Culture Gabfest: Does Inside Out 2 Get Anxiety Right?
On this week\u2019s episode, the hosts excavate the psyche and begin by exploring Inside Out 2, a sophisticated children\u2019s movie that tackles the question on every kid\u2019s mind: How does one go about crafting a highly integrated ego? A bevy of new emotions join the motley crew living inside of our teenage protagonist Riley\u2019s mind, most notably Anxiety, voiced brilliantly by Maya Hawke. The film, a sequel to Pixar\u2019s 2015 Academy Award-winner, is filled with wisdom about developmental psychology, but finds itself in murky waters when indirectly tackling issues of free will and the power of the unconscious mind. Then, the panel probes the mind of Andrew McCarthy, whose recent documentary Brats (not to be confused with the new Charli XCX joint) reveals the inner workings of the \u201cBrat Pack,\u201d a term coined by David Blum in a New York Magazine cover story published in 1985. A lifelong member of the \u201cBrat Pack,\u201d McCarthy attempts to reconcile his relationship to the infamous label alongside others who fell under it, including Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, and Emilio Estevez, in a surprisingly personal and peculiar documentary that\u2019s quite revealing of McCarthy \u2013 either intentionally or not. Finally, the trio considers Google, the tech giant and the subject of Kyle Chayka\u2019s piece for The New Yorker, \u201cIs Google S.E.O. Gaslighting the Internet?\u201d Chayka\u2019s article sparks a larger conversation about the oversized role search engines have played in our lives and in our understanding of the internet, and comes at a time when Google plans to further integrate A.I. into Search Engine Optimization (S.E.O.) and eliminate the need for writers, journalists, and news organizations.\nIn the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel answers an excellent listener request from Rachael: \u201cDiscuss your favorite content from the early Internet days, before it became a toxic wasteland.\u201d\xa0\nEmail us at culturefest@slate.com.\xa0\nWe\u2019re also accepting Summer Strut submissions until July 1st! Send your strut-worthy songs to culturefest@slate.com.\xa0\nEndorsements:\nDana: The wonderful documentary Being Mary Tyler Moore, which you can stream on Max, Hulu, and Prime Video, among others.\nJulia: Sam Anderson\u2019s new podcast, Animal.\xa0\nStephen: A callback to last week\u2019s episode \u2013 the song was \u201cBallad of the Runaway Horse\u201d performed by Emmylou Harris and written by\u2026 Leonard Cohen! (Under the original name, \u201cBallad of the Absent Mare.\u201d) He also endorses Stereophonic, which just won the 2024 Tony Award for Best Play.\xa0\nPodcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong.\nHosts\nDana Stephens, Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices