Slate Daily Feed

How the Trump administration has tried to put pressure on Disney for opinions expressed by Jimmy Kimmel and the hosts of The View—and how the Mouse is fighting back. Guest: Anna M. Gomez , commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission since September 2023. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss what Ken Paxton's dominant win over John Cornyn could mean when he faces Democrat James Talarico for the Texas Senate seat in November, how Trump has no good options in the ongoing negotiations over a possible deal with Iran, and why lawmakers need to act on AI before it's too late with guest Alex Bores , New York Assemblymember and...

Minnesota’s state restrictions on predictions markets like Kalshi and Polymarket has gotten pushback from an unexpected source: the federal government. Guest: Rep. Emma Greenman, a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives who authored legislation to restrict prediction markets in the state.  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Nex...

On this episode: Lucy Lopez , Elizabeth Newcamp , and Zak Rosen are diving DEEP into the mailbag. They answer all your end of the year questions, like, is it too late to talk to your kid’s teacher about ongoing bullying; what do you do with a teen who won’t get off the couch and is at risk of losing his job; and more!  Mentioned in the Show: Separation Anxiety in Overdrive - Care and Feeding...

This week, the OG three Steve, Dana, and Julia dig into the visually stuffed, Marxist smorgasbord that is Boots Riley’s latest film I Love Boosters . Starring Keke Palmer and Demi Moore, the candy-colored agitprop is about exploitation, the fashion world, shoplifting as class warfare, and— as they discuss—perhaps more than one movie can handle.  Next they turn from Marx to Freud and analyze t...

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by New York Magazine features writer Lane Brown whose latest piece breaks down the “clipping economy,” which has become the backbone of the entire internet. Cheaper than traditional advertising, people and companies employ bots and users to generate fake hype for everything from music to TV shows to SNL performances. The internet has become so satura...

Earlier this year we debuted Decoder Rings Back, our new feature exclusively for Decoder Ring Plus subscribers. In each installment, Willa gets a listener on the phone and tries her best to answer their question about a cultural mystery. We have been having a blast making these episodes, and if you haven’t heard them, we think you’re missing out. So in the hopes of instilling some FOMO that motiva...

Well, it wasn’t exactly “standing up to the president” but it’s telling that Congress decided to leave town rather than try to defend Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund and immunity for any past present or future IRS inquiries. Guest: Liz Oyer, former Pardon Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Public Defender, author of the Lawyer Oyer substack. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Sl...

In our final episode, it’s time to talk about Neil Gorsuch and the future of SCOTUS. Host Susan Matthews enlists Slate’s jurisprudence team—Amicus co-hosts Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern—to discuss Gorsuch’s key rulings to date, his unpredictability, and how this textualist will shape this court (and our country) for decades to come. Want more Slow Burn? Join Slate Plus to binge every episo...

Anna talks to Alexis, a parent whose 8 year old son has an anxiety disorder, about what it was like attending a therapy program designed for parents of anxious children. Plus, Anna talks to the founder of the program , Dr. Eli Lebowitz, Director of the Program for Anxiety Disorders at the Yale Child Study Center, and author of Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD: A Scientifically Proven Program...

In this Money Talks: Elizabeth Spiers is joined by David Epstein, author of Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better , who explains his research into how limitations often lead to breakthroughs. 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 Podc...

Vacations to a Disney park were never cheap but now, in a reflection of American culture writ large, there are ever more-expensive tiers to pay to get into. Guest: Dan Curell, management consultant who wrote “ Disney and the Decline of America’s Middle Class ” 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 a...

Thanks for joining us during the holidays. While our team is taking a break, we want to share a podcast with you that we think you’ll love. It’s called The Bethlehem Project. It’s a special series from the Financial Times that looks at big political and economic issues through the lens of one city … Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Democrats are looking for a bit of a rebrand after losing the White House...

On this episode: Lucy Lopez , Elizabeth Newcamp , and Zak Rosen are talking all about the world of kids entertainment. And to help them out, they’re joined by non-other than the person responsible for some of the most iconic shows of your childhood—Blue’s Clues, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, and more! Angela Santomero is a children’s television creator in the grand tradition of Mister Roger and she...

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by writer Daysia Tolentino to discuss whether influencers serve us at all in 2026. James Charles faced backlash for publicly mocking a recently laid-off woman who DMed him for support. And in response, some users are questioning why they even support influencers. While some creators offer niche content or services, many in the A-list are now simply f...

Donald Trump's $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" settlement fund has stunned legal experts—not just because it's corrupt, but because of how skillfully and transparently it is designed to protect the Trump Family and reward loyalists. On this week's Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick brings together two of the sharpest observers of Trump-era lawlessness to map exactly what this is and why it matters. J.P. Co...

This week: It was revealed that Donald Trump’s investment portfolio made a stunning 3,600 trades in one quarter.  Felix Salmon , Elizabeth Spiers , and Emily Peck , discuss theories on why the hell anyone would do this and whether it’s just weird or actually sinister. Then, they’ll get into the question of if it’s actually possible to “vote with your dollars” in the wake of the news that the...

The promise of an “internet for niche communities” and “the empowered independent creator” has been taking a beating as the web has become less open and increasingly dominated by a few platforms and players. But does it have to be that way? Guest: Jack Conte , CEO and cofounder of Patreon. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family an...

  This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss what Trump is actually trying to buy with his blatantly corrupt "anti-weaponization" slush fund and self-dealing, why Trump can exact primary election revenge on his Republican critics when his own popularity is so low, and how the federal government is obstructing attempts to hold ICE agents involved in shootings accountable...

When Cameron Hamilton testified to Congress that he did not believe “it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” he was fired from his job as FEMA’s acting administrator.  But now, a year later, Hamilton has been nominated to lead FEMA permanently. Does this mean the agency’s future is more secure? Guest: Micah Loewinger, co-host of...

On this episode: Lucy Lopez , Elizabeth Newcamp , and Zak Rosen have a little bit of everything for you. First they share their triumphs and fails: Lucy brings tales of the theater kids, Elizabeth solicited her offering from the family, and Zak had a very special houseguest. Then, they dig into the mailbag and share your comments and triumphs. Finally, they do a dramatic reading of the hilarious e...

The late-night show is a staple of network television—maybe even one that has held on past its era. Still, that doesn’t mean The Late Show with Stephen Colbert had to end like this.  Guest: Adam Conover , comedian and host of the Factually! 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 p...

This week, we’ve got an all-guest-host panel with Gabfest faves Isaac Butler, Sam Adams, and June Thomas guiding the discourse… straight to hell. In this case, hell is the romantic relationships depicted in the buzzy indie horror Obsession . This rom-com/horror mashup—marking Curry Barker’s impressive feature directorial debut—deals with questions of codependency and consent. But the real question...

Like the palm tree, the Everglades, Disney World, and the “Florida Man,” the orange is a classic symbol of the Sunshine State. But maybe not for much longer. Production has declined to catastrophic levels, a decrease of more than 95% in less than 25 years. It’s a produce murder mystery—and Decoder Ring is tagging along with reporter Alex Sammon to crack the case. The suspects include insects, hurr...

When Justice Antonin Scalia died in February of 2016, the Supreme Court appeared to be headed for a 5-4 liberal majority. Instead, a staggering blockade by Senate Republicans and a shocking electoral upset helped steal a seat and clear the way for today’s conservative supermajority. In our second episode, we examine Neil Gorsuch’s politically fraught path to power and his time on the bench so far,...