Culture Gabfest: The Creator of Breaking Bad is Back—with Polite Zombies Edition

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Slate Podcasts

Arts, Tv & Film, Music

4.4 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 12 November 2025

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this week’s show, Steve, Dana, and Julia merge their consciousnesses—so to speak—to reflect on Pluribus, the latest television saga from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan. In this unlikely body snatchers/sci-fi mashup, Rhea Seehorn plays a woman intent on saving the world from… eternal happiness? What exactly it needs saving from—or if it needs saving at all—is fodder for much discourse. Next, they turn to the ruminative and funny family drama Sentimental Value, directed by Norwegian auteur Joachim Trier and starring Stellan Skarsgård and Renate Reinsve. Finally, they take a look at a recent piece in The Ankler by Richard Rushfield crunching the numbers to reveal that, since #MeToo, troublingly few major films have been directed by women. In an exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode, it’s time to party! Or rather, it’s time for a reflective discussion about parties as pieces of personal culture. Endorsements Dana: Reading up on the historical figure Jean Ross, the writer and activist who inspired both the song “These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)” and the character Sally Bowles of Goodbye to Berlin/Cabaret notoriety. Julia: Kate McKinnon talking with Amy Poehler on Good Hang and Jennifer Lawrence talking with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang on Las Culturistas— celebrities interviewing celebrities isn’t all bad! Steve: By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolaño and the Dutch indie rock band Bettie Serveert— especially this playlist. … Email us your thoughts at [email protected]. Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Stephen McHaff and this is the Slate Culture Gap Fest.
0:13.4	The creator of Breaking Bad is back with polite zombies, question mark, question mark.
0:19.4	Edition. It's Wednesday, November 12, 2025. On today's show,
0:23.8	Vince Gilligan, he of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul returns with Pluribus. It's on Apple TV Plus.
0:30.4	It stars Ray Seahorn as a best-selling romantic author stranded in, to put it mildly, a highly
0:35.6	unusual post-apocalyptic world.
0:38.1	And then, sentimental values the new film from Norwegian director, Joachim Trier.
0:42.5	It stars Stollen Scarsgaard as a movie director in the twilight of both life and career
0:46.8	preparing to make one last feature film.
0:49.3	Complication he wants his semi-stranged daughter who more or less despises him to star in it.
0:54.5	She's played by Renata Reinsva.
0:57.4	Apologies from my Norwegian pronunciation.
1:00.3	Star of Trier's incandescent previous film, Worst Person in the World.
1:05.3	And finally, we discussed the all too grim fate of women directors in a post-me-to-me-to Hollywood.
1:12.3	First joining me is Julia Turner of the USC Annenberg School of Journalism.
1:17.0	Hello, Julia.
1:18.2	Hello, sir. How are you?
1:20.2	I'm, I don't know. I like feeling pretty peppy.
1:24.2	And then your hello, sir, had some pep that pepped up my pep so i feel pretty good all right and of course
1:31.0	dana stevens is the film critic for slate hello dana hey good morning are we ready to make a show
1:37.3	we have great topics today oh my gosh i could talk about each one for like 90 minutes so get
1:42.1	i know when we first meet carol styrka she's a mid-career best-selling each one for like 90 minutes. So get liked.
	...

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