Slate Daily Feed

The week ended with a Grand Jury Indictment of former FBI Director James Comey for what looks to be a pair of unprovable crimes. Indeed the  US Attorney overseeing the case declined to bring the indictment for that very reason. He’s gone and Donald Trump’s personal insurance lawyer brought the case. Mark Joseph Stern and Dahlia Lithwick discuss what that means for the Justice Department. Then Yale...

On today’s episode, hosts Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay are joined by Spitfire News writer Kat Tenbarge to discuss how reactions to Charlie Kirk’s death are prompting us to reexamine free speech. In her piece, “ Is anyone going to defend free speech online? ” she explains how this right has long been under threat. From legal challenges to biased algorithms, the internet is being censored right befo...

This week: NVIDIA has announced a $100 billion investment in OpenAI to help build out data centers equipped with NVIDIA chips. Felix Salmon , Elizabeth Spiers , and Emily Peck , joined by Bloomberg’s Max Chafkin , examine the complexities of this massive deal and why it might feed the argument that the AI boom is a bubble. Then,Trump has announced a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas. They discuss how th...

The government runs out of money next Tuesday. Trump’s threatened “mass firings” if it shuts down. Earlier this year, Democrats played ball. But now, one Democratic Senator explains why he’s approaching things differently. Guest: Chris Van Hollen , Democratic Senator from Maryland. This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock...

In the rarefied world of smash pop singles, there are No. 1s—and there are No. 1 debuts . Entering Billboard ’s Hot 100 at the top is one of the hardest tricks in music. In fact, it wasn’t possible in the U.S. until 1995. That’s when the record labels hacked the Hot 100 and figured out how to send new singles straight into the chart penthouse.  But scoring a No. 1 in Week One doesn’t mean it’s bui...

Why would Donald Trump rush to announce that Tylenol is a potential cause of autism, a claim unsupported by the research? Guest: Dan Diamond , White House reporter for the Washington Post. 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 to...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss how Trump is using the powerful machine of government prosecution to reverse-engineer crimes supposedly committed by enemies, his diatribe against Tylenol at the disastrous press conference on autism, and the echoes of past Red Scares in today’s free speech climate with historian Beverly Gage , author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning G...

On this episode: Lucy, Zak, and Elizabeth mark Child Passenger Safety Week with a conversation about car seats. Child passenger safety technician Jamie Grayson joins to break down the basics: how to install correctly, when to switch stages, and the mistakes parents don’t even realize they’re making. Here is the NHTSA car seat safety page. Listen to our last episode with Jamie: Car Seat Safety Expl...

The First Amendment prohibits Congress from making laws that abridge freedom of speech or of the press, but in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, it’s clear that it doesn’t take a law to attack those rights. Guest:  Karen Attiah , former columnist for the Washington Post and former editor of the Post’s Global Opinions section. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listenin...

When an actor opens their mouth to sing in a movie, chances are high that the voice you hear will be their own. Even in music biopics, movie stars without much singing experience regularly go to great lengths to impersonate the most beloved vocalists of our time. Why not simply play Johnny Cash or Bruce Springsteen’s actual recordings, the reasons why we care about them in the first place? When th...

On this week’s episode, Julia and Dana are joined by Slate writer (and Philadelphia native) Nadira Goffe for a conversation rooted in Delaware County about Task , HBO’s new gritty crime drama from the creators of Mare of Easttown .  Next, the hosts give longtime listeners what they’ve been chirping for: a discussion of birding. Specifically, it’s a discussion about the dirtbag, gonzo, totally self...

Over three different trips during the war, this doctor saw the chaos of blast injuries in northern Gaza give way to gunshot wounds suffered at aid-distribution sites in the south.  Guest:  Dr. Mohammed "Adeel" Khaleel , minimally invasive and complex spinal surgeon with Texas Metroplex Institute for Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Surgery. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad...

Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay break down the drama between Vlogbrothers star Hank Green and the online knitting community. Earlier this month, Green posted an educational SciShow episode about the knitting community’s contribution to physics. What the SciShow team didn’t expect were almost 30-minute long reaction videos and accusations of belittling and misogyny . This saga has spurred apology TikT...

