Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 196 with Kathryn Bowers, Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

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Our sponsor of today’s show is Bloodman, the new thriller by Robert Pobi. Get your copy in Kindle edition, paperback or hardcover.

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On this week’s Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the recent revelation that HGTV’s hit show House Hunters is staged and whether there’s something sinister about shows that hype home ownership after the crash. Our Gabfesters are then joined by Kathryn Bowers, co-author of Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing who explains what Shamu, Secretariat, and Kate Middleton have in common and how our health could improve if doctors and veterinarians worked together. Finally, they discuss Carly Rae Jepsen’s hit song “Call Me Maybe,” its viral lip dub and cover version spawn, and whether or not it will be the Song of Summer 2012.

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

• HGTV’s House Hunters and House Hunters International.
• The report from a House Hunters’ participant revealing that her show was staged.
• Marcelle Friedman for Slate on why it matters that House Hunters is fake.
• Time.com’s If House Hunters is Wrong, I Don’t Want to Be Right.
• The design blog Design*Sponge.
• Knots Landing.
• Independence Day by Richard Ford.
• Our Animal Natures by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers for the New York Times.
• Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers’ book Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing.
• The Science of Being Scared to Death, a phenomenon examined in Zoobiquity.
• Carly Rae Jepsen’s video Call Me Maybe.
• The many iterations Call Me Maybe has spawned, including lip dubs, covers, and dance-alongs by: Justin Bieber and friends, Jimmy Fallon, Carly Rae Jepsen and the Roots, NPR hosts, the Harvard Baseball Team, Katy Perry and friends, President Obama, and two eighth graders.
• Justin Bieber’s Twitter endorsement of Call Me Maybe.
• Jody Rosen on whether Call Me Maybe marks a new phase in pop music for Slate.
• Ann Powers’ roundup and analysis of Call Me Maybe’s parodies, spinoffs and homages.
• The Secret World of Arrietty, the movie based on The Borrowers.

Endorsements:

Stephen’s picks: Independence Day by Richard Ford and The Borrowers by Mary Norton.

Dana’s pick: Yehuda Duenyas’ mashup of theatrical and participant experience, The Ascent.

Julia’s pick: Shakespeare in the Park and the magical Delacorte Theater, where she saw a special reading of Romeo and Juliet performed to celebrate the summer staple’s 50^th anniversary.

Outro: “Love is Strange” by Wings.

You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.

This podcast was produced by Mark Phillips. Our intern is Sally Tamarkin.

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