Slate Daily Feed

Rihanna is having a baby, and Romance Twitter is furious. On today’s show, High Speed Downloads are back! Madison and Rachelle will zoom through all the important news about Rihanna’s baby bump reveal and Romance Twitter’s toxic reaction to an innocuous tweet. Then, they explain exactly what’s going on with podcast host Joe Rogan over at Spotify, and why it’s so difficult for platforms to part way...

This week, the panel is first joined by author and co-host of Slate’s Working podcast, Isaac Butler, to discuss the new Joel Coen rendition of The Tragedy of Macbeth . ( Buy Isaac’s new book! ) Then, the panel is joined by author and Slate correspondent, Justin Peters, to explain the phenomena of Joe Rogan and the recent Spotify controversy. Finally, the panel discusses the decision to rebrand the...

Cobalt is the most important mineral of the future. It’s a key part of lithium-ion batteries, which power cell phones and laptops, not to mention electric cars. That demand is giving rise to a mining industry in Idaho, which sits atop a giant cobalt deposit. But the environmental costs of extraction raise questions about what “clean energy” really means. Guest: Michael Holtz , freelance journalist...

The expanded Child Tax Credit slashed childhood poverty in the U.S. by an estimated 30%. Why won’t congress revive it? Guest: Jordan Weissmann , writer and editor at Slate focused on economics, politics, and public policy. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and...

Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and special guest Louisa Thomas of the New Yorker discuss the NFL’s conference championship games and Tom Brady’s (probable) retirement. Then, they talk about Rafael Nadal’s record-setting Australian Open victory. Finally, Grant Wahl joins Josh and Stefan to assess the U.S. men’s national soccer team’s frigid loss to Canada. NFL (2:32):  How did the Chiefs blow it? Is Jo...

No one is happy with the way this year’s Winter Olympics are unfolding. Athletes are frustrated with China’s excessive pandemic precautions. Diplomatic tensions are rising. Are the second COVID games on thin ice?  Guest: Henry Bushnell , features writer for Yahoo Sports. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate po...

In the past few weeks, Britney Spears has been posting all sorts of Notes App screenshots about how hurt she is by what her sister is saying on her press tour while promoting her new book Things I Should Have Said , by Jamie Lynn Spears. On the show today, Madison and Rachelle read the tweets, and the whole book, so you don’t have to. They talk about the origins of this fight, what’s caused it to...

This week,  Felix Salmon  and  Emily Peck  are joined by reporter for  The Wall Street Journal ,  Vipal Monga . They discuss the implications of the continued pumping of oil at one of the world’s dirtiest oil patches, how Canada’s housing situation compares with the U.S. and why ‘old’ music is suddenly so popular now. In the Plus segment: The latest on Fintech. Mentioned In the show:  “ One of the...

As Justice Stephen Breyer announces his intention to step down from the Supreme Court, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Judge Nancy Gertner to discuss why now, what now, and who now. Judge Gertner is a former federal judge, member of the White House’s Supreme Court Reform Commission, Harvard Law professor … and she’s known Justice Breyer for decades. They discuss what’s changed on the court and wax no...

In part two of our deep dive into Daryl Hall & John Oates' genre-defying streak on the pop charts, Chris Molanphy argues they were also more cutting-edge than you may realize, essentially inventing their own form of cross-racial new wave after spending the ’70s trying everything: rock, R&B, folk, funk, even disco. At their Imperial peak in the early ’80s, Hall and Oates commanded the pop,...

Ten years ago, IBM made a gamble. Through a monumental advertising and PR campaign, it promised that its AI technology–Watson–would transform the health care industry as we know it. A decade and billions of dollars later, Watson Health is being sold for parts.  What went wrong with IBM’s “moonshot?” And what does Watson’s failure tell us about the promise of AI for health care? Guest : Casey Ross,...

John, Emily and David discuss Justice Breyer’s retirement. They are joined by Anne Applebaum to talk about what global moves may be coming to address threats to Ukraine, and The Gist’s Mike Pesca covers a round robin of the week's news. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics , by Stephen Breyer  Anne Applebaum for The Atlantic...

On this week’s episode: Zak, Jamilah, and Elizabeth debate if there's proper etiquette when asking if a kid is vaccinated. Plus, they have some ideas for how to smoothly handle the interaction if the answer is no. Then, they take on the case of the annoying neighbor. Should you tell the kid to buzz off if he can’t play nice? On Slate Plus, secrets, secrets are no fun… but are they outright bad?  R...

