Listen to Slate's show about the week in culture.

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the new Batman movie The Dark Knight, The New Yorker's cover depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as anti-American mujahideen, and the mysterious relationship between Madonna and Alex Rodriguez. 

Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned in the show:

The Dark Knight Web site.
The New Yorker cover depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as anti-American fist-bumpers.
Jack Shafer's critique of the members of the press fretting about the corrupting power of the cover.
Christopher Beam's confession that in a roundabout way, he might be the one who gave rise to the cover in the first place.
The New York Times' Bill Carter's piece asking why comedians have such trouble making fun of Obama.
Us Weekly'stake on the A-Rod-Madonna liaison.
The New Yorker's explanation of how Kabbalah figures in.
Madonna's history with '80s slugger Jose Canseco.

The Culture Gabfest weekly endorsements:

Julia's pick: Curtis Sittenfeld's forthcoming novel American Wife, a fictionalized portrait of Laura Bush.
Dana's pick: Carla Bozulich's album Red Headed Stranger, a song-by-song remake of Willie Nelson's classic concept album.
Stephen's pick: Haven in a Heartless World, by American historian Christopher Lasch.

Posted by Matt Lieber on July 17 at 10:45 a.m.

July 2, 2008

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 11 with Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

You can also download the program here, or you can subscribe to the biweekly Culture Gabfest podcast feed in iTunes by clicking here.

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the re-release of Liz Phair's feminist indie-rock masterpiece Exile in Guyville, the media's semihysterical reaction to news of a "pregnancy pact" among teenage girls at a high school in Gloucester, Mass., and the death of comedian George Carlin.