Slate Culture Feed

Even before the launch of MTV, the music video has been making pop songs buzzworthy. And since the early ’80s, it has transformed also-rans into hitmakers—from the Buggles and Duran Duran to Peter Gabriel and a‑ha. But until the early 2010s, watching a video didn’t count on the Billboard charts. That all changed thanks to YouTube—and the biggest immediate beneficiary from the addition of video to the charts was a rising pop star, incubated on the Disney Channel, but looking to change her image. Miley Cyrus was born into hitmaking, line-dancing, multimedia royalty, and she used video titillation—and even the social site Chatroulette—to top the charts. But what did all that provocation mean for…y’know, the music? And how is video still making hits—including the song that’s No. 1 this very week in 2018?  Chris Molanphy explains it all. hitparade@slate.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by the Athletic’s Marcus Thompson to discuss the Warriors and Steph Curry. Bloomberg’s Ira Boudway also joins to talk about legalized sports betting, and John Swansburg helps assess Tom Wolfe’s classic piece on NASCAR driver Junior Johnson. Golden State Warriors (4:20): With Steph Curry looking spry and healthy, can anyone stop the NBA’s best team? And what’s the deal with Curry’s mom fining him for cursing? Legalized sports betting (26:15): The Supreme Court’s huge ruling will change how leagues operate and how fans wager. Bloomberg’s Ira Boudway explains the ramifications. Tom Wolfe on Junior Johnson (44:35): Tom Wolfe’s Esquire piece “The Last American Hero Is Junior Johnson. Yes!” is a classic of new journalism. What did Wolfe get right about Johnson and NASCAR and what did he miss? Afterballs (1:11:40):  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The bestselling author of An American Marriage talks about writing her own rules for adulthood.Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter, if you haven't already. Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter.And follow the show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stefan Fatsis and guest host Mike Pesca discuss the start of the NBA conference finals and the debate over the debate over who’s the greatest, Michael Jordan or LeBron James. Stefan talks to Roger Bennett of Men In Blazers about Wayne Rooney’s reported move to America and Roger’s new book, Men in Blazers Present Encyclopedia Blazertannica. And Stefan and Mike are joined by Nate DiMeo to discuss his essay in Mike’s new book, Upon Further Review, about the alternate history of tug-of-war. NBA (1:42): Stefan and Mike discuss Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, Michael v. LeBron, and Charles v. Shaq.Wayne Rooney (22:04): Stefan and Roger Bennett of Men In Blazers talk about English striker Wayne Rooney’s reported move to D.C. United of Major League Soccer.Tug-of-War (40:24): Stefan and Mike talk to Nate DiMeo about imagining what would have happened if tug-of-war hadn’t been kicked out of the Olympics a century ago.Afterballs (56:01):  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Think you know music? Hit Parade, the pop-chart history podcast from Slate, is back with a new episode of The Bridge. In this monthly mini-episode of Hit Parade, host Chris Molanphy answers some listener mail and invites one contestant onto the show to play some music trivia. Players also have the opportunity to turn the tables on him: They get a chance to try to stump Molanphy, a music journalist for the past 25 years, with their own trivia question. This month, The Bridge tackles the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and some some music trivia from the ‘00s. Play along at home and quiz yourself by listening to the The Bridge here. If you’d like to be a contestant on an upcoming show, sign up for a Slate Plus membership, and then enter as a contestant here. You can also enter if you’re already a Slate Plus member. Want your question featured in an upcoming show? Email hitparade@slate.com.  Podcast production by T. J. Raphael Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stefan Fatsis is joined by ESPN’s Dave McMenamin to break down the epic buzzer-beater by LeBron James in Game 3 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference playoffs and by hockey writer Sean McIndoe to discuss the Stanley Cup playoffs. Slate’s Christina Cauterucci and Juliet Macur of the New York Times talk about the exploitative treatment of NFL cheerleaders. And ESPN’s Sam Miller explains how there were more strikeouts than hits in the major leagues in a month for the first time ever.LeBron (3:15): Stefan and ESPN’s Dave McMenamin conduct a forensic breakdown of LeBron James’s seemingly impossible game-winning shot against the Toronto Raptors.NHL playoffs (21:39): Stefan and hockey writer Sean McIndoe discuss the Vegas Golden Knights, the Winnipeg Jets, a rare playoff suspension, and Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins licking his opponents.Cheerleaders (43:50): Slate’s Christina Cauterucci and Juliet Macur of the New York Times talk with Stefan about Juliet’s reporting on the treatment of cheerleaders for Washington’s NFL teamBaseballs (1:01:32):  ESPN’s Sam Miller talks with Stefan about the decade-long rise in strikeouts and whether Major League Baseball needs to do something about it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thousands paid off. Cuts to the beauty budget. A foster daughter. Our listeners share what's happened since appearing in our student loans episodes last year.Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter, if you haven't already. Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating letters from our inbox and updates from the show. Sign up at deathsexmoney.org/newsletter.And follow the show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Got a story to share? Email us any time at deathsexmoney@wnyc.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Josh Levin, Wosny Lambre, and Ethan Sherwood Strauss discuss the NBA playoffs. They also talk about Meek Mill’s release from prison and his relationship with the 76ers, and they ponder quarterback Josh Allen’s old, racial-slur-laden tweets. NBA playoffs (2:20): Josh, Wos, and Ethan assess the state of the Oklahoma City Thunder and the NBA’s most polarizing player, Russell Westbrook. They also examine LeBron James’ latest triumph and check in on the state of the Golden State Warriors. Meek Mill (22:35): Upon his release from prison, the Philadelphia rapper headed straight to the Sixers’ game against the Miami Heat. How did Mill forge such a tight connection with the team, and how did he become a cause célèbre for criminal justice reformers? Josh Allen (37:23): The Wyoming quarterback’s tweets were publicized the night before the NFL draft. Should we care about Allen’s social media misadventures, and how should we think about athletes’ old tweets more broadly? Afterballs (56:00):  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Dear Prudence and Slow Burn. Sign up now to listen and support our work.Welcome to Decoder Ring! Decoder Ring is a monthly podcast about cracking cultural mysteries. Every episode we’ll take on a cultural object, idea, or habit and speak with experts, historians and obsessives to try to figure out where it comes from, what it means and why it matters. Why do we get so invested in fictional romances? What does it mean to wear a baseball hat backwards? Why do we clap? What do people think about all day? Decoder Ring explores questions and topics you didn't know you were curious about.In our first episode, we ask: What happened to the laugh track? For nearly five decades, it was ubiquitous, but beginning in the early 2000s, it fell out of sitcom fashion. What happened? How did we get from Beverly Hillbillies to 30 Rock? We meet the man who created the laugh track, which originated as a homemade piece of technology, and trace that technology’s fall and the rise of a more modern idea about humor. With the help of historians, laugh track obsessives, the showrunners of One Day at a Time and the director of Sports Night, we wonder if the laugh track was about something bigger than laughter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bon Jovi are many things: platinum-selling, chart-topping and now, Hall of Fame–inducted. That angers music critics, who have been slagging off this band of hard-rock prom kings since the 1980s. Among the haters is Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy, who has loathed Bon Jovi since high school. But even he can’t deny it: Bon Jovi are hugely influential. In the wake of their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Chris puts aside his animus to explain how the biggest band in hair metal have remained strangely relevant—thanks to their deathless hits, their album sales and, more recently, their influence on a certain hair-metal-loving Swedish pop producer. Email: hitparade@slate.com   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.