The Culture Gabfest “Live From Brooklyn” Edition

A Brooklyn live show of Slate’s Culture Gabfest, in which the critics discuss Enough Said, “Brooklyn” the brand, and Grand Theft Auto V.

By Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner

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Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 262 with Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner with the audio player below.

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This week’s episode was taped before a live audience at the Bell House in Brooklyn. Our critics started by discussing Nicole Holofcener’s latest romantic comedy Enough Said. Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Gandolfini, and Catherine Keener as three divorcés with interlocking love lives, the film grapples with middle-age dating. Next, the gabbers turn to the setting of the live show: Brooklyn. Oft-associated with artisanal goods, local food, and proud Luddism, Brooklyn is spreading beyond its borough into a brand with international resonance. And finally, with the assistance of New York Times video game critic Chris Suellentrop, the critics discuss Grand Theft Auto V, the newest installment in the massively popular series. New to gaming, they test out GTA V, explore its merits, and debate its claim to high art.

Check out Chris Wade’s video of Dana, Stephen, and Julia trying out GTA V:

Links to some of the things discussed this week follow:

Endorsements:

Dana: Canadian artist Jon Rafman’s “A Man Digging,” a montage of video games’ abandoned rooms, seen after the game’s shooter has already left the screen.

Julia: The new Culture Gabfest T-shirts, designed by listener Trevor Baum. Also, an “oddly poetic” Army literacy test, unearthed by Rebecca Onion at The Vault, Slate’s history blog.

Steve: Janet Malcolm’s “The Purloined Clinic” and the Proustian moment of remembrance and self-discovery that the book’s final essay captures.

You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.

This podcast was produced by Dan Pashman. Our intern is Anna Shechtman.

Correction, Sept. 27, 2013: This article originally misspelled Tom Bissell's last name.