Slate Daily Feed

Everyone would probably hate A.I. less if we could just see some upside to it. But despite all the investment—into the companies, into infrastructure like data centers, so much into marketing—it’s widely known: artificial intelligence sucks. Guest: Nilay Patel, co-founder and editor in chief of The Verge.  Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the who...

Over the last few years, there’s been an undeniable uptick in threats against American judges and their families: they’ve been doxxed, swatted, even killed. Many jurists are not all that comfortable having conversations around these threats. This reluctance to respond publicly is understandable, but it’s also depriving us of a critical perspective from the very people this affects. This week on Am...

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Pitchfork news director Alex Suskind to talk about why musicians keep coming down with “blue dot fever.” Stars like Meghan Trainor and Post Malone are among many in recent months who have cancelled entire tours, seemingly due to a lack of ticket sales. Has social media changed what it means to be famous, or have things like Ticketmaster finally ma...

This week: CEOs and investors at the Milken Institute Global Conference projected optimism about the economy despite the overall feeling of uncertainty brought on by Donald Trump. Felix Salmon , Elizabeth Spiers , and Emily Peck , discuss Emily’s reporting from the conference, and the way capitalists have adapted to thrive amid the unpredictability of this administration. Then, they discuss GameSt...

The not-always-beloved-but-indisputably-useful Spirit Airlines has given up the ghost. What does this mean for the airline industry and your summer travel plans?  Guest: Will Guisbond , senior reporter for The Air Current. 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 Po...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss how the Iran War is hurting Trump and the Republicans as its economic fallout grows, the sudden revival of abortion pill politics which ended an uneasy equilibrium between federal law and state bans, and early results of a study on school cellphone bans. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss recent...

Donald Trump is spending his second term trying to cement his legacy, but he still hasn’t zeroed in on what that should be: Is it his name on monuments? A ballroom decorated in his specific style? Owning Greenland or whatever? Credit where credit is due, though, he’s already made a mark on the political discourse that will have the staying power of a jagged scar.  Guest: Michael Scherer, staf...

Coming May 13: Host Susan Matthews traces the rise of Neil Gorsuch, from his formative years as a young conservative through his nomination to a “stolen seat” on the U.S. Supreme Court. Through interviews, legal analysis, and archival research, the mild-mannered Westerner emerges as the court’s most unpredictable—and most important—sitting justice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more i...

On this episode: Lucy Lopez , Elizabeth Newcamp , and Zak Rosen are joined by a very special guest: Zak’s mom! Jo Strausz Rosen shares her motherhood journey and what it was like raising Zak and his sister. She also dispenses some invaluable wisdom about the importance of family, creativity, and friendship along the way.  Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Rosemary Belson.  Follow us...

We are lucky to get fantastic questions from our listeners here at Decoder Ring, and in this episode, we’re going to open up our mailbag to answer three of them. What are the origins of an eerie horror film string motif? Why do companies insist on telling callers to “listen closely” to menu options that could not possibly have changed? And when did we start using the indispensable eye roll? In thi...

This week, Julia Turner and Dana Stevens are joined by Slate’s own Rebecca Onion to discuss The Devil Wears Prada 2, BEEF season 2, and the NYT’s best living songwriters package with Slate’s music critic Carl Wilson.  Twenty years on, we return to the world of The Devil Wears Prada. In the sequel, Andy, Anne Hathaway’s character, must save Runway Magazine from the forces of capital, who are s...

We are lucky to get fantastic questions from our listeners here at Decoder Ring, and in this episode, we’re going to open up our mailbag to answer three of them. What are the origins of an eerie horror film string motif? Why do companies insist on telling callers to “listen closely” to menu options that could not possibly have changed? And when did we start using the indispensable eye roll? In thi...

Even with all that Democrats having going for them—mid-term elections typically favoring the out-of-power party, Trump’s sinking approval rates, even rising gas prices—it will be an uphill battle to wrest the Senate from GOP control.  Guest: Jonathan Martin, POLITICO politics bureau chief and host of “ On the Road ” a podcast about the 2026 midterms. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Pl...

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Andrea González-Ramírez, a senior writer at The Cut whose recent piece explores why so many people have stopped reading the news. Instead, we’re “numbing out” after years of constant bad news on social media, to the point that even an assassination attempt on President Trump doesn’t earn a mention in our group chats. But how do we draw the line be...

Kara Swisher has built an impressive career reporting on–and forcefully critiquing–the world of tech, especially the ultra-wealthy power players increasingly calling the shots. Since Steve Job’s death in 2011, she’s noticed a sharp uptick amongst those Silicon Valley elite doing all sorts of “wacky shit” to try and defy aging, extend their lifespan, and possibly even stop death itself.  ...

“Intersectionality” was one of those “DEI terms” that the Trump administration and Project 2025 were eager to do away with once they got back into power. But to understand what just happened to the Voting Rights Act, a little critical race theory would go a long way.  Guest: Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw , civil rights advocate, co-founder and executive director of the African American Policy Fo...

Can a Republican Lieutenant Governor be reborn as a Democratic Governor? After failing to create a GOP 2.0, and being harried by Trump for admitting Biden won Georgia in 2020, Geoff Duncan has changed sides—and many of his old political positions.   Guest: Geoff Duncan, former lieutenant governor of Georgia and a current Georgia gubernatorial candidate who switched parties from Republica...

On this episode: Lucy Lopez , Elizabeth Newcamp , and Zak Rosen are joined by Mandy Giles , founder and CEO of Parents of Trans Youth , an organization that “provides learning , support, and community to parents and caregivers of transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse kids.” Mandy explains how parents can provide a safe, supportive space for their trans kids and helps a listener who is wonderi...

In the early 2020s, Microsoft committed to buying 75 million tons of carbon removal—somewhere between 70 and 90 percent of the entire carbon removal market. But the company just announced it was putting that ambition on pause..  Guest: Robinson Meyer, founding executive editor of Heatmap News . Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next...

Dahlia Lithwick reviews what has been an “exceptionally bad week” for American democracy. Former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade explains why the charges against former FBI director James Comey, rooted in the claim that he threatened to kill President Trump – via the medium of seashells on Instagram – are unlikely to stick, no matter how hard Trump’s Acting (and actively auditioning) Attorney Genera...

This week: Google’s parent company Alphabet announced an incredible $110 billion in first-quarter revenue thanks, in part, to the computing needs of the AI boom.   Felix Salmon , Elizabeth Spiers , and Emily Peck , discuss the shocking earnings report and the reasons to doubt it as a sign of future growth, including the internet’s ever-evolving information economy. Then, they get into Bill Ac...

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by author Leigh Stein, who landed her first book deal in the 2010s personal essay boom. With new memoirs from Lindy West and Lena Dunham, it feels like confessional writing is getting a 2020s rebirth. However, reactions to viral personal essays, like those in The Cut, prove social media has become a much different beast. Now, writing a personal essay...

One of independent journalism’s success stories and most charismatic advocates stops by to answer the question: “If journalism is so great, how did all of THIS happen?”  Guest: Amy Goodman, executive producer and host of Democracy Now!.   This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —...

This week marks the beginning of the jury trial between Elon Musk and Sam Altman. There are massive implications for the A.I. industry here, but at the end of the day, the question might just boil down to - who do people dislike more? Guest: Gerrit De Vynck, tech reporter at the Washington Post Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next fami...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and guest host Juliette Kayyem discuss the ongoing political fallout from Saturday's attempted assassination at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, the monumental impact the Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais will have on minority political representation, and what yesterday's oral arguments at SCOTUS portend for immigrants under Temporary Pr...