Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 497 with Dana Stevens, Isaac Butler, and Dan Kois with the audio player below.
And join the lively conversation on the Culturefest Facebook page.
On this week’s Slate Plus, Dana, Isaac, and Dan discuss what works of art should have oral histories.
Go to Slate.com/cultureplus to learn more about Slate Plus and join today.
This week the critics discuss the new production of Angels in America, Tony Kushner’s award-winning play about the AIDS epidemic. Then, they talk about Dan and Isaac’s new book The World Only Spins Forward. In this oral history of Angels in America, Dan and Isaac explore how the play transformed the careers of those involved, and how it became one of the great works of American theater. Finally, Slate science intern Alex Barasch joins the discussion to talk about the teenage coming-out film Love, Simon. Is the movie heartfelt and moving, or cheesy and didactic?
Links to some of the things we discussed this week:
- Angels in America in New York City
- Angels in America on HBO
- The World Only Spins Forward by Isaac Butler and Dan Kois
- “Angels in America: The Complete Oral History” by Isaac Butler and Dan Kois in Slate
- The Culture Gabfest’s discussion of Dan and Isaac’s oral history of Angels in America
- Love, Simon trailer
Endorsements:
Dan: Prince’s live performance Lovesexy ’88
Isaac: The Berlin Noir trilogy by Philip Kerr
Dana: The films of Apichatpong Weerasethakul on Filmstruck
Outro: “Purple Rain (Live)” by Prince
You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.
This podcast was produced by Benjamin Frisch. The production assistant is Daniel Schroeder.
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