The Culture Gabfest, “Summer Strut” Edition
Listen to Slate's show about Charlie Sheen’s new sitcom Anger Management, the recent New York Times op-ed about the “ ‘Busy’ Trap,” and the Summer Strut 2012 playlist.
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Strut along to the Summer Strut 2012 playlist on Spotify!
On this week’s Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Charlie Sheen’s new sitcom Anger Management and the show’s inescapable meta-commentary on its star’s very public 2011 meltdown. The Gabfesters then consider Tim Kreider’s New York Times op-ed “The ‘Busy’ Trap” and whether we’re all actually too busy for chilled pink minty cocktails or if overscheduling ourselves is merely a way to mask our existential anxiety. Finally, they pick out and play favorites from the listener-sourced Summer Strut 2012 playlist and debate the qualities that make a song ideal for a summer strut.
Here are some links to the things we discussed this week:
- The interview with FX president John Landgraf on a recent episode of KCRW’s podcast The Business
- Charlie Sheen’s previous sitcom Two and a Half Men
- Ricky Gervais’ TV show Extras
- Troy Patterson’s review of Anger Management for Slate
- Time Kreider’s New York Times op-ed piece “The ‘Busy’ Trap”
- “ ‘Busy’ Trap” responses from Slate’s XX Factor: Hanna Rosin’s “The Busy Trap: Is It Ruining Us All?,” “In Defense of Busyness” by Rachael Larimore, and J. Bryan Lowder’s “The 'Busy’ Trap's Class Problem”
- “Busy, A Four Letter Word,” Rachel Dodes’ WSJ response to “The ‘Busy’ Trap”
- John Kenneth Galbraith’s classic work The Affluent Society
- The shorter German work week
The Summer Strut favorites (and unfavorites) talked about today include:
- “I Love it” by Icona Pop
- “Lights Out” by Santigold
- “Tiny Spark” by Brendan Benson
- “We Are Young” by Fun featuring Janelle Monáe
- “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye
- “The Apple Stretching” by Grace Jones
- “Taj Mahal”” by Jorge Ben Jor
- “Call Me” by Blondie
- “Is It Like Today” by Eliza Gilkyson
- “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele
- “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen
Strut along to the Summer Strut 2012 playlist on Spotify!
Endorsements:
Stephen’s picks: Blondie’s 1999 Reunion Concert, Kitty Pryde’s song “Okay Cupid,” and David Auerbach’s recent N+1 article “The Stupidity of Computers”
Julia’s pick: Seeking out an architectural lesson about your everyday landscape (inspired by a recent architectural tour of her own neighborhood)
Dana’s pick: XTC’s summertime concept album Skylarking
Outro: XTC’s “Summer Cauldron”
You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.
This podcast was produced by Dan Pashman. Our intern is Sally Tamarkin.
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