American agriculture relies on foreign workers, and they rely on the H-2A visa program to work legally in the United States. Despite a growing number of people applying for visa spots, the Trump administration has proposed cutting the division of the Department of Labor that enforces H-2A rules, leaving workers to choose between being vulnerable to ICE or to exploitation.  Guest: Max Blau , ProPub...

Over the past few months, we've been asking you to tell us stories about your beauty interventions. You told us about feeling caught between viewing appearance improvements as vanity and recognizing how much looking a certain way affects your relationships, career, and self-worth. In this episode, Anna talks to listeners about their appearance choices: Asher, who spent $43,000 on plastic surgery a...

Hosts Alex Kirshner , Ben Lindbergh , and Lindsay Gibbs discuss the WNBA playoffs and the Indiana Fever's surprise success, despite an injured Caitlin Clark. They get into the uptick in long NFL field goals. Then they speak with managing editor of True Blue LA, Eric Stephen , about the career and retirement of Clayton Kershaw. For Afterballs, Ben recaps the final week of the MLB regular season and...

On this episode: Lucy and Elizabeth are joined by guest host Rebecca Onion to dive into her and Dan Kois’ definitive list of the 25 best picture books of the last quarter century . Which modern stories have staying power? Which books belong beside the classics on your child’s shelf? The hosts debate and delight in the choices. But first, they share their latest triumphs and fails: hiding snacks, a...

Media giants like Paramount and Disney have been swift to capitulate to the Trump administration and the tenacious head of the FCC, Brendan Carr. Why new ownership from the likes of the Ellisons is likely to make things worse. Guest: Nitish Pahwa , staff writer for business and tech at Slate. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and...

If you’re hunting for a job, the odds are increasingly likely you’ll have an interview with an artificial intelligence “recruiter.” And why not? It’s also increasingly likely you’ll be working with A.I. anyway.  Guest: Danielle Abril , technology-in-the-workplace reporter for the Washington Post. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next fa...

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by sociologist and content creator Josh Lora, who goes by @tellthebeees on TikTok and Substack . In his viral piece, “ The Mainstreaming of Loserdom ,” Lora explores how a generation of people is becoming proudly anti-social, often in favor of staying home on their phones. While less and less people may be partying, they’re not exactly happy about it...

This week: The Fed announced an expected rate cut with an unexpected dissent.      Felix Salmon , Elizabeth Spiers , and Emily Peck are joined by Axios’ Neil Irwin who breaks down why the Fed meeting was so unusual – thanks to the very recent Trump appointee Stephen Miran– and what it means for the future of the central bank. Then, AMEX announced an increase that brings their Platinum fee to $895....

Emily Bazelon talks with author and Yale professor Judith Resnik about her new book,  Impermissible Punishments: How Prison Became a Problem for Democracy . They discuss the history of the prison system’s use of punishments like whipping, how the practice came to an end, and more.   Tweet us your questions  @SlateGabfest  or email us at  gabfest@slate.com . (Messages could be quoted by name unless...

Dahlia Lithwick talks to First Amendment law professor Mary Anne Franks to explore the inversion of free speech in America this past week, and to trace the ways our assumptions about the First Amendment helped to tip us into this upside-down. Dr. Franks, author of Fearless Speech: Breaking Free from the First Amendment , explains the contradictions inherent in free-speech absolutism, the role of g...

TikTok—which was supposed to be banned again on Wednesday but, again, isn’t—may be legal once more. The Trump administration says it’s meeting with Xi Jinping Friday to finalize the agreement, which may involve—get this—a wealthy Trump-supporting tech mogul.  Guest: Nitish Pahwa , staff writer for business and tech at Slate. This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slat...

As the Charlie Kirk murder demonstrated, law enforcement, the government, and media all need more internet fluency. But their reactions in the wake of the murder don’t seem to be moving towards a better understanding.  Guest:   Ryan Broderick , reporter on online culture, author of the newsletter Garbage Day . Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whol...