Culture Gabfest: Cate Blanchett Is a Sexy Super Spy

Slate News

Slate Podcasts

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.6 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2025

⏱️ 70 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On this week’s show, Slate’s Dan Kois sits in for Stephen Metcaff. The hosts discuss the new Mr. & Mrs. Smith-like film Black Bag, starring Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender. Then they dive into the “inconvenient” Hulu show Deli Boys. They end by discussing the legacy of Dave Eggers’ phenomenal memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Endorsements: Dana: The television show A French Village Dan: Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood Julia: LATimes article “I'm a martini purist. Here's what is — and isn't — in the perfect classic cocktail.” by Bill Addison Podcast production and research by Vic Whitley-Berry. Email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'm Julia Turner and this is the Slate Culture Gab Fest.
0:15.3	Kate Blanchett is a sexy super spy edition.
0:19.0	It's Wednesday, March 19th, 2025. and on today's show, we're talking about
0:23.8	Black Bag of the top new spy thriller from director Stephen Soderberg that's light on gun battles and
0:30.2	heavy on badinage. Then, Delhi Boys is a goofy new crime caper on Hulu, featuring the exploits of two sons who discover after their Pakistani immigrant father dies that his successful chain of Philly area delis was actually a front for a thriving cocaine business.
0:48.2	Finally, the book that changed the way we think about memoir has turned 25.
0:52.0	We'll talk with Dan Kois about his piece on Dave Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.
0:58.7	Joining me today is Dana Stevens.
1:01.2	Welcome back, Dana.
1:02.6	Hey, nice to be back.
1:04.4	We missed you.
1:05.5	And in for Steve Metcalfe is Dan Quays himself.
1:08.7	Hello, Dan.
1:09.6	Nicely foreshadowed. Yeah. They thought you were a special guest, but Lo, you're a co-host.
1:15.4	Ha, ha, ha. We turned it around on them.
1:17.7	Mm-hmm.
1:19.9	Guys, I don't know if it's possible for me to speak in a sufficiently slinky and controlled tone to talk about this Steven Soderberg movie,
1:29.7	but I'm just going to try and do it in my normal voice, and hopefully people will get the idea.
1:35.3	Stephen Soderberg's latest film stars Kate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender as married spies.
1:40.7	Fastbender's George has been assigned to ferret out a traitor in the organization. What's the
1:45.9	organization? Mystery British spy organization. Doesn't really matter. There's a colleague who has
1:50.7	pinched some kind of cyber weapon to sell it to someone nefarious. There are five suspects, and one of
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -9 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Slate Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.