Slate Money: "Succession: Next Cove Please, Julius!"

Date: October 11, 2021
Host: Felix Salmon (Axios)
Co-Hosts: Emily Peck (Fundrise), [Unspecified Third Speaker]
Guest: Rebecca Mead (The New Yorker)

Overview:

This episode kicks off Slate Money’s special coverage of HBO’s “Succession” ahead of the Season 3 premiere. Host Felix Salmon, co-hosts, and New Yorker journalist Rebecca Mead dive deep into the enduring appeal, satirical brilliance, and unexpected realism of “Succession”—examining its focus on wealth and power, its unsentimental English tone, and its meticulous attention to detail. The conversation covers what makes the series stand out, the blurred line between satire and reality, and what to expect as the show returns.

Main Discussion Points

Succession: Media Satire or Wealth Parable?

• Felix Salmon describes his evolving view, initially seeing “Succession” as a media satire, but after Mead’s article, recognizing it as primarily a show about “rich people”—“more about wealth than it is about media.” (02:00)
• Rebecca Mead agrees: “The kind of oblivious rich people element of it is one of the things that I particularly like about it.” She notes the writing team's exhaustive research, akin to journalistic reporting, in crafting the show's verisimilitude (02:56).

Meticulous Realism and Rich-People Worldbuilding

• Emily Peck highlights Mead’s research tidbit about the Roys’ yacht: “Rich people get their morning papers printed out off the internet every day for them... certain things wiped down.” (03:50)
• Rebecca Mead: “Your powder compact is wiped down for you…” (04:17)
• The panel marvels at details like the line "sails out, nails out" and wild invented rich-isms that might now enter actual luxury subculture (04:57).

Language, In-Jokes & Showrunner Style

• “Sails out, nails out” and “shit his whack” are discussed as standout Succession-isms; Alma of inventing new idioms that could spread to real rich social circles (05:11–06:32).
• Mead relays how Jesse Armstrong (showrunner) brings “baroque linguistic inventiveness” to the dialogue (06:07).

The Show’s Impact on Real-World Billionaires

• Episodes of real-life billionaires referencing “Succession” (e.g., Rupert Murdoch’s birthday party featuring a “Succession”-themed video) are discussed for their meta effect (06:44–07:19).
• Peck notes: “We see rich people now inspired by Succession or…think it’s maybe like an amusing good thing.” (07:19)

Unsparing Satire vs. Emotional Truth

• The panel debates the satire/realism blend and the show's “relentless, unsentimental” tone:
  • Rebecca Mead: “...the thing that's crucially English about it is the absolute swerve from sentimentality...It does not allow even, like, an inch, a glimmer of redemption. None of that.” (10:24)
• Mead likens Succession’s atmosphere to the English novel tradition: “not a million miles from a satirical English literature trollop.” (09:15)

Wealth, Family, and Emotional Stagnation

• The fixed, inescapable relationship between parents and children in mega-rich families:
  • Emily Peck: “If your dad’s super rich…you can never do the thing that all children do, which is separate from your parents.” (14:29)
• The Roy kids' inability to truly become adults is compared to real-life examples like the Trump children.

Political Echoes: Succession, Trump, and Rich Dynasties

• Discusses how the show absorbed, but didn’t over-emphasize, the Trumps:
  • Frank Rich, executive producer, had “the sensation of watching the Trump kids in relation to their father” on set (16:32).
  • Rebecca Mead clarifies the show is more influenced by “news events…financial takeovers...” than point-by-point Trump mimicry (16:32–18:55).

