Slate News

The power of the presidential pardon is a holdover from America’s colonial roots. But no one had used it like former President Trump. Over and over he kept pardoning his allies, and then, he’d welcome them back into the fold. . It seemed like he was rewarding these criminals for their loyalty, and belittling whole categories of crime, like fraud, campaign finance violations, and corruption. Is tha...

Political Gabfest host Emily Bazalon talks with author Joshua Leifer about his new book,  Tablets Shattered: The End of An American Jewish Century and the Future of Jewish Life . They discuss Leifer’s experience growing up Jewish in America, the conflict in Gaza, how what it means to be Jewish has evolved, and more.  Tweet us your questions  @SlateGabfest  or email us at  gabfest@slate.com . (Mess...

This week, author and data journalist Nate Silver joins Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spires to discuss his new book On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything , a deep dive into the risk-taking class that shapes modern society. They discuss the low-risk world of “the village,” and the community of high stakes, go-big-or-go-home investors on “the river.” How do these reams affect inves...

Since Elon Musk took over Twitter - now X - in 2022, he’s increasingly used it to push his conservative views. A suit against a non-profit brand safety group of advertisers and an exclusive interview with former President Trump show that Elon was never interested in keeping Twitter as a town square, but rather, a soapbox for him to push his political agenda.  Guest: Nitish Pahwa, associate writer...

This week, Emily Bazelon and David Plotz are joined by Marin Cogan of Vox to discuss how the media is reporting on election disinformation and misinformation and Donald Trump’s lies; Vice President Kamala Harris defining Candidate Kamala Harris; and more guns, less violent crime.  Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Marin Cogan for Vox: What happens when everyone decides they...

MrBeast is known for videos that blend stunts and philanthropy, but his new team-up with Amazon and MGM is bringing some of his less savory aspects to light. Guest: Madison Malone Kircher , reporter covering internet culture for The New York Times 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. Subs...

Donald Trump’s presidential opponent has changed—can he? Should he? Guest: Tom Nichols, staff writer at the Atlantic and professor emeritus at the U.S. Naval College.  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 Free” at the top of our show page...

It was supposed to be the triumphant rollout of Boeing’s new, reusable space taxi. Now NASA’s trying to find some other way to get two astronauts home. Guest: Joey Roulette , space reporter at Reuters. 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...

A Republican-backed organization is spending millions to unseat progressive Democrats—and it’s succeeding. Guest: Alexander Sammon, Slate politics 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 Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up no...

The hype has slowed but electric vehicles aren’t going away—once the infrastructure is in place, they’ll go everywhere. Guests:  Nitish Pahwa, associate writer for business and tech at Slate. Paula Gardner, business reporter for Bridge Michigan Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe...

Even before he was president, Donald Trump was known for stiffing his lawyers. But considering how the stakes changed once he took the Oval Office, not getting paid seemed like a pleasant option. During and after his presidency, lawyers who represented Trump have pleaded guilty in election fraud cases, campaign finance cases and more. So why do they keep representing him? Is this risk of jailtime...

This week, Felix Salmon is joined by guest hosts Shira Ovide of the Washington Post and Anna Szymanski of Reuters to discuss Japan’s market chaos, the guilty verdict in Google’s monopoly case, and whether Boeing’s new CEO can fly the company out of a storm of troubles. In the Plus bonus episode: The hosts go to the Mountain Dew belt to discuss the state of soda and the rise of non-alcoholic beer....

Should the other Silicon Valley giants be worried following the Department of Justice’s decisive win against Google?  Guest: Leah Nylen, antitrust reporter at Bloomberg Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page....

This week, Emily Bazelon and David Plotz are joined by Juliette Kayyem of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government to discuss the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz; Google’s search monopoly and antitrust trial loss; and the guilty-plea deals in three 9/11 cases undone by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Here are this week’s chatters: Juliette: NBC: P...

How Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting—two women boxers fighting in the gender category they were assigned at birth—became the targets of trans panic and subject to another round of “but is she woman enough ?” at the Olympics.  Guest: Rose Eveleth, reporter and host of the podcast Tested, from NPR and CBC. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next fa...

How Minnesota Governor Tim Walz slipped past VP-favorite Josh Shapiro and joined Kamala Harris on the Democratic ticket. Guest: Guest: David Faris , associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and author of The Kids Are All Left and It’s Time to Fight Dirty . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all y...

Once one of the most politically confrontational artists in music, Ice Cube has become a surprising asset to Donald Trump. Guest: Joel Anderson , staff writer for Slate and the host of Seasons 3 , 6, and 8 of Slow Burn. 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 Podcast...

For this Money Talks, Taffy Brodesser-Akner , author of Fleishman Is in Trouble, chats with Felix Salmon and Emily Peck about her newest novel Long Island Compromise, a tale about a a family of one-percenters who see their lives and fortunes turned upside down. The hosts discuss Taffy’s real-world inspirations for the story, the psychology of the rich, and whether it really is possible for the sup...

The Trump campaign washed its hands of Project 2025. A second Trump term would almost certainly be guided by it. Guest: Sam Adler-Bell , host of the Know Your Enemy podcast. 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 Free” at the top of our sho...

Earlier this month, AT&T was hit by the largest telecom hack ever. Not long after, Sydney Sweeney’s phone number was stolen by criminals, who used it to hack her social media and promote a memecoin. With how much sensitive data telecom companies have on us, why is their security so bad? And how can we protect ourselves?  Guests: Joseph Cox, investigative reporter and cofounder of 404 media. Wa...

In the first in a new series, The Law According to Trump,  Amicus begins an extensive exploration of Donald Trump's tumultuous relationship with the courts and legal system, focusing on Trump's use of lawyers and lawsuits to enhance his brand, wealth, and power. In the past few months, attention has rightly been on several blockbuster federal cases involving former President Trump, all the way up...

On this week’s Slate Money,   Felix Salmon and Emily Peck are joined by Slate’s Henry Grabar and former Slate Money co-host AnnaSzymansk i. They dig into Henry’s experience covering the Paris Olympics; what’s in the latest jobs report; and Florida’s experiment with high-speed trains. In the Slate Plus segment, what exactly is the Soup Dumpling Index? Mentioned in the Show: Tom Vailant for The Pudd...

Courtesy of our colleagues at A Word, enjoy this a special interview with America's first Second Gentleman, Doug Emhoff. Many political spouses spend decades preparing for a White House run with their partners. But attorney Doug Emhoff had been married to then-Senator Kamala Harris for just five years when she first ran for the White House. Now, as the first Second Gentleman in history, he’s stepp...

The age when you need to start being screened for cancers may need to be updated, as rates among younger people are on the rise. New testing methods could make the process a lot easier than, say, a colonoscopy - but they’re not perfect.  Guest: Dylan Scott, senior correspondent and editor for Vox . Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the new Democratic line against JD Vance and Donald Trump; the Kamala Harris Veepstakes; and President Biden’s attempt to reform the Supreme Court. Here are this week’s chatters: John:  The World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship Emily:  Social Security and Trends in Wealth Inequality  and  The Sea Change David:  Who Goes Nazi? By Dorothy...