Welcome back to the Slate Culture Gabfest Hamlet on steroids edition. I'm your host,

Isaac Butler, in for Stephen Mechkaff.

On today's show, the Northmen is the long, simmering passion project from star Alexander

Skarsgard and writer, director Robert Eggers. It's a quite literally visceral version

of the Nordic revenge saga, as well as a new version of the story of Amleth, which famously

served as the source material for Shakespeare's Hamlet. How does this deeply researched and

visually astounding bananza of violence measure up to other adaptations? We'll discuss.

Then, we rarely revisit TV shows here on Culture Gabfest, but the second season of Russian

doll cries out for a revisit, now that Natasha Leon is taken near total creative control

over the project. Show running, frequently directing episodes, and starring as the time-traveling,

aging counter-culturati Nadia, who tries to correct traumas that occurred before she was even

born. It's a deliberately messier season of TV, and we'll examine how it reimagines the

Netflix hit. Finally, be real is the new social media app that attempts to force users to be more

authentic by having them post unfiltered photographs of whatever they happen to be doing,

whatever the app tells them to. Is this a solution to the myriad problems of performance that

plague existing platforms? Slates Rebecca Onion will join us to discuss. I'm joined today by

Julia Turner, Deputy Managing Editor of the Los Angeles Times. Julia, are you living authentically

out there in Los Angeles? Absolutely, and always, as we all do here in the most authentic

of cities. Yes, it's what it's famous for. I'm also joined by Slates Film Critic and the author

of cameraman Dana Stevens. Dana, I hear you have a couple of events coming up.

Yes, Isaac, thanks for asking about that, because a few listeners have written or tweeted at me saying,

why don't you announce your events earlier? Somebody in Boston was saying you didn't announce it,

...