Culture Gabfest: Woke Superman Saves the Box Office Edition

Slate Culture

Slate Podcasts

Arts, Tv & Film, Music

4.4 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 July 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On this week’s show, Dana and Steve are joined by guest host Isaac Butler to talk truth, justice, and the American way via James Gunn’s Superman. They discuss the latest incarnation of the man of steel and the cultural discourse he’s generating that has become as volatile as kryptonite itself. Next, they hop to another cultural lightning rod: Lena Dunham. They get into her new series Too Much which she created with her husband Luis Felber. Finally, they report back from Viola’s Room, an immersive theater experience by the creators of Sleep No More. In a bonus Slate Plus episode, they respond to the news that Scott Rudin—famous Broadway megaproducer and infamous alleged abuser—is mounting a comeback. Endorsements: Isaac: The Criterion Channel special Brian Cox: The Craft of Acting, hosted by yours truly Isaac Butler. Also, Ari Aster’s newest film Eddington before the discourse begins! Steve: Finishing 2666 by Roberto Bolaño and Agnes Varda's breakout Cléo from 5 to 7. Dana: Critic Walter Chaw's essay on the new Superman. Want more Culture Gabfest? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Culture Gabfest show page. Or, visit slate.com/cultureplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Dana Stevens, and this is the Slate Culture Gab Fest, woke Superman saves the box office edition.
0:17.0	It's Wednesday, July 16, 2025, and this week we will be discussing off, Superman, James Gunn's new film that reboots the venerable comic book superhero.
0:26.8	Next, we'll talk about too much, a new Netflix sitcom that was created by Lena Dunham and her husband, Louise Felber.
0:32.5	It stars Meg Stalter as a transplant from NYC to London, who falls in love with a British indie musician.
0:38.5	Finally, we will take on a cultural form we've never talked about before in the Slate Culture Gab Fest, interactive theater.
0:44.2	A few weeks ago, Stephen Metcalf, Isaac Butler and I, along with our producer Ben Frisch, took a field trip to experience viola's room,
0:50.9	a new theatrical installation created by some of the same team that a few years ago had a huge success with the piece, Sleep No More.
0:58.4	I'm joined today by Isaac Butler, filling in for Julia Turner this week.
1:01.6	Isaac is the author of The Method and also the upcoming book The Perfect Moment.
1:05.8	Give me the subtitle to that, Isaac.
1:07.1	The subtitle for now, who knows they may change it, is the religious right, American
1:12.7	art, and the end of the 20th century. It's kind of about censorship in the 90s. Yeah, it's about
1:17.7	the culture wars of the 80s and 90s. It's about a moment in which the religious right decided to
1:24.0	essentially pick a series of fights over cultural stuff, but instead of it being superhero
1:29.1	movies or whatever was actually like government-funded experimental art. So it's this weird
1:34.2	period of time when, you know, an essay by David Wojnerovich is front-page news below the fold,
1:41.2	while the Berlin Wall falling is above the fold. You know, it was like,
1:44.7	and so it's about that conflict. It's a kind of military history of a culture war, you could say.
1:49.8	And when's it coming up? Next year, exact publication date, not yet set, but I would guess
1:55.3	early fall. All right. Well, based on the method and the importance that book holds in my
2:00.2	household, I cannot wait for the perfect moment.
2:03.7	And as always, we're joined by our beloved Stephen Metcalf.
	...

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