Slate Culture Feed

A lot has happened in Jeff Hiller’s life since he was last on the show in 2024. Last year he won an Emmy for his role on the HBO show Somebody Somewhere and then went viral for his sincere and funny acceptance speech. He’s had featured roles in the AppleTV hits Pluribus and Widow’s Bay and joined the revolving cast of the Broadway show Celebrity Autobiography. And his memoir Actress of a Certain Age is out in paperback.
This week, Jeff returns to tell Anna about all the ways his life has changed – and hasn’t – since that surprise awards win, including the internet’s curiosity about his body, facing the financial realities of a changing Hollywood, and how we can all remember to seek joy by avoiding the fate of Margaret Atwood’s rooster.
Podcast production by Cameron Drews and Andrew Dunn
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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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We’re all familiar with the concept of a one-hit wonder, but what about artists who hit it big a second time—and never again? This week on Hit Parade, Chris Molanphy lays out the ground rules for one of pop's most misunderstood chart distinctions and sorts through the roster of this ultra-exclusive club, which counts Gloria Gaynor, Hozier, the Clash, and Dead or Alive among its members. Then, Chris counts down his favorite fluky examples of two-hit wonders.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Will Oremus, tech writer at The Atlantic and author of “The Feel-Good Story of the World Cup Is Too Good to Be True.” While our social media feeds have been flooded with thousands of viral and wholesome moments from the World Cup, Will discovered that a number of accounts behind some of the biggest posts aren’t what they seem. Some are using AI to write exaggerated stories, and others have become so mysteriously popular so mysteriously quickly that users are becoming suspicious. Is a Japanese tourist really writing odes to chips and salsa on X? And who is Freddy? Please say Merlin the duck is really a duck!

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.
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The Gabfest’s end is nigh but we’ve still got a few bits of culture to gab upon. This week, Steve and Dana are joined by longtime Gabfest star pinch hitter Dan Kois.

First up for consideration: Pixar’s Toy Story 5. In this fifth installment of the computer animation studio’s flagship franchise, the threat to the vital bond between toy and child are computers themselves. Will Pixar, of all entities, save us from the threat of screentime? Maybe not. Is it nice to be back with Woody, Buzz, Jesse and the gang of plushies, dolls, and various transitional objects? Maybe so.

Next, the panel drops into the indie comedy ecosystem of the streaming service Dropout TV and talks about its chaotic cult hit game show Game Changer, now in its eighth season. Does the goofy hijinks therein offer a framework for the future of TV? They discuss.

Finally, supreme, very special friend of the program (SVSFOP) Wesley Morris joins to talk about the New York Times’ package on the six sentences that define America and his essay in it about Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddam.”

In our bonus episode, Wesley sticks around to theorize with Steve, Dana, and Julia about the point of even having podcasts about culture.

Endorsements

Dana: "What Steven Spielberg Taught Me About Fear, Catharsis, and Being Human" by Wesley Morris in The New York Times as well as, maybe for the first time ever for Dana in Gabfest history, a piece of technology: the MacBook Neo.

Julia: The ongoing career—after composing the Gabfest theme—of the composer Nicholas Britell including his work for the NBA and particularly the composition "Agape" on the film score of If Beale Street Could Talk.

Wesley: The potato salad recipe in Pearl Bailey's cookbook Pearl's Kitchen: An Extraordinary Cookbook.

Dan: Writing fan mail to authors whose work you love. Also, the music of the recently departed South African jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, particularly the album Mindif.

Steve: The semi-fictionalized documentary about David Hockney A Bigger Splash and Philip French's review of it for BFI. Also, David Denby's 1990 New York Review of Books essay "The Real Thing" about the documentarian Frederick Wiseman.

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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, in collaboration with No Such Thing, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Manny Fidel, Noah Friedman, and Devan Joseph to talk about payment apps, and how they’ve changed the way we think about money. Plus, Kate reveals her own payment app predicament, and, with the help of the boys and a handful of experts, brings an unspoken, decade-long Venmo feud to a close.

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay, with help from No Such Thing.
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