What a bunch of pretentious snobs. The culture gabfest seems to pick some entertainment that ordinary people like and then disses it because it is not nearly sophisticated enough for them. The funny thing is that their analysis usually reveals that it is actually they that live in some sort of bubble and have no clue.
I'm a WNYC and WQXR member and I like listening to the show enough to sometimes listen to the full-length audio on Soundcloud. The things I like the best are the recommendations to listeners and the chemistry between the hosts. Sometimes it gets a little too much into inside baseball sorts of topics, but they usually put a rein on the tendency.
Culture gabfest makes me feel rather inadequate because these people clearly went to better schools than I did judging from their references. Listening to them is like sitting in on a graduate seminar or going to an Ivy League town and overhearing snippets of conversations that are so much smarter than those you have with your friends. But Gabfest has really grown on me as I'm beginning to trust the taste of the gabmeisters, in spite of their wordiness, and occasionally because of it. I couldn't understand half of what Robert Christgau said in his reviews either, but that guy NEVER steered me wrong. The great Victoria Pero of NJ is correct about the grating use of "Right." Pero that's a quibble of one who enjoys the show. To that quibble I would add "So" used at the beginning of a response to a question. It's such a service to the listener to make your speech impeccable, free of that stuff. Your ideas are serious, and we are hungry for serious ideas and opinions in this age of "everybody has his own opinion." What a bore that is! It's refreshingly humbling to listen to the show because it compels me to learn something new, get out of my routine and make some discoveries. I look at my iPod or Youtube favorites and fear I'm stuck in 1993, or the three months in 1989 when I was cool. Gabfest is such a throwback to those old college days you could sit in your dorm and discuss movies and music with smarter people who push you toward something good. It's so refreshing to feel inadequate listening to a radio show! I wish sometimes you weren't so polite with each other, but maybe I just have a fantasy about a cultural McLaughlin Group. Friends can have vehement and productive disagreements, so we won't be offended to hear some of that. I'm not a fan of the show's forays into foodie talk, as I go elsewhere for that sort of thing. Just another quibble...In all, I'm very grateful for this program, and will enjoy hearing how it evolves.
I look forward to Gabfest; it's a highlight of my week-end radio listening. I wish it were on more than once a week! At 7 a.m., when I hear it in NY, it's a great way to get the ol' brain cells going. Thanks and keep up the great work.
Mike from Inwood is right - "no incredible insights". Truly nothing more than a mundane Gabfest. Emily Bazelon especially is an esoteric shrill bore. I tried it out for a while - but it's just plain yuppie boring......... Dump this show quick before anyone finds out about it.
My new favorite find. Makes me laugh and makes me think. Also makes me completely crazy how every speaker sprinkles their text with the now ubiquitous "right?". This bizarre new filler which seems to request/demand validation on every other thought is as useless and distracting as the past several year's "listen" which began 8 out of 10 political punditry statements, regardless of their worth. Please, just speak! Speak your ideas without fashionable fillers that only serve to water down the impact of your actual thought and create a kind of dialectic sameness giving way to an inevitable parody hopefully written into Anchorman II.
Imagine you're in sitting in a Williamsburg (Brooklyn) bar next to three moderately informed and moderately educated hipsters discussing current affairs who are not yet three sheets to the wind. The conversation is not always predictable, but there are no incredible insights. Edit out the yawns and burps. Broadcast at 6 PM on Sundays.
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About Gabfest Radio
Gabfest Radio brings you a weekly hour of smart, counterintuitive, and funny commentary about politics and culture. The program combines Slate.com’s two most popular podcasts, the Political Gabfest and the Culture Gabfest, into a fast-paced show that dissects the week’s most important events from the presidential campaign and the worlds of art and entertainment. The result is something more like a chat with friends over drinks than a talk show.
Comments [12]
My favorite radio show. Come to Boston!
This is my 2nd favorite weekly show, after On the Media.
What a bunch of pretentious snobs. The culture gabfest seems to pick some entertainment that ordinary people like and then disses it because it is not nearly sophisticated enough for them. The funny thing is that their analysis usually reveals that it is actually they that live in some sort of bubble and have no clue.
I'm a WNYC and WQXR member and I like listening to the show enough to sometimes listen to the full-length audio on Soundcloud. The things I like the best are the recommendations to listeners and the chemistry between the hosts. Sometimes it gets a little too much into inside baseball sorts of topics, but they usually put a rein on the tendency.
I really enjoy Gabfest radio! Terrific addition to my weekend listening! Would not miss it! Thanks WYNC!
Culture gabfest makes me feel rather inadequate because these people clearly went to better schools than I did judging from their references. Listening to them is like sitting in on a graduate seminar or going to an Ivy League town and overhearing snippets of conversations that are so much smarter than those you have with your friends. But Gabfest has really grown on me as I'm beginning to trust the taste of the gabmeisters, in spite of their wordiness, and occasionally because of it. I couldn't understand half of what Robert Christgau said in his reviews either, but that guy NEVER steered me wrong. The great Victoria Pero of NJ is correct about the grating use of "Right." Pero that's a quibble of one who enjoys the show. To that quibble I would add "So" used at the beginning of a response to a question. It's such a service to the listener to make your speech impeccable, free of that stuff. Your ideas are serious, and we are hungry for serious ideas and opinions in this age of "everybody has his own opinion." What a bore that is! It's refreshingly humbling to listen to the show because it compels me to learn something new, get out of my routine and make some discoveries. I look at my iPod or Youtube favorites and fear I'm stuck in 1993, or the three months in 1989 when I was cool. Gabfest is such a throwback to those old college days you could sit in your dorm and discuss movies and music with smarter people who push you toward something good. It's so refreshing to feel inadequate listening to a radio show! I wish sometimes you weren't so polite with each other, but maybe I just have a fantasy about a cultural McLaughlin Group. Friends can have vehement and productive disagreements, so we won't be offended to hear some of that. I'm not a fan of the show's forays into foodie talk, as I go elsewhere for that sort of thing. Just another quibble...In all, I'm very grateful for this program, and will enjoy hearing how it evolves.
I look forward to Gabfest; it's a highlight of my week-end radio listening. I wish it were on more than once a week! At 7 a.m., when I hear it in NY, it's a great way to get the ol' brain cells going. Thanks and keep up the great work.
Mike from Inwood is right - "no incredible insights". Truly nothing more than a mundane Gabfest. Emily Bazelon especially is an esoteric shrill bore. I tried it out for a while - but it's just plain yuppie boring......... Dump this show quick before anyone finds out about it.
My new favorite find. Makes me laugh and makes me think. Also makes me completely crazy how every speaker sprinkles their text with the now ubiquitous "right?". This bizarre new filler which seems to request/demand validation on every other thought is as useless and distracting as the past several year's "listen" which began 8 out of 10 political punditry statements, regardless of their worth. Please, just speak! Speak your ideas without fashionable fillers that only serve to water down the impact of your actual thought and create a kind of dialectic sameness giving way to an inevitable parody hopefully written into Anchorman II.
Otherwise - you guys rock!
i hate it-one of the shows i turn off--bunch of yuppies
I'm sorry; perhaps that was mean.
Imagine you're in sitting in a Williamsburg (Brooklyn) bar next to three moderately informed and moderately educated hipsters discussing current affairs who are not yet three sheets to the wind. The conversation is not always predictable, but there are no incredible insights. Edit out the yawns and burps. Broadcast at 6 PM on Sundays.
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