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CultureFest.

I'm Stephen Metcalfe, and this is the Slate Culture Gab Fest selfie duckface edition.

It's Wednesday, June 12th, 2013.

On today's show, Game of Thrones, the Epic Fantasy Television series on HBO.

Then we talk about Joss Whedon's adaptation of Shakespeare's much ado about nothing. And finally, what exactly is a selfie and what does it say about poor, poor us? Joining me today is Slate's culture critic, June Thomas. Hello, June. Hello, Stephen. And sadly, Dana Stevens cannot be with us, but quite gladly, we're joined by Nina Ristoggi. Nina, hello, you're the, I should say, the former Slate writer and by Nina Ristoggi. Nina, hello.

You're the, I should say, the former slate writer and editor, Nina Ristoggi. Oh, hello. Thank you. Or perhaps just the Nina Ristoggi. Nina, let me start with you. I'm uniquely qualified to host this segment because I have never watched one minute of Game of Thrones. So I couldn't tell you what it's about, what it's based on where it came from.

I know nothing about Game of Thrones. I couldn't tell you what it's about, what it's based on,

where it came from. I know nothing about Game of Thrones, but that makes me uniquely qualified because you can't spoil it for me because I fully intend to watch all of it, binge style

at home on non-pirated, fully paid-for retail price discs.

But I do want to know about the show and why it's having – I mean, it's been enormously popular, right?

But it's still – even in the face of that popularity, it's fair to say it's having a moment right now.

Yes, very much so.

Very much so.

I think that – so Game of Thrones has just finished its final episode of the third season. And as you're saying,

it's having a moment in large part due to the penultimate episode of this season, which we can now

finally name it, is the Red Wedding episode. And Game of Thrones sort of really, I think, made a mark on the culture in its first season when in the first season's penultimate episode, the character who you thought was the sort of, you know, righteous, noble hero gets summarily decapitated and is suddenly gone from the show.

That sounds to me a little bit like a spoiler, Nina.

I'm going to have to call you all that.

Well, you know, season one spoilers, I think you're okay.

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