This week, the panel begins with the question: is The Bear’s second season even better than its first? Then, the trio discusses Jennifer Lawrence’s new “sex” comedy, No Hard Feelings. Finally, they examine an essay by Jonah Weiner of Blackbird Spyplane, “Is Ssense hurting the cool-clothes eco-system?” about the online clothing emporium that’s growing like a weed.

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel dives into former New York Times film critic—and current Book Review critic—A.O. Scott’s recent piece, “Everyone Likes Reading. Why Are We So Afraid of It?”

Email us at culturefest@slate.com.

Endorsements:

Dana: Access and Engagement Curator at the Brontë Parsonage Museum — The Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth is hiring! Dana thinks someone out there must be perfect for this wonderful job: a part-time Access and Engagement curator at the former home of the Brontë family and where Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall were written. Applications close on Sunday, July 2nd.

Julia: Cédric Grolet on Instagram — The French pastry chef (who works as executive pastry chef at Le Meurice in Paris) posts beautifully shot baking videos to his Instagram and TikTok. In them, he demonstrates how to make fruity, complex pastries at a huge scale. The result is perfection.

Stephen: “Cancelled” by Amia Srinivasan — Published by the London Review of Books, “Cancelled” is philosopher Amia Srinivasan’s exploration of the role of fee speech on campus. In it, she asks “Who gets to speak?” and details the ways academic freedom is currently being suppressed.

Outro music: “Zero Gravity” by ELFL

Podcast production by Cameron Drews and Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong.

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