<p>This week, our Gabfest panel includes Steve and guest hosts Nadira Goffe and Laura Miller with a typically eclectic collection of topics. First up, Dana hops on the call to decode the unspoken truths and dream imagery of Kleber Mendonça Filho’s film <em>The Secret Agent</em>. Set in 1970s Recife, Brazil and starring a very charming Wagner Moura, the film is a heterodox brew of political thriller, magical realism, and attentive character study about the everyday surreality of life under dictatorship.</p><br><p>Next, it’s back to Westeros with a discussion of <em>A</em> <em>Knight of the Seven Kingdoms</em>, a <em>Game of Thrones </em>prequel set 100 years before the original show based on George R.R. Martin’s fantasy epic. Grounded and surprisingly funny, don’t expect dragons in this knight’s tale.</p><br><p>Finally, they turn to “<a href="https://www.vulture.com/article/justin-mcdaniel-existential-despair-course.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gluttons for Punishment</a>,” a recent <em>Vulture </em>article by Lila Shapiro about UPenn religious studies professor Justin McDaniel using some extreme, unorthodox measures to get his students to finish books.</p><br><p>In an exclusive bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, the panel talks to Laura about the secret pleasures of wood stacking as discussed in her recent piece “<a href="https://slate.com/life/2026/01/holzhausen-woodpile-stack-house-german-scandinavian.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Art of the Holzhausen</a>.”</p><br><p><br></p><p><strong>Endorsements</strong></p><br><p><strong>Nadira</strong>: Some melancholy shoegaze pop from Scandinavia, specifically the albums <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/goodbyehouse/1827338632" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Goodbyehouse</em></a> by Snuggle and <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/big-city-life/1802661282" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Big City Life</em></a> by Smerz.</p><br><p><strong>Laura</strong>: The novels of Robert Jackson Bennett in his <em>Shadow of the Leviathan</em> series including Hugo-winning <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-tainted-cup-robert-jackson-bennett/f4718cb17009890c?ean=9781984820716&amp;next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Tainted Cup</em></a><em> </em>and <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-drop-of-corruption-an-ana-and-din-mystery-robert-jackson-bennett/873b326585e7cd10?ean=9780593723821&amp;next=t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>A Drop of Corruption</em></a><em>.</em></p><br><p><strong>Steve</strong>:&nbsp; The Substack essay “<a href="https://data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-wall-looks-permanent-until-it" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Wall Looks Permanent Until It Falls Down</a>” by Adam Bonica about the cost of American exceptionalism.</p><br><p><strong>And a bonus one from Dana</strong>: <a href="https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/pictures-of-ghosts/umc.cmc.2i7e89uuw9putdrpf1xpbf2jk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Pictures of Ghosts</em></a><em>,</em> the documentary by <em>The Secret Agent </em>director Kleber Mendonça Filho about Recife, Brazil in the 1970s.</p><br><p>--</p><br><p>Email us your thoughts at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[email protected]</a>.&nbsp;</p><br><p>Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.</p><br><p><br></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>