Culture Gabfest: Pee Wee’s Big Documentary Edition

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4 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 June 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this week’s show, the secret word is: Pee-wee. Dana, Steve, and Julia discuss the new documentary Pee-wee as Himself. The fascinating two-part film, directed by Matt Wolf, attempts to reveal the complex man Paul Reubens behind the beloved, surprisingly subversive, goofball that was Pee-wee Herman. Next, they tee off to talk about Stick, the new comedy series starring Owen Wilson set in the world of professional golf. In the third segment, they’re joined by Atlantic staff writer Caity Weaver to chat about her recently published, rollicking travel piece An Innocent Abroad in Mark Twain’s Paris. In an exclusive Slate Plus segment, inspired by a listener question, the hosts each share their dream city they’d love to live in but have only ever visited. Endorsements: Steve: Sly Lives! the Questlove-directed documentary about the hugely influential pop star Sly Stone who recently passed away. Julia: Season 2 of Poker Face and its smorgasbord of incredible guest appearances by beloved character actors. Dana: The delightfully designed single-purpose website Oracle of Bacon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:45.2	Hi, I'm Dana Stevens, and this is the Slate Culture Gab Fest, Pee Wee's Big Documentary Edition.
0:55.4	It's Wednesday, June 11th, 2025, and this week we'll be discussing, first off, the new documentary on Max about the life and the unique career of Paul Rubens, aka Pee Hewie Herman. Next, we'll talk about Stick, a new comedy series on Apple TV Plus that stars
1:00.9	Owen Wilson as a washed up golf pro, who finds a new lease on life when he meets a teenage
1:05.3	boy who's a prodigy on the golf course. And finally, we'll talk with the writer Katie Weaver
1:10.1	about her new story in the Atlantic
1:11.6	that attempts to retrace the steps of Mark Twain in Paris in his book, Innocence Abroad.
1:16.9	I'm joined today by Julia Turner, a fellow at the Annenberg School of Journalism in Los Angeles.
1:21.6	Hey, Julia.
1:22.1	Hello, Dana.
1:23.0	Hey, great to have you on.
1:24.7	And as always, by Stephen Metcalf man about town critic extraordinaire hey steve
1:30.8	hey dana hey great to be speaking with you both again so let's make a show shall we
1:37.2	and one note before we start recording for some reason my mic is behaving strangely today and only mine
1:42.2	so it may be that my audio track is a little bit
1:44.8	lower quality than Julius and Steve's in some moments, but I'll try to keep my insights on far.
1:50.1	They'll no doubt be much higher quality, and so it'll all even out.
1:54.8	The actor and comedian Paul Rubens died in the summer of 2023, almost two years ago now,
	...

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