Culture Gabfest - The Boss Responds to Minneapolis Edition
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Slate
3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 4 February 2026
⏱️ 59 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
This week, Steve, Dana and guest host Sam Adams talk anti-authoritarian art in its many forms. First, they take up It Was Just an Accident, the Cannes Palme d’Or-winning film by Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi. Inspired in part by Panahi’s own experience being imprisoned for critiquing the Iranian government, his new film—made in secret from the regime— holds back little in its sharp political critique, rage, and… a surprising amount of comedy.
Not surprising in its amount of comedy— but maybe in its frequently anti-authoritarian politics—is Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! The documentary series about the showbiz legend, produced by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio, is a loving portrait of the long, unmatched, and revolutionary in its own way, career of Brooks.
Inspired by the recent release “Streets of Minneapolis” by Bruce Springsteen, the panel dedicates its final segment to the state of protest music in 2026. Joined by music critic Carl Wilson, of the Slate and Crritic!, they discuss the long tradition and still potent power of singer/songwriters with acoustic guitars—and the many political artists who defy that stereotype. To hear some of the music they talked about, plus several more current protest songs, check out our 2026 Protest Playlist.
In our bonus episode for Plus subscribers, the gang eulogizes the divine comic genius of Catherine O’Hara.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, I'm Dana Stevens, and this is the Slate Culture Gab Fest, The Boss Response to Minneapolis edition. |
| 0:16.4 | It's Wednesday, February 4, 2006, and this week we'll be discussing, first off, it was just an accident, |
| 0:22.3 | the film from the Iranian master Jafar Panahi that won last year's top prize at the Cannes Film Festival |
| 0:27.6 | and is now a frontrunner for the best international film Oscar. |
| 0:31.5 | Next, we'll talk about Mel Brooks, the 99-year-old man, a two-part HBO documentary about |
| 0:36.4 | the non-agenarian comedy legend that's co-directed |
| 0:39.1 | by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiliio. Finally, we'll be joined by Slate music critic Carl Wilson |
| 0:44.3 | to discuss the state of protest music in 26. Is the new Bruce Springsteen song, The Streets of |
| 0:49.8 | Minneapolis, released last week in the wake of the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Preti, |
| 0:58.1 | part of a Trump-2 era revival of the tradition of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, |
| 1:00.6 | Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, we'll discuss. |
| 1:06.1 | Joining me this week is Slate senior writer Sam Adams, who's speaking with us from another city, |
| 1:09.5 | Springsteen once wrote a song about Philadelphia. Hi, Sam. |
| 1:10.0 | Hello, Dana. |
| 1:14.3 | Sam, what do you think of that song, The Streets of Philadelphia from the movie Philadelphia? The original streets. I think it's great. We may we'll discuss how it stacks up against the new one, |
| 1:20.5 | but I'm always happy to have another city following our footsteps. |
| 1:24.4 | Decades later, I still get the tune of that of that old one stuck in my head sometimes. |
| 1:28.6 | Joining us also, as always, is critic bon vivant and man about town, Stephen Metcalfe. |
| 1:33.4 | Hi, Steve. |
| 1:35.5 | Way to make me sound jobless, Dana. |
| 1:37.6 | I love that. |
| 1:39.0 | I didn't say flauner. |
... |
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