Slate Culture Feed

This week, Dana, Steve, and Nadira Goffe assess if we as a culture can ever really escape Neverland— namely, the gigantic and fraught legacy of Michael Jackson. They unpack the biopic Michael. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, starring Jackson’s own nephew Jaafar Jackson, and produced by much of the Jackson family, the film is chock full of musical numbers and light on the troubling aspects of the singer’s life. Does it ever rise above King of Pop hagiography? They discuss.

Next, they take up Half Man, the new limited series from Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd. It’s a brutal look at a toxic male relationship. Is its unflinching eye too unflinching? Perhaps.

Finally, how can one become cultured? What does that even mean!? Such are the questions raised by T Magazine’s recent special issue “How to Be Cultured.” Our panel debates the package’s various high brow listicles, takes their quiz, and Nadira even makes her own culture list as rebuttal! (See below.)

In an exclusive bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, our hosts share which cultural figures they think would make for good biopic subjects.

Endorsements
Nadira: The new EP NAIL from Yves, particularly the title track, and Curtis Live! the live album by Curtis Mayfield, especially the song "The Makings of You."

Steve: The poem "Like the Train's Beat" by Philip Larkin.

Dana: The book On Michael Jackson by Margo Jefferson about Michael Jackson's complicated cultural place.

Nadira's Culture List:
(Editor’s Note: Nadira added two things since our discussion — we’re all still staying curious and expanding our cultural horizons!)

“Throw Some Ds on It” — Rich Boy (Song; 2007)
“Jealous Guy” — Donny Hathaway covering John Lennon live (Song; 1972)
Any vlogger on YouTube, but particularly the work of Casey Neistat
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (TV Show; 1995)
Fleabag (TV Show; 2016-2019)
Monster (Anime Series, currently avail. on Netflix; 2004)
Stop Making Sense (Movie; 1984)
The Devil Wears Prada (Movie; 2006)
Step Up 2: The Streets (Movie; 2008)
Tampopo (Movie; 1985)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Movie; 2018)
Original Cast Album Company (Movie; 1970)
Quo Vadis, Aida? (Movie; 2004)
Playing in the Dark — Toni Morrison (Book; 1992)
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow — Gabrielle Zevin (Book; 2022)
Any painting by Kerry James Marshall, but particularly “School of Beauty, School of Culture” and “Portrait of the artist as a shadow of his former self”
Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright (Architecture; 1964)

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Email us your thoughts at [email protected].

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

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

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by ex-Mormon content creator Alyssa Grenfell to discuss the new Secret Lives of Mormon Wives spinoff, Netflix’s Trust Me, and the pop-culturification of Mormonism. While the internet has long been a place for Mormon creators to thrive, now that they’ve gone mainstream, our obsession with MomTok and dirty sodas risks softening, and even obscuring, the religion’s conservative ideology. During a time in history when our conservative government feels more dangerous than ever, we can’t let pop culture give racism and sexism a sugar-coated rebrand.

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When musician Chris Dowd was 19, shortly after graduating from high school, his band Fishbone got signed to Columbia Records. The group was made up of Black teenagers in Los Angeles, who combined several musical genres—funk, punk, ska, metal, reggae—into a new exciting sound in the late 70’s. They influenced countless other bands but struggled to find lasting commercial success.
This week on the show, Chris talks to Anna Sale about being a teenage rock pioneer who stepped away from the group in 1994. He also discusses his close friendship with the late Jeff Buckley, his trouble with alcoholism after Jeff's death, and what it's been like to rejoin Fishbone and go on tour.

Fishbone songs featured in this episode:
Skankin’ to the Beat
Ugly
Adolescent Regressive Behavior
Party at Ground Zero
Cubicle
Love is Love
Last Call in America (feat. George Clinton)
Housework

Watch Fishbone’s 1991 performance on SNL: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xl7e88
This episode was produced by Cameron Drews and Daisy Rosario.
Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.
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 email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is [email protected].
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On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by culture writer Kat Tenbarge to discuss CNN’s recent investigation into a global online “rape academy.” The reporters infiltrated a Telegram group of nearly 1000 men exchanging tactics to drug and sexually assault their partners, which they found through a specific pornography website. However, when CNN reported that this website received 62 million hits in a month, some readers conflated this number with the number of members in the Telegram group, resulting in viral misinformation. Those attempting to correct the record have been accused of minimizing these crimes. Why does the truth feel so controversial?

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hit Parade is on a brief break, but if you need a daily dose of fascinating stories, check out History Daily. Host Lindsay Graham (the history guy! not the senator!) explores what happened "on this day in history," with a broad mix of politics, sports, technology, medicine, and much more. Chris recommends this episode about the genesis of MTV—including the forgotten role played by a former member of the Monkees.

Find History Daily's huge archive of quick-hit history at: https://www.historydaily.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.