Culture Gabfest: Blake Lively Brings Melodrama Back

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On this week’s show, June Thomas (author of A Place of Our Own: Six Spaces That Shaped Queer Women’s Culture) and Dan Kois (author of Hampton Heights) fill in for Dana and Stephen. First, the panel tackles It Ends With Us starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni (the latter also directed and produced the film.) It’s a big, glossy melodrama laced with a domestic violence plot, and is the first film adaptation of BookTok star author Colleen Hoover. Then, the three explore Time Bandits, a new television show from Jermaine Clement, Iain Morris, and Taika Watiti starring, among others, a sublime Lisa Kudrow. The Apple TV+ series is based on Terry Gilliam’s 1981 film of the same name and follows a ragtag bunch of bandits as they thieve and travel through time. Finally, in light of its 20-year anniversary, the trio considers Yelp – does the crowd-sourcing review platform still hold power in 2024? This conversation was inspired by Jaya Saxena’s Eater piece, “Everybody Gets a Star.” On this week’s exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode, the panel goes on the hunt for the wonderful, elusive “perfect cracker.” Email us at [e-mail]. Endorsements: JUNE: A very well-reviewed book from two years ago: Katheine Rundell’s Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne. DAN: The Ministry for the Future: A Novel by Kim Stanley Robinson. JULIA: First Class Tailors on Wilshire Blvd., which boasts a 4.7 Star rating on Yelp. Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong. Hosts June Thomas, Dan Kois, Julia Turner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices