Year in movies, obesity and The Biggest Loser, and the American shopping mall: Slate’s Culture Gabfest weighs in.

Slate’s Culture Gabfest on the Year in Movies, The Biggest Loser, and the American Shopping Mall

Slate’s Culture Gabfest on the Year in Movies, The Biggest Loser, and the American Shopping Mall

Slate's weekly roundtable.
Jan. 9 2013 11:50 AM

The Culture Gabfest: Falling Off the Treadmill Vomiting Edition

Slate's podcast about the year in movies, The Biggest Loser, and the decline of the American shopping mall.

The Culture Gabfest has moved! Find new episodes here.

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 225 with Dan Engber, Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

And join the lively conversation on the Culturefest Facebook page here:

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Culturefest is on the radio! “Gabfest Radio” combines Slate’s Culture and Political Gabfests in one show—listen on Saturdays at 7 a.m. and Sundays at 6 p.m. on WNYC’s AM820.

On this week’s episode, our critics discuss the year in movies including the best of 2012, standouts previously discussed on the Culturefest, and Gabfester favorites. Then, Slate columnist Dan Engber joins the conversation to discuss the NBC reality show The Biggest Loser, obesity in American culture, and a study that sheds new light on the link between weight and mortality. Finally, the critics consider the American shopping mall and how it came to be, its unique place in popular culture, and whether we’ll miss the mall when it’s gone.

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

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Endorsements:

Dana’s pick: The Slate Book Review’s author-editor interview between George Saunders and Andy Ward, a touching dialogue between a writer and his editor.

Julia’s pick: Tom Hooper’s 2008 HBO series John Adams.

Stephen’s pick: My Man Godfrey, one the great American comedies.

Outro: “Valley of the Malls” by Fountains of Wayne

You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.

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

Follow us on the new Culturefest Twitter feed. And please Like the Culture Gabfest on Facebook.

Daniel Engber is a columnist for Slate.

Stephen Metcalf is Slate’s critic at large. He is working on a book about the 1980s.

Dana Stevens is Slate’s movie critic.

Julia Turner, the former editor in chief of Slate, is a regular on Slate’s Culture Gabfest podcast.