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The following podcast contains explicit language.

I'm Stephen McAffe, and this is the Slate Culture Gab Fest, do Android's Dream of

Joaquin Phoenix edition. It's Wednesday, January 8th, 2014. On today's show,

Her is the new Spike Jones movie. It's about the romance

between a man and an operating system. And then 50 years ago, the science fiction writer

Isaac Asimov estimated what life would be like 50 years in the future, do the math. That's

us. We'll revisit those predictions today. And finally, Adam Platt, the wonderful food critic

for New York Magazine, has thrown off the yoke of anonymity, and we'll ask them why.

Joining me today is Slate's deputy editor, Julia Turner. Hello, Julia.

Hi, Steve.

Welcome back. You were vacating, weren't you?

I was totally vacant, vacuous, and Vamoosed.

Excellent. Well, it's good to have you back.

And Dana Stevens, of course, is Slate's film critic. Hey, Dana.

Hello, Steve.

Dana, I'm dying to ask you what you thought of this movie. I can't wait to talk about it.

But let me set it up a little bit. Spike Jones is the director of Being John Mcovic and adaptation. His new movie stars Joaquin Phoenix is a lonely man. In the midst of a painful divorce who takes solace in video games, gadgets, and it's implied internet porn, he's a stand-in. For all of us in the age of social media, he's able to connect, but not connect, right? When he downloads a super advanced and supple new software, more AI than OS, it takes on a hummy, breathy voice of a young woman, and he begins to fall in love. This movie is being swooned over, Dana. I think we can both agree on that. Critics are dizzy, dizzy, dizzy. But before we find out whether you agree with that consensus, whether you're just, you know, lazing about on the hump of the bell curve on this one, Dana, let's listen to a clip from the film.

...