Culture Gabfest

The Culture Gabfest “Crash! I Dropped a Vase” Edition

Slate’s Culture Gabfest on Dunkirk, the podcast 36 Questions, and what it means when a musician “sells out.”

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 463 with Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner with the audio player below.

And join the lively conversation on the Culturefest Facebook page.

On this week’s Slate Plus, Dana, Julia, and Stephen have a spoiler-filled discussion of Dunkirk.

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

On this week’s Slate Culture Gabfest, the critics discuss Dunkirk, the new film from Christopher Nolan about the Dunkirk evacuation during the Second World War. They praise Hans Zimmer’s intense score and debate whether the film’s structure, which breaks up the action into three timelines, added anything to the experience. Then, they dive into 36 Questions, a scripted podcast about married life based on the “36 Questions That Lead to Love” made popular by the New York Times’ Modern Love column. Finally, Franz Nicolay joins the gabbers to discuss his recent piece in Slate about “selling out,” delving into the history of musicians who’ve done it, why the practice has gained such negative connotations, and if it’s really a bad thing.

Links to some of the things we discussed this week:

Endorsements

Dana: “Jeanne Moreau Was an Actress Who Helped Define the New Wave, and Went Beyond” by Stephanie Zacharek in Time, and Marguerite Duras’ interview with Jeanne Moreau

Julia: The music video for “Boys” by Charli XCX

Stephen: The original cast album of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Boys and Girls in America by the Hold Steady

Outro: The prelude/opening ballad from Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street

You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.

This podcast was produced by Benjamin Frisch. Our intern is Daniel Schroeder.

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