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Slate Culture Feed
Get the Culture Gabfest and all of Slate's culture coverage here.
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Episodes
Slate Culture FeedDecoder Ring - The Spooky Saga of the Icelandic Dracula
Since Bram Stoker’s Dracula was first published in 1897 it has inspired hundreds, if not thousands, of other fictional vampires. But none are quite as strange…
Slate Culture FeedICYMI - An Internet Boyfriend Just Made The Movie Of The Year
You may have thought we knew everything there was to know about Elizabeth Holmes. The Theranos founder who was found guilty of defrauding investors sparked…
Slate Culture FeedDeath, Sex & Money - Side Effects May Include Headaches, Sleep Eating, Buying Power Tools
For this episode, we asked for your stories about medication side effects. You told us about the weird, from sleep-eating to compulsive spending. You told us…
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ICYMI - The “Tradwife” To Girlboss Pipeline
The “tradwives” are retreating. Nara Smith went on Call Her Daddy to renounce any association with the term, and has been in the middle of a full-on rebrand as…
Slate Culture FeedDecoder Ring - Clown Panic (Encore)
Clowns have existed in various forms for thousands of years. From the big top to Bozo’s TV show, they used to be beloved figures of amusement and delight. What…
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ICYMI - The Toxic FB Groups For Estranged Parents
The latest internet “trend,” apparently, is adult children cutting off their parents. And while there are plenty of spaces on the internet where both children…
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Death, Sex & Money - Comedian Murray Hill on the Teachers Who Freed Him From an Unsafe Home
Now famous as a New York City nightlife fixture and for his role on Somebody Somewhere, comedian Murray Hill used to keep his personal history private. In…
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ICYMI - The Labubufication of AI Agents
The new AI agents from Meta and OpenAI have one thing in common: they look like children’s cartoons. At the same time these companies are warning that AI will…
Slate Culture FeedDecoder Ring - Gandhi Never Said “Be the Change”
Few inspirational phrases are quoted more often than Mahatma Gandhi’s “Be the change you want to see in the world.” It shows up on t-shirts, bumper stickers…
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ICYMI - How The Pussyhat Unraveled
Ten years ago, the world was gearing up to welcome the first female president. Instead, Donald Trump’s surprise victory went on to alter America’s entire…
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Death, Sex & Money - Remembering John Prine on His 80th, With His Wife Fiona
To mark John Prine’s 80’s birthday, Anna catches up with his wife Fiona. Then we revisit Anna’s 2018 conversation with John, where he discussed his bestselling…
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ICYMI - Jane Doe Deserves Better From The Internet
As soon as Jane Doe filed her civil suit against Cornell University, the internet was up in arms. Everyone from Florence Pugh to Love Island contestants took…
Slate Culture FeedHit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia - Near-Miss Hits: ‘80s Edition
The 1980s yielded a bumper crop of near-miss hits—songs that stalled out at No. 2, No. 11, or No. 41 during their original Billboard runs but were vindicated…
Slate Culture FeedDecoder Ring - Preview: Decoder Rings Back | The Second Spice
One of the many perks of subscribing to Decoder Ring Plus is access to every episode of Decoder Rings Back, our member-exclusive series where host Willa Paskin…
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ICYMI - The Conspiracy Theory Your Parents Are Falling For
What if I told you there was a machine that, using powerful energy and frequencies, could cure everything from common colds to cancers to missing limbs? Well…
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Death, Sex & Money - Ada Limón Lives in 'Vertical Time' in Her Childhood Home
After three years as Poet Laureate, Ada Limón craved a smaller, more private life. Then she saw a sign: her childhood home was for sale. In this episode, Anna…
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ICYMI - WTF Is Happening On Threads?
