Culture Gabfest - Horrors Real and Imagined
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Slate
3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 9 September 2020
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this week’s episode, Steve is joined by guests hosts Laura Miller, a books and culture columnist for Slate, and Jamelle Bouie, a columnist for the New York Times and Slate’s former chief political correspondent. The panel takes on Lovecraft Country, HBO’s new horror series. Next, they talk about Charlie Kaufman’s enigmatic I’m Thinking of Ending Things. And finally, the panel dives into the “is NYC over?” debate.
In Slate Plus, the hosts talk about a George Washington University professor’s recent confession that she falsely claimed a Black identity.
Slate Plus members get a bonus segment on the Culture Gabfest each episode, and access to exclusive shows like Dana Stevens’ classic movies podcast Flashback. Sign up now to listen and support our work.
Endorsements:
Laura: The Silver Arrow by Lev Grossman
Jamelle: The Way Back, a sports film starring Ben Affleck
Steve: “What Ails America” by Timothy Snyder in the New York Review of Books, adapted from his new book, Our Malady: Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary
And finally, please check out Jamelle’s cereal reviews for Serious Eats.
Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Rachael Allen.
Outro Music: Bloody Hunter by Paisley Pink
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Stephen Maccalf, and this is the Slate Culture Gap Fest, Harrow's Both Real and |
| 0:14.3 | Imagined Edition. It's Wednesday, September 9th, 2020. On today's show, Lovecraft |
| 0:19.1 | Country is a wild revisionist ride. It's an HBO show |
| 0:22.6 | about the intersection of horror as in the pulp genre and the all-too-real horrors of racism and |
| 0:28.3 | Jim Crow. It's produced by Jordan Peel of, of course, Get Out fame. And then I'm thinking |
| 0:33.4 | of ending things as the latest from Charlie Kaufman, the metafictional genius behind being John Malkovich, the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, among many other movies. |
| 0:42.4 | This one stars Jesse Plemons and Jesse Buckley, his boyfriend and girlfriend on the way to meet his parents. |
| 0:47.8 | And finally, is New York City over the fate of a supposedly great city in a time of pandemic. |
| 0:54.1 | It's being fiercely debated online and |
| 0:55.9 | elsewhere. We will sort through the debate. Joining me today is Jamel Bowie. Of course, a columnist |
| 1:01.8 | for the New York Times ex-slate veteran. Jamel, welcome back to the show. Thank you for having |
| 1:07.1 | me. And Laura Miller, who is the book and culture critic for Slate. |
| 1:11.6 | Hey, Laura. |
| 1:12.6 | Hi. |
| 1:13.6 | All right, guys. |
| 1:14.6 | Should we dive in? |
| 1:16.6 | Let's do it. |
| 1:17.6 | Let's do it. |
| 1:18.6 | Lovecraft Country is a new series from HBO. |
| 1:22.6 | It's based on a novel of the same name by the author Matt Ruff. |
| 1:25.6 | It's a period piece. It tells the |
| 1:27.8 | story of a young black Korean war vet returning to Jim Crow America. He is suggestively named Atticus Freeman. |
... |
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