On this week’s show, the panel returns to Arrakis! First up, the trio reviews Dune: Part Two, the (as the title suggests) second part of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 science fiction epic. In it, Timothée Chalamet plays Paul Atreides, the supposed “messiah” of Arrakis, a hostile desert planet rich in spice, in a fantastic feat of world building and worm-riding. Then, they examine God Save Texas, a three-part docu-series streaming on Max that follows three Texan filmmakers (Richard Linklakter, Alex Stapleton, and Iliana Sosa) as they return to their respective hometowns and chronicle the state’s complex history with the prison system, oil business, and border laws. Finally, the panel is joined by Paul Schnee, an acclaimed casting director whose credits include Spotlight, Winter’s Bone, and The Help, to discuss the Academy Awards’ most recent addition: an Oscar for Casting. 

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel answers a listener question from Eliot: What are some pieces of culture that your children have introduced to you? 

Email us at culturefest@slate.com. 

Outro music: “Last Sunday” by OTE

Endorsements:

Dana: Werner Herzog’s 2011 documentary, Into the Abyss. The film examines America’s capital punishment system. 

Julia: The Lady and the Tramp, which is still great and bizarre, and somehow, makes the dogs… hot? 

Steve: Australian novelist Helen Garner’s 2014 non-fiction book The House of Grief, which follows a man and his broken life, a community wracked by tragedy, and the long and torturous road to closure. 

Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong. 

Hosts

Dana Stephens, Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf

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