Slate News

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 t...

The Apprentice, starring Captain America ’s Sebastian Stan and Succession’s Jeremy Strong, was financed in part by the widely-loathed former-Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder. But after the movie premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, Trump’s attorneys sent cease-and-desist letters to the filmmakers—and Snyder seems to be using veto power on an American sale of the rights. Will this controver...

For this Money Talks, Felix Salmon chats with food writer, podcaster, and cookbook author Matt Rodbard about the latest trends in the culinary biz. They discuss the Korean restaurant craze, the rise of non-alcoholic drinks, and how grocery stores got cool. They disagree on the usefulness of physical cookbooks but agree that MSG is underrated. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for...

Lauren Boebert barely won re-election to the House in 2022. Now the gun-loving Freedom Caucus firebrand is running for Congress in a new Colorado district.. Even after a lewd theater scandal threatened to tank her career, how is Boebert still leading in the polls? Guest: Paul Karolyi , Senior Executive Producer of City Cast Denver Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free list...

As cars get smarter, automakers - with the help of third-party apps - are leveraging the new data they’re able to collect on people's driving habits to influence drivers’ insurance prices. The problem? Most people aren’t aware their driving is being monitored. Guest: Kashmir Hill, tech reporter for the New York Times. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to...

Fast food prices are sky high, but chains will take losses to get you in the door. Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the economics of a new value meal trend. Also: millennials are taking secret “quiet vacations” and dicey geopolitics are affecting bond markets. In the Plus segment: Yankee Stadium is now card-payment only. Do Americans have the right to use cold hard cash? If...

Another major case for the “not a loss/not exactly a win” pile this term at SCOTUS. A majority of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority said what we knew all along - adjudicated domestic abusers shouldn’t hold onto second amendment rights and the guns that they are statistically, horrifyingly, apt to use to harm their intimate partners. In an 8-1 decision in United States v Rahimi , the Robert...

Amazon has installed digital palm readers at Whole Foods. The reader scans your palm , collecting biometric data, and links it to your credit card to pay for your groceries. What does exchanging vein mapping for eggs and butter mean for the future of data security and in-person shopping.  Guest:  Emily Moore , freelance tech and food journalist Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to a...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the 2024 presidential debates; a possible warning on social media and another ban of smartphones in schools; and the future and failures of one-party rule.   Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Ashley Lopez for NPR:  Biden vs. Trump remains close, so next week’s debate offers them an opportunity James Oliphant...

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 th...

Happy Juneteenth! What Next resumes regularly scheduled programming tomorrow, but for the holiday, check out this episode of Slow Burn Season 9: Gays Against Briggs. In 1977, John Briggs was a small-time state senator with big dreams. But Briggs’ plan to ban gay and lesbian teachers from California schools changed the arc of his life and career. Suddenly, he was a right-wing hero, and a villain of...

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...

The American economy has gotten more consolidated and more reliant on algorithms—while also, according to most people, getting more expensive, slower, and worse. Is there some causality in this correlation?  Guest: Matt Stoller , Research Director for the American Economic Liberties Project and author of Goliath: The Hundred Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy . Want more What Next? Subs...

In 2021, one of the largest global law enforcement operations took place. It was all thanks to an encrypted phone service known as Anom, which was secretly run by the FBI.  The program was a wild success. But did the agency take it too far?  Guest: Joseph Cox, investigative reporter for 404 media and author of “Dark Wire, the Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever” Want more Wha...

This week, Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers discuss Tesla shareholders’ overwhelming support of Musk’s pay package, the return of the GameStop meme stock influencer, and why Governor Hochul killed New York’s congestion pricing plan. In the Plus segment: a Missouri restaurant has banned 20-somethings. Can they do that? If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plu...

David Plotz talks with author Sierra Greer about her new book,  Annie Bot . They discuss how much discomfort Annie (a “Cuddle Bunny” type of robot) can feel, how the story of a robot is really about the right to control a body, and more.   Tweet us your questions  @SlateGabfest  or email us at  gabfest@slate.com . (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast p...

A bump stock is an attachment that converts a semi automatic rifle into a weapon that can fire as many as 800 rounds per minute - an intensity of gunfire matched by machine guns. The deadliest mass shooting carried out by a single shooter in US history - the October 2017 Las Vegas massacre - was enabled by a bump stock. On Friday, the US Supreme Court struck down a Trump-era bump stock ban introdu...

On Monday, Tim Cook announced Apple was getting into artificial intelligence. Is Apple about to do for A.I. what it did for personal computers and smartphones? Guest:  Gerrit De Vynck , tech reporter for the Washington Post. 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. Subscribe today on Apple Podca...

What do you call a case where there’s no standing and yet the lawsuit is still standing? FDA v Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine AKA the mifepristone case, AKA the case that tried to raise a zombie law from the dead, and will now continue to roam the lower courts in search of a national abortion ban.  While the Comstock Act was not mentioned in the US Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to maintain...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss President Biden’s new asylum policy; the recent European Parliament elections with The Atlantic’s  Anne Applebaum ; and the jammed congestion pricing in New York City.   Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Corvid Research:  Help, I’ve found a baby crow! Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Hamed Aleaziz for The New York Time...

Furtively recorded conversations with Justices John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and Alito’s wife Martha-Ann provided a window into what these powerful figures are saying behind closed doors. But do the means of getting these recordings undermine their ultimate goal?  Guest: Lauren Windsor, journalist and executive producer for “The Undercurrent” and documentary filmmaker of “Gonzo for Democracy.” Want...

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 listenin...

Is Hunter Biden’s trial proof that the justice system doesn’t care about your last name? Or is the president’s son being targeted?  Guest: Ankush Khardori, attorney and a former federal prosecutor in the US Justice Department. 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 Apple...

It’s Money Talks…live! This episode was taped at The Hewlett Foundation’s annual New Common Sense Conference, where Felix Salmon chatted with Jerusalem Demsas , who covers housing and infrastructure for The Atlantic. They discuss the NIMBY mentality, regulatory tangles holding back real estate development, and what we have to give up to gain more affordable housing. If you enjoy this show, please...

Joe Biden’s new executive order severely limits migrants from seeking asylum at the border. It’s a far cry from his campaign rhetoric and the New York Times called it the most restrictive immigration policy issued by any modern Democrat. What is he trying to accomplish? Guest: Jonathan Blitzer, staff writer for the New Yorker and author of “ Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central...