The following podcast contains explicit language.

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I'm Stephen Metcalf, and this is the Slate Culture Gab Fest, Why All These Stupid Altruistic

Urges Edition. It's Wednesday, April 27, 2011. On today's program, the new triumphantly

capitalistic Atlas Shrugged, it's about the triumphs of capitalism. Is Sugar Killing

You with Slate's own Dana Engber and Adam Goodhart, co-author of The Disunion Blog and the new book,

1861, The Civil War Awakening. Joining me today are Slate's deputy editor, Julia Turner. Hello, Julia.

Hi, Steve. And our film critic, Dana Stevens. Hey, Dana. Hey, Steve. Welcome back. Thank you so much.

Where to plunge in with this.

I, you know, Julia, tell me what this movie is.

Is it, is it something so sterile and so bizarre that we can barely talk about it?

Or is this a giant pie of Gabfest delights?

Atlas Shrugged was, you know, Ayn Rand became famous with the Fountainhead.

The Fountainhead in the early 40s was made into a movie by the director, King Vidor, starring

Gary Cooper.

Moderately successful movie, Vador found some way to tell the story without alienating

normal human beings.

Atlas Shrugged is Einrand's second

big book, novel, giant pot boiler.

1,200 pages long. It's something like that. And it's finally been made into a movie by

...