Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 15 with Stephen Metcalf, John Swansburg, and Julia Turner by clicking the arrow on the audio player below: You can also download the program here, or you can subscribe to the weekly Culture Gabfest podcast feed in iTunes by clicking here.

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the merits and frivolities of Mad Men, the odds that Tropic Thunder will revive Tom Cruise's career, and the new documentary film Man on Wire.

Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned in the show:

The official Web site for AMC's Mad Men.
Troy Patterson's Slate assessment of Mad Men's appeal.
The official Web site for Tropic Thunder.
Dana Stevens' Slate review of Tropic Thunder.
Stevens fields questions and comments from Slate's readers about the touchy issues in Tropic Thunder.
The Man on WireWeb site.
Dana Stevens' Slate review of Man on Wire.
David Edelstein's New York magazine review of Man on Wire.

The Culture Gabfest weekly endorsements:

Julia's pick: Hunter S. Thompson's classic  Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72.
John's pick: Neil Diamond's latest release, Home Before Dark.
Stephen's pick: Philip Roth's novel The Human Stain.

You can reach the Culture Gabfest at culturefest@slate.com.

Posted by Amanda Aronczyk on Aug. 27, 2008 at 11:00 a.m.

Aug. 14, 2008

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 14 with Josh Levin, Stephen Metcalf, and Dana Stevens by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

You can also download the program here, or you can subscribe to the weekly Culture Gabfest podcast feed in iTunes by clicking here.

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the Beijing Olympics and "The Redeem Team"; too-famous-too-fast Seth Rogen and his new film, Pineapple Express; and the death of comedian Bernie Mac.

(Update, August 18th, 2008: There was an error in this podcast.  The song lip-synched at the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Games was not China's national anthem, but "Ode to the Motherland.")

Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned in the show:

The official Web site of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Slate's Olympics Twitter feed.
Slate's Olympics Twitter feed, explained.
Dana's review of Pineapple Express.
The Pineapple ExpressWeb site.
The Original Kings of Comedy,whichfeatured Bernie Mac's strongest stand-up.
The Bernie Mac Show, which featured the watered-down TV version.

The Culture Gabfest weekly endorsements:

Josh's pick: badminton at the Olympics.
Dana's pick: Mahmoud Darwish's book of prose poems, Memory for Forgetfulness: August, Beirut, 1982.
Stephen's pick: Isaac Hayes' albums Hot Buttered Soul and Black Moses.

You can reach the Culture Gabfest at culturefest@slate.com.

Posted by Amanda Aronczyk on Aug. 14, 2008 at 3:58 p.m.

July 31, 2008

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 13 with Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:
You can also download the program here, or you can subscribe to the weekly Culture Gabfest podcast feed in iTunes by clicking here.

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Joss Whedon's new Web-only musical miniseries Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog," Starbucks' abrupt move to shutter a number of its stores in the United States and abroad, and Google's newest challenger in the search field, Cuil.

Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned in the show:

The new Web miniseries from Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.
The pre-eminent Joss Whedon Web community, Whedonesque.
The Guild, another Web series (preferred by some Culturefest gabbers)  .
Eulogies from Slatereaders for some of the 600 U.S. Starbucks stores set to close.
Taylor Clark's Slate piece explaining how Starbucks actually helps mom-and-pop coffeehouses.
The new search engine Cuil.
Slate's reader contest: Figure out the best questions to ask Cuil, or any other search engine, to gauge its strengths and weaknesses.

The Culture Gabfest weekly endorsements:

Julia's pick: the Boggle-like Facebook word game Prolific (Facebook login required).
Stephen's pick: Scottish novelist Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir trilogy.
Dana's pick: WWII-era singer Jo Stafford, as heard on WNYC's Evening Music, hosted by David Garland.

Posted by Matt Lieber on July 31 at 10:59 a.m.

July 17, 2008

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 12 with Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

You can also download the program here, or you can subscribe to the weekly Culture Gabfest podcast feed in iTunes by clicking here.

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the new Batman movie The Dark Knight, The New Yorker's cover depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as anti-American mujahideen, and the mysterious relationship between Madonna and Alex Rodriguez. 

Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned in the show:

The Dark Knight Web site.
The New Yorker cover depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as anti-American fist-bumpers.
Jack Shafer's critique of the members of the press fretting about the corrupting power of the cover.
Christopher Beam's confession that in a roundabout way, he might be the one who gave rise to the cover in the first place.
The New York Times' Bill Carter's piece asking why comedians have such trouble making fun of Obama.
Us Weekly'stake on the A-Rod-Madonna liaison.
The New Yorker's explanation of how Kabbalah figures in.
Madonna's history with '80s slugger Jose Canseco.

The Culture Gabfest weekly endorsements:

Julia's pick: Curtis Sittenfeld's forthcoming novel American Wife, a fictionalized portrait of Laura Bush.
Dana's pick: Carla Bozulich's album Red Headed Stranger, a song-by-song remake of Willie Nelson's classic concept album.
Stephen's pick: Haven in a Heartless World, by American historian Christopher Lasch.

Posted by Matt Lieber on July 17 at 10:45 a.m.