Culture Gabfest - The Heights and the Depths
Slate Culture Feed
Slate Podcasts
4.2 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 16 June 2021
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week Dana and Steve are joined by Monica Castillo, arts and culture reporter for Colorado Public Radio, to discuss In the Heights. Next, Atlantic staff writer Sophie Gilbert comes on to talk about HBO’s Hacks. Finally, Dana and Steve dive into Liz Phair’s new album, Soberish, with the expertise of Slate music critic Carl Wilson.
In Slate Plus, Dana, Steve, and Carl talk about Gen X musicians and how they’re aging gracefully—or not.
Email us at culturefest@slate.com
Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Rachael Allen.
Outro Music: "Any Other Way" by Particle House
Endorsements
Dana: The soundtrack to Bo Burnham’s Inside
Carl: Clairo’s single “Blouse” and the series Feel Good (especially the placement of “Motion Sickness” by Phoebe Bridgers)
Steve: Herzog by Saul Bellow
Further Reading
“In the Heights Fumbles Some of Its Changes, but It Still Soars” by Dana Stevens for Slate
“’In the Heights’ Film Review: Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Stage Hit Becomes a Screen Celebration” by Monica Castillo for the Wrap
“What Hacks Proves About Jean Smart” by Sophie Gilbert for the Atlantic
“An Alt-Rock Queen Returns to Take Back Her Crown” by Carl Wilson for Slate
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Stephen McHaff, and this is the Slate Culture Gap Fest, The Heights and the Depths edition. |
| 0:15.3 | It's Wednesday in June 16, 2021. |
| 0:18.3 | On today's show, before Hamilton, there was in the Heights, Lynn Manuel Miranda's |
| 0:22.1 | breakthrough musical about life in Washington Heights, the Washington Heights neighborhood |
| 0:25.8 | of Upper Manhattan. It's now a movie. It's in theaters and streaming on HBO Max. We'll be |
| 0:30.7 | joined by Monica Castillo to talk about it. And then Hax is a Generation Gap showbiz comedy. |
| 0:36.2 | It's also on HBO Max. It stars Gene |
| 0:39.0 | Smart as an aging comedian who hires a Gen Z writer to zest up her material and perhaps save |
| 0:44.9 | her suddenly imperiled career. Sophie Gilbert from The Atlantic will join us for that discussion. |
| 0:49.7 | And finally, improbably, oh my God, this makes me feel so freaking old. |
| 0:55.4 | Oh, my God. |
| 0:56.2 | It's been almost 30 years since Liz Faire's masterpiece double album, Exile, and Guyville. |
| 1:01.6 | She's made a kind of sort of sequel to it. |
| 1:04.4 | Her new album is called Soberish, and we will discuss with Slate's own Carl Wilson. |
| 1:09.3 | Joining me today is Dana Stevens, the film critic for Slate. |
| 1:12.1 | Hey, Dana. |
| 1:12.9 | Hey, Stephen. |
| 1:14.2 | So we have three pinch hitters for Julia Turner this week. |
| 1:18.7 | I'm psych to talk to each of them, and we've got great topics. |
| 1:22.3 | Shall we go ahead and dig in? |
| 1:24.4 | Let us do so. |
| 1:25.7 | Superb. |
... |
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