Culture Gabfest: Can Stolen Artifacts Return Time?‌

Slate Culture

On this week’s show, Slate senior editor Rebecca Onion sits in for Julia Turner. First, the hosts examine Dahomey, an audacious new documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Mati Diop (Atlantics.)‌ With a one hour, eight minute run time, Dahomey is an incredibly rich text in a very small package, and contemplates the repatriation of 26 royal treasures plundered from the Kingdom of Dahomey as they journey back to their homeland, which now lies within the Republic of Benin.

Then, the three dive into Netflix’s Death, Let Me Do My Special, a one-woman show performed and written by Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.)‌ The special is perceptive, macabre, and whimsical, as Bloom reflects on the pandemic years and the loss of her close friend and collaborator, Adam Schlesinger. Finally, what is Mark Zuckerberg wearing?‌ That is the question Brendon Holder asks in a recent Substack essay and that is bewildering the panel. Is the Meta CEO simply trying to beat the dweeb allegations through oversized t-shirts and a boyish haircut? Or is there something more sinister going on here?

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel discusses the role TV plays in their lives, inspired by a recent mega-article published by GQ, “How to Watch TV.”

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Endorsements:

Dana:‌ The AOC‌ and Tim Walz Twitch stream, specifically, the moment when Walz calls Tony Hinchcliffe a “jackwad” following a racist comment.

Rebecca:‌ The Voyage Home by Pat Parker.

Stephen:‌ Todd Gitlin’s 2001 essay, “Unsafe in any state.”

Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong.

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