Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 228 with Stephen Metcalf, Jody Rosen, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

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On this week’s Culturefest, Slate music critic Jody Rosen sits in to discuss the indie rap sensation Macklemore, the popularity of his hit single “Thrift Shop,” and the mainstreaming of hipster culture. Then, the Gabfesters talk about the movie John Dies at the End, the popularity of low-budget, craft-conscious “artisanal horror” films and their favorite horror movies of all time. Finally, our critics discuss an economist’s proposal to do away with the feline population of New Zealand, leading the Culturefest to confront the ultimate preference binary: dogs vs. cats.

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

• Macklemore’s song and video “Thrift Shop.”
• Jody Rosen’s review for Rolling Stone of the album The Heist by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.
• The Spin critique of Macklemore that calls “Thrift Shop” the worst song in the country.
• The Jay-Z/Kanye West collaboration Watch the Throne.
• Hit singles “Gangnam Style,” “Call Me Maybe,” and “Somebody That I Used to Know.”
• The Paranormal Activity horror franchise.
• Hammer Film Productions, best known for their Gothic “Hammer Horror” films.
• The science fiction author Philip K. Dick and the horror/fantasy writer H.P. Lovecraft.
• Director Don Coscarelli and his movies Bubba Ho-Tep and the Phantasm series.
• The horror movies Saw, The Shining, Alien, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Deep Red, and The House of the Devil.
• Shining, An All New Romantic Comedy.
• Laura Helmuth for Slate on an economist’s proposal to rid New Zealand of its cat population.
• Psychologist and human-animal interaction expert Hal Herzog on the genetics that make some of us “animal people.”

Endorsements:

Dana’s pick: The feature movie Girl Walk//All Day about dancer Anne Marsen’s one-woman flash-mob style public dance performances.

Julia’s pick: The action classic Die Hard With a Vengeance.

Stephen’s pick: Edgar Allan Poe’s masterful maritime thriller The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket.

Outro: “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz

You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.

This podcast was produced by Julia Furlan. Our intern is Sally Tamarkin.

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