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This week, Julia, Dana, and Steve unpack Searching, a new thriller starring John Cho that unfolds entirely within a computer screen, looking at how it reckons with our relationship to technology—and to movies themselves. Next, they take on Ariana Grande’s album Sweetener, with the help of Hit Parade’s Chris Molanphy. Finally, the hosts reflect on the career and legacy of Burt Reynolds, the definitive star of the 1970s, and how the response to his death varies between genders and generations.
Links to some of the things we discussed this week:
- Searching, starring John Cho
- Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope
- Robert Montgomery’s Lady in the Lake
- Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade
- “Searching Is a Bizarro Black Mirror Where Technology Is Good” by Inkoo Kang in Slate
- Ariana Grande’s Sweetener
- “Problem” by Ariana Grande featuring Iggy Azalea
- “No Tears Left to Cry” by Ariana Grande
- “Sweetener” by Ariana Grande
- “God Is a Woman” by Ariana Grande
- “Successful” by Ariana Grande
- “Ariana Grande Is Ready to Be Happy” by Sam Lansky in Time
- Mac Miller’s Blue Slide Park
- Mac Miller’s Swimming
- Deliverance, starring Burt Reynolds
- “Burt Reynolds Changed the Way We Thought About Sex—by Getting Naked on a Bearskin Rug” by Taylor Telford in the Washington Post
- “The Burt Code: Why Burt Reynolds Was a Zen Master in a Convertible” by Rob Sheffield in Rolling Stone
- Burt Reynolds’ Sharky’s Machine
- “Burt Reynolds Isn’t Broke, but He’s Got a Few Regrets” by Ned Zeman in Vanity Fair
- Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights
Endorsements:
Dana: Amazon Smile
Julia: H&M’s William Morris collection and the Mr. Men books (with some caveats)
Stephen: “Motion Sickness” by Phoebe Bridgers, John Coltrane’s Lush Life, and seeing Richard Thompson live
Outro: “If We Dance” by Barbatula
You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.
This podcast was produced by Benjamin Frisch. Our production assistant is Alex Barasch.
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