DoubleX Gabfest: The Bland, Fertile, and Protestant Edition
Listen to Slate’s show about the ideal length of maternity leave, new revelations about Newt Gingrich’s personal life, and the year’s celebrity marriages and divorces.
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In this week’s Gabfest, Slate senior editors Hanna Rosin and Jessica Grose, along with Slate contributor June Thomas, discuss the ideal length of maternity leave, new revelations about Newt Gingrich’s treatment of his first wife, and the celebrity marriages and divorces of the year.
In addition to our customary “coffee talk” endorsements, June, Hanna, and Jessica also talked about what they’re looking forward to most in 2012.
For next year, June Thomas is excited to watch Lost Girl, a new series on the SyFy Network about a woman who discovers she’s a succubus. She’s also anticipating Alison Bechdel’s new graphic memoir, Are You My Mother? For the last week of 2011, June is recommending the play Stick Fly, which is about an African-American family on Martha’s Vineyard, and Bernard Callebaut brandied cherries, which are only available seasonally.
In 2012, Hanna Rosin is excited to finish her book based on the magazine article “The End of Men.” She’s also highly anticipating the first movie in the Hunger Games trilogy. Her end of the year recommendation is for the book The Pedlar Lady of Gushing Cross, which is the best interactive children’s book for the iPad that she’s seen yet.
Jessica Grose can’t wait to see Lena Dunham’s new HBO show Girls in 2012. She’s also excited for the new Whit Stillman movie Damsels in Distress, his first in more than a decade. Her end of the year recommendation is for any movie in which the actor Tom Hardy appears.
Links to other things we mentioned:
“Is 40 Weeks the Ideal Maternity Leave Length?” in Slate.
“As Gingrich Stumps in Iowa, His Style Evolves” on NPR.com.
“Why Marianne Gingrich Told Me about a Vulnerable Newt” in Esquire.
Kate Moss wedding photos in Vogue.
Music outro: "Cheap and Cheerful" by the Kills.