Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 476 with Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner with the audio player below.
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On this week’s Slate Plus, Dana, Stephen and Julia take a Rorschach test. Go to slate.com/cultureplus to learn more about Slate Plus and join today.
This week, the critics discuss Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold, a new documentary about Didion directed by her nephew, Griffin Dunne. (Editor’s note: In the introduction to this episode, Stephen misstates the name of the documentary.) Do the creators delve deeply enough into Didion’s life and work, or is the film just meant to be a loving portrait of the writer? Then, Gabfest intern Daniel Schroeder joins the team to discuss the reboot of Will & Grace and debate whether the sitcom works in 2017. Finally, the gabbers revisit the subject of sexual harassment in light of a new wave of allegations against prominent figures in Hollywood and the media, including Leon Wieseltier, James Toback, and Mark Halperin.
Links to some of the things we discussed this week:
- Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold
- The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
- Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
- “New York: Sentimental Journeys” by Joan Didion
- Will & Grace
- “Will & Grace Is Still a Show America Need” by Willa Paskin in Slate
- In & Out
- The Birdcage
- “Leon Wieseltier: A Reckoning” by Michelle Cottle in the Atlantic
- “A Likely Story” by Mimi Kramer in Medium
- “The Harvey Weinstein Scandal Is Changing How I Look at the Movies” by Dana Stevens in Slate
- “Christine Vachon Stays Thriving by Telling the Stories That Hollywood Won’t” by Dana Stevens in Slate
Endorsements
- Dana: The new season of the podcast You Must Remember This
- Julia: Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett
- Stephen: The music of Vic Chesnutt, like the album Skitter on Take-Off
Outro: “Rails” by Bing & Ruth
You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.
This podcast was produced by Benjamin Frisch. Our intern is Daniel Schroeder.
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