sam Adams’ interview with the screenwriter here. 

Note: As the title indicates, this podcast contains spoilers galore.

Email us at [email protected].

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and access to exclusive shows like Dana Stevens’ classic movies podcast Flashback. Sign up now to listen and support our work.

Podcast production by Rosemary Belson. 

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