Slate News

Felix Salmon, Emily Peck and Stacy-Marie Ishmael talk about the disappointing jobs report and how it relates to falling birth rates, the Bill and Melinda Gates divorce news and Trump’s Facebook ban. In the Plus segment: The Peloton treadmill recall.  Mentioned in the show: “ The Great Birth Rate Freak-Out ” by Jill Filipovic MIT Media Lab director resigns over financial ties to Jeffrey Epstein ” b...

The question of Donald Trump’s banned account--to keep it blocked, or reinstate it--is one of the toughest that Facebook has ever faced. But the social network had a plan: punt the decision to its newly minted Oversight Board, a semi-independent “Supreme Court” tasked with making hard decisions about what content stays up, and what comes down.  Did that plan just backfire? Guest: Kate Klonick , pr...

The question of Donald Trump’s banned account--to keep it blocked, or reinstate it--is one of the toughest that Facebook has ever faced. But the social network had a plan: punt the decision to its newly minted Oversight Board, a semi-independent “Supreme Court” tasked with making hard decisions about what content stays up, and what comes down.  Did that plan just backfire? Guest: Kate Klonick , pr...

David, John and Emily discuss Liz Cheney's defiance of Trumpists; Trump’s Facebook suspension; and meatlessness getting (more) political. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show : Kimberly Robinson for Bloomberg Law: “ Video: The Wild Hypotheticals Posed by Justice Stephen Breyer ” John Dickerson for CBS News: “ Ron Klain on ‘Face the Nation,’ May 2, 2021 ” Evelyn Douek for Lawfar...

Divorces aren’t usually major news events. But in the case of Bill and Melinda Gates, the state of their union is in the public interest. For the last 20 years, the two have led one of the most influential philanthropic organizations in the world. What happens to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation once its founders are broken up? And what does it say about society’s dependence on billionaires t...

West Virginia was - and still is - decimated by the opioid addiction crisis. Now, one county is fighting to hold drug distributors accountable and get treatment for its residents.  Guest: Eric Eyer , senior investigative reporter at Mountain State Spotlight. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance recently announced the end to prosecuting some charges related to sex work, following decisions in other New York City boroughs. But is this policy shift something sex workers actually want? And does it go far enough?  Guest: Melissa Gira Grant , staff writer at The New Republic and the author of Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Work. Slate Plus members get b...

California Governor Gavin Newsom faces a newly-qualified recall petition, with 1.6 million people saying they want to see an election held over whether the governor should be replaced. But the anger that motivated so many of those signatures now seems to be fading away. Is it enough to save Newsom’s political career?   Guest: Guy Marzorati, reporter and producer on KQED’s Politics and Government d...

Stacy-Marie Ishmael joins as a co-host this week with Felix Salmon and Emily Peck to talk about the pandemic’s Big Tech boom, the car market, and the controversy over Basecamp’s office culture. In the Plus segment: Wirecard.  Mentioned in the show: “ Breaking Camp ,” by Casey Newton for the Verge “ How Big Tech Won the Pandemic ,” by Shira Ovide for the New York Times ” About the Apple Card ,” by...

There was a time—back when Steve Jobs ran Apple and Mark Zuckerberg was in his early days as Facebook’s CEO— that Apple and Facebook were friends.. Or, at worst, frenemies. But as the companies grew, so did two competing views of how the internet should work.  What led to the rift between Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook? And will Apple’s new privacy rules undercut Facebook’s vision for the internet?...

There was a time—back when Steve Jobs ran Apple and Mark Zuckerberg was in his early days as Facebook’s CEO— that Apple and Facebook were friends.. Or, at worst, frenemies. But as the companies grew, so did two competing views of how the internet should work.  What led to the rift between Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook? And will Apple’s new privacy rules undercut Facebook’s vision for the internet?...

A live Gabfest with Emily, David and John on the policies and politics of Biden’s first 100 days— with special guest Jamelle Bouie! A reference from this week’s show: Thomas B. Edsall for The New York Times: “ Should Biden Emphasize Race or Class or Both or None of the Above ” Here’s this week’s chatter: John: The Premonition: A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis; Gertrude Stein on punctuation from L...

