Culture Gabfest

“Man Out of Time, Fish Out of Water” Edition

Luca, Loki, and the new season of Slate’s Decoder Ring.

Episode Notes

This week Dana and Steve are joined by Slate staff writer Karen Han. First, the panel discusses the Pixar movie Luca. Next, they talk about the first two episodes of Marvel’s TV show Loki. Finally, the panel is joined by Willa Paskin and Benjamin Frisch, the host and producer of Slate’s Decoder Ring podcast, to discuss the making of the new season.

In Slate Plus, the panel talks about whether seeing movies in the theater is a tradition worth preserving.

Email us at culturefest@slate.com

Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Cleo Levin.

Outro music is “Eightball” by Gabe Nandez.

Endorsements

Dana: The playlist of the music found in James Baldwin’s apartment, “This Giant Prehistoric  Rhino Was the Biggest Land Mammal to Walk the Earth” by Jack Guy and Zixu Wang for CNN

Karen: Try making ice cream at home

Steve: The writing of Janet Malcolm in the New York Review of Books and the New Yorker

Further Reading

“How Gay Is Pixar’s Luca?” by Marissa Martinelli for Slate

“The Many Contradictions of Owen Wilson” by Isaac Butler for Slate

About the Show

New York Times critic Dwight Garner says, “The Slate Culture Gabfest is one of the highlights of my week.” The award-winning Culturefest features Slate culture critics Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner debating the week in culture, from highbrow to pop.

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Hosts

  • Karen Han is a former Slate staff writer. Her writing on film, TV, and culture has also appeared in the New York Times, Vulture, Vanity Fair, the Atlantic, and Vice.

  • Dana Stevens is Slate’s movie critic.

  • Stephen Metcalf is Slate’s critic at large. He is working on a book about the 1980s.