The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20110921195501/http://www.slate.com/id/2282599/
 / 
culture gabfest
 : 
Slate's weekly roundtable.

The Culture Gabfest, "Reality Is Statham" Edition

Listen to Slate's show about Jason Statham's new movie The Mechanic, the Onion News Network, and whether video games can make us better.

By Michael Agger, Troy Patterson, Dana Stevens, and Julia TurnerPosted Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011, at 12:11 PM ET

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 124 with Michael Agger, Troy Patterson, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

You can also download the program here, or you can subscribe to the weekly Culture Gabfest podcast feed via iTunes or directly with our RSS feed. Find the Culturefest Facebook page here. Leave us a note and see what other listeners have to say about the latest podcast.

This episode is brought to you by Squarespace, the fast and easy way to create and manage a high-quality Web site or blog. Create a Web site that's uniquely you, all in the design and colors of your choice. For a free trial, click here, or go to Squarespace.com/slate.

In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics Troy Patterson, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner discuss Jason Statham in The Mechanic and the satirical Onion News Network on IFC. For the final segment, Dana and Julia are joined by Slate senior editor Michael Agger to discuss Jane McGonigal's new book Reality Is Broken and whether video games can make us better people.

Here are some links to the things we discussed this week:

The official Web site for the action thriller The Mechanic.
Dana Stevens' review of the The Mechanic in Slate.
Jody Rosen's essay on Jason Statham's charm in Slate.
The original 1972 Mechanic starring Charles Bronson.
The Statham films Crank, The Bank Job, The Transporter, and The Expendables.
English actress and former model Saffron Burrows.
Tom Ford's 2009 drama A Single Man.
The official Web site for the Onion News Network.
Slate's discussion of the Onion SportsDome on its sports podcast Hang Up and Listen.
The Onion's satirical newspaper online.
Jane McGonigal's new book Reality Is Broken.
Slate's Michael Agger on Reality Is Broken and whether games make us better.
Jane McGonigal's TED lecture on the subject on YouTube.
The play-for-charity game Freerice.
The alternate reality game World Without Oil.
Steven Johnson's book Everything Bad Is Good for You.
Ron Rosenbaum's attack on games in Slate.

The Culture Gabfest weekly endorsements:

Julia's pick: Southern California's classic hip-hop station 93.5 KDAY.
Michael's pick: The soccer game FIFA 11 for the iPhone.
Dana's pick: Jesse Eisenberg's performance hosting Saturday Night Live (available on Hulu).

Outro: "Return of the Mack" by Mark Morrison.

You can e-mail us at culturefest@slate.com.

This podcast was produced by Jesse Baker. Our intern is Forrest Wickman.

Follow us on the new Culturefest Twitter feed. And please Like the Culture Gabfest on Facebook.

Like Slate on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

Or join the discussion
on the Fray
Like This Story
Slate Photo Galleries
Michael Agger is a Slate senior editor. Follow him on Twitter. E-mail him at . Troy Patterson is Slate's television critic. Dana Stevens is Slate's movie critic. E-mail her at or follow her on Twitter. Julia Turner is Slate's deputy editor. You can e-mail her at or follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/juliaturner.
Illustration by Robert Neubecker.
TODAY'S PICTURES
TODAY'S CARTOONS
TODAY'S DOONESBURY
TODAY'S VIDEO
Hush, little baby.180/tp.gif
Cartoonists' take on taxes.202/tc.gif
Lunching large.213/td.gif
GET TODAY IN SLATE
Quantcast
Morty Proxy This is a proxified and sanitized view of the page, visit original site.