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at Audiblepodcast.com slash culturefest. I'm Stephen Metcalfe, and this is the Slate Culture Gap Fest, soft-in-the-middle edition. This is also the daily podcast from slate.com for Wednesday, September 9th, 2009. On today's program, we're going to talk about the Beatles. Are they back? Did they ever go away? And appropriate for a middle segment,

we're going to talk about the paunch, the latest and most preposterous hipster frontier yet.

And finally, America's postmodern boneheaded gogill, Mike Judge, and his new movie Extract.

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

Hi, Steve. And Slate's film critic, Dana Stevens. Hey, Dana.

Hey, Steve. Welcome back from, I guess we were never truly away, but this is the psychological beginning of the new fiscal year or something. Academic year, new notebooks, new pencils,

new rulers. Academic year, it's sweater weather, college football, NFL football.

It's all upon us.

But we're instead going to look back with an unrepentant gust of nostalgia on the Beatles.

There's a new video game coming out.

What is it, Julia?

The Beatles rock band.

The Beatles rock band.

This is also the 40th anniversary of their dissolution.

If you look at it one way, it depends on which history you subscribe to.

But I think Abby Road came out in a couple of weeks about 40 years ago today.

And that's the last album they recorded, not the last one they released, but their last joint effort as the Beatles was 40 years ago.

Anyhow, all that said, the Beatles, Julia,

are un-kill- And the remastered entire Beatles catalog is coming out this week.

The remastered catalog is here in a box set. All kinds of geek controversies, no doubt, to

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