Slate Culture Feed

If you were watching cable TV around midday at the turn of the millennium, there’s a good chance you saw a commercial for a compilation CD called Monster Ballads. It promised you more than two hours of musical cheese—some of the most over-the-top, cornball, leather-clad romantic jams ever to grace the charts, from “Heaven” to “High Enough,” “Carrie” to “Amanda.”

There’s another, more common term for these rockin’ romancers: power ballads. And while this TV ad suggested the power ballad was perfected in the ’80s—preferably sung by a dude in spandex, with long, flowing locks—its roots go back decades earlier. Acts as seemingly mild as Roy Orbison, Harry Nilsson and even the Carpenters were pivotal to the way these mega-devotionals evolved. R&B divas would turn power vocals into an athletic sport, alongside hair-metal howlers. Eventually, power ballads colonized the charts in the ’80s, the ’90s and beyond.

Maybe they’re cheesy, cringeworthy and melodramatic—but power ballads have proven remarkably enduring, with even 21st-century Zoomer stars like Olivia Rodrigo offering their own variations. So, join Chris Molanphy as he brings on the heartbreak, finds thorns on every rose, explores feelings we can’t fight anymore and celebrates pop fans’ greatest love of all: the power ballad.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis

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As you may have heard in last week’s episode, the Culture Gabfest is hanging up its microphones after 18 years of cultural commentary. But before our final episode, we’ve still got much to discuss!

On this special guest-packed show, Steve, Dana, and Nadira Goffe have the power! That is the power to get into it with VSFOP Jamelle Bouie about Masters of the Universe, the latest attempt by Mattel to launch their own cinematic universe. They assess the state of IP-driven superhero movies and whether this newest entry—starring Nicholas Galitzine, as the buff, loin cloth-wearing He-Man, and Jared Leto, as the slightly lascivious Skeletor—is more than brand management.

Next, they turn to the wild, surreal revenge thriller Is God Is, written and directed by Aleshea Harris based on her stageplay. They talk about how this tale of twin sisters seeking vengeance fits into the growing pantheon of Black horror as well as the ancient canon of revenge tragedies.

Finally, and for the final time, it’s time to talk about Taylor Swift. In the wake of her newest release, the song “I Knew It, I Knew You” for the Toy Story 5 soundtrack, the gang assembles one more time to take up the long-simmering Tay debate. Jody Rosen and Julia jump on the call/enter the Thunderdome for this, of course.
In a bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, the panel pours one out for the recently shuttered Hampshire College and reflects on the changing landscape of the liberal arts.

Endorsements

Dana: The interactive, Jazz-playing, transit-obsessed, single purpose website Train Jazz. (Hat tip once more to Rusty Foster's Today in Tabs.)

Nadira: The Black Film Archive which showcases Black films made from 1898 to 1999 currently streaming. Also, the year 2016 in music.

Jody: For some Gabfest replacement therapy, watching academic lectures on YouTube such as the lectures of art historian John Walsh at Yale Art Galleries—including ones on Vincent Van Gogh and Dutch masters— and cultural historian Eric Lott on Racial Masquerade in America and Philippe Petit's legendary tightrope walk between the Twin Towers.

Julia: Patrick Radden Keefe's new book London Falling and the song "Come Tomorrow" by Patti Scialfa.

Steve: Following up on last week’s endorsement, Steve can confirm that Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee is, in fact, good. Also recommended: Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald.

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Email us your thoughts at [email protected].

Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.
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On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Rachel Karten, a social media consultant and the writer of Link In Bio. Storytimes and other caught-on-camera content frequently goes viral on social media, but now companies have started manufacturing their own skits to secretly advertise themselves. Countless “ambassadors” are telling the same fake stories all over TikTok, with links to brands in their bios but not disclosing that they are trying to get viewers to buy products. Even worse, people keep falling for it. The more we earnestly engage with these made-up scenarios, the more we push the secretly-sponsored content into people’s feeds. Will anyone stop them?

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay, with help from A.C. Valdez.
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Theo Baker was seventeen when he enrolled at Stanford and stumbled into one of the biggest stories on campus: academic misconduct allegations against the university's president. His reporting eventually forced the president out. In this episode, Theo talks about breaking that story, navigating backlash from classmates and faculty, and what he's learned about the ways Silicon Valley's culture of ambition and power shapes college life.
Theo’s book is How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University
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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 [email protected].
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On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by writer Stephanie McNeal to discuss the internet phenomenon of “boy moms.” As an internet culture expert, and recent mother of a boy herself, Stephanie helps break down the reaction to a recent viral post from actress Jenny Mollen, who has publicly compared her sons to “toxic exes” and is already mourning losing them to their eventual marriages. But she is far from the only example of this trope on social media, and the more mothers fall into this trap, the more they legitimize a problematic dynamic.

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