Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 21 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 Culture Gabfest podcast feed in iTunes by clicking here.

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the Malcolm Gladwell phenomenon, Michelle Obama's role as first lady and mom-in-chief, and the post-Obama buzz kill of Prop 8.

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

Malcolm Gladwell's latest book, Outliers: The Story of Success.
Jason Zengerle's article on Malcolm Gladwell in New York magazine.
A Slate "Book Club" about Outliers.
Rebecca Traister's article on the "momification" of Michelle Obama in Salon.
Slate's article on the Obama marriage.
Slate's "XX Factor" blog post on Michelle, Hillary Clinton, and Sarah Palin.
The Michelle Obama biography that played at the DNC.
A Slate article comparing the fight over gay marriage with the civil rights movement.
Background info on Prop 8.

The Culture Gabfest weekly endorsements:

Dana's pick: David Garland's Evening Music show on WNYC.
Julia's pick: Beyoncé's latest songs, "Single Ladies" and "If I Were a Boy."
Stephen's pick: Charles Mingus' Mingus Plays Piano.

You can reach the Culture Gabfest at culturefest@slate.com.

Posted on Nov. 19 by Amanda Aronczyk at 11:45 a.m.

Nov. 6, 2008

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 20 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 weekly Culture Gabfest podcast feed in iTunes by clicking here.

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Obama, Obama, and Obama. What happened with the election, how the media covered it, and what lies ahead for culture under future President Barack Obama.

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

President-elect Barack Obama's election-night speech in Chicago.
Kevin Phillips on the "Southern strategy" in his book, The Emerging Republican Majority.
How CNN's holograms work.
CNN's bio for John King.
Troy Patterson's Slate piece on the television coverage of election night.
The New York Times' interactive election results.
The FiveThirtyEight Web site.
Walt Whitman's preface to Leaves of Grass.
David Simon's HBO seriesThe Wire.
The Bernie Mac filmSoul Men.

The Culture Gabfest weekly endorsements:

Dana's pick: The Giorgio Morandi survey at the Met. If you don't live in New York, check out Slate's slide-show essay on the exhibition.
Julia's pick: Timothy Crouse's book, The Boys on the Bus.
Stephen's picks: The Donovan song "Catch the Wind" and Paul Berman's book A Tale of Two Utopias.

You can reach the Culture Gabfest at culturefest@slate.com.

Posted by Amanda Aronczyk on Nov. 6, 2008 at 12:14 p.m.

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 19 with Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner by clicking the arrow on the audio player below: You can also download the program blog, or you can subscribe to the weekly Culture Gabfest podcast feed in iTunes by clicking here.

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the unexpected catharsis they felt watching Oliver Stone's W. Then, in a special lightning round, they revisit past Gabfest topics, including the ongoing Fey/Palin tragicomedy, Rachel Maddow, and the future of the current environmental movement.

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

The official Web site for Oliver Stone's film W.
Dana's Slate review of W.
Slate's conversation about W. with Oliver Stone, Ron Suskind, and Jacob Weisberg, and Bob Woodward.
Curtis Sittenfeld's American Wife: A Novel about Laura Bush.
Slate's Audio Book Club on American Wife.
Jacob Weisberg's book The Bush Tragedy.
Sarah Palin's latest appearance on Saturday Night Live.
Slate's "XX Factor" blog's discussion of Palin's SNL stint.
Michael Pollan's recent article in the New York Times Magazine.
Cormac McCarthy's novel The Road.
Stephen Metcalf's tomato.

The Culture Gabfest weekly endorsements:

Dana's pick: James Wolcott's Vanity Fair blog.
Julia's pick: oatmeal, brought to you by Starbucks.
Stephen's pick: Claudia Roth Pierpont's collection of essays, Passionate Minds: Women Rewriting the World.

You can reach the Culture Gabfest at culturefest@slate.com.

Posted by Amanda Aronczyk on Oct. 22, 2008 at 11:08 a.m.