I'm June Thomas, host of the new Slate podcast, The Afterword, where I'll be bringing you interviews with the authors of new nonfiction books.

Some of the people I'll be talking with include the editor of the updated American Heritage Dictionary.

There is a handful of words such as a asshat that make their way in.

The writer of a new book about the global underground economy.

A street market is not just cacophony.

And a man who spent a year training to become a mixed martial arts fighter.

It's wrestling but with chokes and submissions and arm bars.

Starting this Saturday on the Slate Daily podcast.

The following podcast contains explicit language.

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I'm Stephen Metcalfe, and this is the Slate Culture Gab Fest. I've been wearing these jeans for 20 years edition.

It's Wednesday, December 14th, 2011.

On today's program, is American culture hopelessly frozen in 1992?

We consider a very provocative Vanity Fair essay by the writer Kurt Anderson,

the stand-up comic Louis C.K.

And his pay-per-view comedy special and entertainer of the year,

courtesy of Entertainment Weekly.

Joining me today are Slate's deputy editor, Julia Turner.

Hello, Julia.

...