The Culture Gabfest, "The Three-Quarter Hour" Edition
Listen to Slate's show about the new BBC America program The Hour, the release of the West Memphis Three, and the deaths of songwriters Jerry Leiber and Nick Ashford.
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Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 153 with Stephen Metcalf, Dennis Riordan, Jody Rosen, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner by clicking the arrow on the audio player below or opening this player in another tab:
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In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner watch the new BBC America series The Hour, a Mad Men for the Anglophile set. Next, they're joined by attorney Dennis Riordan for a legal briefing on the West Memphis Three. (Riordan represented newly released defendant Damien Echols.) For their final segment, Gabfesters welcome Slate music critic Jody Rosen to discuss the legacy of songwriters Jerry Leiber and Nick Ashford, both of whom died this past week.
Here are some links to the things we discussed this week:
The official site of the new television series The Hour at BBC America.
Troy Patterson's review of The Hour at Slate.
New York magazine interview with one of the stars of The Hour, Dominic West.
NPR coverage of The Hour.
New York Times article on the release of the West Memphis Three.
The Wikipedia entry for the West Memphis Three.
A podcast about the case from the Arkansas Times.
Free the WM3 Support Fund official website.
Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder's efforts on behalf of the West Memphis Three.
New York Times obituaries for Jerry Leiber and Nick Ashford.
The best tunes by both Ashford and Leiber as selected by the Chicago Tribune.
Photo slide shows of Jerry Leiber and Nick Ashford at Rolling Stone.
NPR remembers Jerry Leiber and Nick Ashford.
The Culture Gabfest weekly endorsements:
Dana's pick: Pianist Andrew Rangell plays Bach's Six Partitas.
Julia's pick: The novel Freedom by Jonathan Franzen.
Jody's picks: The animated Bayeux Tapestry * and the Norwegian songwriting duo Stargate.
Steve's pick: It's time for an a-ha moment.
Outro: "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King
You can e-mail us at culturefest@slate.com.
This podcast was produced by Jesse Baker. Our intern is Matt Sigl.
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Correction, Aug. 24, 2011: This article originally misspelled Bayeux Tapestry. (Return to the corrected sentence.)