Slate Culture Feed22 Okt 2025

Culture Gabfest - Guillermo del Toro Can Take Frankenstein Off His Bucket List Edition

On this week’s show, Dana, Steve, and Julia step into the gothic, visually rich world of Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. It’s been years in the making, gorgeously rendered, and stars the always compelling Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi, but it’s up for debate if something like a soul emerges from del Toro’s mad machinations.

Next, author and journalist Stefan Fatsis joins the logophilic panel to talk about the uncertain fate of dictionaries as chronicled in his new book Unabridged: The Thrill of (and Threat To) the Modern Dictionary. Finally, the hosts talk about the sonically and narratively layered new podcast Fela Kuti: Fear No Man about the legendary Nigerian musician and activist— its acclaimed producer Jad Abumrad joins to discuss.

In an exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode, Jad sticks around to pepper the Gabfesters with questions about how we make our own podcast week after week.

Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com.

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

Endorsements

Steve: Jad Abumrad's new podcast Fela Kuti: Fear No Man (yes, the one covered in this very episode— it's that good). Also, Ben Lerner’s essay “Cardiography” in the New York Review of Books.

Jad: The dark Macedonian fantasy You Won’t Be Alone.

Julia: “Tense Present: Democracy, English, and the Wars over Usage,” David Foster Wallace's classic essay originally published in Harpers.
Dana: Adam Gopnik's recent piece "What Do We Want from Our Child Stars?" in The New Yorker.

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

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(3132)

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia - Choosin’ Dolly Edition

In the 1970s, Dolly Parton parlayed her Nashville success into megawatt pop-culture icon status—yet many of her familiar hits of the era barely scratched the Top 40. Parton finally crossed over at the...

23 Sep 49min

ICYMI - The “Sickfluencer” Witch Hunt

Like clockwork, another article has created a moral panic about so-called “sickfluencers,” or people—usually women—who share online about their illnesses and disabilities. Critics argue that the rise ...

23 Sep 36min

Decoder Ring - Bridget in the Buff

In the early 1970s, a jigsaw puzzle of a cheerful, young, naked, fat woman known only as “Bridget in the Buff” arrived in stores all over America. It was just the first of countless Bridget-related me...

23 Sep 1h 3min

Death, Sex & Money - My Homeschool Curriculum Was My Mother’s Unhappiness

Stefan’s mother said he was too smart for public school and took him out of 4th grade. But instead of studying, Stefan’s homeschool curriculum was organized around keeping his mother company and prete...

22 Sep 55min

ICYMI - Don't Worry, There’s No “AI Apocalypse”

A former Anthropic employee claimed AI would lead to the end of humanity, and soon. In the weeks since, the “whistleblower” has done a full press tour, with even Anthropic and OpenAI themselves seemin...

19 Sep 41min

ICYMI - Forbidden Alphas & Cursed Billionaires: The Rise Of Microdramas

Pregnant werewolves and surprise quadruplets are just two of the tropes you might find while watching what might be the next evolution of TV: vertical microdramas. Told in 90 second clips, these stori...

16 Sep 34min

Death, Sex & Money - How I “Failed” at OnlyFans

Anna Blake started an OnlyFans account, not as a pleasure project, but to achieve some financial stability. When she found out she hated the work and made little money, her relationship to sex – and t...

15 Sep 1h

ICYMI - Who TF Are These Women?

“Curtain for Zoosha! K-smog and Batboy caught flipping a grunt.” If that’s also what every headline sounds like to you, then you’re in the right place. Alex Earle and Stella Lefty are taking over For ...

12 Sep 46min