In Furiosa, Anya Taylor-Joy plays a strong and silent guy. It is not a good thing.

In this week’s show, the hosts begin by launching into Furiosa: A Mad Max sagaa 2015 prequel by George Miller Fury Road, in which Anya Taylor-Joy plays Furiosa, an arachnid beauty who was stolen as a child and becomes a warrior of the wasteland. He’s a “strong, silent guy”, typical of the action film genre, but does this trope mean anything different with a female protagonist in 2024? The panel discusses. (Read Dana’s review on Furiosa!) Then the three discuss Hitman, Richard Linklater’s latest film starring Glen Powell as Gary Johnson, a university professor who moonlights as a fake shooter for hire. It’s a delightful romantic comedy nestled within a thriller – a romantic thriller, if you will – that manages to feel like a hangout movie despite its ridiculous premise. (Read Dana’s review on The man in the hat!) Finally, ScarJo or FauxJo? Technical journalist and author of Blood in the machine: the origins of the rebellion against big technology Brian Merchant joins the panel to analyze Silicon Valley’s latest scandal: Scarlett Johansson accusing ChatGPT of stealing her vote for her new interface program. (Read Brian’s newsletter on this!)

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the hosts answer a great listener question from Michael Schulman: What fictional works of art in art would you most want to see on their own?

Email us at [email protected].

Approvals:

Dana: An interview between Richard Linklater and Skip Hollandsworth, whose stories Linklater adapted into films Bernie And Hitmanfor Texas Monthly.

Julia: Monopoly agreementa well-designed family card game.

Stéphane: A poem by Janet Frame, “Scarlet Tanager, Saratoga Springs” which was featured on Yumi Zouma’s song, “Lie Like You Want Me Back – Alternative Version”.

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Production assistance by Kat Hong.