HOME / culture gabfest: Slate's weekly roundtable.

The Culture Gabfest, Good Breeding EditionListen to Slate's show about the week in culture.

By Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, June Thomas, and Julia TurnerPosted Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, at 3:34 PM ET

Listen to Gabfest No. 59 with Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, June Thomas 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.

Get your 14-day free trial from our sponsor Audible.com, which includes a credit for one free audiobook, here. (Audiobook of the week: The Talented Mr. Ripley, written by Patricia Highsmith and narrated by David Menkin.)

Find the Culturefest Facebook page here. Leave us a note and see what other Culturefest listeners have to say about the latest podcast.

RSS

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss ABC's new comedy Modern Family; New Yorker writer Tad Friend's WASPy new memoir, Cheerful Money; and the New York Times list of things that restaurant staffers should never, ever do.

And don't forget: Next week, we'll be discussing Ian McEwan's Black Dogs, which is available on Audible.

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

The official Web site of ABC's Modern Family.
Slate's Troy Patterson's take on Modern Family.
Writer Tad Friend's new memoir Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor.
The New York Times' "100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do, Part One." (Dana recommends the comment section.)
Memorable quotes from the film When Harry Met Sally.
Chef David Chang's low-key New York noodle bar Momofuku.

The Culture Gabfest weekly endorsements:

Dana's pick: Tad Friend's New Yorker piece "Jumpers: The Fatal Grandeur of the Golden Gate Bridge."
Julia's pick: Big Boggle, the old-school 5x5 version.
Stephen's pick: Patricia Highsmith's novel-turned-film The American Friend starring Dennis Hopper as Tom Ripley.

Posted on Nov. 4 by Jesse Baker at 3:34 p.m.

Oct. 28, 2009

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 58 with Stephen Metcalf, Jody Rosen, 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.

Get your 14-day free trial from our sponsor Audible.com, which includes a credit for one free audiobook, here. (Audiobook of the week: Black Dogs by Ian McEwan, read by Steven Crossley.)

Find the Culturefest Facebook page here. Leave us a note and see what other Culturefest listeners have to say about the latest podcast.

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the new season of 30 Rock, the refund offer from Baby Einstein, and the genius—and crossover potential—of country music star Brad Paisley.

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

Troy Patterson's review of the 30 Rock Season 4 premiere in Slate.
Todd VanDerWerff's post on the decline of 30 Rock on the AV Club's blog.
Terry Gross' interview with Tracy Morgan on NPR's Fresh Air (plus an excerpt from Morgan's memoir).
Baby Einstein "sets the record straight" on its refund offer.
Rachel Emma Silverman's post about the refunds on the Wall Street Journal blog the Juggle.
The XXfactor blog's posts about Baby Einstein.
Brad Paisley's official site.
Jody Rosen's review of Brad Paisley's album American Saturday Night in Rolling Stone.
Ben Ratliff's review of Brad Paisley's show at Madison Square Garden in the New York Times.

The Culture Gabfest weekly endorsements:

Dana's pick: Bruno Bettelheim's The Uses of Enchantment.
Julia's pick: Season 8 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, available only in comic book form.
Jody's pick: The Outlaw Sea by William Langewiesche.
Stephen's picks: The Wire, The Larry Sanders Show, and In Treatment.

Outro music: Ron Brown's What's That Sound?

You can e-mail us at .

Posted on Oct. 28 by Jacob Ganz at 11:35 a.m.

Oct. 21, 2009

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 57 with Stephen Metcalf, Jody Rosen, 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.

Get your 14-day free trial from our sponsor Audible.com, which includes a credit for one free audiobook, here. (Audiobook of the week: Enduring Love by Ian McEwan, read by Steven Crossley.)

Find the Culturefest Facebook page here. Leave us a note and see what other Culturefest listeners have to say about the latest podcast.

