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In this Slate Plus exclusive episode, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern analyse the Roberts Court's decision in Skrmetti ,  effectively bans gender-affirming  care for trans minors in more than 20 states. This is part of Opinionpalooza , Slate’s coverage of the major decisions from the Supreme Court this June. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock...

As the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem has made herself the official face of the Trump administration’s military crackdowns on protesters in Los Angeles, raids in majority-Democratic cities, and the deportations of student activists. How has she been able to consolidate so much power so quickly? Guest: Seth Tupper , Editor-in-Chief of the South Dakota Searchlight Ahilan Ar...

On Friday, Israel launched massive strikes in Iran, targeting nuclear sites and killing top military leaders in the largest single-day attack on the country since the 1980s. Iran has retaliated, launching ballistic missiles at Israeli cities and killing at least eight people. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is walking a tightrope as it tries to maintain its alliance with Israel and negotiate a...

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, accusing members of serving industry interests and never recommending against a vaccine. Their role, however, was advising on usage for vaccines that the FDA already approved.  As RFK Jr. restaffs the committee with his own “nonpartisan” members, where does that leave vaccines and...

A guide to keeping your phone, and your digital life, safe when you’re crossing the border. Guest: Lily Hay Newman , senior writer for WIRED covering information security. Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America feels very different this weekend. While the president’s planned military parade (that just happens to coincide with his birthday) will see tanks and armored vehicles rolling through Washington DC, federalized National Guard and US Marines have been deployed to Los Angeles over the objections of state and city electeds, many of us are reeling from seeing a sitting US Senator forced to the...

This week: Warner Brothers and Discovery breakup again. Felix Salmon , Emily Peck and Elizabeth Spiers examine the undoing of the three-year-old merger. Then, the hosts discuss runaway AI valuations as Meta spends billions on AI and xAI raises equity off a multi-billion dollar valuation. And finally, what effects are Trump’s aggressive immigration policies having on the economy? In the Slate Plus...

Elon Musk has ridden off into the sunset acrimoniously (maybe), but the Department of Government Efficiency is just getting started. Will DOGE continue wildly cutting or is something even more chaotic coming next?  Guest: Makena Kelly , senior writer at WIRED.  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 pod...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and guest host  Juliette Kayyem  discuss the ominous juxtaposition of Trump sending National Guard troops and Marines to quell mostly peaceful protests in LA with his impending military parade in DC, RFK Jr. firing the entire CDC vaccine advisory board and what this means for the future of vaccines, and a unanimous Supreme Court decision that makes it easi...

Donald Trump is sending the troops to California, while also getting ready for a big birthday parade—for himself and the US Army—in DC. Does grasping for symbols of military strength smack a bit of desperation?  Guests: Jamelle Bouie , columnist at the New York Times Jeremy Lindenfeld , reporter and Capital and Main local news fellow. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free...

In Gaza, two million people are at risk of starvation, as Israeli-controlled aid has been repeatedly interrupted and marked by violence towards aid workers and chaos at distribution sites.  Guests:   Mohammed Mhawish , journalist and writer from Gaza City. Alex de Waal, Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts, author of the 2017 book, M...

After years of bigger floats and bigger rainbow-ified logos, corporate sponsorship for Pride Month celebrations is dropping off this year. But, given that Pride is the commemoration of an uprising against police harassment, maybe that’s a good thing. Guests:   Christina Cauterucci, Slate senior writer and the host of Outward , Slate’s podcast about LGBTQ+ life, and Slow Burn: Gays Against Briggs ....

In this Money Talks: Felix Salmon is joined by Barry Lam, host of Slate’ philosophy podcast Hi-Phi Nation to help him explain how the GOP sees the budget deficit in the “Big Beautiful Bill” using philosophical arguments.  Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podc...

When immigration raids began in the Los Angeles area last weekend, so did spontaneous protests. On Sunday, Trump federalized 2,000 California national guardsmen in response. While Trump stopped short of invoking the Insurrection Act, he claimed authority to send troops wherever ICE operations might be contested by mass demonstrations. Guest: Elizabeth Goitein , co-director of the Liberty and Natio...

Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater inherited the government’s antitrust case against Google and is eager to follow it through—but likely not for the same reasons as her predecessors.  Guest:   Nancy Scola , reporter and contributing writer at POLITICO .  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 podcas...

This week: Prices are going up, but inflation data has become unreliable under Trump. Felix Salmon , Emily Peck and Elizabeth Spiers discuss how staffing cuts at The Bureau of Labor Statistics have called economic data into question, and what that means for our economy. Then, someone went ahead and told Trump what TACO stands for and he’s pissed. The hosts discuss how a markets term coined by fina...

Money talks, and sometimes it speaks as law by fiat from the highest court in the land . In this episode of  Amicus , Dahlia Lithwick delves into the impact of money on the judiciary and, eventually, on, democracy with Michael Podhorzer, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.  They discuss how the many faces of big money in America, currently personified by Elon Musk and Donald Trump...

Sean Diddy Combs’s trial in New York started about a month ago and was expected to take about two months, so here at the halfway mark, we check in with a Slate correspondent who has been on the scene at the courthouse. Guest: Nadira Goffe , staff writer of culture at Slate. This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusi...

One of the goals of DOGE was to get rid of the “silos” that keep government agencies from sharing freely amongst themselves efficiently and instead organize data using tools offered by companies like Palantir. The thing is, a lot of those silos are there by design, and removing them could be a nightmare for privacy advocates.  Guest: Sheera Frenkel , tech reporter for the New York Times. Want more...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Elon Musk’s dramatic entrance into the fight between Republican factions over details of the Big Beautiful Bill, whether an independent judiciary can survive in the face of new threats, and the implications of Trump’s cruel new travel bans. Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: Chris Cameron for the New York Times: Trump Orders Inve...

This is part of ⁠ Opinionpalooza ⁠ , Slate’s coverage of the major decisions from the Supreme Court this June. The best way to support our work is by joining ⁠ Slate Plus ⁠ . (If you are already a member, consider a ⁠ donation ⁠ or ⁠ merch ⁠ !)Also! Sign up for ⁠ Slate’s Legal Brief: ⁠ the latest coverage of the courts and the law straight to your inbox. Delivered every Tuesday. Dahlia Lithwick ho...

Since January, the Trump administration has suspended the right to claim asylum at the southern border. One narrower form of protection—for those who had been tortured by their governments—was supposed to remain. But lawyers have realized that even that appears to be gone. Guest:  Mark Betancourt, freelance reporter covering immigration from DC, who wrote “ This Ethiopian Woman Was Tortured by Her...

After 20 months of war, with violence erupting far from the Middle East, where is the future of Zionism headed? Guest:  Isaac Saul, Tangle executive editor and author of “ I think I’m leaving Zionism, or Zionism is leaving me .” 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 Appl...

Five years after George Floyd’s murder sparked nationwide protests, the legacy of that movement is still being written in Minneapolis and America writ large—even as some attempt to erase it. Guest:   Marcia Howard , president of the teacher chapter of Minneapolis Federation of Teachers Brandt Williams , senior editor covering race, class and communities for MPR News.   Want more What Next? Subscri...

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: voter discontentment at the two major parties is creating an opening for a far-right populist with an anti-immigration, protectionist agenda that economic experts warn would be devastating.  With a Trump trade deal in hand, can Keir Starmer and Labour give British voters something to vote for, rather than just against? Guest: Anand Menon , professor of Euro...