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Oil prices fell when Trump announced a deal had been struck with Iran, but don’t mistake that for things going back to “normal.” We left “normal” a long time ago.

Guest: Justin Wolfers, economist and professor at the University of Michigan, and author and host of Platypus Economics.

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Madeline Ducharme, Patrick Fort, Rob Gunther and Paige Osburn.
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On this episode: Lucy Lopez, Elizabeth Newcamp, and Zak Rosen are talkin’ periods! They are joined by Chloe Potter, co-founder of The Menstruality Academy, who walks them through preparing your kid for their first period, harnessing the power of the cycle, and breaking free from societal shame. (Chloe’s endometriosis podcast recommendation.)
This week on the Plus Playground: planning the perfect roadtrip!
Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Rosemary Belson. Video production by Micah Phillips.

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In Australia, no wedding or school dance is complete without the Nutbush, Australia’s unofficial national dance. The Nutbush – a simple line dance to the song “Nutbush City Limits,” by Ike and Tina Turner – has become as stereotypically Australian as kangaroos, boomerangs, and Vegemite.
And yet, hardly anyone outside of Australia even knows the Nutbush exists. Here at Decoder Ring, we certainly didn’t – until we started getting emails from Australians asking us to investigate its origins. How did an American song become the soundtrack for an Australian national tradition? Who invented the iconic steps, and why does every Australian know them?
Our producer Max Freedman put on his dancing shoes to get some answers. The global, century-spanning story of the Nutbush involves Australia, Tennessee, Denmark, primary schools, gay discos, and demonstrates that even the goofiest cultural touchstones can go surprisingly deep.
In this episode you’ll hear from culture journalists David Mack and Angus Kidman; Nutbush researchers Panizza Allmark and Jon Stratton; dance historians Erica Okamura and Richard Powers; Dr. Fiona Chatteur, Jeremy Santolin, and Brian Kerr.
This episode was written and produced by Max Freedman and edited by Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.
If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.
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Steve, Dana, and Julia gather once more—for almost the last time—to unpack the week’s culture. This week, conversation has to include the cultural, cinematic juggernaut Steven Spielberg and his new film Disclosure Day. Starring Josh O’Connor and Emily Blunt, it’s a sci-fi, action thriller about the longheld Spielbergian obsession: extraterrestrial life. Does it deliver that trademark Spielberg sense of wonder or tired cliches… or both?

Next, they welcome longtime friend of the program Isaac Butler to discuss his new book The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art, and the Birth of America's Culture Wars and threats to free expression past, present, and future.

Finally, and for the final time, beloved chartologist Chris Molanphy joins the show to remember Summer Struts past and curate the ultimate shortlist of shortlists. The panel shares their most adored songs from previous years and the tracks that never made the list but should have.

Listen to the final, ultimate, best of Summer Strut shortlist here. And for even more struttin’, you can listen to ten years of Summer Strut shortlists in one playlist here.

For Slate Plus subscribers, our bonus episode includes even more propulsive, groovy tracks and reflective conversation about what was Summer Strut.

Endorsements

Dana: Slate’s Spielberg Week and the 2023 conversation between the three philosophers John Vervaeke, Iain McGilchrist, and Daniel Schmachtenberger on "The Psychological Drivers of the Metacrisis."

Chris: The 2025 music video, directed by Mike Mills and starring Saoirse Ronan, of the Talking Heads classic Psycho Killer.

Julia: L.A. Material's upcoming Culinary Cup, a tournament of Los Angeles restaurants from the national diasporas represented in World Cup teams.

Steve: Sports. (Latecomers and bandwagon fans welcome! Go Knicks!)

And don’t forget to preorder Isaac Butler’s book The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art, and the Birth of America's Culture Wars.

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Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com.

Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.
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On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Slate staff writer Nitish Pawha to discuss his piece “Your TV Is Not Safe.” Apps like Instagram, Substack, and Spotify are making the leap from smart phones to smart TVs, as TVs attempt to compete against scrolling, and the nature of entertainment is changing. But giving over our TVs to these companies even further changes our relationships with technology, and even more, how we spend time with each other.

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay, with help from A.C. Valdez.
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