The following podcast contains explicit language.

I'm Stephen McHath, and this is the Slate Culture Gab Fest, the Enough Already edition.

This is also the daily podcast from Slate.com for Wednesday, February 11, 2009.

On today's program, we're going to talk about A-Rod and Steroids, how to write out a Great Depression on a mere $500,000 a year, and 25 things I loathe about social networking. Our podcast is sponsored by Audible.com. Joining me today is Slate's deputy editor, Julia Turner. Hello, Julia. Hi, Julia. Our film critic, Dana Stevens.

Hey, Dana.

Hello, Stephen.

And a very special appearance by none other than Jody Rosen, a Slate's music critic, to give us a brief interlude on the Grammys, but also to give us an earful about A-Rod, right? Jody, I hope. Right, Steve. Hello. kicking it off with the tone of melancholy dismay is Jody Rosen.

Well, um, Right, Steve. Kicking it off with the tone of melancholy dismay is Jody Rosen.

Well, let's start with A-Rod.

A-Rod obviously was thought to be a kind of savior for the sport of baseball

because other people who shattered records, most notably Barry Bonds,

have been revealed to be drug abusers,

and therefore the excitement of surpassing Babe Ruth is now fully tainted.

And baseball turned then to Arod, who was presumed to be clean, to break the record and

erase the memory of Barry Bonds.

Now that dream has effectively died, right?

We now know that Arod was a drug abuser. Jody, I'm going to

get to you eventually, but you and I were both, we're met fans, so we presumed the guy was guilty

from the beginning. But let's go around the table. Dana, Julia, what do you make of this? Are you

shocked or not shocked or indifferent? Do you care about the legacy of baseball enough to see this as a

blight? Well, it's maybe another great thing that you ask me first, because in relation to all things baseball, in most sports, I proclaim a radical innocence. But I guess my first reaction would be, why are people surprised? I mean, this guy, as far as I gather, has sort of personified evil in baseball for the past few years. Everyone hates the Yankees. They love to hate the Yankees.

They love to hate him.

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