Slate Culture

On this episode: Zak, Elizabeth and Lucy talk about executive functioning. Listeners reliably chime in when Elizabeth and Lucy talk about their planners, their calendars, and their methods of staying sane… so today, we’re diving into the ways we keep track of everything. Most of the time. After that, of course, we’ll circle up for a round of triumphs and fails. Join us on Facebook and email us at careandfeedingpod@slate.com to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts. Podcast produced by Maura Currie.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kate Lindsay and Candice Lim break down the wedding weekend heard round TikTok starring one of r/NYCInfluencerSnark’s main characters. Jazmyn Smith (better known as @justjazzzyidk) got married after a year-long engagement that was rife with criticism surrounding her relationship, her fiancé’s financial status, and more. But instead of burying the wedding, she brought her followers along by posting in real time, creating TikTok spreadsheets, and having her assistant run her account while she got married. So why are her haters still mad? Plus, how an influencer sued another content creator for stealing their “sad beige” aesthetic, and why the lawsuit sounds a lot like the plot of Ingrid Goes West. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Decoder Ring is marking its 100th episode this year. To celebrate, we’re revisiting our very first episode from 2018, which asks: What happened to the laugh track? For nearly five decades, the laugh track was ubiquitous, but beginning in the early 2000s, it fell out of sitcom fashion. What happened? How did we get from The Beverly Hillbillies to 30 Rock? In this episode 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, this episode asks if the laugh track was about something bigger than laughter. You can read more in Willa’s article “The Man Who Perfected the Laugh Track” in Slate. Links and further reading on some of the things we discussed on the show: Interview with Ben Glenn II on the history of the laugh track in McSweeney’s See a Charlie Douglas Laff Box on Antiques Roadshow More of Paul Iverson’s work restoring laugh tracks and inserting them into new shows The sitcom One Day at a Time Friends without a Laugh Track by Sboss “The Okeh Laughing Record” Tommy Schlamme and Aaron Sorkin’s Sports Night This episode was written by Willa Paskin. It was produced and edited by Benjamin Frisch, who also created the episode art. Decoder Ring is produced by Katie Shepherd, Max Freedman, and our supervising producer Evan Chung. If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com, or leave a message on the Decoder RIng hotline at 347-460-7281. We love to hear any and all of your ideas for the show.  Want more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Decoder Ring show page. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s show, longtime hosts Julia, Stephen, and Dana are all together in-person to talk about Mountainhead, the new HBO Max movie from Jesse Armstrong, creator of Succession. Then, they dig into the new Amazon Prime series Overcompensating. Finally, they talk about the new PR junket, full of spicy food and odd quizzes, inspired by this Vulture article by Nicholas Quah.  Endorsements: Dana: The Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt.  Julia: Restauranteur Keith McNally’s memoir, I Regret Almost Everything.  Stephen: Sarah Beckwith’s piece in The New Yorker, “Returning to the Scene of My Brutal Rape.” and the novel 2666 by Roberto Bolaño. Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Want more Culture Gabfest? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Culture Gabfest show page. Or, visit slate.com/cultureplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Long before Celine Song was nominated for an Academy Award for her directorial debut, Past Lives, she was a struggling playwright in New York City with a side hustle: matchmaking. In this episode, Celine talks about how that experience inspired the plot of her new A24 movie, Materialists, starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal. This podcast was produced by Zoe Azulay.  Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus. And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hosts Alex Kirshner, Ben Lindbergh and  Lindsay Gibbs break down the NBA Finals and the savvy draft and trade decisions that led to this year’s showdown between two small-market teams. They also unpack the NHL Finals rematch between Edmonton and Florida and whether a Canadian team can finally reclaim glory. Finally, they speak with New York Times sports business reporter Ken Belson about looming tax code changes proposed by the Trump administration that could spell major headaches for NFL owners. On the bonus episode available exclusively for Slate Plus members, the panel discusses the vibe-crushing  “foul up 3,” strategy plaguing the end of high-stakes NBA games.  NBA Finals (4:41): Pacers vs. Thunder NHL Finals (19:49): Panthers vs. Oilers Sports Tax Issues (31:10): Will Trump kneecap sports team owners? (Note: time codes are only accurate for Slate Plus members, who listen ad-free.) Want more Hang Up and Listen? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page, or visit slate.com/hangupplus to get access wherever you listen. You can email us at hangup@slate.com. Podcast production and editing by Kevin Bendis, with production assistance from Ben Richmond. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode: Zak, Elizabeth and Jamilah help a listener who just got told that her toddler is overweight. Now, she’s wishing the pediatrician hadn’t said anything — and she’s also feeling like she failed as a parent. So, we’re here to explain how she didn’t fail… and talk about what healthy bodies can look like. And then, we’ll circle up for a round of checkins… and on Slate Plus, we muse on whether it’s just a phase. If you’re not part of the Slate Plus community, we hope you’ll consider joining! Keep reading to learn how. Zak’s check-in: un-unibrow? Elizabeth’s check-in: date with Oliver <3   Jamilah’s check-in: age brackets  Join us on Facebook and email us at careandfeedingpod@slate.com to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts. Podcast produced by Maura Currie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay are joined by Sara Petersen, author of Momfluenced, to chat about season two of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Mormon women once pioneered mommy blogging, so how did we get from vlogging to…swinging? The influencers who make up the reality show cast, known as “MomTok,” claim their racy antics are breaking stigmas and modernizing gender roles. In reality, they’re weaponizing their misunderstanding of feminism for their own personal gain.  This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of Nevermind, Nirvana’s genre-defining breakthrough, is a familiar one. Less well known is the saga of Billboard’s Modern Rock chart—and how college-rock staples of the 1980s like R.E.M. and The Cure gave way to heavier, more commercially dominant groups of the ‘90s like Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and The Smashing Pumpkins. What sparked the grungification of the charts? How did Modern Rock become the new Top 40? And how did the Seattle sound pave the way for post-grunge bands like Sublime, Third Eye Blind, and even Creed? Join Chris Molanphy as he explores alternative rock’s evolution from the cutting edge to the middle of the road. Podcast production by Olivia Briley and Kevin Bendis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Jenée is joined by Seema Yasmin, an Emmy Award-winning journalist, poet, medical doctor, author, and professor. Together, they’ll help a listener set on decorating their home with their old burlesque photos and posters without looking too narcissistic, another feeling isolated when her friends invite her ex-girlfriend to parties and events, a listener upset that their friend didn’t stick up for them after their music choices got them labeled a “horrific bigot,” and a listener concerned their friends are becoming doomsday preppers.   Want more Dear Prudence? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/prudie-plus to get access wherever you listen. This week’s podcast is produced by Jenée Desmond Harris, Maura Currie, and Daisy Rosario, with special thanks to Anuli Ononye and Sophie Summergrad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices