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This week on Slate Plus, Stephen talks about his piece on Richard Rorty for the New Yorker.
On this week’s Slate Culture Gabfest, Stephen and Dana are joined by New York Times Magazine staff writer Sam Anderson. First, they discuss the new HBO series The Young Pope, about a brash, conservative cardinal’s surprising ascent to power. The show stars Jude Law and Diane Keaton, but is it too self-serious or in on the joke? Next, A Monster Calls is a fantasy drama about a boy who uses his imagination to cope with his mother’s terminal illness and is visited by a tree come to life, voiced by Liam Neeson. The critics discuss this sweet, excruciating lesson on grief from director J. A. Bayona. Finally, the gabbers dig into a new piece in the New York Times Magazine about Neanderthals: New research reveals everything we thought we knew about them may be wrong.
Links to some of the things we discussed this week:
- The Young Pope
- The Great Beauty
- Wilde
- A Monster Calls
- The book A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
- The Orphanage
- Hellboy II: The Golden Army
- “Neanderthals Were People, Too” by John Mooallem in the New York Times Magazine
- The BBC Neanderthal voice theory
The Culture Gabfest is brought to you by Rocket Mortgage from Quicken Loans. Rocket Mortgage brings the mortgage process into the 21st century with an easy online process. Check out Rocket Mortgage today at QuickenLoans.com/culture.
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And by the Showtime original series Homeland starring Claire Danes. Relentlessly fighting the government’s abuse of power here at home, Carrie Mathison is at odds with former allies. Homeland returns with new episodes every Sunday at 9 p.m. Eastern. Download the Showtime app now to start your free trial.
Endorsements
Dana: Mark Twain’s marginalia
Sam: The Complete Peanuts 1950-1952 (Vol. 1) and 1953-1954 (Vol. 2)
Stephen: “For a Coming Extinction” by W. S. Merwin
Outro: “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” by the Vince Guaraldi Trio
You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.
This podcast was produced by Benjamin Frisch. Our intern is Daniel Schroeder.
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