Slate Culture – Details, episodes & analysis

Puberty is changing, and we’re not talking about developing Adam’s apples and growing hair in new places. It starts earlier and lasts longer. Regardless of when this necessary stage of life starts, youth and their adults need support going through it. On this week’s episode of Well, Now puberty expert Vanessa Kroll Bennett discusses the biggest ways puberty has changed for today’s youth and how best to navigate it.  She’s co-host of the podcast This Is So Awkward with Dr. Cara Natterson and co-author of This Is So Awkward: Modern Puberty Explained. If you liked this episode, check out: Can Kids Be Healthy at Any Size?  Well, Now is hosted by registered dietitian nutritionist Maya Feller and Dr. Kavita Patel. Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry with editorial oversight by Alicia Montgomery. Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to wellnow@slate.com. Want to listen to Well, Now uninterrupted?  Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Well, Now and all your other favorite Slate podcasts.  Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page.  Or, visit slate.com/wellplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is a prominent bird in the 2000 film Charlie’s Angels that makes absolutely no sense. This so-called Pygmy Nuthatch doesn’t look or sound like it should, or live where the characters say it does. The bird is so elaborately wrong that it has haunted the birding community, including Slate’s very own Forrest Wickman, for almost a quarter of a century. In this episode, Forrest embarks on a wild goose chase: Why can’t hundreds of filmmaking professionals with a $100 million budget accurately portray a single bird? This episode was reported and written by Forrest Wickman. It was edited by Willa Paskin. It was produced by Max Freedman. Decoder Ring is produced by Willa Paskin, Evan Chung, Katie Shepherd, and Max Freedman with help from Sofie Kodner. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. In this episode, you’ll hear from Charlie’s Angels screenwriters John August and Zak Penn, director McG, animal trainer Guin Dill, and sound editor Michael Benavente; and bird experts Nick Lund, Nathan Pieplow, and Drew Weber. If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com Want more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive 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 Decoder Ring show page. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus to get access wherever you listen. Disclosure in Podcast Description: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond’s yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond’s YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why this closed case from 1989 is suddenly back in the news—and why the brothers may yet be freed. Guest: Brian Buckmire, ABC Legal Contributor with a segment on GMA3, “Better Call Brian.”  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, hosts June Thomas, Isaac Butler, and Ronald Young Jr. reflect on the best tips, tools, and words of wisdom from the past four years of Working. They bid farewell to the show, to the listeners, and discuss the lessons that stuck with them and changed the way they work. They also save time at the end to reply to some heartwarming listener emails.   Past episodes that they mention include: How Choreographer Annie-B Parson Expresses Music Through Movement, Writer Oliver Burkeman on the Dangers of Obsessive Time Management, and How to Write Every Day and Stick to It. In recent years, Working has been hosted by June Thomas, Isaac Butler, Ronald Young Jr., Karen Han, Nate Chinen, Kristen Meinzer, TK Dutes, and Cameron Drews.  Morgan Flannery was the founding producer of the most recent iteration of the show. Cameron Drews and Kevin Bendis have been the primary producers of both Working and Working Overtime.  Please send comments, questions, tips about creative work, and feedback to working@slate.com, and thank you so much for listening!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode, Rachelle Hampton and Candice Lim parse out this week in #OceanGate, when a 5-passenger underwater vessel heading for the Titanic went missing. The U.S. Coast Guard has confirmed all five passengers are presumed dead following a “catastrophic implosion,” but the internet remains obsessed and desperate for more answers. We take a look at OceanGate the company, why someone would sign up for this voyage, and how four days of unanswered questions turned into millions of tweets, memes and TikToks. This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Alisha Wainwright (actor and host of the new podcast series, When Science Finds A Way) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer your letters from readers about friends who don’t call you when they’re in your town, the pros and cons of dating divorced men, and what to do when you’ve pressured your friend to break up with someone who… ends up being a great husband to someone else. If you want more Dear Prudence, you should join Slate Plus, Slate’s membership program. Jenée answers an extra question every week, just for members. Go to Slate.com/prudieplus to sign up. It’s just $15 for your first three months.  