The following podcast contains explicit language.

I'm Stephen Metcalf, and this is the Slate Culture Gab Fest entering the age of Ophiakus edition.

It's Wednesday, January 19th, 2011.

On today's program, Country Strong, and the Gwynethness of Gwyneth.

The Zodiac Shifts, and we're joined by author Lauren Redness, who's here to talk about her remarkable new book, Radioactive, Marie and Pierre Curie, A Tale of Love and Fallout. Joining me today, our Slate's deputy editor, Julia Turner. Hello, Julia. Hi, Julia. And our film critic, Dana, Stephen, Tay, Dana. Hey, Steve. Guys, before we start the show, we should say that last week, we exceeded the acceptable number of total fuck-ups by at least two. So we're here to make some amends. First of all, off the top of my head, I was searching for the university where the gentleman who's come out with a new edition of Huck Finn teaches. And for some reason, I said University of Georgia instead of Auburn University. To those that took offense, I'm very sorry, but I actually have deep, deep, deep connections to the state of Alabama. My wife is from there. Many of my in-laws go to Auburn. Many of them go to University of Alabama. Those two sides don't talk to one

another. Roll tied. But it's the idea that Alabama is for me, some buffer zone between me and

Punta del Estes is crazy. I go there all the time and love it. Secondly, Columbus, Ohio, I misidentified

Ted Williams as coming from Cleveland, not Columbus. It was because he was offered a job by the Cleveland Cavaliers, which had stuck in my head more prominently than he was on the side of the highway in Columbus. I'll try to rectify it in my endorsement at least a little bit. Are we, do you think we're square now? How do you say maya culpa for more of us? Nostraculpba? Does it change? My Latin is bad.

Nostra culpai.

Okay, correct us on my bad lot.

Anyway, we're sorry about our errors.

We'll strive to be perfect in the show.

We will strive to be perfect.

Moving on.

Dana, I'm dying to know what you thought.

I mean, some of the, some of the kitsch weirdness that I wanted so badly from the movie

Burlesque was handed to me on a beautiful silver platter by the movie Country Strong starring

Gwyneth Paltrow.

We're not going to get totally bogged down talking about the movie.

We want to talk about Gwyneth, the phenomenon of Gwyneth. But first, am I right? And I have no idea what you thought of this movie. I've read almost no review. In fact, I think I've read no reviews of it. And yet I felt as though my mind was somehow blown by that movie. and I need you to piece my mind back together, the mosaic, the scattered mosaic of my consciousness back together and tell me, what do you think of this film? You actually sort of stole my line. I mean, I feel like it's true that the camp value that we waited for in burlesque and only got in rare moments. I will say that the scenes with Christina Aguilera and Cam Giandet, another chance to say, is it. Occasionally attained some camp value, but Country Strong really brought it home. Oh my God. Although long stretches of this movie are actually really boring, Country Strong, but then when it really does reach for the performance scenes, like the final artistic triumph of Gwynette's character at the end of the movie, I don't think it's too big a spoiler to say that she has a big show at the end of the movie.

No, it's a show business movie.

And there I really did, especially with the costume changes, the number of costume changes in her final stadium show. I seriously wish that I were in a room full of gay men to watch that movie. I think that I was. I saw this in the East Village last night, and there was so much hooting and hollering.

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