David Mamet’s Phil Spector, Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers, and Lew Wallace on the Slate Culture Gabfest.

Slate’s Culture Gabfest on Phil Spector, Spring Breakers, and Lew Wallace

Slate’s Culture Gabfest on Phil Spector, Spring Breakers, and Lew Wallace

Slate's weekly roundtable.
March 27 2013 10:56 AM

The Culture Gabfest: Sprang Braake 4eva Edition

Slate's podcast about David Mamet’s Phil Spector biopic, Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers, and Ben-Hur author Lew Wallace.

The Culture Gabfest has moved! Find new episodes here.

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 236 with Dana Stevens, John Swansburg, and June Thomas with 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 Phil Spector, David Mamet’s HBO movie about the music producer’s murder trial, from its soggy, static scenes to its intense wig action. The Culturefesters then ponder Spring Breakers: Does Harmony Korine’s latest movie offer ecstatic freedom and transcendence or merely a lecherous camera focused on bikini-clad gyrations? Finally, they discuss Lew Wallace, the disgraced Civil War general and author of the best-selling novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.

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

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Endorsements:

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June’s pick: The British soap opera Coronation Street, which has been on the air for more than 50 years (and is the best TV show in the history of the world) and is now available on Hulu.

John’s pick: James Salter’s forthcoming novel All That Is.

Dana’s pick: The 2009 documentary The Agony and the Ecstasy of Phil Spector, available in nine parts on YouTube.

Outro: “Spanish Harlem” by Ben E. King

You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.

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

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

Dana Stevens is Slate’s movie critic.

John Swansburg is a senior editor at the Atlantic.

June Thomas is managing producer of Slate podcasts.