Slate Health

When Roe v. Wade was overturned, a near-total abortion ban was triggered in Idaho, allowing for health exceptions only when “necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman.” But a case that found the ban in conflict with a federal law known as “EMTALA” went all the way to the Supreme Court, before being sent back to lower courts—neither overturning nor upholding Idaho’s ban.  Guest: Dr. Stac...

The story of IUDs is a story of technology, reproductive rights, shortcomings in communication about women’s health, and politics.  Guest: Mia Armstrong-Lopez, managing editor at ASU Media Enterprise and author of a recent piece on IUDs for Slate.  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. Subscr...

Saying any one storm or heat wave or weather in general was “caused by climate change” is tricky—summer is, after all, usually pretty hot, and storms happen. But researchers are working on a model that brings “climate change” from abstract into the particular.   Guest: Daniel Swain, climate scientist at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, studying how extreme events are chang...

For years, psychiatrists have been researching new methods to help people with treatment-resistant mental illness. These include severe cases of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other debilitating diagnoses. One type of drug has seen some positive results in clinical trials: psychedelics like psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine, and LSD. In professional medical settings, they’re used as a pa...

The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to uphold access to mifepristone left the door open for another case to be brought to ban the abortion pill. This physician is eager for another chance.  Guest: Dr. Christina Francis, CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), associate scholar with the Charlotte Lozier Institute, a board member of Indiana Right to L...

Today, we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes from September 2023 with Dr. Orna Guralnik (host of Showtime’s Couples Therapy). In this episode, Dr. Orna Guralnik joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about what to do when a friend is obsessed with misogynistic love and relationship podcasts, when your husband just can’t figure out birthday gifts, and when you’re...

The Supreme Court is soon expected to decide Grants Pass v. Johnson, a case where a town’s efforts to remove unhoused people from its parks became “cruel and unusual,” according to lower courts. Guest: Dr. Bruce Murray, chief medical officer for the Mobile Integrative Navigation Team (MINT) in Josephine County, Oregon. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the...

Everyone knows the quality of the air we breathe directly affects our health.  As the summer rolls along and more people seek reprieve from the heat indoors, it’s important to be sure our indoor air is clean and toxin-free. One pollutant to keep an eye out for is mold. Mold inside a home could hurt your health both immediately and in the long term. So to help us better understand how to spot mold...

Meg once was a terror in the world of roller derby. But these days, her sedentary lifestyle is making everyday physical activities a tad daunting. (We’re looking at you, groceries that need to be carried up four flights of stairs!). She wants to start lifting weights, but she’s unsure where to start—and whether she can avoid the bro-culture of many weight rooms. On this episode of How To!: Courtne...

Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, the Christian right seems to be setting its sights on banning in-vitro fertilization. But even though the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution against IVF, it’s a very popular and widely accepted procedure, which is why Senate Republicans signed a statement in favor of access to IVF, the same day almost all voted against protecting it by law. Gu...

Mark Duplass’s first big dream came true when he was 28: a movie he wrote and directed with his brother, Jay, got into The Sundance Film Festival. It was a major accomplishment, but Mark was miserable. “The week after Sundance was probably one of the worst weeks of my life because I realized I hit the top of the mountain. The top of the mountain didn't make me happy. So now what am I going to do?”...

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...

Ever since it showed up on the Body Mass Index, the label “obese” has been used to judge and often shame people with larger bodies. Medical providers, family and friends, even strangers make assumptions about fat people’s health solely based on their size. At the same time, excess quantities of fat can lead to poor health outcomes such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes. Over the...

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 listening...

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...

Each week, we’ve explored wellness from different perspectives, but we haven’t talked about what it means to live a full life while grappling with the real possibility of death.  Most of us hope for a full, long life with “good” health. But a serious, possibly fatal diagnosis changes everything: Our relationships with work, loved ones, and even the way we see ourselves. On this week’s episode of W...

Elissa Strauss always knew she wanted to be a mother, but she also knew she didn’t want motherhood to take over her personality. After all, she had spent years as a blogger making fun of anyone who took motherhood too seriously. She bemoaned the natural birth movement and people who made “mom friends.” Then Elissa had a son, and her view of caretaking started to shift. “I had put so much energy in...

Paula has a big family, lots of friends, and a girlfriend she adores. For most of her life, however, she has experienced an underlying and unshakeable sense of loneliness. On this episode of How To!, Courtney Martin brings on Kristen Radtke, the writer and illustrator behind Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness, to talk with Paula about an emotion that’s hard to talk about—and even hard...

“Fecal microbial transplants” treat someone’s unhealthy gut with poop from someone else’s healthy gut, and proponents of FMT claim it can help treat everything from IBS to autism. But if your doctor isn’t ready to fill you up with someone else’s poop, the internet will happily oblige.  Guest:  Luke Winkie, Slate staff writer who published “The Poop Broker.” Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Sl...

Everyone has a different birth experience.  Obstetricians and midwives are well-known members of the birth team. Along with the pregnant person, they are central to labor and delivery. Doulas are lesser known, but they can provide essential support for pregnant women and their loved ones.  On this week’s episode of Well, Now: What to expect when working with a doula with Latham Thomas, founder of...

The dating app Bumble recently declared in advertisements that “a vow of celibacy is not the answer.” The ad campaign, which was met with a swift backlash, seemed to be responding to a prevailing notion that people are having less sex than they used to. Back in 2015, we asked our listeners why they weren’t having sex, and their reasons varied. Disability, religious beliefs, S.T.I.s, and differing...

Last year saw a record number of healthcare hacks with more than 700 separate incidents. And with a subsidiary of United Healthcare forking over a $22 billion ransom this year, the problem isn’t going away. With so much sensitive personal information on file, why aren’t hospitals and their ilk better prepared? Guest:  Dina Carlisle, president of the local nurses union, OPEIU 40 in Michigan. Justin...

On today’s show, Rachelle is joined by internet culture writer and reporter Kate Lindsay whose recent Bustle article “My Therapist is a TikTok Star” explores the complicated dynamics that emerge when patients run into their therapists online. This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...

Youth mental health has hit a crisis point.  Just last year, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released an advisory connecting young people’s use of social media with adverse mental health outcomes.  But Murthy and other public health leaders are fighting back, including New York City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan. He’s leading the charge against social media platforms like Meta, TikTok, Snapch...

Before going on a kite-skiing trip to the Chilean mountains, Jim Harris and his longtime girlfriend broke up. She wanted to settle down, and he wanted to keep adventuring. On that trip, Jim broke his back and became paralyzed. After eight months of non-stop physical therapy his progress seemed to be stalled until one night at a concert he took magic mushrooms and noticed new movement in muscles th...