Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 173 with 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 weigh in on House of Lies, Showtime’s new comedy set in the world of corporate consultants. Next, they consider the possible hazards in the practice of yoga. For their final segment, Gabfesters lament the closing of bargain retailer Filene’s Basement.

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

The New York Times’ feature article on House of Lies.
New York’s interview with House of Lies star Don Cheadle.
Forbes’ Laurie Kauffman, a real-life financial consultant, on House of Lies. 
Entertainment Weekly’s review of House of Lies.
The “mimetic fallacy,” explained.
Showtime’s House of Lies official site.
Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles.
William J. Broad’s New York Times article, “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body.”
Salon’s Irin Carmon thinks the New York Times doesn’t tell the whole story.
Ashtanga Yoga New York’s blog post, “How the NYT Can Wreck Yoga.”
Belief.net’s Om Sweet Om blog has a critical analysis of Broad’s New York Times article.
William J. Broad’s upcoming book The Science of Yoga.
The New York Times’ report on the closing of Filene’s Basement.
Boston’s NPR station WBUR remembers the original Filene’s Basement.
Slate’s Matt Yglesias on the top stocks of 2011, including discount retailers Ross and T.J. Maxx.

The Culture Gabfest weekly endorsements:

Dana’s pick: Krista Tippett’s radio program On Being with guest Rosanne Cash.
Julia’s pick: Fresh Air host Terry Gross’ NPR interview with Jimmy Fallon. Also, the Lykke Li song “I Follow Rivers.”
Stephen’s pick: The writing of Andy Beckett in the Guardian. Also, the timeless insight of David Hume, as explored in The New Republic and Wired. Plus, indie band the xx.

 Outro: Lykke Li’s “I Follow Rivers”

You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.

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

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