Slate Daily Feed

On this week’s episode, the panel is first joined by Slate’s music critic, Carl Wilson, to puzzle over The Tortured Poets Department , Taylor Swift’s much-anticipated 11th studio album. Stuffed with 31 tracks, the two-part album is a departure from the billionaire pop star’s otherwise perfectly crafted oeuvre: it’s messy and drippy, and at times, manic and frenetic. Is this secretly a cry for help...

Pop culture is full of fictional bands singing songs purpose-made to capture a moment, a sound. This music doesn’t organically emerge from a scene or genre, hoping to find an audience. Instead it fulfills an assignment: it needs to be 1960s folk music, 1970s guitar rock, 80s hair metal, 90s gangsta rap, and on and on. In this episode, we’re going to use ‘ Stereophonic ,’ which just opened on Broad...

On today’s episode, Steffi Cao explains Roblox to Rachelle. Cao, a culture writer with bylines at The Atlantic, Fast Company, Forbes, BuzzFeed and more, recently wrote about  Roblox’s new attempt  to venture outside of kids’ gaming. This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pop culture is full of fictional bands singing songs purpose-made to capture a moment, a sound. This music doesn’t organically emerge from a scene or genre, hoping to find an audience. Instead it fulfills an assignment: it needs to be 1960s folk music, 1970s guitar rock, 80s hair metal, 90s gangsta rap, and on and on. In this episode, we’re going to use ‘ Stereophonic ,’ which just opened on Broad...

Protests at Columbia University have become a talking point across national media, but does the situation on campus actually resemble the one in the press?  Guest: Aymann Ismail , Slate staff writer. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try F...

This week, Jules and Bryan talk to Michael Goodyear about how trademark law is helping queer brands reclaim derogatory language. They dig into Dykes on Bikes and other early queer trademarks including the history of the rainbow flag we all know and love. You can read Michael’s article ‘ The Surprising Result of the Supreme Court Case That Allowed Slurs in Brands’ on the Slate website.  Hosted on A...

The constitutional right to protest is right there in the First Amendment. So when the Fifth Circuit Court threatened this right across three states, why didn’t the Supreme Court take up the case? Guest: Ian Milhiser , senior correspondent for Vox . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Su...

Earlier this year, when the future of Death, Sex & Money was up in the air, Anna Sale consulted Rebecca Auman, a tarot reader and self-described witch based in North Carolina. Anna felt lost, but Rebecca encouraged her to relax and to pay close attention to what her body and mind were telling her about that moment.  Afterwards, Anna wondered how Rebecca became so good at reading people–and at...

Joel Anderson, Stefan Fatsis, and Josh Levin are joined by writer Tom Haberstroh to discuss Jontay Porter’s lifetime ban from the NBA for gambling. The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh also joins to talk about the scourge of pitcher injuries in Major League Baseball and what MLB should do to get the crisis under control. Jontay Porter (2:51):  What his ban augurs for the future of pro sports and betting.  ...

On this episode: Zak sits down with Dr. Nicole Schultz of UC Davis to talk about teens and marijuana. It’s a different world than when we were growing up — so we have Dr. Schultz share her understanding of why and how teens are using cannabis. Elizabeth, Lucy and Jamilah also share a round of recommendations — and then, for Slate Plus, our mom-hosts circle up to talk about how they remember being...

With all eyes on the WNBA as Caitlin Clark was drafted, many were surprised at the star player’s new salary, and how it paled in comparison to that of an NBA rookie. What would it take to address this disparity?  Guest: Lindsay Gibbs , author and founder of Power Plays , “a no-BS newsletter about women’s sports” and co-host of the Burn It All Down podcast. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate P...

In this week’s essay, John dives deep into the loss of his beloved dog, George, the essayist’s dilemma, the comfort of quiet mornings, and more.   Notebook Entries: Notebook 75, page 5. September 5, 2021 I go to the morning alone.   Notebook 75, page 6. September 6, 2021 Phantom nails on the stairs     References: “ Every Dog Is a Rescue Dog ” by John Dickerson for  The Atlantic “ Oxytocin-gaze po...