Podcast production by Se’era Spragley Ricks and Daisy Rosario, with help from Brandon Nix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During this LGBTQ Pride month, many members of the community are reflecting on a year of unprecedented political and legal attacks. One of the biggest battlefields has been in public schools and libraries, where books featuring LGBTQ stories have been the targets of censors. On today’s episode of A Word, guest host journalist Aisha Mills is joined by George M. Johnson, author of one of the most banned books, All Boys Aren’t Blue. They talk about the intersection of race and gender identity, and how Johnson has fought back against critics who call the book dangerous and inappropriate for children. Guest: George M. Johnson, author of All Boys Aren’t Blue Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola You can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/awordplus for $15 for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Waves, one year after the Supreme Court decision that set off a national crisis in reproductive health care, we’re taking a look at what the end of Roe has wrought. Countless lives have been affected: There's the people who've traveled across the country to get their lives back, the people who've been forced against their will into pregnancy and childbirth, and those who've been denied life saving medical care because their doctors are afraid of the law. There's also the people doing what they can to mitigate the damage—with ballot measures, and abortion funds, and the tools and knowledge to help someone manage an abortion on their own. Slate senior writer Christina Cauterucci talks with Diane Horvath and Morgan Nuzzo, who opened an abortion clinic in Maryland just as Roe fell. She also sits down with Elaina Ramsey, who leads a faith-based pro-abortion group in Ohio that’s been charting new ways to use the specific assets of faith communities to help people get abortions, and Jessica Valenti, a journalist who’s been tracking the warp-speed rollback of abortion access across the country, and telling the stories of people whose lives have been upended because of it. Some of Christina’s Writing on Abortion: Birth Control Is Next You Will Still Be Able to Get a Medication Abortion—Even if This Barbaric Ruling Stands What Anti-Abortion Advocates Really Think of Women’s Lives If the “Abortion Pill” Gets Banned, There’s Still One Good Move The Religious Left Has Found Its Mission If you liked this episode, check out: What the F*** Do We Do Now?    Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery. Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on How To!. Sign up now at slate.com/thewavesplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode, Rachelle and Candice are joined by Eater senior reporter Bettina Makalintal to discuss the rise of private chef content on TikTok. Specifically, the three discuss the now-yearly spectacle of chefs creating content about their summer sojourns to the Hamptons to cook for their wealthy clients. A form pioneered by Meredith Hayden, a.k.a @wishbonekitchen, Hamptons private chef content is now a phenomenon eagerly awaited by a section of TikTok viewers who call it their Super Bowl. This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Dana Stevens is joined first by Slate senior editor Sam Adams and ICYMI co-host Candice Lim to examine Wes Anderson’s latest film, Asteroid City. Then, the trio discusses why the sixth season of Black Mirror feels so disjointed. Finally, Dana and Candice explore the ethics of true crime content—and its devout followers—with Slate podcast producer and host Cheyna Roth inspired by a recent piece by The Atlantic, “The Gross Spectacle of Murder Fandom.” In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Dana, Candice, and Cheyna delve into TikTok’s latest trend: “beige flags.” Not quite red or alarming, nor something you absolutely love, beige flags are little quirks a person reveals that makes you go, “Hmm… okay.” Their conversation is inspired by Buzzfeed’s “‘My Boyfriend Always Asks The Waiter What To Order’” and The Cut’s “So What’s Your ‘Beige Flag?’” Email us at culturefest@slate.com.  Endorsements: Dana: Reality — Based on the real-life FBI interrogation transcript of whistleblower Reality Winner (played wonderfully by Sydney Sweeney), Dana describes HBO Max’s Reality as a surprisingly experimental film that manages to recount the story of a historical event without any dramatic reenactments or fictionalized scenarios.  Candice: Glossy: Ambition, Beauty, and the Inside Story of Emily Weiss’s Glossier — Written by Marisa Meltzer, Glossy exposes the history of Glossier, one of America’s hottest and most consequential startups and examines the enigmatic woman responsible for it all. A must read for any Girl Boss obsessives.  Cheyna: Below Deck — If you’re looking for fun, “turn your brain off” television, it doesn’t get much better than Below Deck, according to Cheyna. Below Deck (and its many Bravo spin-off series) follows the crews of luxury sailing yachts and all of the mess and drama that comes along with the job. Outro music: “You Know What I Want” by Staffan Carlen.  Podcast production by Cameron Drews and Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong.  Hosts Dana Stevens, Candice Lim, Sam Adams, Cheyna Roth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices