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On this week’s episode, the critics discuss 22 Jump Street, a bromantic comedy starring Tatum Channing and Jonah Hill. Does the film’s self-awareness about its being a sequel justify its formulaic plot? Next, the critics discuss Patricia Lockwood’s Twitter-inflected poetry and debate the possibility of mainstreaming the medium. Is poetry inherently niche? And finally, Slate contributor Chris Molanphy briefs the gabbers on this year’s contenders for the “song of the summer”: Will the title belong to Iggy Azalea, Robyn, or Usher?

Links to some of the things we discussed this week follow:

• Dana’s review of 22 Jump Street on Slate.
• 21 Jump Street.
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
• The LEGO Movie.
• Richard Lawson’s Vanity Fair review, which centers on 22 Jump Street’s self-conscious homoeroticism.
• Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, co-starring Channing Tatum.
• Step Up, co-starring Channing Tatum.
• Moneyball, co-starring Jonah Hill.
• Jonah Hill on WTF with Marc Maron.
• Adam Kirsch’s New Republic piece about “how to make poetry relevant again.”
• Patricia Lockwood’s Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals.
• Patricia Lockwood’s “Rape Joke.”
• Adam Plunkett’s much-criticized New Yorker review of Lockwood’s latest work.
• Dwight Garner’s New York Times review of Lockwood’s latest work.
• Mallory Ortberg reviews the mostly male reviewers of Lockwood on the-toast.net.
• Chris Molanphy and Chris Kirk’s interactive “song of the summer” quiz on Slate.
• Chris defends the concept of the “song of the summer” on Slate.
• “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen.
• “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk.
• “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke.
• “I Love It” by Icona Pop ft. Charli XCX.
• “Fancy” by Iggy Azelea ft. Charli XCX.
• “Do It Again” by Röyksopp & Robyn.
• “Dancing On My Own” by Robyn.
• “We Can’t Stop” by Miley Cyrus.
• “Love Never Felt So Good” by Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake.
• “Am I Wrong” by Nico & Vinz.
• “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye.
• “Good Kisser” by Usher.

Endorsements:

Dana: Anything and everything by poet Brenda Shaughnessy, including Human Dark With Sugar and Interior with Sudden Joy.

Julia: Poetry magazine, a restrained, intelligently curated read for poetry lovers. If you’ve ever liked poetry, you should subscribe now.

Steve: “The Disruption Machine” by Jill Lepore in The New Yorker.

Outro: Franz Schubert's “Der Neugierige” from Die Schone Mullerin

You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.

This podcast was produced by Ann Heppermann. Our intern is Anna Shechtman.

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