Culture Gabfest - The Timothée Chalamet vs. the Blue Aliens Edition

Culture Gabfest - The Timothée Chalamet vs. the Blue Aliens Edition

This week, Julia and Steve welcome guest host Sam Adams to deconstruct the aggravating, yet strangely charming, table tennis phenom on the make that is Marty Supreme. Played with “BDE off-the-charts” (Steve’s words) by Timothée Chalamet, the unceasingly shameless hustler may just be an avatar for our age.

Speaking of avatars, we can’t avoid discussing Avatar: Fire and Ash, the latest installment of James Cameron’s immersive mega-franchise. Once again, the big blue folks peopling Pandora drew boku bucks at the box office… but do the Avatar films have any “cultural impact”? And what does “cultural impact” even mean? New Yorker staff writer Michael Schulman steps into the cultural cage match to debate this long-simmering internet argument.

On this week’s bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, the hosts take up a listener question about “cultural bran muffins,” the bits of culture you know would be good for you if only you could get them down. The hosts confess their bran secrets.

Endorsements

Steve: The essay "Two Pins and a Lollipop" about Judy Garland by Bee Wilson in the London Review of Books.

Sam: The album Penthouse by the band Luna, particularly the song "Chinatown."


Julia: Slate's beloved annual tradition Movie Club which for its 2025 edition gathers film critics Bilge Ebiri, Alison Wilmore, Justin Chang, and our very own Dana Stevens for a rollicking exchange about the year in film.

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Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com.

Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episoder(2956)

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Culture Gabfest - James Bond’s Sexistential Retreat Edition

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1 Apr 53min

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On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Defector co-owner Alex Sujong Laughlin, whose recent piece about “lip filler accent” identified a new way TikTok is changing how we speak. Even peopl...

1 Apr 32min

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Death, Sex & Money - A Court Settlement Made Me a Millionaire. I’ve Barely Touched the Money.

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A listener we're calling Natalie received over a million dollars after being sexually abused by her university gynecologist in one of the largest abuse settlements in American history. She talks about...

31 Mar 46min

ICYMI - Taylor Frankie Paul's Bachelorette Cancellation Was Inevitable

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On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by New York Magazine features writer Rebecca Jennings, who recently profiled the now-cancelled Bachelorette, Taylor Frankie Paul. Paul’s season was pull...

28 Mar 38min

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia - Feet on the Ground, Reaching for the Stars Edition Part 2

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The 100th episode of Hit Parade has put host Chris Molanphy in a reflective mood. So in Part 2, he unfurls the story of the late, great American Top 40 host Casey Kasem—a perennial inspiration for thi...

27 Mar 52min

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Welcome to a very special Money On Film miniseries!Over three episodes, Slate Money’s Felix Salmon and Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe revisit three films at the intersection of culture and finance....

27 Mar 29min

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