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Slate Culture Feed

Culture Gabfest - Toppling Teddy Roosevelt

Slate Culture Feed

Slate Podcasts

Music, Tv & Film, Arts

4.22K Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2020

⏱️ 58 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On this week’s episode, Steve, Dana, and Julia are joined by Jamelle Bouie to talk about the toppling of statues across the country. Then, the panel talks about Spike Lee’s latest film Da 5 Bloods. Finally, they discuss Julia’s comfort-watch pick: Center Stage.

In Slate Plus, the hosts discuss the postponement of the Oscars to 2021.

Other items discussed in the show:

The Slate podcast series Reconstruction, hosted by Jamelle Bouie and Rebecca Onion

This Twitter thread on the history of Mount Rushmore

‘First Cow’ for best picture? A critic’s guide to the Oscars if movie theaters don’t reopen in 2020,” by Justin Chang in the Los Angeles Times

Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Rachael Allen.

Outro Music: Self Made Woman by Katharine Appleton

Endorsements

Dana: Jamelle Bouie’s newsletter.

Julia: Waterproof UNO, the card game.

Steve: Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall.

The French spy thriller The Bureau

Slate Plus members get a bonus segment on the Culture Gabfest each episode, and access to exclusive shows like Dana Stevens’ classic movies podcast Flashback. Sign up now to listen and support our work.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

I'm Stephen Bechaff and this is the Slate Culture Gapfest, Toppling Teddy Roosevelt Edition.

0:14.4

It's Wednesday, June 24th, 2020.

0:17.2

On today's show, The Five Bloods is the latest Spike Lee movie.

0:20.3

It tells the story of four black veterans returning to present-day Vietnam,

0:24.3

where their bodies and spirits were all but broken,

0:26.8

as one of them says, fighting in a moral war for rights we didn't have.

0:30.5

And then the twilight of the idols, here we are, Confederate statues,

0:33.4

are being torn down by protesters as a long overdue blow,

0:37.0

some say, I would say, against a legacy

0:38.7

of treason and hate for which Trump just vowed it's coming over the wires, a criminal retribution.

0:44.7

We'll be joined by New York Times columnist Jamel Bowie to discuss.

0:48.5

And finally, we still need comfort.

0:50.9

Maybe we need it more than ever.

0:52.0

So Julia delivered it this week with her pick center stage for a comfort movie,

0:56.4

a dance movie to end all dance movies from the year 2000.

0:59.2

I cannot wait to talk about it.

1:02.0

Joining me today is Julia Turner, who's the deputy managing editor at L.A. Times.

1:06.3

Julia, hello.

1:07.8

Hello, hello.

1:08.7

And of course, Dana Stevens, who's the film critic for Slate.com.

1:12.9

Hey.

1:13.5

Hey, Stephen.

...

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