Pandemic, Timeliness & Creative Integrity

• Season 3 will not address the COVID-19 pandemic; a conscious decision to preserve narrative integrity and give the show lasting, evergreen relevance (19:35–21:04).
• Mead: “I think that might be quite nice to watch…I think we’ll all buy into an alternate world in which there was no pandemic.” (19:35)

Tom & Greg: “Outsiders” as Audience Avatars

• Felix Salmon: Tom and Greg “can act as our sort of eyes into, oh, my God, look at the crazy lifestyles of the born rich.” (21:48)
• Scene referenced: Tom attempts to induct Greg into the rituals of rich life (21:48–22:35).
• Rebecca Mead: They’re not really “innocent abroad”; “they’d love to be as rich and rapacious as the Roys.” (23:03–23:45)
• Mead’s empathy for the characters, especially Shiv, who “talks about the trap that she is in...” (23:45–25:57)

Glimmers of Vulnerability

• Quoted Scene: Shiv and Tom’s discussion about their relationship and “love as the last fridge magnet left…there’s fear and jealousy and revenge, control…wrapped up in really nice fucking wrapping paper.” (24:28–25:57, direct quotes)
• These moments of honesty break through the “acid barbs” for “a glimmer towards more” (25:57).

The Indelible Endings

• The show’s gift for season finales is dissected:
  • The Season 2 finale: Kendall’s press conference—“the mic drop,” where he betrays his father—detailed and the ambiguity of Logan’s smile explored (29:13–30:56).
• “This show is amazing at endings. The ending of season one was amazing. The ending of season two was amazing.” (33:44)

Greg’s Knowledge and Strategic Value

• “There’s an awful lot that Greg knows, isn’t there?...One could watch it again watching just Greg to see what does Greg know.” (32:23)

The Future of Succession

• Rebecca Mead suspects Season 4 is in the works: “I mean, yes, I assume there is a season four. I assume that in the way that I think there’s, you know…like the sun’s gonna rise tomorrow.” (35:09)
• Artistic risks of running too long or becoming formulaic discussed; Mead trusts Jesse Armstrong’s “artistic sense of shape to have an idea, he knows where he’s going in the end…” (36:01–36:56)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Rebecca Mead on the show’s language:
  “It’s wonderful to enrich the language, right, and to do it with these kinds of, you know, flamboyant and baroque linguistic inventiveness.” (06:07)

• On English sensibility:
  “The thing that’s crucially English about it is the absolute swerve from sentimentality…It does not allow even, like, an inch, a glimmer of redemption.” (10:24)

• On family and money:
  “They can never do that separation. And that is like one of the big tensions of this show. You can’t just be a person, you’re always an adult child.” – Emily Peck (14:29)

• Rebecca Mead on the show’s dynamic:
  “They’re these complex people who…can’t access their own feelings, can’t communicate with one another…It’s much more comfortable to be cruel and greedy but that’s not always all that they want to be.” (23:45)

• Season 2 Finale ('Kendall’s Betrayal')
  “My father is a malignant presence, a bully and a liar…” – Kendall Roy (30:56, quoting the show)

• On Greg's evolution:
  “You, one could watch it again watching just Greg to see what does Greg know. He’s also so much taller than everyone else that he can just see everything…” (32:23)

Notable Timestamps

• 02:00 – Felix introduces theme: media satire vs. rich-people show
• 03:50 – Details about the Roys’ yacht scene and rich-people research
• 05:11 – Discussion of “sails out, nails out” and show’s invented idioms
• 10:24 – Unsparing, unsentimental English tone
• 14:29 – Generational stasis among the Roys explored
• 16:32 – Show’s relationship to Trump and the news cycle
• 19:35 – Why the new season won’t mention COVID
• 21:48 – Tom and Greg as outsiders in the Roy world
• 23:45 – Characters’ emotional complexity, empathy, and trap of wealth
• 24:28–25:57 – Shiv and Tom’s “fridge magnet” conversation
• 29:13–30:56 – Recap of Season 2 finale and analysis
• 32:23 – Greg’s evolving importance
• 35:09–36:56 – Future of the show, longevity, and Jesse Armstrong’s vision

Conclusion

This episode provided rich analysis of “Succession” through a business and cultural lens, probing what elevates it above mere “media satire,” celebrating its linguistic inventiveness, and applauding its commitment to unsparing, unsentimental storytelling. The hosts and guest highlighted the show’s deep research, inside-baseball detail, and ability to combine humor with genuine emotional observation about family, power, and privilege—while also looking ahead to what Season 3 (and beyond) might bring.

Essential Listening For:
Fans of “Succession,” students of TV writing, and anyone fascinated by the intersection of money, family, and modern culture.