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss the media circus surrounding the Colorado "Balloon Boy," the case for and against circumcision (as laid out in New York magazine), and the new documentary on the 40^th anniversary of comedy troupe Monty Python.

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

Video of Wolf Blitzer interviewing the Heene family on CNN's Larry King Live.
Jason Linkins' piece on the Huffington Post about how Twitter kept Wolf Blitzer honest after Falcon let the truth slip on air.
Pukey videos of the Heene family on Good Morning America and the Today show.
For and Against Foreskin, New York magazine's extensive package on the arguments for and against circumcision.
Emily Bazelon's 2006 pieces on circumcision in Slate.
Christopher Hitchens' piece in Slate against circumcision.
The official site for the new documentary Monty Python: Almost the Truth, the Lawyer's Cut.
Alan Sepinwall's review of Almost the Truth in the Newark Star-Ledger.
Boatloads spam of Monty Python sketches spam on spam YouTube.

The Culture Gabfest weekly endorsements:

Jody's picks: The obscene British comedy duo Derek & Clive, plus Brad Paisley's album American Saturday Night.
Julia's pick: The funny, scary, perfectly compact film Zombieland.
Stephen's pick: Declaration of Dependence, the new album by Kings of Convenience.
Outro music: Brad Paisley's "American Saturday Night."
You can e-mail us at .

Posted on Oct. 21 by Jacob Ganz at 12:45 p.m.

Oct. 14, 2009

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 56 with Daniel Engber, 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.

Get your 14-day free trial from our sponsor Audible.com, which includes a credit for one free audiobook, here. (Audiobook of the week: Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, read by Frederick Davidson )

Find the Culturefest Facebook page here. Leave us a note and see what other Culturefest listeners have to say about the latest podcast.

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics discuss Spike Jonze's film adaptation of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, comedians' recent jibes at President Obama, and a series on obesity in America by Slate's Daniel Engber.

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

The official site for the Where The Wild Things Are movie.
HBO's site for Tell Them Anything You Want, Spike Jonze and Lance Bangs' documentary about Maurice Sendak.
Scott Timberg's piece in the Los Angeles Times about Sendak and Jonze.
Newsweek's Ramin Setoodeh and Andrew Romano interview Sendak, Jonze, and co-screenwriter Dave Eggers
Bruce Handy wonders in the New York Times whether kids actually like Sendak's book.
McSweeney's site for Dave Eggers' novelization of the film, The Wild Things, and an excerpt in The New Yorker.
Choire Sicha and Tom Scocca eat Eggers and Jonze up in a post on the Awl.
Mark Leibovich's piece in the New York Times about comedians turning on President Obama.
Saturday Night Live's recent sketches about Obama.
Jon Stewart gives the president a few pointers on how to clear his plate.

A few of Daniel Engber's pieces on obesity in Slate.
Nicholas Bakalar's article in the New York Times on rising obesity rates.
Sewell Chan's post for the New York Times City Room blog on NYC's anti-soda ad campaign.

The Culture Gabfest weekly endorsements:

Dana's pick: Bill Moyers' 2004 interview with Maurice Sendak on PBS's NOW.
Stephen's pick: Robert Weinstock's Food Hates You, Too.
Daniel's pick: Stephanie Saul's piece on twins in the New York Times.

Outro music: Morrissey's "You're The One For Me, Fatty."

You can e-mail us at .

Posted on Oct. 14 by Jacob Ganz at 10:55 a.m.

E-MAIL

RECOMMEND... Get Slate RSS Feeds

Stephen Metcalf is Slate's critic at large. He is working on a book about the 1980s. Dana Stevens is Slate's movie critic. June Thomas is Slate's foreign editor. You can e-mail her at or follow her on Twitter. Julia Turner is Slate's deputy editor. You can e-mail her at or follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/juliaturner.

Illustration by Robert Neubecker.

What did you think of this article?

Join The Fray: Our Reader Discussion Forum

POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES