Slate Culture Feed

Julia Turner, Dana Stevens, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the Oscar-nominated film Vice, the Netflix streamer Sexual Education, and what to make of Netflix's "ratings" numbers with Slate TV critic and the host of Decoder Ring, Willa Paskin. This episode is brought to you by Capterra. Try it today, for free, at Capterra.com/CULTURE.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by Courtney Nguyen to talk about Naomi Osaka’s Australian Open win. The Wall Street Journal’s Louise Radnofsky also joins to assess the U.S. figure skating championships, and the Washington Post’s Candace Buckner discusses NBA players’ feet. Naomi Osaka (6:22): The 21-year-old backed up her U.S. Open victory with a second grand slam title. Has Osaka matured in the last five months, and how should we reconcile her shyness and on-court toughness? Figure skating (22:50): What you need to know about U.S. champions Alysa Liu (she’s 13!) and Nathan Chen. Plus, Gracie Gold opened up about her battle with depression. NBA feet (44:01): Everything you maybe don’t want to know about basketball players’ disgusting toes. Afterballs(58:55): Stefan on the Dane who invented modern team handball and Josh on the biggest feet in NBA history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Star Is Born, the movie Hollywood can’t stop remaking, is a fairy-tale about the American dream factory. But it has also, always, been a reflection of the woman in the lead role—and the latest version stars a woman who has been playing a role for more than a decade: Stefani Germanotta, a.k.a. Lady Gaga. When Gaga scored her first No. 1 hit, “Just Dance,” 10 years ago this month, critics thought her fame might be short-lived. ButGaga had a lot to say about The Fame, and within a year she had shifted the sound of the Top 40 in her electro-pop direction. And then, in the mid-2010s, she shifted her own sound, belting out pop standards for everyone from Tony Bennett to Julie Andrews. What happens if this shape-shifter pivots from Grammys to Oscars? And what will that say about the themes of A Star Is Born: artifice, authenticity and agency?This episode is brought to you by Slack, the collaboration hub for work. Learn more at Slack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're revisiting our most-listened to episode ever, about porn. Your stories about secret hard drives, fantasy plot lines, illegal downloads, titillating Tumblr feeds, and giving porn up completely.We're sharing this episode as part of our month-long series called Our Sex (Mis)Educations. Find the entire series here.Sign up for our newsletter! Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates about the show. We also let our subscribers know about upcoming live events and ways you can contribute your stories to Death, Sex & Money. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter.Want to tell us something? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Stevens, Julia Turner, and Sam Adams discuss the dueling Fyre Festival documentaries on Netflix and Hulu with Slate writer Shannon Palus, Glenn Close best actress vehicle The Wife, and the 2019 Academy Award Nominations.This episode is brought to you by Slack, the collaboration hub for work. Learn more at Slack.com.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by The Gist’s Mike Pesca to discuss the NFL’s conference championship games. ESPN’s Steve Fainaru also joins to talk about the collapsing football insurance market, and Ben Lindbergh of the Ringer assesses baseball’s ice-cold free agent market.NFL playoffs (3:51): The Saints got robbed. Does that mean the NFL should institute instant replay for pass interference? Also: Is there anything new to say about the Patriots?Football and insurance (32:44): It’s getting harder and harder for the NFL and other football entities to get insurance coverage. Does that mean the sport is on the verge of collapse?MLB free agency (50:01): With spring training getting closer, superstars Bryce Harper and Manny Machado remain unsigned. What’s going to break the impasse?Afterballs (68:05): Stefan on “good from 70” and Josh on Mike Tice’s Super Bowl ticket scalping. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you have an STI, we've got an assignment for you. Send your voice memos to deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Think you know music? Hit Parade, the music history podcast from Slate, is back with a new episode of The Bridge.In this monthly mini-episode of Hit Parade, Host Chris Molanphy reflects on the previous full length episode of the show, and invites one Slate Plus member onto the show to play some music trivia related to the upcoming episode. How does it all work? Contestants are asked three trivia questions, and the player also has the opportunity to turn the tables—they get a chance to try to stump Molanphy, a music journalist for the past 25 years, with one trivia question of their own. This month, Molanphy is joined at the mic by T. J. Raphael, senior producer of the Slate Podcast Network. Together, they reveal which artist won the coveted spot of this year’s U.K. Christmas No. 1, look ahead to the 2019 Grammy Awards, and discuss the next full length episode of Hit Parade, which is all about the rise of Lady Gaga. If you’d like to be a contestant on an upcoming show, sign up for a Slate Plus membership here, and enter as a contestant here. You can also enter to play if you’re already a Slate Plus member.Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email a voice memo to hitparade@slate.com.  Podcast production by T. J. Raphael.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

STI rates are on the rise. But when we asked our listeners to tell us their stories about having an STI, what we heard about was how alone it makes you feel. This episode is part of our month-long series called Our Sex (Mis)Educations. Find the entire series here.Do you have a photo that sums up a big workplace transition for you? We want to see it! Send it to deathsexmoney@wnyc.org or put it on Instagram with the hashtag #dsmatwork. See the photos we've collected so far @deathsexmoney on Instagram. Sign up for our newsletter! Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates about the show. We also let our subscribers know about upcoming live events and ways you can contribute your stories to Death, Sex & Money. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter.Want to tell us something? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Josh Levin is here to introduce you to What Next, Slate's new daily news podcast. UCLA’s Katelyn Ohashi wowed the internet this week with a viral video of her college gymnastics floor routine. As Ohashi’s star rises, the U.S. women’s gymnastics program is imploding. Fans of the sport wonder: What is the price of being world-class? Slate contributor Rebecca Schumann joins What Next host Mary Harris to investigate. Subscribe to What Next on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to whatnext@slate.com. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon, with help from Danielle Hewitt.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.