Culture Gabfest - Bad Bunny Spikes the Football Edition
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3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 11 February 2026
⏱️ 64 minutes
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Summary
The sugarcane fields! La casita! Piraguas! Lady Gaga! Ricky Martin! An actual wedding! Bad Bunny’s immense and boisterous Super Bowl Halftime show brought a whole Puerto Rican universe to Levi’s Stadium and into American viewers’ homes. Julia and guest hosts Nadira Goffe and Rebecca Onion revel in the joyful spectacle and are joined by Slate writer Joshua Rivera to decode the inclusive politics of this party.
Next, the panel examines the bracing, anxiety-inducing film If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. Starring a ferocious and funny Rose Byrne and directed by Mary Bronstein, it’s a jittery, intense portrait of motherhood.
Finally, they discuss the hugely popular podcast The Rest Is History and ponder how two British dudes—Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook—talking about things like the Battle of Carthage captured so much attention and admiration.
In an exclusive bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, it’s time for some Wednesday morning quarterbacking to size up the big game’s real players: the commercials.
Endorsements
Nadira: The new album of footwork music OVERTIME by the underground hip hop outfit usertime and Marsh crane as well as the new album URGH by the English–French noise rock band Mandy, Indiana.
Rebecca: The novel The Director by Daniel Kehlmann and the 2011 appropriately moody Bronte adaptation Wuthering Heights directed by Andrea Arnold.
Julia: The new cookbook by Joshua McFadden Six Seasons of Pasta — try all the absurd little steps at least once, the cheese gravel is good!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Julia Turner, and this is the Slate Culture Gab Fest, Bad Bunny Spikes the Football Edition. |
| 0:17.3 | It's Wednesday, February 11, 2006, and on today's show, we're talking about Bad Bunny |
| 0:22.2 | Super Bowl halftime show, a performance that was so gorgeous, so joyful, so culturally |
| 0:28.8 | dense, and so ultimately profound that our co-hosts here have been comparing notes about |
| 0:33.9 | how often a day it is advisable to rewatch it. So, preview of our take there. |
| 0:39.5 | Then, if I had legs, I'd kick you, embracing, anxiety-inducing new film about motherhood, |
| 0:46.2 | obligation, and psychological free fall, anchored by a ferocious performance from Rose Byrne, |
| 0:51.6 | now nominated for an Oscar for that role. And finally, we'll talk about |
| 0:55.7 | the rest is history, an extremely popular history podcast, both in my household where my sons love it, |
| 1:02.5 | and in the world, where it was named Apple's 2025 show of the year. How did two white, middle-aged |
| 1:10.8 | British guys talking about things like Carthage |
| 1:13.9 | become a massive hit with young people, the world over? Perhaps we will find the answer. Perhaps not. |
| 1:20.7 | Either way, Nadira Goff is here today. Hi, Nadira. So nice to pod with you. |
| 1:24.8 | As always, thanks for having me. And Rebecca Onion. |
| 1:28.2 | Hello, Rebecca. |
| 1:29.1 | Hooray. |
| 1:30.1 | I'm glad to be here. |
| 1:31.6 | I'm very excited to get you on all these topics, |
| 1:33.7 | but I'm counting on you to unlock the history and mystery. |
| 1:36.7 | So stand by. |
| 1:39.7 | All shall be revealed. |
| 1:41.2 | All right. |
... |
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