Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 235 with Dana Stevens, John Swansburg, and June Thomas with the audio player below:

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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 Jane Campion’s new Sundance Channel miniseries, Top of the Lake, from its portrayal of rural New Zealand to its unseemly male characters and Campion’s trademark lingering on uncomfortable moments. Then, writer Geeta Dayal joins in to discuss David Bowie’s first new album in 10 years, The Next Day, and to explore Bowie’s cultural legacy. Finally, the Culturefesters debate email signoff etiquette. Should “cheers,” “best,” and “xoxo” be eliminated from our correspondence for all time? Or are they useful codes that help us communicate?

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

• David Haglund for Slate on why the miniseries is the ideal TV form.
• For Slate, June Thomas on Jane Campion’s first miniseries, An Angel at My Table.
• Troy Patterson on Top of the Lake for Slate.
• Mike Hale’s review of Top of the Lake for The New York Times.
• The TV shows The Killing and Twin Peaks.
• Geeta Dayal on David Bowie’s new album The Next Day for Slate
• David Bowie’s 2004 album Outside and his 1977 album Heroes.
• The musicians Scott Walker and Kate Bush.
• The movie The Man Who Fell to Earth starring David Bowie.
• Cracked Actor, the BBC documentary about David Bowie.
• The Victoria and Albert Museum’s “David Bowie Is” exhibit.
• Matthew J.X. Malady on doing away with the email signoff for Slate.
• Chris Gayomali for the Week on what your email signature says about you.
• “This is Not the End of Email Etiquette” by Rebecca Greenfield for the Atlantic Wire.

Endorsements:

June’s pick: The BBC Radio 4 radio show and podcast Ramblings. On a recent episode host Clare Balding went on a walk and picked up litter with David Sedaris.

John’s pick: A History of Future Cities by Daniel Brook, a book that explores the creation of four Eastern cities that were built to mimic Western modernization.

Dana’s pick: Bach 360°, WQXR’s 10-day festival that celebrates the birthday of the composer J.S. Bach with more than 200 hours of his music.

Outro: “The Next Day” by David Bowie.

You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.

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