There are some controversies that can only happen on Threads. Discussions about mermaid trauma, for instance, or Pepsi having to apologize for their post about…
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ICYMI - The Revenge Of The Comment Section
Comment sections are dying. At least, when it comes to digital media. Platforms like Twitter have become the new place for discourse, and apps like TikTok are…
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Death, Sex & Money - Stavros Halkias Worries Fame Might Kill Him
This year, Stavros Halkias released a stand-up special, appeared in the Anthony Bourdain biopic Tony, and continued his run on the hit Netflix show Tires…
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ICYMI - No Phones? No Problem
Dumbphones are a popular recommendation for people looking to reduce their screen time, but it’s not as simple as it looks. When writer Stephanie Murray made…
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Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia - Choosin’ Dolly Edition
In the 1970s, Dolly Parton parlayed her Nashville success into megawatt pop-culture icon status—yet many of her familiar hits of the era barely scratched the…
Slate Culture FeedDecoder Ring - Bridget in the Buff
In the early 1970s, a jigsaw puzzle of a cheerful, young, naked, fat woman known only as “Bridget in the Buff” arrived in stores all over America. It was just…
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ICYMI - The “Sickfluencer” Witch Hunt
Like clockwork, another article has created a moral panic about so-called “sickfluencers,” or people—usually women—who share online about their illnesses and…
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Death, Sex & Money - My Homeschool Curriculum Was My Mother’s Unhappiness
Stefan’s mother said he was too smart for public school and took him out of 4th grade. But instead of studying, Stefan’s homeschool curriculum was organized…
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ICYMI - Don't Worry, There’s No “AI Apocalypse”
A former Anthropic employee claimed AI would lead to the end of humanity, and soon. In the weeks since, the “whistleblower” has done a full press tour, with…
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ICYMI - Forbidden Alphas & Cursed Billionaires: The Rise Of Microdramas
Pregnant werewolves and surprise quadruplets are just two of the tropes you might find while watching what might be the next evolution of TV: vertical…
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Death, Sex & Money - How I “Failed” at OnlyFans
Anna Blake started an OnlyFans account, not as a pleasure project, but to achieve some financial stability. When she found out she hated the work and made…
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ICYMI - Who TF Are These Women?
“Curtain for Zoosha! K-smog and Batboy caught flipping a grunt.” If that’s also what every headline sounds like to you, then you’re in the right place. Alex…
Slate Culture FeedDecoder Ring - What Even Is a “Podcast” Anymore?
Podcasts are everywhere. They’re more popular and influential than they’ve ever been. But at the same time, what makes a podcast a “podcast” has never been…
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ICYMI - Parenting Apps, Subreddits, & Group Chats—Oh My!
How many apps does it take to raise a child in 2026? Not only are parents navigating countless WhatsApp groups and summer camp platforms, there’s also a whole…
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Death, Sex & Money - 'Pay-What-You-Want' Defies Logic, Confuses Economists, and Can Really Work
The pay-what-you-want business model is mostly found in museums and churches, but this week we’ll hear from entrepreneurs and artists who are implementing it…
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ICYMI - Yes, Having a Boyfriend Is Embarrassing
Many women are hiding their boyfriends online, or losing followers if they hard-launch. Some go as far as to say having a boyfriend “feels republican.” Is this…
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Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia - Decoder Ring: Why Do Actors Act Like They Can Sing?
When an actor opens their mouth to sing in a movie, chances are high that the voice you hear will be their own. Even in music biopics, movie stars without much…
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ICYMI - The Hypocrisy of Plagiarism & AI Accusations
The rise of AI has led to a rise of distrust, but the “tools” used to identify AI and plagiarism are perpetuating preexisting biases. Jason Arday, the former…
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Death, Sex & Money - Behind Closed Tabs: Your Porn Stories
Porn. It’s something that people use in their most intimate, private moments. It’s a way to acknowledge desire — without any of the attachments of intimacy…
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ICYMI - Will Social Media Ever Be Fun Again?
Do you remember the last time you had fun online? In recent years, it’s felt like social media has become overridden with hot takes, discourse, and something…
Slate Culture FeedDecoder Ring - McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Crime, Part 2 (Encore)
McGruff the Crime Dog arrived on the scene at the dawn of the 1980s, just as a firehose of anti-drug PSAs was inundating the youth of America. These messages…
- Slate Culture Feed
ICYMI - It’s Time To Talk About Lindsay Clancy
True crime has always been entertainment, but social media has turned tragedies like the Lindsay Clancy trial into monocultural moments. It’s not enough to…
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Death, Sex & Money - 'Humane Eldercare Has Become a Luxury Item’
Nursing home care in the U.S. can run families $10,000 a month, a cost Medicare won’t pay for. When Anna de la Cruz's parents both developed dementia around…
- Slate Culture Feed
ICYMI - Leave The WNBA Alone, Trolls!
