{"podcast":{"title":"Culture Gabfest","slug":"culture-gabfest-830145","podcast_index_feed_id":830145,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/69612bcd1f21449d6dec2ccb","website_url":"https://slate.com/podcasts/culture-gabfest","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/69612bcd1f21449d6dec2ccb/show-cover.jpg","author":"Slate Audio","episode_count":870,"summary":"New York Times critic Dwight Garner says “The Slate Culture Gabfest is one of the highlights of my week.” The award-winning Culturefest features critics Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner debating the week in culture, from highbrow to pop. For more of Slate’s culture podcasts, check out the Slate Culture feed. Get more Culture Gabfest with Slate Plus! Join to unlock weekly bonus episodes—plus ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from our show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or visit slate.com/cultureplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/culture-gabfest-830145"},"episode":{"title":"I Love Boosters Heightens the Contradictions Edition","slug":"i-love-boosters-heightens-the-contradictions-edition","published_at":"2026-05-27T07:10:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/culture-gabfest-830145/i-love-boosters-heightens-the-contradictions-edition","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/culture-gabfest-830145","url":"https://shows.acast.com/culture-gabfest/episodes/i-love-boosters-heightens-the-contradictions-edition","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/69612bcd1f21449d6dec2ccb/e/6a15ed588ff41815a893956b/media.mp3","summary":"This week, the OG three Steve, Dana, and Julia dig into the visually stuffed, Marxist smorgasbord that is Boots Riley’s latest film I Love Boosters . Starring Keke Palmer and Demi Moore, the candy-colored agitprop is about exploitation, the fashion world, shoplifting as class warfare, and— as they discuss—perhaps more than one movie can handle.  Next they turn from Marx to Freud and analyze the critically adored reality TV phenomenon Couples Therapy , now entering its fifth season. Is the office of Dr. Orna Guralnik a site of transcendent psychological revelation or panoptic exploitation? They unpack. Finally, they talk lingvo itself by way of a recent article in Harpers by Katie Thornton about the unlikely resurgence of interest in the artificial language Esperanto.  In a bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, they answer a listener question about what long-running pieces of culture they’ve stuck with over years. Ĝuu ! Endorsements Dana : The book The Artificial Language Movement by Andrew Large about the centuries-long history of utopic language projects. Julia: Lena Dunham’s memoir Famesick and Dialed.gg , the internet’s latest color perception test. Steve : The music of the indie shoegaze band Slowdive—particularly the album Souvlaki —and the solo efforts of its frontman Neil Halstead—particularly the song “ Witless or Wise” and the album Palindrome Hunches ; check out Steve’s mega playlist for more . --- Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com .  Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.…","meta_description":"This week, the OG three Steve, Dana, and Julia dig into the visually stuffed, Marxist smorgasbord that is Boots Riley’s latest film I Love Boosters . Star…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3517,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/culture-gabfest-830145/episodes/i-love-boosters-heightens-the-contradictions-edition/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/culture-gabfest-830145/i-love-boosters-heightens-the-contradictions-edition.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}