Slate's show about Hollywood’s trouble with leading men, Amanda Palmer’s TED talk, and the PBS documentary Makers.

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 233 with David Haglund, Mark Harris, Dana Stevens, and Forrest Wickman by clicking the arrow on the audio player below

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On this week’s episode, Slate’s David Haglund and Forrest Wickman step in to co-host with Dana Stevens. First, our critics are joined by writer Mark Harris to discuss his GQ article about the shifting path to stardom for Hollywood’s leading men that demands a delicate balance of mainstream likability and edgy self-awareness. They then consider Amanda Palmer’s TED talk about “the art of asking” and the evolving relationship between generative artists and the fans who fund their work. Finally, the Gabfesters discuss the PBS miniseries Makers: Women Who Make America, what it reveals about the strides of feminism over the past half-century, and the topics and themes the documentary seems to avoid.

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

• Mark Harris for GQ on “the new and improved leading man.”
• Bradley Cooper speaking French in an interview for The Hangover Part II.
• The movies John Carter, Battleship, The Vow, 21 Jump Street, Ocean’s Eleven, The Social Network, J. Edgar, Mirror Mirror, and The Normal Heart.
• The TED talk “Amanda Palmer: The Art of Asking.“
• Amanda Palmer’s Kickstarter project, which asked for $100,000 and raised $1.2 million.
• “Amanda Palmer’s Accidental Experiment with With Real Communism” by Joshua Clover for The New Yorker online.
• Cord Jefferson for Gawker on Amanda Palmer and accountability on Kickstarter.
• Slate’s own John Dickerson writing for his personal blog on Amanda Palmer’s TED talk.
• The Dresden Dolls and Grand Theft Orchestra.
• Björk's failed Kickstarter project.
• In Rainbows, Radiohead’s pioneering pay-what-you-want album.
• The musician Mark Eitzel, who makes great music but not much money.
• Kathrine Switzer running the 1967 Boston Marathon as race organizer Jock Semple tried to take away her bib.
• Eyes on the Prize, the 1987 documentary about the civil rights era.
• The 2009 documentary Sweetgrass.

Endorsements:

Forrest’s pick: An all-time favorite song about gender roles: “Androgynous” by The Replacements.

David’s pick: The essay “The Dream (Girl) is Over” by Michelle Orange, from her book This is Running for Your Life: Essays.

Dana’s pick: Marc Maron’s interview with Mike White (writer, director, and co-star of Enlightened) for Maron’s podcast, WTF With Marc Maron.

Outro: “Androgynous” by The Replacements

You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.

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

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