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I'm Stephen Metcalf, and this is the Slate Culture Gap Fest. Why Do I Know This Word Edition?

This is also the daily podcast from Slate.com for Wednesday, March 25th, 2009.

On today's program, we're going to talk about three words I thought I would never have to learn,

bromance, locoborism, and journal list.

Also, we have an extra little treat. If you stick around, we're going to have an

interview with David Grand, staff writer at The New Yorker, who's just come out with a book

called The Lost City of Z. Joining me today are Slate's deputy editor, Julia Turner. Hello, Julia.

Hi, Julia. Hi, Steve. And our film critic, Dana, Stevens. Hi, Dana. Hi, Steve. Hi, guys. Dana, we

we have to plunge right in here. You did me the ill favor of raising the bar a micrometer off

of my insanely low expectations for this new movie starring Paul Rudd. And I've just come from it and I'm

filled with if something called Violent-on-Wee is possible, I think that's what I'm suffering from

right now. I blame you. What is it about this movie that you, what is it called? I can't even

remember. It's called I love you, man. Okay. Tell me how a movie based on a premise that was exhausted by a Seinfeld episode 15 years ago could possibly have taken a jaded movie critic like you and pleased you in the least.

Well, first of all, let me say I don't.

Or explain string theory. You pick, but I mean, they both seem incomprehensible.

An opening salvo from Steve. Let me just float the fact that when we initially talked about making I Love You Man one of our podcast topics, I was the one who wrote to Slate Culture's List saying, I think this movie is too slight to support such a conversation, although it did make me laugh. And lo and behold, you know, after various sort of go-rounds about how we could talk about larger issues that the movie raises, about, as you say, this sort of our culture's obsession with, you know, homo-social romance and so forth, I said, all right, fine, we can do what we can with I love you, man. And now suddenly I've become its champion who must defend it under the very death. I'll defend the movie only on the grounds that it made me laugh, which I don't know how much more you can ask of, you know, this sort of a slight comedy.

But should we set up what the movie is a bit before we get into it?

Let's talk about it.

Julia, tell us a little bit about what this movie is, who's in it, who made it, etc.

It's a movie starring Paul Rudd.

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