India started 2021 with government officials repeatedly declaring victory over COVID-19. But the virus has overrun hospitals and crematoriums, in part due to massive gatherings and a slow vaccination rollout.  Guest: Chahat Rana , health reporting fellow at The Caravan magazine.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy fo...

The national conversation about gun violence in America almost always focuses on mass shootings -- but these events tend to overshadow the more day-to-day violence that makes up the bulk of gun deaths in the U.S. What would our policy conversation look like if more attention was paid to the kind of gun violence that’s most prevalent?  Guest: Abené Clayton , reporter for Guns and Lies at the Guardi...

Tech workers from the Bay Area happily left their expensive apartments for Lake Tahoe during the pandemic, hoping to get some fresh air and a change of scenery. Towns around the lake soon became "Zoom-towns" -- areas where remote workers moved in and never left, raising prices and driving out longtime residents. Now, locals are fighting back. Guest: Rachel Levin , San Francisco-based journalist. S...

Masks are crucial to stopping the spread of COVID-19, especially indoors and during prolonged close contact. But after a year of the pandemic, evidence is growing that it’s time to rethink rules on wearing masks outdoors .  Guest: Shannon Palus , senior editor at Slate. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inf...

In the wake of the conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd, journalism professor Allissa Richardson joins Dahlia Lithwick to discuss what it is to bear witness while Black in America, and why the media needs to stop airing the videos. (This is the interview with Vanita Gupta that Dahlia mentions. In our Slate Plus segment, Mark Joseph Stern and Dahlia probe...

Peter Thal Larsen of Breakingviews joins Felix Salmon and Emily Peck to talk about the mess with soccer’s Super League, what happened with Greensill, and the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.   In the Plus segment: Immersive Vincent Van Gogh exhibits. Mentioned in the show: “ They Hacked McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines—and Started a Cold War ,” by Andy Greenberg for Wired.  “ Dueling Van Gog...

Last week, a Tesla Model S crashed into a tree in a neighborhood north of Houston. Both men inside the car were killed. But according to police, neither of them was in the driver’s seat.  This is not the first crash in which Tesla’s “autopilot” feature has likely played a role. Should we really be trusting this technology? Guest:  Missy Cummings , professor of electrical and computer engineering a...

Last week, a Tesla Model S crashed into a tree in a neighborhood north of Houston. Both men inside the car were killed. But according to police, neither of them was in the driver’s seat.  This is not the first crash in which Tesla’s “autopilot” feature has likely played a role. Should we really be trusting this technology? Guest:  Missy Cummings , professor of electrical and computer engineering a...

Emily, John and David discuss the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial with guest Dwayne Betts; Andrew Yang’s campaign for Mayor of New York City; and why the U.S. invaded Iraq with guest Noreen Malone (host of the Slow Burn podcast). Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Netflix Is A Joke: “ Richard Pryor's 1979 Joke About Police Still Applies ” “ When I Think of Tamir Rice Whil...

The country remains divided over the January 6th Capitol riot. The division is reflected in voter surveys, news coverage, and millions of social media posts. But the tension is also on display in small, idiosyncratic communities who realized some of their own were at the Capitol attack and may have cheered it on.  Guest: Matthew Rosenberg , reporter for the New York Times.  Slate Plus members get...

After just 10 hours of deliberation, jurors found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty in the murder of George Floyd. This is what happened inside the courtroom and out on the streets. Guests: Jon Collins , criminal justice reporter at MPR News. Aymann Ismail , staff writer at Slate. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. Se...

The Biden administration is under no illusions that Russia President Vladimir Putin can be a willing partner of the U.S. But what tools remain to check Putin’s ambitions? Guest: Josh Keating, senior editor at Slate and the author of Invisible Countries .  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What makes a police officer shoot when a suspect’s hands are up? To understand this, it helps to examine police training, and the predominant lesson that many young officers receive: Any encounter could be your last.  Guest: Michael Sierra-Arévalo , assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acas...