The Culture Gabfest “Summer Strut 2018” Edition

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 514 with Stephen Metcalf, Chris Molanphy, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner with the audio player below.

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On this week’s Slate Plus, Dana, Julia, Stephen, and Chris discuss more of their personal favorites from among the 450-plus songs nominated by listeners for Summer Strut.

Go to Slate.com/cultureplus to learn more about Slate Plus and join today.

This week, Chris Molanphy joins the gabbers to discuss the candidates for 2018’s song of the summer, unpacking the rise of Cardi B and the enduring popularity of Drake. Then, they sift through the more than 450 songs nominated by listeners to select the finalists for this year’s Summer Strut playlist.

Links to some of the things we discussed this week:

• “I Like It” by Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin
• “The Song Behind Cardi B’s ‘I Like It’ Took 50 Years to Get to No. 1” by Chris Molanphy in Slate
• “Girls Like You” by Maroon 5 (featuring Cardi B)
• Cardi B reveals her pregnancy while performing “Be Careful” on Saturday Night Live
• “Nice for What” by Drake
• “In My Feelings” by Drake (and the meme challenge it inspired)
• “Delicate” by Taylor Swift
• “The Middle” by Zedd, Maren Morris, and Grey
• “ ‘The Middle’: Watch How a Pop Hit Is Made” by Joe Coscarelli in the New York Times
• “Americans” by Janelle Monáe
• “Stillness Is the Move” by Dirty Projectors

Summer Strut 2018 Shortlist on Spotify:

Summer Strut 2018 Shortlist:

• “The Look” by Metronomy
• “Raingurl” by Yaeji
• “Amiga da Minha Mulher” by Seu Jorge
• “Me Gustas Tu” by Manu Chao
• “Favorite Song” by Sinkane
• “Quite Like You” by Andy Shauf
• “Know Your Name” by Mary Lambert
• “You F O” by Stela Cole
• “That’s the Kind of Love I’ve Got for You” by Dusty Springfield
• “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” by Sylvester
• “Saturdays” by Twin Shadow featuring HAIM
• “Make Me Feel” by Janelle Monáe
• “What an Experience” by Janelle Monáe
• “Tilted” by Christine and the Queens
• “How Glad I Am” by The Greyjoy Allstars
• “Break-Thru” by Dirty Projectors
• “Wide Awake” by Parquet Courts
• “Bad Liar” by Selena Gomez
• “New York Groove” by Ace Frehley
• “Love Will Never Do (Without You)” by Janet Jackson

Listen to the full Culture Gabfest Summer Strut 2018 playlist on Spotify.

Past “Summer Strut” Gabfests are available here: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017.

Endorsements

Dana: Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life and its score, particularly François Couperin’s “Les Barricades Mystérieuses” as performed by Angela Hewitt

Julia: “How Nicholas Britell Became the Sound of Money in Hollywood“ in the Ringer, “She’s the Most Acclaimed Country Songwriter of Recent Years. You’ve Probably Never Heard of Her.” in Slate, and “You Get a Love Song“ by Lori McKenna

Chris: The experience of seeing Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade with an eighth-grader

Stephen: Jacquelyn Ardam’s “Real Toads at the International Cryptozoology Museum” on the blog for the Los Angeles Review of Books, and Marianne Moore’s poem “The Fish”

Outro: “Time to Strut 3” by Gunnar Johnsén

You can email us at culturefest@slate.com.

This podcast was produced by Benjamin Frisch. Our production assistant is Alex Barasch.

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