Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 332 with Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner with the audio player below.

Subscribe in iTunes ∙ RSS feed ∙ Download ∙ Play in another tab

And join the lively conversation on the Culturefest Facebook page here:

Go to slate.com/cultureplus to learn more about Slate Plus and join today.

Does Steve make glorious snow angels? Do Dana and Julia brood by the fire? This week, Slate Plus listeners will find out what the critics do on a snow day.

And don’t forget you can find Culture Gabfest T-shirts for sale in the Slate store.

This week on the Slate Culture Gabfest, the critics discuss Clint Eastwood’s box office hit American Sniper. Is it a nuanced portrait of a devoted warrior or a slab of pro-war propaganda? Next up, political columnist Jonathan Chait’s controversial article about the resurgence of political correctness struck a nerve with Internet commenters this week. Is the left stuck in a self-destructive feedback loop of language policing? The critics weigh in. Finally, guests Forrest Wickman and Aisha Harris report live from the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and discuss some of this year’s buzziest new independent films.

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

• Take the Slate podcast survey to help us improve and expand our offerings
• The Deer Hunter
• The Green Berets
• “Not A Very P.C. Thing to Say” by Jonathan Chait
• Slate’s exploration of outrage in 2014
• I’ll See You In My Dreams
• White God
• The End of the Tour, the David Foster Wallace movie
• Going Clear
• The Brooks Barnes piece on TV’s new role at Sundance in the New York Times
• Aisha and Forrest’s reporting from the Sundance Film Festival on Slate

Endorsements:

Dana: The episode titled “This Senator Saved My Love Life” from the WNYC podcast Death, Sex & Money

Julia: white balsamic vinegar

Steve: The Rediscovery of the Mind by John Searle

Outro: “Wintertime Love” by the Doors

You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.

This podcast was produced by Ann Heppermann. Our intern is Lindsey Albracht.

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