Slate News

Over the holidays, thousands of passengers were left stranded or delayed when Southwest Airline’s outdated re-booking software broke down. Who can be held accountable, and why don’t airlines invest more in their own infrastructure?  Guest: Heather Tal Murphy , business and technology reporter for Slate. Host: Mary C. Curtis If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate P...

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss GOP’s speakership debacle; George Santos; and improving access to medication abortion. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Emily Bazelon for The New York Times: “ The Dawn of the Post-Clinic Abortion ” Emily Bazelon for The New York Times: “ Risking Everything to Offer Abortions Across State Lines ” Mark Oppenh...

Enacted at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Title 42 allows border patrol to expel migrants from the U.S. before they have a chance to apply for asylum. Denied the opportunity to apply for asylum, and unable to travel, migrants are left to fend for themselves on the streets of El Paso in winter. Guest: Bob Moore , founder and CEO of El Paso Matters If you enjoy this show, please consider si...

For decades it felt like society was growing more accepting of the LGBTQ community, but in the past few years, hospitals have faced bomb threats, drag story hours have been beset by armed protestors, and queer spaces have been violently targeted. What happened? Guest: David Mack , senior breaking news reporter for Buzzfeed News. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Sl...

Villainized by the right, protested from the left, Nancy Pelosi led the Democrats through the Iraq War, the fight for Obamacare, and two impeachments. As Congress resumes, she will step down from leading the House Democrats, leaving behind a complicated legacy—and a list of hard-fought accomplishments. Guest: Rachael Bade , political analyst for CNN and the co-author of Politico ’s “Playbook” news...

In this New Year’s Eve special, Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers are joined by Ritholtz Wealth Management CEO Josh Brown to discuss all things markets.   Podcast production by Anna Phillips. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For some, 2022 was the year Roe v Wade was overturned. For millions more, abortions rights had been functionally inaccessible for decades. Beyond shaky precedent, Roe was a vessel into which America threw all sorts of hopes, beliefs and fears. But how did this legal decision become a symbol of so much? On this week’s show, host Dahlia Lithwick is joined by abortion law expert Mary Ziegler , who’s...

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As we catch our breath over the holidays, enjoy this episode of Slate's One Year podcast. What Next returns next week. In 1942, federal officials targeted a group of Black Americans who were allegedly hoping for a Japanese invasion. They uncovered a plot that included stockpiles of weapons and secret passwords—but was any of it true? This week, Joel Anderson tells the story of a shadowy organizati...

As we catch our breath over the holidays, enjoy this episode of Slate's One Year podcast. What Next returns next week. Six months after Pearl Harbor, Japan launched another attack on the United States. This time, Axis forces actually invaded, turning the Aleutian Islands into a battleground. What the country did next, in the name of “protecting” Alaska’s Indigenous people, is a shameful chapter of...

As we catch our breath over the holidays, enjoy this episode of Slate's One Year podcast. What Next returns next week. In March 1942, a new nightly radio show hit the American airwaves. The stated goal of Station Debunk was to correct all the lies getting tossed around about America’s involvement in the war. But the real story was a whole lot stranger and more devious than it appeared. One Year is...

As we catch our breath over the holidays, enjoy this episode of Slate's One Year podcast. What Next returns next week. There were 1.8 million weddings in 1942, the most that had ever been recorded in a single year in American history. But how many of them would last? 98-year-old Millie Summergrad tells the story of one that did: her own. And a pair of brothers explain what it was like to grow up i...

This week, Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the proposed changes to retirement plans in Congress’s 2023 spending bill. They also talk about the current boom in cocaine production and debate whether or not nepotism is as bad as everyone says .   In the Plus segment: Felix, Emily, and Elizabeth admit what they each got wrong about 2022.   Podcast production by Anna Phillips....

At the beginning of World War II, the greatest threat to the American war effort wasn’t the Nazis or the Japanese—it was runaway inflation. The man in charge of stopping it was the country’s “price czar,” Leon Henderson. In 1942, he controlled how much coffee ordinary people could drink and how many tires they could buy. Those rules made him a nationwide villain. But would they save the country? O...

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss the January 6th Committee’s findings and criminal referrals; the brewing water crisis in the West–with Washington Post reporter Josh Partlow; and the biggest stories of 2022. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Joshua Partlow for The Washington Post: “ Officials Fear ‘Complete Doomsday Scenario’ For Drought-Str...

This week we look back on some of our favorite stories from a year that had us asking—sometimes with excitement and sometimes with exasperation—"What Next”? This episode originally aired March 29.   After more than 70 weeks on the Billboard U.S. Hot 100, Dua Lipa and her song “Levitating” have run into trouble: two separate copyright complaints claiming the pop star ripped off other artists in wri...

This week we look back on some of our favorite stories from a year that had us asking—sometimes with excitement and sometimes with exasperation—"What Next”? This episode originally aired June 1.   If you want to understand the way inequality is baked into the systems and structures all around us, examining the pay equity issue in U.S. soccer is a pretty good place to start. But after a six-year ba...

This week we look back on some of our favorite stories from a year that had us asking—sometimes with excitement and sometimes with exasperation—"What Next”? This episode originally aired March 21.   Few were betting that a group of workers on Staten Island could win union recognition at their Amazon warehouse. Now that they’ve done it, can they replicate this win at other shops across the country?...

This week we look back on some of our favorite stories from a year that had us asking—sometimes with excitement and sometimes with exasperation—"What Next?" This episode originally aired March 21. A very strange bankruptcy case is coming to a close. Its settlement hinges not on payments rendered or bills neglected, but on the pain of millions of American families who slid into the jaws of the opio...

The Food and Drug Administration gave an important thumbs up to lab-grown chicken, which means we could start seeing it in stores as soon as next year. While billions of dollars have been spent developing lab-grown meat, important questions remain: Is the production of it actually greener than raising livestock? Can it be made affordably? Is it healthy? And will anyone eat it? Guest: Chloe Sorvino...

This week, Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers explain what the Fed’s interest rate dot plot means. They also talk about Microsoft’s attempted acquisition of video game developer Activision, and the latest details of the SBF scandal.   In the Plus segment: the revival of the office holiday party.   Podcast production by Anna Phillips. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more in...

John Dickerson talks with author Gautam Mukunda about his new book  Picking Presidents: How to Make the Most Consequential Decision in the World . They talk about how Mukunda’s first book,  Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter  laid the groundwork for  Picking Presidents . Later, Dickerson and Mukunda dig into why ‘intellectual brilliance’ – which goes beyond IQ - is a strong predictor of pre...

The highest court in the land has ignored the need for standing, the trial record, and of course precedent this past year––and it matters.  Host Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Sherrilyn Ifill, former president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and a senior fellow at the Ford Foundation. They discuss Sherrilyn’s thought-provoking piece this month in the New York Re...

Even in a crazy year for crypto, Sam Bankman-Fried’s story is undeniably the most bananas. And even in the context of the implosion of FTX, getting arrested has got to make this week his worst yet. What charges does SBF face? Guest: Stacy-Marie Ishmael , managing editor on crypto for Bloomberg News Host: Lizzie O’Leary Sponsored by Saks.com. Check out the Holiday Gift Guide on  saks.com Hosted on...

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss Krysten Sinema leaving the Democratic party; Republicans’ good turnout, poor performance midterms; and the new documentary, Pelosi in The House .   Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:   Pelosi in the House Here are this week’s chatters: John: Watch Richard Nixon’s Watergate speeches at the Miller Center’s websi...