Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 559 with Isaac Butler, Stephen Metcalf, and Dana Stevens with the audio player below.
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On this week’s episode—recorded in front of an audience in New York City—Dana, Steve, and Isaac are joined by Inkoo Kang to discuss Late Night, a new comedy starring Emma Thompson as an intractable late-night host and Mindy Kaling as her PR hire-turned-protégé. Together, they unpack the movie’s politics (and sometimes questionable internal logic) and how it manages to make the case for diversity without didacticism. Next, they reflect on Dr. John’s musical legacy—and the occasional fraughtness of his minstrelsy-inspired persona—with the help of Hit Parade’s Chris Molanphy. Finally, as Glenda Jackson’s King Lear at the Cort Theatre draws to a close, the critics consider the evolution of the tragedy itself and the significance of this production’s most striking choices.
Links to some of the things we discussed this week:
• Late Night
• “Mindy Kaling’s Late Night Is a Rebuttal 15 Years in the Making” by Inkoo Kang in Slate
• The Devil Wears Prada starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway
• Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility
• “Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya” by Dr. John
• “I Walk on Guilded Splinters” by Dr. John
• “Right Place, Wrong Time” by Dr. John
• Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused
• “Dr. John Was Both Deeply Traditional and a Total Freak” by Jack Hamilton in Slate
• “Ice Age” by Dr. John
• Top Chef: New Orleans
• Glenda Jackson’s King Lear at the Cort Theatre
• King Lear starring Antony Sher
• “Lend Me Your Ears: King Lear” by Isaac Butler in Slate
• Game of Thrones
Endorsements
Dana: “Makin’ Whoopee” by Dr. John and Rickie Lee Jones
Isaac: Indian Blues by Donald Harrison Jr. with Dr. John and Salka Viertel’s The Kindness of Strangers
Steve: Kawhi Leonard and Carmen Staaf’s Science Fair
This podcast was produced by Benjamin Frisch.
Our production assistant is Alex Barasch.
Feel free to email us at culturefest@slate.com or interact with us at @SlateCultFest on Twitter. You can follow all of Slate’s culture coverage by signing up for our newsletter and liking our Facebook page. And send your Summer Strut submissions to summerstrut@slate.com!
