Culture Gabfest - Godot vs. the Machines
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Slate
3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 19 May 2021
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week Steve, Dana, and Julia discuss Netflix’s animated film The Mitchells vs. the Machines. Next, the panel dives into the cultural resonances of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck aka “Bennifer.” Finally, the group is joined by Isaac Butler, co-host of Slate’s Working podcast, to talk about the latest Zoom version of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot.
In Slate Plus, Isaac Butler joins the hosts to talk about the state of theater and what its reopening will look like in the coming months.
Email us at culturefest@slate.com
Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Rachael Allen.
Outro music: "You Know What I Want" by Staffan Carlen
Endorsements
Dana: “The Trees” by Philip Larkin
Julia: Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener
Steve: “Arendt and Roth: An Uncanny Convergence” by Corey Robin and DeFazio’s Pizzeria in Troy, NY
Further Reading
“What Everyone Forgot About Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez” by Heather Schwedel in Slate
“Why is Bennifer 2.0 so exciting? Because last time, we screwed it up” by Meredith Blake in the LA Times
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Stephen Metcalf, and this is the Slate Culture Gab Fest, Godot versus the Machines edition. |
| 0:15.3 | It's Wednesday, May 19th, 2021. |
| 0:18.2 | On today's show, The Mitchells versus the Mach machines, it's an animated would-be blockbuster. |
| 0:23.0 | It's about an ordinary family called upon to save the world from a robot apocalypse. |
| 0:28.2 | It's yet more shrewd content from the producer team behind the Lego and 21 Jump Street movies. |
| 0:33.6 | You could find it on Netflix. And then the original portmanteau couple may be back. |
| 0:38.5 | Social media rumor has it. |
| 0:40.2 | We discussed the cultural resonances of Benefer, the romance between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. |
| 0:46.0 | And I'm not even really being sarcastic. |
| 0:48.3 | Like it has deeper cultural resonances. |
| 0:50.3 | And finally, waiting for Godot, the great play by Samuel Beckett about being stuck in place has gotten a new production suited for a pandemic lockdown. |
| 0:58.5 | We discuss a very zoomy Godot with Isaac Butler. |
| 1:02.6 | I rate Isaac a, I think he's a hit-fop, a high-toned friend of the program. |
| 1:08.4 | There's just something so high-toned about Isaac Butler. Anyway, |
| 1:13.1 | can I hear an amen or just derisive laughter? No, that was a lot of laughter. Oh, that was a lot of. |
| 1:21.8 | Okay. I still don't know the difference from you, Julia. But Julia Turner is, of course, |
| 1:27.3 | the deputy managing editor of the LA Times. Hey, Julia. But Julia Turner is, of course, the deputy managing |
| 1:28.2 | editor of the LA Times. Hey, Julia. Hello, hello. And Dana Stevens is the film critic for Slate.com. |
| 1:34.3 | Hey, Dana. Hey, Stephen. The Mitchells versus the machines is an animated movie. It's from the producers |
| 1:39.8 | of Cloudy with a chance of meatballs, the Lego movies, 21 Jump Street. They're Phil Lord and |
| 1:44.0 | Christopher Miller. They are bidding to be, I think, maybe the sequel to Pixar. of cloudy with a chance of meatballs, the Lego movies, 21 Jump Street, they're Phil Lord and Christopher |
| 1:44.3 | Miller. They are bidding to be, I think, maybe the sequel to Pixar by making animated blockbuster |
... |
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