The following podcast contains explicit language.

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I'm Stephen Metcalf, and this is the Slate Culture Gab Fest.

The Bite is a Gift Edition.

It's Wednesday, June 8, 2011.

On today's program, do we need to eat our cultural vegetables?

Asked Dan Cois.

MTV's new scripted show, Teen Wolf, and Is College Worth It?

That asked by Louis Manant.

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

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

Hey, Steve. Dan Cois wrote a maybe, I don't actually find it that provocative, but some people

have found provocative piece in the New York Times Sunday magazine.

Let me begin by quoting from its sort of nut thesis.

As I get older, Cois writes, I find I'm suffering from a kind of culture fatigue

and have less interest in eating my cultural vegetables, no matter how good they may be for me.

Dana, the focus of the argument really is what seems to have set them off as the movie Meeks cut off, which I haven't seen, but as I understand it, is somewhat interminable.

And kind of what we used to call in graduate school, commits the memetic fallacy of conveying to one the horrible longurs of being a frontiers man or woman.

And so the focus of the piece are movies that are,

are movies that appear somewhat understoried and frankly long and boring.

Yeah, what are some of the titles he throws around, Julia, Solaris.

...