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This week: Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee joins  Felix Salmon , Elizabeth Spiers , and Emily Peck for an in-depth discussion on what exactly the Fed does. They’ll get into how voting and deliberation works at the FOMC, the different eras of the Fed’s communication strategy, his response to the Fed haters, and Data Dogs vs Data Cats.  In the Slate Plus episode: Austan Goolsbee Interview Post...

On this episode: Lucy Lopez , Elizabeth Newcamp , and Zak Rosen are handing the show over to Slate’s news podcast, What Next.  Thousands of children may be avoiding peanut allergies thanks to research indicating that early exposure to—rather than avoidance of—the legume is key. Now there’s reason to believe this is true for tons of allergens – and that the great “pandemic” of kid food allergies ne...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss what happens when the government is untrustworthy as a strong pattern of DOJ lying under oath emerges, why the NYC mayor-elect and the president were so cordial with each other in the Oval Office, and how MAGA world continues to fracture as Marjorie Taylor Greene announces her resignation and the Fuentes/Carlson controversy continue...

While the What Next team works their way from preparingfood to sleeping it off, enjoy this episode on fall’s flavorful favorites fromour friends at Decoder Ring. We’ll be back to regular programming on Sunday.   Autumn may have more cozy signifiers than any otherseason—though we all have our own favorites. Maybe for you it’s sweaterweather, football games, spooky season, apple picking, leaf peepin...

Something Wicked this way comes as Dana, Steve, and guest host Dan Kois gather round their proverbial cauldrons for an all-movie edition of the Gabfest. First up, of course, is Wicked: For Good the green/pink-hued conclusion to the alternative history of Oz. This sequel, which reunites Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as witch besties/mortal enemies, goes to surprisingly dark places. Next, they dis...

In 1995 Rev. Jim Mitulski became HIV positive -- what's known as seroconversion. It was 14 years into the epidemic and people knew what HIV/AIDS was, how you got it, and how you could prevent it. And when Jim got sick, he got very sick. What was it like to become ill so publicly? How would the church and the community respond? And what could Jim possibly preach about on his first Sunday back? “My...

With the release of Wicked: For Good , spectacle is back in theaters and back on the press circuit: Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are again “holding space” along with each other’s individual fingers and other quirks they picked up along the way. This is, apparently, how movies are promoted now. Guest: Michael Schulman , staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of Oscar Wars: A History of Ho...

On today’s episode host Kate Lindsay is joined by I <3 Mess writer Emily Kirkpatrick to discuss the influx of celebrities joining Substack. As two long-time Substack newsletter writers themselves, the pair dive into all of these new celebrity publications…including the parts they may not know readers can see. What does it say about the state of celebrity that so many are becoming writers—and do...

In this Money Talks: The Wall Street Journal ’s Heather Haddon joins Emily Peck to unpack her recent reporting on the fast food industry, including the reason we’re seeing the “ Value Wars ” play out at places like McDonalds and Chili’s, Starbuck’s strategies to revive sales, and the intense drive-thru operations research being done by Chik-fil-A. Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. P...

The Trump administration has announced a 28-point plan to end the war in Ukraine that involves ceding territory, giving up on joining NATO and reducing its military—in essence an extremely, even suspiciously, friendly deal for Russia and Russian demands. How does Ukraine play this without losing a powerful ally or the war? Guest: Fred Kaplan , Slate’s War Stories correspondent. Want more What Next...

When the Metropolitan Community Church was founded in the late sixties, it was one of the first gay positive churches in America. When AIDS hit, it became a refuge for people who were sick and those who were mourning them.  In this episode, Anna talks to researcher Lynne Gerber, about finding boxes of cassettes under the church floor in an MCC church in San Francisco, and how those recordings of s...

Hosts Alex Kirshner , Lindsay Gibbs , and Ben Lindbergh speak with the Athletic’s Paul Tenorio on why Apple TV and MLS revised their deal and removed the paywall for viewers. They’re then joined by Massachusetts state senator John Keenan about his proposal to regulate online sports betting and why he’s changed his views on the issue. Finally, they wrap with a discussion of Connor Bedard and Mackli...

