Slate News

In the final episode—for now—of our series on reclaiming constitutional power for every American, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern urge you to consider the many ways you can make constitutional meaning in your life, your community, and your profession. Joining us to imagine what that has looked like historically and what it might look like tomorrow is New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie, o...

The wins, the losses, the wins-that-are-so-close-are-they-REALLY-wins, and more from the primary elections this week, that left us asking, “Can we just get the midterms over with now?” Guest: Jim Newell , Slate senior politics writer. 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 —you’ll also ac...

Investments in—and among—artificial intelligence companies have pushed the S&P 500 to record highs. It’s also introduced a volatility to the markets that may be unprecedented. Is this growing pains or the wobble before the fall?  Guest: Ed Elson , co-host of the Prof G Markets and First Time Founders podcasts. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss what Abdul El-Sayed's Michigan primary win signals about the future of the Democratic Party, Todd Blanche's march toward confirmation as attorney general and how opposition to AI data centers swiftly became a bipartisan political fight. Listener chatter from Francis Creighton in Bethesda, Maryland: UK Parliament: Chiltern Hundreds a...

If you feel compelled to comment on a famous woman’s body, a good rule of thumb to remember is “don’t.” But to avoid feeling complicit or like we’re normalizing something we know to be harmful, there are discussions to be had—amongst ourselves at least. Is that any better? Guest: Scaachi Koul , Slate senior writer  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to th...

Laura Loomer may not have an official position in the White House (or anywhere?) but she nevertheless does have the president’s ear—and newfound affinity for Ukraine and its war against Russia. Guest: Ken Bensinger , media and politics reporter 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...

More Democrats than ever are suspicious of big money in politics and against unconditional American military support for Israel. The prominent lobbying group AIPAC sits right where these issues intersect, and it has become a bogeyman in primary races across the country this year. Guest: Peter Beinart, editor-at-large for Jewish Currents , author of the Beinart Notebook Substack .  Want more W...

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...

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...

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 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 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...

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...

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...

A federal judge paused the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. This may not have been a necessary step if the Department of Justice had taken its corporate enforcement mandate more seriously. But under this administration, a proven method has emerged to keep the government out of your business: make it personally profitable for Donald Trump. Guest: Liz Oyer , Former U.S. Department of...