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.

---

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.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(3086)

ICYMI - Surveillance Glasses For Girls!

Kylie Jenner and Mark Zuckerberg are trying to rebrand Meta Glasses as some kind of girlboss fashion accessory, even though women are the ones most likely to be the victims of their invasive technolog...

8 Jul 37min

Death, Sex & Money - How Much Should You Spend on a Wedding?

This week, listeners share what it’s like to plan a dream wedding when money and family relationships lead to conflict and compromise. We hear from couples with vastly different ideas of what they wan...

7 Jul 41min

ICYMI - AI Is Changing How We Have Sex

As sex becomes more online, not only does it become more solitary, but also more surveilled. For instance: Back in December, OpenAI announced that they’d allow adult users to have erotic conversations...

4 Jul 46min

Culture Gabfest - So Long, and Thanks for All the Granola Edition

A eulogistic weepfest? A “valediction forbidding mourning”? A conscious unthroupling? All of the above?Believe it or not, the time has come for Steve, Dana, and Julia to convene the Culture Gabfest pa...

1 Jul 1h 37min

Decoder Ring - We Are Monumentally Bad at Statues

It seems like the only time you hear about new statues these days is when something goes horribly wrong. Unfortunate bronze renditions of Lucille Ball, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dwayne Wade, and many others ...

1 Jul 48min

ICYMI - Influencers Are Hitting Retirement

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick, creator of The Trend Report, to talk about how so many of our favorite influencers have started to retire. Glitter and Laze...

1 Jul 37min

Death, Sex & Money - Emmy-Winner Jeff Hiller Returns! Talking Bodies and Money in a Changing Hollywood

A lot has happened in Jeff Hiller’s life since he was last on the show in 2024. Last year he won an Emmy for his role on the HBO show Somebody Somewhere and then went viral for his sincere and funny ...

30 Jun 51min

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia - Don’t Fear the Repeat Edition

We’re all familiar with the concept of a one-hit wonder, but what about artists who hit it big a second time—and never again? This week on Hit Parade, Chris Molanphy lays out the ground rules for one ...

27 Jun 52min