The WNBA has finally taken center stage, but the fandom is going through it. New eyes on the sport have brought new scrutiny, which has resulted in racist and…
Slate Culture FeedCulture Gabfest - Announcing: Julia's New Show!
L.A. World is a new weekly podcast from L.A. Material, the local news outlet that Julia Turner helped launch earlier this year. The show helps you understand…
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Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia - The Harrisong Edition
In the 1960s, the Beatles were defined by the success of the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership. But in the digital era, we discovered that the Fab…
- Slate Culture Feed
ICYMI - Get In Loser, We’re Friction-Maxxing
Technology keeps trying to “fix” every small inconvenience in our lives, which has rendered us completely unable to endure basic hurdles such as sitting in…
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Death, Sex & Money - Passive Aggressive vs. ‘Massive Aggressive’ With Novelist Elizabeth Strout
The bestselling novelist behind works like Amy and Isabelle and Olive Kitteridge discusses her excitement about turning 70, her reserved New England…
- Slate Culture Feed
ICYMI - Are You Anti-Influencer, Or Anti-Women?
After a small business in Nantucket put a “no influencers” sign in their store, creators accused it of being sexist. The issue divided the internet, when…
Slate Culture FeedDecoder Ring - McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Crime, Part 1 (Encore)
McGruff the Crime Dog arrived on the scene at the dawn of the 1980s, just as a firehose of anti-drug PSAs was inundating the youth of America. These messages…
- Slate Culture Feed
ICYMI - We Lost Another Creator To AI, Boys
Hank Green is finally burning out. After creating for the internet for almost 20 years, the YouTuber (and one half of Vlogbrothers) confessed to having a “not…
- Slate Culture Feed
Death, Sex & Money - A Refreshingly Curious Adventure through Our Divided America
Peter Santenello has been documenting his world travels on YouTube for nearly two decades, but it wasn’t until he moved in with a family in the Ukrainian…
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ICYMI - The "Skinnyphobic" Myth
We don’t know how to talk about bodies online. When a popular content creator named Samyra posted a TikTok accusing The Cheesecake Factory’s “Skinnylicious”…
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Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia - Her Heart Will Go On Edition
Céline Dion is set to emerge from her career dormancy into a sold-out Paris residency—a triumph over a rare neurological illness that, until recently…
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ICYMI - Don’t Fall For 90s Nostalgia Slop
The internet is never not nostalgic for the past, but something about the 90s is different. While previous trends like Y2K and “millennial optimism” have been…
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Death, Sex & Money - I Have a Crush on My Therapist. Now What?
Caroline started going to therapy as a teenager because of depression. After a couple of years working together, she expressed a fantasy. “I had a vision of us…
- Slate Culture Feed
ICYMI - Women's Health Is Not Your Clickbait
Women’s health is being yassified online, from ill-advised marketing campaigns by companies trying to go viral to creators pushing anti-abortion agendas under…
Slate Culture FeedDecoder Ring - The Fight Over Sunlight
The sun has always been a hot topic. For centuries, we’ve flip-flopped over whether our health depends on soaking up its rays—or shielding ourselves from them…
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ICYMI - We Need To Talk About Jimothy
In a matter of days, Jimothy the raccoon went from a neighborhood mascot to a viral sensation. But unlike the internet animals who came before him, Jimothy has…
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Death, Sex & Money - How a Very Polite Danny McBride Creates Characters That Go Berserk
The man behind artful and goofy comedies like The Righteous Gemstones and Eastbound and Down talks about finding his people at an upstart public film program…
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ICYMI - Do Healthy Relationships To Chatbots Exist?
Is AI romance inevitable? And who are the people in these relationships? Bridget Todd, host of There Are No Girls On The Internet, joins us to talk about her…
- Slate Culture Feed
Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia - The Run This Town Edition
Jay-Z recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of his debut Reasonable Doubt with a three-night residency at Yankee Stadium featuring superstar guests like…
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ICYMI - Coupled Up With The Internet
The app-ification of dating has made meeting people even more difficult. But no one ever talks about what comes after: when you are in a relationship with…
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Death, Sex & Money - The Sexy Soundtrack for the ‘New Black Middle Class’
In the mid-1970’s, a small college radio station created an evening program catering to a new socioeconomic group referred to as the “new Black middle class.”…