If you’ve got a cultural question or topic you’d like our hosts to tackle, now is your chance because we’re preparing for our annual call-in show! Call and leave us a message with your cultural query at:  347-201-2397 On this week’s show, Julia, Dana, Steve are off to the dystopian races with Edgar Wright’s adaptation of The Running Man. Based on a novel by Stephen King and starring movie-star-to-...

On this episode: Lucy Lopez , Elizabeth Newcamp , and Zak Rosen are trying to take some of the holiday stress off your shoulders. They have gift recommendations for every type of kid, from the sports obsessed (tickets to a game are always a win) to the young scientist (science kits l ike those from Kiwi Co . are sure to be a hit), they have ideas to help you make all the kiddos happy this season. ...

Between the drastic budget cuts and provisions in the Big Beautiful Bill, the Trump administration has found a way to drain Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health centers and cut off access to abortion services—as well as any other health care those clinics provided.  Guests:  Shefali Luthra , reproductive health reporter at The 19th, author of Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in P...

Tracking a license plate across the country has never been easier, which is good news if your car has been stolen, but in an era of ICE and Border Patrol raids, these warrantless searches feel increasingly invasive—and unconstitutional. Guest: Joseph Cox , co-founder of 404 Media and host of the 404 Media podcast. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the...

Dahlia Lithwick is joined by former federal prosecutor Mimi Rocah, who brings her extensive experience trying and supervising federal criminal cases to a discussion of what the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse can teach us about justice. She suggests that the Trump administration’s eleventh-hour switchback tactic of calling for investigations of only Democrats speaks volumes about how t...

On today’s episode host Kate Lindsay is joined by porn historian Noelle Perdue , author of the Porn World newsletter. OpenAI announced that they’d allow adult users to have erotic conversations with ChatGPT, just one more way AI and porn are becoming intertwined. As sex becomes more online, not only does it become more solitary, but also more surveilled. Both of these things are intended to divide...

This week: Larry Summers has stepped down from his public positions following the release of unsavory emails he exchanged with Jeffrey Epstein. Felix Salmon , Elizabeth Spiers , and Emily Peck discuss Summers’ correspondence with the infamous sex trafficker, the veracity of his “genius” reputation, and his beef with Felix. Then, Meta has won its anti-trust case, highlighting the current struggle t...

You can have enough ICE recruits or you can have standards for the shape that they’re in, but you can’t have both—this was just one lesson Donald Trump could have learned this week, in between hosting a summit of McDonald’s franchise owners and calling a reporter “piggie.” Guest: Rebecca Onion, Slate senior staff writer . This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate P...

Trump promised to stop the “persecution” of the cryptocurrency industry. He did call off the SEC investigations that began under Biden, and pardoned Binance cofounder and ex-CEO Changpeng Zhao. But is the crypto industry ultimately better off because of that?  Guest: David Yaffe-Bellany , tech reporter for the New York Times. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free liste...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss a new oral history of President Trump’s Department of Justice, the complex transactional nationalism of this week’s visit from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with guest Jake Sullivan, former National Security Advisor and co-host of the new podcast The Long Game , and what is likely to happen now that Trump has signed the bil...

On this episode: Lucy Lopez , Elizabeth Newcamp , and Zak Rosen are joined by mother-daughter writing team Leslie and Lindsey Glass . They share their estrangement and reconnection that led to their book The Mother Daughter Relationship Makeover . They give advice for how to deal with toxic personalities around the dinner table and at parties, talk about when estrangement might be the answer, and...

People have been talking about how the penny is more trouble than it’s worth for 50 years—so why drop it now? And—other than having nothing to put in our loafers—will it be missed?  Guest: Caity Weaver , writer at The Atlantic. 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 podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple...

Americans are currently besotted with protein. It’s touted as being good for muscle growth, weight loss, skincare, mental acuity, longevity, and much else besides. It’s sold to men, women, children, the elderly— you can even buy protein for your pets. The protein supplement market alone is worth $21 billion and growing—and extra protein is being added to coffee, cereal, pasta, beer, ice cream, and...