Culture Gabfest

The Culture Gabfest “#TeenLife” Edition

Slate’s Culture Gabfest on The Martian, The Grinder, and whether Hamlet is fat.

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 368 with Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens

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This week on Slate Plus, the hosts discuss why Steve is no longer a vegetarian.

On this week’s Slate Culture Gabfest, the gabbers discuss last weekend’s box office smash, The Martian. Is it a charming crowd pleaser or artless competence porn? Next up, The Grinder stars Rob Lowe as a former TV lawyer who joins his brother’s firm. The show isn’t wildly original, but is it funny? Finally, a recent Slate investigation asked whether Shakespeare’s Hamlet was fat. The critics weigh in: How do we determine what a fictional character looks like?

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

This episode of Slate’s Culture Gabfest is sponsored by Braintree. Braintree gives your app or website a payment solution that accepts just about every payment method with one simple integration. Plus, we’ll give you your first $50,000 in transactions fee­ free. To learn more, visit BraintreePayments.com/culture.

And by Beech Nut Organics. It’s real food for babies—real organic fruits and vegetables, and nothing more. Beech Nut Organics are now available at Target. Go to BeechNutGabFest.com and enter to win a year’s worth of food.

And by the Great Courses, offering a series of lectures about food, including Essential Secrets of Spices in Cooking, Making Healthy Food Taste Great, Baking Pastries and Desserts, and Making Great Meals in Less Time. Order any one of these Everyday Gourmet courses for only $9.95 for a limited time at TheGreatCourses.com/culture.

Endorsements:  

Dana: Feast of Saint Francis and Blessing of the Animals at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York

Julia: Blue Apron

Steve: Bob’s Burgers and The Third Man

Outro: John Cale’s “Graham Greene” 

You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.

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

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