Listen to Slate's show about the new Ken Burns documentary Prohibition, Ikea, and the corpulence of Chris Christie.

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 159 with Michael Kinsley, Stephen Metcalf, 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 raise their glasses to Ken Burns’ newest historical documentary, Prohibition. Next, they look at the Swedish furniture powerhouse Ikea. For their final segment, they’re joined by Bloomberg columnist and Slate founding editor Michael Kinsley to discuss his recent Bloomberg article about Chris Christie, obesity, and presidential politics.

Here are some links to the things we discussed this week:

Troy Patterson’s Slate review of Ken Burns’ new documentary series Prohibition.
The New York Times’ review of Prohibition.
CBS Sunday Morning’s feature on prohibition, including an interview with Burns.
Daniel Okrent’s new book Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition.
Daniel Okrent: Fantasy baseball pioneer.
Lauren Collins’ New Yorker article “House Perfect.” ($)
The New Yorker’s “Ask the Author Live” with Lauren Collins.
“Easy to Assemble,” a Web series about an out-of-work actress attempting a “normal” job at the Burbank Ikea.
How to hack your Ikea furniture.
Forever 21 and fast fashion, at Slate.
Ikea’s official site.
Michael Kinsley’s Bloomberg article, “Requiem for a Governor Before He’s in the Ring.”
Slate’s Daniel Engber on Chris Christie’s weight in 2009, and again, just this past week.
Frank Bruni’s Sunday column at the New York Times, “The Round and the Oval.”
The Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson wants Christie to “eat a salad.”
Don't forget, diet has been a presidential campaign issue before.

The Culture Gabfest weekly endorsements:

Dana’s pick: Take a technological sabbatical this weekend.
Julia’s pick: Eartha Kitt sings “I Want to be Evil.”
Michael’s pick: Ikea, especially their indecipherable instruction manuals.
Steve’s pick: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman.

Outro: Eartha Kitt, “I Want to Be Evil”

You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.

This podcast was produced by Jesse Baker. Our intern is Matt Sigl.

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