Slate Daily Feed

The American economy has gotten more consolidated and more reliant on algorithms—while also, according to most people, getting more expensive, slower, and worse. Is there some causality in this correlation?  Guest: Matt Stoller , Research Director for the American Economic Liberties Project and author of Goliath: The Hundred Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy . Want more What Next? Subs...

In 2021, one of the largest global law enforcement operations took place. It was all thanks to an encrypted phone service known as Anom, which was secretly run by the FBI.  The program was a wild success. But did the agency take it too far?  Guest: Joseph Cox, investigative reporter for 404 media and author of “Dark Wire, the Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever” Want more Wha...

On today’s episode, Rachelle is joined once again by Slate staff writer Nadira Goffe. The two dive into  Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies and Scandal , a recent Netflix docuseries that documents the rise and fall of the dating website targeted towards cheating spouses. This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privac...

This week, Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers discuss Tesla shareholders’ overwhelming support of Musk’s pay package, the return of the GameStop meme stock influencer, and why Governor Hochul killed New York’s congestion pricing plan. In the Plus segment: a Missouri restaurant has banned 20-somethings. Can they do that? If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plu...

David Plotz talks with author Sierra Greer about her new book,  Annie Bot . They discuss how much discomfort Annie (a “Cuddle Bunny” type of robot) can feel, how the story of a robot is really about the right to control a body, and more.   Tweet us your questions  @SlateGabfest  or email us at  gabfest@slate.com . (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast p...

A bump stock is an attachment that converts a semi automatic rifle into a weapon that can fire as many as 800 rounds per minute - an intensity of gunfire matched by machine guns. The deadliest mass shooting carried out by a single shooter in US history - the October 2017 Las Vegas massacre - was enabled by a bump stock. On Friday, the US Supreme Court struck down a Trump-era bump stock ban introdu...

What does a music producer do? If his name is Quincy Jones, a little bit of everything: conducting, arranging, composing. Assembling teams of ace session musicians. Sometimes, even picking a catchy title and telling an artist to go write a song about it— would “Thriller” have worked as well if it had been called “Starlight”? Quincy Jones was pop’s Renaissance Man, and he could not be limited eithe...

On Monday, Tim Cook announced Apple was getting into artificial intelligence. Is Apple about to do for A.I. what it did for personal computers and smartphones? Guest:  Gerrit De Vynck , tech reporter for the Washington Post. 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 Podca...

What do you call a case where there’s no standing and yet the lawsuit is still standing? FDA v Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine AKA the mifepristone case, AKA the case that tried to raise a zombie law from the dead, and will now continue to roam the lower courts in search of a national abortion ban.  While the Comstock Act was not mentioned in the US Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to maintain...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss President Biden’s new asylum policy; the recent European Parliament elections with The Atlantic’s  Anne Applebaum ; and the jammed congestion pricing in New York City.   Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Corvid Research:  Help, I’ve found a baby crow! Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Hamed Aleaziz for The New York Time...

On this episode: Lucy sits down with researcher and friend of the show Tova Walsh to talk about her work on dads who experience postpartum depression. Paternal mental health is a topic we don’t talk about nearly enough, so we wanted to give you some advice — and some resources to learn more and get help.  Tova wants to share the following: A conversation she hosted about understanding fathers’ men...

Furtively recorded conversations with Justices John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and Alito’s wife Martha-Ann provided a window into what these powerful figures are saying behind closed doors. But do the means of getting these recordings undermine their ultimate goal?  Guest: Lauren Windsor, journalist and executive producer for “The Undercurrent” and documentary filmmaker of “Gonzo for Democracy.” Want...

Jules and Bryan talk to former Outward Producer June Thomas about her new book A Place Of Our Own: Six Spaces that Shaped Queer Women’s Culture. They take us from the commune to the feminist bookstore and discuss the world-building drive of the queer community. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the early days of the anti-Briggs campaign, a Richard Pryor comedy set turned into a public fiasco and laid bare longstanding divisions in the gay community. With the movement low on cash and running out of time, thousands of gay Californians decided their only option was to tell the world who they really were.  (If you—or anyone you know—are in crisis, contact the National Suicide Prevention L...

On this week’s show, Dan Kois (writer at Slate and author of Hampton Heights: One Harrowing Night in the Most Haunted Neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin ) fills in for Dana Stevens. The hosts begin by exploring the latest addition to the Star Wars canon, The Acolyte , created by Leslye Headland ( Russian Doll ). Amandla Sternberg and Lee Jung-jae lead the who-dunnit mystery, and while there is a...

Two years ago, the FDA announced it was banning JUUL nicotine vapes from sale in the U.S.—and then quickly announced it was holding off on the ban to allow for review. How did regulating ecigarettes end up playing catch-up? Guest: Jamie Ducharme , health correspondent at Time , author of Big Vape: The Incendiary Rise of Juul.  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listenin...

On today’s episode, Rachelle is joined by ICYMI fave and Slate staff writer Nadira Goffe. The two sit down to discuss one of Netflix’s newest docu-series  Dancing for the Devil: the 7M TikTok Cult  which explores the alleged misconduct of Robert Shinn through the church and management company that he founded. Since the docu-series premiered on May 29, it’s consistently been one of the top 10 most...

Christopher Zara didn’t finish high school, and can sometimes feel like an outsider working in a field where it’s more common to have a college degree. Sometimes he’s able to push through his social anxiety, to put on a tough face. But other times his body won’t give him a chance to feel at ease – it seizes up, and in Christopher’s case that means not being able to pee even when he really, really...

Is Hunter Biden’s trial proof that the justice system doesn’t care about your last name? Or is the president’s son being targeted?  Guest: Ankush Khardori, attorney and a former federal prosecutor in the US Justice Department. 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...

It’s Money Talks…live! This episode was taped at The Hewlett Foundation’s annual New Common Sense Conference, where Felix Salmon chatted with Jerusalem Demsas , who covers housing and infrastructure for The Atlantic. They discuss the NIMBY mentality, regulatory tangles holding back real estate development, and what we have to give up to gain more affordable housing. If you enjoy this show, please...

Joel Anderson, Stefan Fatsis, and Josh Levin discuss the Boston Celtics’ early dominance over the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. Stefan and Josh are also joined by journalist Peter Della Penna to talk about the United States’ massive cricket upset over Pakistan. Finally, Butch Reynolds joins to discuss the new ESPN 30 for 30 documentary False Positive on the doping allegation that derailed hi...

On this episode: Zak, Jamilah, and Elizabeth answer a listener question about whether it’s really necessary to lug around strollers and car seats during an international trip. The answer is complicated, but among other tips, we do recommend the following: The City Mini stroller The gb Pockit+ stroller line The Doona car seat/stroller system The Mifold compact booster seat The CARES harness for pla...

Joe Biden’s new executive order severely limits migrants from seeking asylum at the border. It’s a far cry from his campaign rhetoric and the New York Times called it the most restrictive immigration policy issued by any modern Democrat. What is he trying to accomplish? Guest: Jonathan Blitzer, staff writer for the New Yorker and author of “ Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central...

It’s hard to imagine music fans mourning a break-up of Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation, as a Department of Justice lawsuit requests. But even with this monopolistic middleman out of the way, touring musicians still seem destined to struggle financially. Guest:  Laura Jane Grace , musician Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What...

Even the Grey Lady struggles to profit from the news. This week, Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers are joined by Semafor founder Ben Smith to discuss media profit models, the impact of Google’s AI on the news biz, and the TikTok-ification of information. In the Plus segment: Vivek Ramaswamy comes for Buzzfeed.  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate...