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In this Money Talks: Felix Salmon sits down with Lee Buchheit for an in-depth chat on sovereign debt at a live event hosted by The Library of Mistakes .  Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify . Or, visit slate.com/mon...

Caroline started going to therapy as a teenager because of depression. After a couple of years working together, she expressed a fantasy. “I had a vision of us dancing to Pachelbel's Canon” she told him. Caroline's therapist was 45-years-old and married, but they soon started a romantic relationship.  In this episode, Anna hears from Caroline and other listeners about when romantic feeli...

Roiling like a wine-dark sea since the casting was announced, controversies surrounding Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” didn’t stop with the film’s release. But what turned a summer blockbuster into an IMAX-sized lightning rod?  Guest: Sam Adams , Slate writer and senior editor covering culture.  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What...

Long before the Supreme Court handed down the landmark Obergefell ruling on equal marriage in 2015, activists were canvassing door-to-door, courting any lawmaker who would listen, and losing at the local level—a lot. Their scrappy determination helped convince family members, neighbors and eventually the rest of the country that the Constitution's guarantees of liberty and equality applied to same...

Women’s health is being yassified online, from ill-advised marketing campaigns by companies trying to go viral to creators pushing anti-abortion agendas under the guise of “natural” birth control. It feels like there’s no one to trust when it comes to sexual health, and it’s playing right into conservatives’ hands. Writer Noelle Perdue experienced this first-hand, and joined host Kate Lindsay on t...

This week: Situational Awareness—an A.I.-forward hedge fund led by a former wunderkind and OpenAI employee—was tanking fast until a rival fund stepped in. Felix Salmon , Elizabeth Spiers , and Emily Peck explain the series of events that led to Citadel swooping in to buy the bulk of assets held by 25-year-old Leopold Aschenbrenner’s investment firm. Then, it’s time to talk about the “crack spread”...

As part of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Cory Booker had questions for Todd Blanche—and made space for Jeffrey Epstein survivors.  Guest: Cory Booker , US Senator for New Jersey, member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Foreign Relations Committee, Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. This episode is member-exclusi...

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is a department for wonks, by wonks. But under the dual pressures of the changing nature of work—like the growing gig economy—and an administration that doesn’t accept bad news, should next week’s jobs report be taken with a grain of salt?  Guest: Ben Casselman , chief economics correspondent for The New York Times. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus t...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the expanding Iran war and what it means for Trump that news of U.S. missile shortages is leaking from the inside, the blend of conspiracy theory and Rand Paul's personal umbrage that drove the show trial of a Senate hearing with Dr. Anthony Fauci, and various developments that brought medication abortion and FDA restrictions back t...

On the heels of the success of GLP-1s like Ozempic, other peptide treatments are flooding the marketplace—and advertising spaces. But even as the Trump administration’s FDA discusses approving more treatments and the businesses selling them proliferate, many peptides are sitting in a legal and medical gray area. So how real - and safe - is this peptide hype? Guest: Kate Knibbs , senior writer at W...

The sun has always been a hot topic. For centuries, we’ve flip-flopped over whether our health depends on soaking up its rays—or shielding ourselves from them. The current conventional wisdom is clear: Avoid sunburns at all costs, using shade, hats, long sleeves, and the highest SPF sunscreen your drugstore has to offer. But in a historical sense, that advice is pretty new. Not long ago, doctors t...

The sun has always been a hot topic. For centuries, we’ve flip-flopped over whether our health depends on soaking up its rays—or shielding ourselves from them. The current conventional wisdom is clear: Avoid sunburns at all costs, using shade, hats, long sleeves, and the highest SPF sunscreen your drugstore has to offer. But in a historical sense, that advice is pretty new. Not long ago, doctors t...

The US can’t leave Iran in charge of the Strait of Hormuz, but it can’t wrestle control away without committing ground troops—but it also can’t keep going on like this. So where does that leave everyone? Guest: Josh Keating , senior correspondent covering foreign affairs at Vox.  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across...

