Slate News

Congressional Democrats are struggling to bring together their moderate and progressive factions to pass an infrastructure bill and its gigantic sidecar, a budget plan filled with tax hikes, climate-related legislation, and social spending. With the party divided, is Biden’s agenda about to hit the skids? Guest: Jim Newell , Slate’s senior politics writer and author of the weekly newsletter, The S...

The final episode of Season 1 features Ted Ross, Chief Information Officer for the City of Los Angeles. His role became more vital than ever during the pandemic, with L.A.’s 4 million residents and 50,000 employees relying on the city’s complex technological operation for support. Ted helped his city navigate the challenge with tech solutions built on principles designed to serve citizens and insp...

By last weekend, nearly 14,000 migrants primarily from Haiti had amassed along the border in Texas. Then the Biden administration began a massive deportation effort. Now, Haitians facing violence and instability at home are caught at the intersection of multiple disasters and an American president whose immigration goals remain murky, with many migrants saying they were never given the chance to m...

General Mark Milley, the nation’s top military officer, is making sure the press knows about the role he played in safeguarding democracy under President Trump. How singular were his efforts? And what do they reveal about our governmental institutions?  Guest: Fred Kaplan, Slate’s War Stories correspondent and author of the book, The Bomb . If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Sl...

Who are the people seeking a religious exemption to the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate? What are their religious claims? And how do workplaces decide who has a real claim to belief versus a convenient letter from a pastor-for-hire?  Guest: Ruth Graham , reporter for the New York Times.   If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like...

This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck and Stacy-Marie Ishmael talk about vaccine mandates and the spread of vaccine misinformation (ahem, Nicki Minaj), the New York magazine piece on delivery workers in New York City, and the Treasury Department’s report on U.S. child care.    In the Plus segment: The crypto carry trade.  Mentioned In The Show:  “ Revolt of the Delivery Workers ,” by Josh Dzieza for...

Recently, China restricted video game playing to just three hours a week for its young people: 8pm to 9pm, Friday through Sunday. And that’s not the only change. Over the last few months, private tutors, diehard celebrity fans, and tech giants have all faced fresh restrictions from Beijing. What’s behind this new wave of crackdowns? Guest: Brenda Goh , technology correspondent for Reuters Host: Li...

Recently, China restricted video game playing to just three hours a week for its young people: 8pm to 9pm, Friday through Sunday. And that’s not the only change. Over the last few months, private tutors, diehard celebrity fans, and tech giants have all faced fresh restrictions from Beijing. What’s behind this new wave of crackdowns? Guest: Brenda Goh , technology correspondent for Reuters Host: Li...

In the last few years and particularly during the pandemic, New York City’s delivery workers have become a key part of the food industry’s infrastructure, allowing restaurants to do business with customers too stressed to leave their desks or too afraid of catching a dangerous virus to show up themselves. But a growing incidence of violent attacks and bike thefts has laid bare just how vulnerable...

Emily, John and David discuss the Biden’s administration’s vaccine rule, the legitimacy of the Supreme Court, and the new book from Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Isaac Stanley-Becker for The Washington Post: “ Top General Was So Fearful Trump Might Spark War That He Made Secret Calls To His Chinese Counterpart, New Book Says ” Peril , by B...

Listeners of Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast have mobilized to take over the GOP from the ground up. Convinced the 2020 election was stolen, many far-right Republicans are moving to run elections themselves as precinct officers.  Guest: Isaac Arnsdorf , national politics reporter for ProPublica. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits li...

As the fall semester begins at U.S. universities, faculty and staff and institutions of higher education are at a breaking point. Widespread feelings of burnout were laid bare by the coronavirus pandemic, but the conditions leading to them were present long before.  Guest: Lindsay Ellis , senior reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education.  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for...

The coronavirus pandemic has left no part of the world untouched, including global manufacturing supply chains. The complex system that keeps goods moving throughout the world has struggled to catch up ever since it was disrupted in early 2020. Now, 18 months later, product delays aren’t going anywhere.  Guest: Austen Hufford , U.S. manufacturing reporter for The Wall Street Journal.  If you enjoy...

