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I'm Stephen Metcath, and this is the Slate CultureGab Fest, the Boo Effing Who edition.

This is also the daily podcast from slate.com for Wednesday, May 27, 2009. On today's program, we're going to talk about the mashup of alter egos known as Eminem. He's back and do we care. Reconnecting your hands to your brain. And JFK had a mistress too. Joining me today are Slate's music critic Jodie Rosen. Jodi. Hello. Hello. How you doing? Good, thank you. Good to see you.

And our film critic, Dana Stevens. Hey, Dana. Hey, Steve. Always great to see you.

Jody, let's dive right in with M&M.

Eminem has sold something like 30 million records. He's had, what, four releases prior to this latest record. His genre is sort of

psycho-confessional Midwestern white rapper. I mean, he's kind of a genre of one, right?

The story behind this record is there's a five-year absence. Now it's revealed a drug overdose,

and this is the latest chapter in the life

of Marshall Mathers, Slim Shady, Eminem, et cetera, et cetera. The question I guess I have for you

to lead it off is, what do you make of the new album? Do you like it? And does this come back

thrill you at all? Or who cares? I do like it. I like it a lot better than his last two albums, which have been disappointing.

You know, his first two records, the Slim Shady LP and the Marshall Mathers LP are just

are two of the best pop albums of the past 15, 20 years. They're fantastic, witty, funny, harrowing, everything.

And then he kind of went downhill, and I think it's an issue, on the one hand, it's a musical problem

because Dr. Dre, his

partner and producer

...