In a matter of days, Jimothy the raccoon went from a neighborhood mascot to a viral sensation . But unlike the internet animals who came before him, Jimothy has no owners, and isn’t protected by a zoo. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Garbage Day researcher and editor Adam Bumas to talk about how Jimothy stole the hearts of the internet (except for Kate) and what that could mean...

The man behind artful and goofy comedies like The Righteous Gemstones and Eastbound and Down talks about finding his people at an upstart public film program in North Carolina, crafting characters that are nothing like himself, and nurturing a community of like-minded filmmaker friends far away from Hollywood.  He also discusses his new short story collection Thrilling Tales of Modern Men .&n...

In the wake of the success among members of the Democratic Socialists of America, The Atlantic’s Jonathan Chait has turned in a series of articles that call the group anti-democratic, against the Democratic Party, and unnecessary or even a hindrance to accomplishing policy goals like universal health care. On the other hand, he thinks DSA member Zohran Mamdani is doing a pretty good job as mayor s...

In the immediate aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder, the NFL was holding moments of silence, Ezra Klein was waxing about how he was ‘practicing politics the right way,” and criticizing Kirk online could get you fired. Now, as the trial of Tyler Robinson, Kirk’s alleged killer, begins, something has replaced that reverence.  Guest: Will Sommer , senior reporter for the Bulwark and writer of Fa...

This week: The term “explosive diarrhea” captured the nation's attention, turning all eyes toward the company linked to a major cyclosporiasis outbreak. Felix Salmon , Elizabeth Spiers , and Emily Peck discuss the much-talked about food poisoning story and the PR flubs of Trump-aligned Taylor Farms. Then, the hosts give an update on Trump’s latest attempt to keep his beloved tariffs alive after th...

Is AI romance inevitable? And who are the people in these relationships? Bridget Todd , host of There Are No Girls On The Internet , joins us to talk about her new audiobook Love At First Prompt , where she speaks to real people who have found solace and comfort with AI chatbots. Get more of ICYMI with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of ICYMI and ad-free listening on all your favorit...

In 1867, an 8-year-old girl named Elizabeth Turner became the epicenter of a legal battle that would help define what freedom really meant after the Civil War. Days after Maryland abolished slavery, her former enslaver had her re-indentured under a sham "apprenticeship" law used to seize Black children. Elizabeth’s mother—and thousands of other parents—refused to accept it.  In this second ep...

Jay-Z recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of his debut Reasonable Doubt with a three-night residency at Yankee Stadium featuring superstar guests like Pharrell, Nas, Alicia Keys and, of course, Beyoncé. The marathon event was a tribute to one of rap’s most influential and successful icons—but it was also a reminder that many of Jay-Z's biggest hits were collaborations that showcased the talen...

Why are kids getting faster? Is it the shoes? Also, running the Boston Marathon is obviously a huge accomplishment, but if you ran the 2013 Boston Marathon, you should lead with that and not save it for an interview years after you meet someone. Guest: Rob Gunther, producer for Slate’s What Next. This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only...

Steve Witkoff is a real estate investor, an attorney, and now America’s Special Envoy to the Middle East. It may seem like a weird career shift for Witkoff, but he’s such an outlier that the famously transactional Donald Trump treats him like an actual friend. Guest: Andrea Bernstein, investigative reporter and the co-host of four podcasts, including Trump Inc . Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss why the war in Iran has flared back up despite the increasing likelihood of political consequences for Trump and his allies, the promises and perils for the U.K.'s newest Prime Minister Andy Burnham with guest Adrian Wooldridge , and the chilling effect of the DOJ's subpoenas of journalists for their reporting on Trump's Qatari Air...

Over the weekend, Andrew and Tristan Tate were arrested in Florida after British prosecutors brought new charges of rape and sex-trafficking, which were added to charges from May 2025 and an on-going civil case.  With 59 charges, for actions dating back over a decade, how were the Tates able to evade court for so long—and what does it mean that their popularity continued to grow even as the a...