This week, Justice Stephen G. Breyer is expected to announce his plan to retire from the Supreme Court at the end of its term this summer. Breyer’s signal comes after a year-long pressure campaign from the political left and others anxious to ensure that Democrats control who replaces the court’s most senior liberal justice.  Guest: Mark Joseph Stern , who covers courts and the law for Slate. If y...

André De Shields shares his wisdom from 50 years on the stage, and 76 years on this earth. You can find our original conversation from our Opportunity Costs series with Ramal Johnson here . Find out more at  deathsexmoney.org/class . Did you know we have a weekly email newsletter for the Death, Sex & Money community? Every Wednesday we send out podcast listening recommendations, fascinating le...

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” the hit song from Disney’s Encanto, is sitting at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, and that’s all thanks to TikTok. On the show today, Madison and Rachelle talk about the songs from Encanto currently dominating the platform, and why people online seem to love to hate Lin-Manuel Miranda. Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Derek John. Correction: This po...

This week, Slate’s TV critic and host of the podcast Decoder Ring , Willa Paskin, and poet, essayist, podcast host, and author, Nichole Perkins, fill in for Dana and Julia. The panel begins by taking a spin with Julian Fellowes’ (creator of Downton Abbey ) new show The Gilded Age . Then, the panel debates about Kenny G and the installment of the docuseries Music Box: Listening to Kenny G . Finally...

The odds of a Russian invasion of Ukraine are increasing, with thousands of Russian troops stationed near the two countries' border. Vladimir Putin is set on ensuring Ukraine gives up its ambitions to join NATO and the European Union, and it’s unclear how much he’s willing to risk to meet that objective.  How far will the Russian leader go to get what he wants? Is there any way to end the standoff...

Over the last few years, a sleepy southern town has seen its arrest rate grow more than 1100%. It’s not because of a spike in crime in Brookside, Alabama; instead, the town’s law enforcement has adopted a policing-for-profit model that treats citizens as revenue generators and cracks down on them accordingly. In turn, some residents enter debt spirals as the town’s police force rakes in more cash,...

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by the Athletic’s Lindsay Jones to discuss the NFL playoffs. Then, Ben Proudfoot joins for a conversation about Lusia Harris, the subject of his documentary short “The Queen of Basketball.” Finally, they speak with Oliver Roeder about his book  Seven Games . NFL (2:21):  How did the Chiefs-Bills magic happen? Are Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers done?   Lusia Har...

Stuart Frisch gave security training to the members of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, less than six months before they found themselves under siege and held hostage—a training the rabbi cited when explaining how they managed to escape.  How does Frisch approach protecting spaces that aren’t meant to be fortresses? Can faith and security coexist? Guest: Stuart Frisch, advisor for t...

The name on every TikTokker’s lips is “West Elm Caleb,” a New York City twenty-something whose dating practices and history have come under major scrutiny, after women started posting videos about their negative experiences with him. Things quickly got out of control as more and more people got swept up in the gossipy drama. On today’s episode, Madison and Rachelle talk to some of the women who sh...

This week, Felix Salmon and Emily Peck are joined by economics journalist and author, Peter Goodman. They discuss Goodman’s new book “ Davos Man: How the Billionaires Devoured the World ” Microsoft’s biggest deal ever, and what’s going on with 5G networks and airplanes.  In the Plus segment:  Peloton is down, will it survive? Further Reading: “ Microsoft Buys Scandal-Tainted Activision in Bet on M...

A recent advertisement for crypto.com, featuring Matt Damon, was met with widespread mockery online. But Damon’s ad is only the most visible example of a much broader—and more insidious—trend of celebrity cryptocurrency endorsements. Is the partnership between crypto and Hollywood really dangerous? And what separates the trend from run-of-the-mill salesmanship? Guests: Jacob Silverman , staff writ...

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson and David Plotz discuss Biden’s first year, SCOTUS's block of OSHA’s vax-or-test rule, and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s busy start. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: John Dickerson for CBS Sunday Morning: “ President Joe Biden: The First Year ” Station Eleven , by Emily St. John Mandel  Station Eleven series on HBO Max Here’s this week’s...