Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 152 with Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, June Thomas, 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 welcome Boston Globe film critic Wesley Morris to discuss the new film The Help. Next, Gabfesters suggest their favorite methods for summer reading. For their final segment, they’re joined by Slate foreign editor and British expatriate June Thomas to discuss the recent riots in London.
Here are some links to the things we discussed this week:
The official site of the new movie The Help.
Dana’s review of The Help.
Wesley Morris’ review of The Help for the Boston Globe.
Entertainment Weekly on The Help.
Adam Skidelski’s biography of economist John Maynard Keynes.
The official website of wine merchant Kermit Lynch.
Kermit Lynch’s Adventures on the Wine Route.
The Wikipedia entry for Moby Dick.
Stanislavski’s An Actor Prepares.
Video of author Jeffrey Eugenides discussing his new book, The Marriage Plot.
Slate article about summer reads that are about, well, summer.
Enjoy your summer reading in your very own hammock.
Anne Applebaum on Slate about the recent London riots.
Slate article by Tom Rachman looking at the literary and cultural omens that preceded the London riots.
Bryan Curtis at Slate on the U.K.’s new brood of “angry young men.”
Video of the destruction and lawlessness that overtook the U.K., at TIME.
An article by Peter Hitchens at the Daily Mail blames the U.K.’s welfare state for the recent rioting.
The cellphone video of Hackney resident Pauline Pearce denouncing the rioters.
The Culture Gabfest weekly endorsements:
Dana’s pick: Smithsonian Folkways Radio at the Smithsonian website.
Julia’s pick: “Gatorade for hippies,” it’s coconut water!
Steve’s picks: Robert Elms’ weekly BBC Podcast on London life and history. Also, Vermont’s Shelburne Museum.
June’s pick: Popular website Tom & Lorenzo’s weekly analysis of Lifetime’s Project Runway.
Outro: “Wrapped Up in Books” by Belle and Sebastian.
You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.
This podcast was produced by Jesse Baker. Our intern is Matt Sigl.
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