Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 157 with Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, Seth Stevenson, and Julia Turner by clicking the arrow on the audio player below or opening this player in another tab:
Don’t miss a single episode of the Culture Gabfest. Subscribe to the free Culturefest podcast in iTunes or directly with our RSS feed. You can also download this week’s episode here. And join the lively conversation on the Culturefest Facebook here:
In this week’s Culture Gabfest, our critics Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner spar about the new crime thriller Drive, and take a look at Ashton Kutcher’s debut on the season premiere of CBS’ popular sitcom Two and a Half Men. For their final segment, they’re joined by Slate contributor Seth Stevenson to discuss Seth’s virgin trip to Burning Man, a weeklong counterculture festival held annually in the Nevada desert.
Here are some links to the things we discussed this week:
Dana’s Slate review of Drive.
A.O. Scott’s review of Drive in the New York Times.
David Edelstein’s review of Drive in New York.
A ridiculous video interview with Ryan Gosling and Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn.
The official site of Drive.
Movieline’s interactive map of Drive’s Los Angeles locations.
The official site of Two and a Half Men.
Troy Patterson’s Slate review of Two and a Half Men from earlier this year.
Joanna Weiss’ look at meanness of Two and a Half Men in Slate.
NPR’s Monkey See blog on the season premiere and the departure of Sheen.
The New York Times’ Artsbeat blog on Two and a Half Men and the Charlie Sheen roast.
Seth Stevenson’s Slate series on Burning Man.
The official site of Burning Man.
The New York Times on the changing financial structure of the annual event.
At Wired, a Burning Man photo gallery.
The New York Times on Rod Garrett, a Burning Man founder who died this year.
The Los Angeles Times calls Burning Man a “hot academic topic.”
The Culture Gabfest weekly endorsements:
Dana’s pick: Turner Classic Movie’s Twitter account @nextontcm
Julia’s pick: The new CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls.
Seth’s pick: Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings’ new book Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks.
Steve’s picks: Elvis Costello sings “Rocking Horse Road” and “Shipbuilding” on the Scottish talk show Kristy. Also, the Seattle folk band Fleet Foxes.
Outro: Elvis Costello performing “Shipbuilding.”
You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.
This podcast was produced by Jesse Baker. Our intern is Matt Sigl.
Follow us on the new Culturefest Twitter feed. And please Like the Culture Gabfeston Facebook.
