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    • Arts
    • 4.2 • 1.9K Ratings

Get the Culture Gabfest and all of Slate's culture coverage here.

    What Next: Nickelodeon’s Legacy of Abuse

    What Next: Nickelodeon’s Legacy of Abuse

    A new documentary, “Quiet On Set,” looks back at Nickelodeon’s heyday, and the culture of abuse that many of its child stars were subjected to.

    Guest: Kate Taylor, reporter for Business Insider and producer of “Quiet on Set.” 

    Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.
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    • 28 min
    Culture Gabfest: Jon Stewart Returns

    Culture Gabfest: Jon Stewart Returns

    On this week's show, Slate’s Dan Kois (author of Vintage Contemporaries, How to Be a Family, The World Only Spins Forward, and Facing Future) sits in for Julia Turner. The panel first begins with a reboot: In 1999, when Jon Stewart took over, rather indifferently, the helm of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, he changed the media landscape with his comedic chops, serious outrage, and penchant for pointing out politicians' hypocrisies. He’s since left and returned back to the show (which he hosts once a week), but how effective are he and his trademark bag of tricks in 2024? We discuss. Then, the three dive into Problemista, writer-director-star Julio Torres’ first feature film that can only be described as “a lot.” Torres (Los Espookys, My Favorite Shapes, Saturday Night Live) plays Alejandro, a sweet but naive aspiring Salvadoran toymaker who must navigate the Kafka-esque purgatory known as the U.S. immigration system. He meets Elizabeth, played by Tilda Swinton, a nightmare boss with fuschia-colored hair and a looming presence that often overwhelms the film… but perhaps that’s exactly what it needs? Finally, the trio is joined by The Sporkful host Dan Pashman to discuss his cookbook, Anything’s Pastable: 81 Inventive Pasta Recipes for Saucy People. In 2021, Pashman created the cascatelli, a new pasta shape that went viral, with Time calling it “one of the best inventions of the year.” Anything’s Pastable aims to revolutionize our concept of what pasta sauces can be, with recipes for unique and non-traditional dishes like “Kimchi Carbonara” and “Cacio e Pepe e Chili Crisp.” 
    In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel explores Dana’s book review, “Rejecting the Binary” for Slate. She reviews American philosopher and theorist Judith Butler’s latest book–the first of theirs published with a nonacademic press–Who’s Afraid of Gender. Butler served as Dana’s dissertation adviser at the University of California in the late 1990s. 
    Email us at culturefest@slate.com. 
    Outro music: “Funny Jam” by Gloria Tells.
    Endorsements:
    Dana: A feat of artistry and interpretation, nineteen-year-old American Ilia Malinin’s free skate to the Succession theme (composed, of course, by Nicholas Britell). Malinin scored a record 227.79, winning his first world title and executed the best collection of jumps in one program in figure skating history. 

    Dan: The Big Ears Festival held in Knoxville, Tennessee. 

    Stephen: Falling into a Cat Stevens rabbit hole. He recommends starting with “The First Cut is the Deepest” and Stevens’ 2014 Tiny Desk performance. 

    Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong. 
     
    Hosts
    Dana Stephens, Dan Kois, Stephen Metcalf
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    • 1 hr 3 min
    Decoder Ring: Andrew Wyeth's Secret Nudes

    Decoder Ring: Andrew Wyeth's Secret Nudes

    In 1986, Andrew Wyeth was the most famous painter in America. He was a household name, on the cover of magazines and tapped to paint presidents. And then he revealed a secret cache of 240 pieces of artwork, many provocative, all featuring the same nude female model. This collection, called The Helga Pictures, had been completed over 15 years and hidden from his wife, until they were revealed and wound up on the covers of both Time Magazine and Newsweek. The implication of these paintings were clear: Wyeth must have been having an affair, but then the story got complicated. Was it a genuine sex scandal? A hoax? Or something else entirely? 
    Some of the voices you’ll hear in this episode include Doug McGill, former New York Times reporter; Neil Harris, author of Capital Culture: J. Carter Brown, the National Gallery of Art, and the Reinvention of the Museum Experience; Cathy Booth Thomas, former Time Magazine correspondent; Gwendolyn Dubois Shaw, art historian and curator; Jeannie McDowell, former Time Magazine correspondent; Chris Lione, former art director at Art and Antiques; Joyce Stoner, Wyeth scholar; Peter Ralston, Wyeth photographer and friend; and Jim Duff, former director of the Brandywine River Museum.
    This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Willa Paskin and Benjamin Frisch. It was edited by Benjamin Frisch and Gabriel Roth. We had research assistance from Cleo Levin. Decoder Ring is produced by Evan Chung, Katie Shepherd, and Max Freedman. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.
    A very special thank you to Paula Scaire.
    If you haven’t yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends.
    If you’re a fan of the show, please sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring and all other Slate podcasts without any ads and have total access to Slate’s website. Your support is also crucial to our work. Go to Slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. 
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    • 54 min
    ICYMI: Is Nara Smith Actually a Tradwife?

    ICYMI: Is Nara Smith Actually a Tradwife?

    On today’s show, Rachelle is joined by writer and reporter Gaby Del Valle to discuss the rapid, contested rise of model-turned-influencer Nara Smith. Described by Rolling Stone as the “hot, young tradwife making everyone on the internet mad”, Nara’s elaborate homemade meals, hot husband and two young children are sending spectators into a tizzy as they debate whether or not she’s trying to convert them to Mormonism.
    This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton.
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    • 42 min
    Outward: Trace Lysette on the Hollywood Rollercoaster

    Outward: Trace Lysette on the Hollywood Rollercoaster

    In this episode, Trace Lysette (Transparent, Hustlers) talks about her critically acclaimed film Monica, with Jules. The film tells the story of a trans woman returning home after decades of estrangement from her dying mother, and was the first-ever film led by an out trans actor to debut at the Venice Film Festival. Jules talks to Trace about the layers of her performance and the rollercoaster experience of making and campaigning the film.
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    • 37 min
    Well, Now: Eating Disorders Are Rising Among Boys. Why?

    Well, Now: Eating Disorders Are Rising Among Boys. Why?

    Eating disorders are one of the most deadly psychiatric disorders.
    But for decades, much of the criteria to diagnose one applied only to cisgender girls and those assigned female at birth – like a loss of menstruation. This meant that many cisgender boys and those assigned male at birth fell through the cracks. 
    On this week’s episode of Well, Now: The rise in eating disorders among boys and men with Dr. Jason Nagata, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California San Francisco. 
    Maya and Kavita will discuss how eating disorders tend to manifest differently between boys and girls, and what signs to look for if you think you or someone you know needs care.
    For more information on eating disorders, you can visit the National Eating Disorders Association’s website.
    If you liked this episode, check out: Breaking Up With Diet Culture
    Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry with editorial oversight by Alicia Montgomery.
    Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to wellnow@slate.com 
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    • 39 min

Customer Reviews

4.2 out of 5
1.9K Ratings

1.9K Ratings

JeffGetty1 ,

zone of interest

The zone of interest episode was amazing from start to finish—including the Holocaust, Barbie, House of Gucci, and Solnit’s essay on San Francisco.

angrylf ,

so woke it’s like a cartoon

‘Outward: the inherent queerness of poetry’ is the title of one episode - hahahaha!!!!!

craving sleep 265 ,

Always great

I’ve been listening to the Culture Gabfest for many years and Steve, Dana and Julia feel like old friends who guide me through whatever is new, trendy or worth paying attention to.

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