Slate News

The Federal Election Commission was designed to prevent the parties from going rogue with overly punitive campaign finance regulations. But what’s paralyzed FEC is something less partisan, and more principled: Democrats think the government should enforce campaign spending laws. Republicans don’t. Guest: Ellen Weintraub , Federal Election Commission Chair. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and...

The Supreme Court embarks on its new term with a solidly conservative majority and a sense of urgency when it comes to settling legal questions that keep cropping up. Will Chief Justice John Roberts continue to strike centrist compromises in the interest of preserving the court’s legitimacy? Or will the country feel the court’s rightward shift? Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, legal reporter for Slate. S...

Last week, a contentious affirmative action case came to a temporary resolution. In a lawsuit filed against Harvard by Asian American students and conservative opponents of affirmative action, a judge ruled in favor of the university’s race-conscious admissions process. The selection process, she says, helps create a diverse student body and does not discriminate against Asian American applicants....

Slate Money is obsessed with Succession , HBO’s wonderful drama about the lives of the superrich Roy family, so every Monday we’ll be discussing the previous night’s episode with spoiler-filled glee. This week, Felix Salmon and Emily Peck are joined by Lizzie O’Leary and John Collins to speculate on the “blood sacrifice”, analyze Roman’s newfound competency and reveal which Roy Family member they...

This week, Laurie Santos joins Felix, Anna, and Emily to discuss the ideas around money and happiness that she explores in her podcast The Happiness Lab, and some of the science may surprise you. And as an added bonus, Taffy Brodesser Akner (who was in the studio for Slate Money: Succession ) kicks off the conversation by explaining why she doesn’t want to be happy. In the Slate Plus segment: Laur...

Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, who explains the biggest cases facing the Supreme Court this term. Then Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, explains why the justices have decided to take up June Medical Services v Gee , the first big abortion case of the Kavanaugh era.  Hosted on Acast....

How independent can a Trump cabinet official be? Acting DHS chief Kevin McAleenan is testing the limits. Guest: Nick Miroff , Washington Post reporter covering immigration enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson and David Plotz discuss the impeachment investigation, a new theory of why conservatives can’t quit Trump, and the court ruling upholding Harvard’s affirmative action program. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David, John, and Emily discuss the new nutrition guidelines for red meat consumption. You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest....

Adam Schiff was elected to Congress as part of the blowback against House Republicans after the Clinton impeachment saga in the late 1990s. Now he’s at the forefront of another spectacular political scandal enveloping Washington. Schiff, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, has been a leading critic of the Trump administration. But that doesn’t mean he’s losing his cool now that the impeac...

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the late spring and early summer of 2019 there were these stories. Stories that ran in the New York Times and BuzzFeed News about Rudy Giuliani and his backchannel campaign to get Ukraine’s help securing Donald Trump’s re-election. Though not easy reads these articles are undoubtedly the first draft of what Washington can’t stop talking about now, the Ukraine Scandal. So, what made the whistleb...

A growing contingent of Amazon employees has been pushing the company to be a leader in the fight against climate change. Recently, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos promised to reduce carbon emissions and add thousands of electric trucks to the company’s fleet. Activist employees hope that’s just a beginning. Guest: Louise Matsakis, staff writer for Wired. Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, D...

In a week that saw the talks of impeachment boil over into Congressional action, a former Republican Senator says Speaker Nancy Pelosi was right to hold off on an impeachment inquiry until now. Once a reliable critic of the Trump administration, Jeff Flake joins Mary Harris to discuss a week that could change the presidency, how he’s reflecting on the Kavanaugh hearings one year later, and why the...

Slate Money is obsessed with Succession , HBO’s wonderful drama about the lives of the superrich Roy family, so every Monday we’ll be discussing the previous night’s episode with spoiler-filled glee. This week, Felix Salmon and Emily Peck are joined by Sarah Ellison and Gabe Roth to discuss Kendall’s new lady, the plot against Rhea and, of course, “Ken WA”. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy f...

Felix, Emily and Anna sit down to discuss the continuing insanity at WeWork, the fate of Juul amid recent health scares and the mess made by the collapse of British travel agency Thomas Cook.  Plus: Elizabeth Warren and Wall Street.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Walter Dellinger to discuss impeachment, and the role of White House lawyers in “Ukraine-gate”. And James Zirin, author of Plaintiff in Chief: A Portrait of Donald Trump in 3,500 Lawsuits , breaks down the President’s history of weaponizing the law while trampling legal norms. donorschoose.org/AMICUS Podcast production by Sara Burningham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...

On Thursday morning, the House Intelligence Committee publicly released a whistleblower complaint providing evidence of President Trump’s alleged abuse of presidential power. The complaint came just before the Acting Director of National Intelligence was due to testify before the committee. Slate's Dahlia Lithwick and Jeremy Stahl take stock of the rapid changes in Washington since House Democrats...

The Ukraine scandal, the politics of impeachment, and Jodi Kantor about investigating Harvey Weinstein and She Said, a new bookwritten with co-author Megan Twohey. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David, John, and Kirsten Powers discuss what makes Greta Thunberg wonderful and why she drives her critics crazy. You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest. Tweet us your...

Parents in Howard County, Maryland, are pushing back against a school redistricting plan that would address overcrowding and a lack of diversity. Opponents say the changes will disrupt communities and strap kids with longer commutes. They say it’s not fair for their families and their kids. How are educators supposed to make the case that something that upsets individuals is better for the public...

Host Shannon Palus talks to Roxanne Leitao, a UK-based designer researching ways to make the smart home gear safer for victims of domestic abuse. They’ll discuss the ways that smart thermostats can be used to gaslight victims, the security measures that can help everyone in a home have agency, and the reason why smart home tech that’s hard to understand is all the more dangerous. They also touch o...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced an official impeachment inquiry into President Trump on Tuesday evening. After a year of Democratic leadership holding off, what makes this time different for Speaker Pelosi? And what happens now? Guests: Dahlia Lithwick , covers the courts and the law for Slate. Jim Newell , political reporter for Slate. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcas...

Last week, Time Magazine released photos of a 29-year-old Justin Trudeau in blackface. In the days following, the Canadian Prime Minister admitted to two more instances of using blackface. The Canadian election is a month away. How will Trudeau’s latest scandal effect it? Guest: Jesse Brown , host of Canadaland podcast . Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, Danielle Hewitt and Mara S...

Somewhere in Washington right now there is a whistleblower. We don’t know who they are, what their job is, or if they’re a man or a woman. The only thing we do know is that they are in the middle of a political firestorm. So, how did this all come about? And will it be enough to push Congress to act? Guest: Shane Harris , covers intelligence and national security for the Washington Post. To learn...

Slate Money is obsessed with Succession , HBO’s wonderful drama about the lives of the superrich Roy family, so every Monday we’ll be discussing the previous night’s episode with spoiler-filled glee. This week, Felix Salmon and Emily Peck are joined by Lydia Polgreen of HuffPost and her wife Candace Feit. They discuss the extremely watchable horribleness of Caroline, Logan and Rhea’s mysterious re...

This week, Mike Isaac of the New York Times joins to talk about his new book Super Pumped which tells the dramatic story of Uber’s rise and fall. He and the hosts also get into the whole WeWork IPO debacle and the strike at GM. Plus: The Repo Market. This episode is brought to you by LightStream. Get an additional interest rate discount at lightstream.com/money . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pri...