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This week on Slate Plus, Stephen, Dana, and Julia have a spoiler-filled discussion about the controversial ending of Elle.
On this week’s Slate Culture Gabfest, the critics discuss the film Elle directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Isabelle Huppert as a woman dealing with the aftermath of a brutal sexual assault. Is it a black comedy or a dark thriller? Next, the NBC family drama This Is Us is a warmhearted, crowd-pleasing show, about three siblings growing up in the ’80s and today. Slate culture editor Laura Bennett joins the gabbers to discuss this ratings juggernaut. Finally, the critics reflect on the death of one of TV’s greatest comedy icons, Mary Tyler Moore, and her contributions to feminism and pop culture.
Links to some of the things we discussed this week:
- Elle
- Starship Troopers
- Showgirls
- This Is Us
- “The Rotten Cheese of This Is Us” by Willa Paskin in Slate
- “The Safe Progressivism of This Is Us” by Jen Chaney in Vulture
- The Mary Tyler Moore Show
- “Mary Tyler Moore Made Me Want to Grow Up to Be a Single Working Woman” by Dana Stevens in Slate
- Rhoda
- Ordinary People
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Endorsements
Dana: “The Circle of Life Parody” by Dustin & Genevieve
Julia: When in French by Lauren Collins
Stephen: Hüsker Dü’s cover of “Love Is All Around” (the Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song) and the essay “The Power of the Powerless” by Vaclav Havel
Outro: “Love Is All Around,” the theme song to The Mary Tyler Moore Show
You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.
This podcast was produced by Veralyn Williams. Our intern is Daniel Schroeder.
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