Paula Deen, Under the Dome, and the decline of the humanities on the Slate Culture Gabfest.

Slate’s Culture Gabfest on Paula Deen and Celebrity Apologies, the New CBS Series Under the Dome, and the Decline…

Slate’s Culture Gabfest on Paula Deen and Celebrity Apologies, the New CBS Series Under the Dome, and the Decline…

Slate's weekly roundtable.
June 26 2013 10:33 AM

The Culture Gabfest “Steak All the Way Through” Edition

Slate's podcast about Paula Deen and celebrity apologies, the new CBS series Under the Dome, and the decline of the humanities.

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Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 249 with Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and June Thomas with the audio player below.

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On this week’s episode, our critics discuss the Paula Deen scandal and celebrity apologies in general. Do celebrities’ apologies—or nonapologies—even begin to help them atone for awful behavior? Then the gabbers take a look at the new CBS series Under the Dome, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, in which a mysterious, impenetrable dome surrounds and holds captive an entire small town. Finally, the crew considers the decline of the humanities major: Why is it happening, does it matter, and what can be done about it?

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

Endorsements:

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Dana: A moving obituary for James Gandolfini, by New York magazine’s Matt Zoller Seitz.

June: The ridiculously addictive smartphone game “Candy Crush.”

Stephen: The indie rock band Beach Fossils and their eponymous debut album.

Outro: Beach Fossils, “Clash the Truth”

You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.

This podcast was produced by Julia Furlan. Our intern is Sam McDougle.

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

Dana Stevens is Slate’s movie critic.

June Thomas is managing producer of Slate podcasts.