This weekend marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and as the withdrawal from Afghanistan dominates the headlines, so does the conversation about the forever war and its implications. Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Baher Azmy, the legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. Azmy has been challenging the U.S. government repeatedly over the past two decades, litigating matters from the right...

Historian and author Adam Tooze joins Felix Salmon and Emily Peck to talk about his new book Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World’s Econom y and his Substack piece on the sanctions on Afghanistan.  In the Plus segment: Lessons from the COVID-19 crisis.  Email: slatemoney@slate.com Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Twitter: @felixsalmon , @EmilyRPeck  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

The Colorado River Basin is experiencing its 22nd year of drought. Its reservoirs are at their lowest-ever levels. The water stored in the system is at just 40 percent of its capacity. How did the situation on the Colorado become so dire? And what does the shortage mean for the 40 million people who rely on its waters? Guest: Abrahm Lustgarten , senior investigative reporter at ProPublica Host: Li...

The Colorado River Basin is experiencing its 22nd year of drought. Its reservoirs are at their lowest-ever levels. The water stored in the system is at just 40 percent of its capacity. How did the situation on the Colorado become so dire? And what does the shortage mean for the 40 million people who rely on its waters? Guest: Abrahm Lustgarten , senior investigative reporter at ProPublica Host: Li...

Emily, John and David reflect on 9/11; the fight for the infrastructure agenda, and declining college enrollment among men. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Garrett M. Graff for the Atlantic: “ After 9/11, the U.S. Got Almost Everything Wrong ” The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 , by Garrett M. Graff Ady Barkan for The New York Times: “ Home Care Keeps Me A...

For Muslim Americans, the 20th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks marks a full generation of routine Islamophobia. In the years that followed, the war on terror wounded the nation’s Muslim communities in ways that still feel fresh today.  Guest: Aymann Ismail , staff writer at Slate.  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefit...

Four conservative talk radio hosts have died of COVID-19 this summer, further revealing the consequences of a politicized pandemic. Why aren’t prominent right-wing figures doing more to embrace the coronavirus vaccine?  Guest: Brian Rosenwald , fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Talk Radio’s America . If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus...

Texas has passed a new law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, enforced by citizens launching lawsuits against anyone suspected of “aiding and abetting” the procedures. And the Supreme Court has declined to stop it - effectively ending the precedent set by Roe v. Wade . How are Texas organizations supporting reproductive rights adapting?  Guest: Anna Rupani , Co-Executive Director of F...

John, Emily and David discuss SCOTUS letting the Texas abortion ban go into effect; the Afghanistan exit; and Dr. Atul Gawande joins the show to explain how Costa Rica has surpassed US life expectancy by getting serious about public health.  Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Atul Gawande for the New Yorker: “ Costa Ricans Live Longer Than Us. What’s the Secret? ” Here’s th...

Joseph Bernstein of Buzzfeed News joins to talk about his Harper’s cover story on antidisinformation , the big OnlyFans porn debacle, and the rise of shoplifted items being sold on Amazon.    In the Plus segment: Renaissance Technologies. Email: slatemoney@slate.com Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Twitter: @felixsalmon , @EmilyRPeck  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati...

A medicine meant to treat parasites is the latest unproven COVID treatment craze. With warnings from the FDA, and prescribers clamping down, some are going to extreme lengths to get their hands on the drug. What’s behind Ivermectin’s sudden rise? Guest: Brandy Zadrozny , senior reporter for NBC News  Host: Lizzie O’Leary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Urgent times call for urgent conversations as Professor Michele Goodwin and Rebecca Traister join Dahlia Lithwick for an emergency Amicus to discuss what’s new and what’s very old about SB 8, the law that allowed Texas to functionally overturn Roe v Wade . They also unpack what it really means when five justices on the Supreme Court hold up their hands as if to say “nothing we can do.”  Podcast pr...