From the Wayback Machine to the mass-digitization of the history of Aruba, the Internet Archive is a non-profit doing valuable work. But some of its other projects—a pandemic-era lending library and the ongoing digitalization of 78 rpm records—have led to lawsuits now threatening the future of this repository of the past.  Guest: Kate Knibbs, senior writer at Wired. Want more What Next TBD? Subscr...

John Dickerson talks with author David E. Sanger about his new book ,  New Cold Wars . They discuss how Russia and China came to reach their new levels of power, the role the Middle East and Obama Administration played in all of this, and more. Tweet us your questions  @SlateGabfest  or email us at  gabfest@slate.com . (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podc...

On today’s episode, Rachelle and Candice answer listener questions about the rapid rise of  Donghua Jinlong,  a Chinese company that manufactures glycine. Over the past few weeks, paradoxically  deadpan   and impassioned   videos   about the   high quality  of Donghua Jinlong’s products have taken over TikTok. Are teens actually consuming industrial grade chemicals? Or is something even weirder ha...

Get your tickets for Amicus Live in Washington DC here.   The first criminal trial of Donald Trump is finally here. This week, hundreds of possible jurors filed through Judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom in lower Manhattan. The selection process was a preview of some of the challenges and pitfalls in the first ever criminal trial of a sitting or former President. On this week’s show, Slate’s senior le...

This week: Elon Musk wants his colossal, court-blocked pay package, and Tesla’s board wants to give it to him. Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers also chat with Alicia Montgomery, current Slate audio VP and veteran of NPR, to discuss what is — and isn’t — behind NPR’s troubles. Also: inflation is high, but does the Fed really need to cut rates? In the Plus segment: Why Biden is going...

Tesla’s market cap has dropped. The company had its biggest round of layoffs ever. The Cybertruck doesn’t seem to be taking off. And Elon’s posting through it. Is Tesla in serious trouble? Guest: Dana Hull, Bloomberg reporter and contributor to the podcast Elon, Inc.   Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite S...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Donald Trump’s first criminal trial and the Supreme Court argument on a criminal charge related to another Trump case and talk with  The Atlantic’s  Mark Leibovich  about his  profile of Governor Gavin Newsom .    Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Norman Eisen for CNN:  Don’t call it a ‘hush money’ case Brian...

On this episode: Elizabeth, Lucy and Jamilah answer questions from our Slate Parenting Facebook group about using marijuana as a mom. As 4/20 approaches, we decided there was no better time to tackle big-picture questions about substance use… and practical stuff too, like where to hide your stash with kids in the house. We’ll also debrief with a round of triumphs and fails — including two differen...

Man-made per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, are found in all sorts of industrial and consumer products, including carpets, rain jackets, and makeup. They’re also in our drinking water—and in our blood. The EPA has recently announced plans to regulate the amount of certain PFAS in our water supply. But will these rules do enough to control chemicals for which there is no safe level...

On this week’s show, Slate culture writer (and Very, Very Good Friend of the Show, a.k.a. VVGFOP) Nadira Goffe sits in for Dana Stevens. The three begin with Civil War , writer-director Alex Garland’s ( Ex Machina , Annihilation , Men ) dystopian travelog starring Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, and Wagner Moura that imagines a burned out, bombed out America in the throes of a raging internal confli...

This week Bryan talks to writer Neil J. Young about his new book Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right. They dig into some of the inherent contradictions of the Gay Right and the pillars of their political strategy and reveal how central whiteness and maleness is to their politic.  Podcast production by Palace Shaw. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How will impending abortion restrictions in Florida and Arizona impact votes this fall? Guests:  Anna Hochkammer , executive director of the Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition . Grace Panetta , political reporter for The 19th .  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple...

Candice Lim is joined by  We Signed An NDA  co-host Ann Maddox, who you may know as Tom Sandoval’s former personal assistant. In March 2023, Maddox was teaching improv to a middle school in Japan when she found out Sandoval and his then-girlfriend Ariana Madix had split. At first, Maddox assumed this was simply routine tabloid fodder, which often plagued her employers as long-time cast members on ...