Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 503 with Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner with the audio player below.
On this week’s Slate Plus, Stephen, Dana, Julia, and Willa have a spoiler-filled discussion of Tully’s ending.
Go to Slate.com/cultureplus to learn more about Slate Plus and join today.
This week, Slate’s TV critic Willa Paskin joins the gabbers to discuss Tully, starring Charlize Theron as a beleaguered mom of three and Mackenzie Davis as her night nanny. What are writer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman, the team also behind Juno and Young Adult, trying to say about motherhood? Then, Willa sticks around to talk about her new podcast, Decoder Ring, where she tries to solve cultural questions, like why shows don’t use laugh tracks anymore. Finally, the gabbers discuss Amanda Hess’ new piece about personal brands and why everyone seems to need one nowadays.
Links to some of the things we discussed this week:
- Tully trailer
- Richard Brody’s review of Tully in the New Yorker
- Juno
- Young Adult
- Motherhood by Sheila Heti
- Decoder Ring
- “What Happens When People and Companies Are Both Just ‘Brands’?” by Amanda Hess in the New York Times Magazine
- “The Brand Called You,” by Tom Peters in Fast Company
- “Investing in a Brilliant New YOUTM: the Rise and Tyranny of the ‘Personal Brand’,” by Sarah Burnside in the Guardian
Endorsements:
Dana: “I’m Not Black, I’m Kanye” by Ta-Nehisi Coates in the Atlantic
Julia: Howards End by E.M. Forster
Stephen: The work of artist James Castle
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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