Culture Gabfest: Crushing Responsibility

This week, the panel begins by pondering Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut, The Lost Daughter. Then, the panel gushes about the fresh workplace comedy Abbott Elementary. Finally, the panel discusses everyone's latest obsession: the word game Wordle. In Slate Plus, the panel enters spoiler territory as they continue to puzzle out The Lost Daughter. Email us at culturefest@slate.com. Endorsements Dana: An LA related endorsement: The Academy Museum (run by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) which is mostly okay, but has a stellar show called The Path to Cinema: Highlights from the Richard Balzer Collection. Julia: Potentially the first worthy piece of pandemic art: the Gary Shteyngart novel Our Country Friends, set in an upstate NY country home as friends gather to wait out the pandemic. Steve: Israeli-born, Paris-based singer Keren Ann’s cover of “Hallelujah.” Also: a no longer on-the-fence, solid endorsement for HBO’s Succession. Pre-order Dana’s book and buy a ticket to Dana and Isaac’s book event at The Strand (hosted by our very own Stephen Metcalf)! Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Nadira Goffe. Outro music is "Self Made Woman" by Katharine Appleton Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts, a bonus segment in each episode of the Culture Gabfest, full access to Slate's journalism on Slate.com, and more. Sign up now at slate.com/cultureplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices