Slate News

Vince McMahon is walking away from professional wrestling, again. The WWE looks to continue without the man that built it into an institution—and shrouded it in scandal.  Guest: Dave Scherer, founder of the pro-wrestling news site, PWinsider.com. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of...

One of Donald Trump’s codefendants in the Georgia election subversion and racketeering case has filed a motion to dismiss his case due to an improper relationship between Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and a prosecutor she has hired to work on the case. How can Willis address the allegations and what does it mean for the case?  Guest: Ankush Khardori, attorney and former federal prose...

With the execution of Kenneth Smith, Alabama became the first state to carry out the death penalty with nitrogen gas. According to Smith’s spiritual advisor, who witnessed the execution, this is not a “humane” future for capital punishment  Guest: Rev. Jeff Hood, pastor, theologian and activist living and working in Little Rock, Arkansas, and the Convener of Clergy United Against the Death Penalty...

In an off-week bonus episode of Money Talks, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers chat with Yale finance professor James Choi, who has cross-referenced the advice of more than 50 pop finance books with actual economic theory. How much should you save in your 20s and 30s? Should you put your money in a savings account or the stock market? Is it bad to change your retirement plan? James Ch...

Support for a “two-state solution” has been declining among both Israelis and Palestinians for years. If it’s time to give up on that plan, what’s the alternative?  Guest: Dov Waxman , professor of political science and the director of the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies . If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero a...

Are we still paying off our pandemic-induced “immunity debt,” or is there another reason that it feels like we’re all sniffling and coughing and just feeling sick? Guest: Keren Landman , senior health reporter at Vox If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear...

Despite Donald Trump’s efforts, there will be a significant cost for his continued defamation of E. Jean Carroll (And it’s $83.3 million!!). For much of the proceedings he sat behind Carroll muttering under his breath and posting three-dozen times on Truth Social in one night about the unfairness of the judge and the court. But zoom out, and Trump’s actions at the trial and toward women generally...

This week, Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers discuss record-breaking rents that see most renters forking over more than 30% of their dough. Also: Infant apparel brand Kyte Baby’s maternity leave scandal, and why Josh wine is such a hit. In a British Slate Plus segment: An American professor says to put salt in our tea; Felix cries foul and explains how to make a proper English cuppa...

In the days leading up to the New Hampshire primary, voters received a robocall purportedly from Joe Biden. Authorities have now determined the call was likely A.I.-generated.  In the era of A.I., how can voters tell what’s real and what’s not? And will the general election be thrown into chaos by artificial intelligence-created disinformation?  Guest: Makena Kelly , senior writer at Wired coverin...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the Trump v. Biden presidential rematch, the end of the “vibecession,” and the political fights over immigration.    Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Michael Scherer and Toluse Olorunnipa for The Washington Post:  Trump, Biden pivot quickly to a 2024 campaign that many voters dread Lauren Irwin for The Hill:...

Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade , Democrats have found wins after standing up for abortion. But can they ride this issue to a second Biden term, when the administration isn’t offering a clear plan for reproductive rights—and Joe Biden has a history of ambivalence about the issue?  Guest: Grace Panetta , political reporter at The 19th News . If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for...

How has Donald Trump managed to turn multiple indictments into a nigh unassailable lead in the Republican primary—and what looks like a dead heat for the general election? Guest: Isaac Arnsdorf , national political reporter for The Washington Post covering former-president Trump. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any...

Ships are avoiding the Suez Canal at great expense; Iran has launched attacks in Iraq and Pakistan; Israel is exchanging fire with Hezbollah as well as Hamas—has the regional conflict that leaders were worried about already begun? Guest: Josh Keating , senior correspondent at Vox covering foreign policy and world news with a focus on the future of international conflict. If you enjoy this show, pl...

For this edition of Money Talks, Grace Rauh, director of the 5BORO Institute, makes the case for office-to-residential conversion. The pandemic pushed people out of offices, and they don’t want to come back. Meanwhile, demand for affordable, urban housing is on the rise. Can we solve both problems at once? Grace and Felix Salmon discuss.  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slat...

Once, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was Trump’s biggest rival. Now, his campaign is over – and Trump seems to be sailing to the Republican presidential nomination. How did DeSantis squander his lead? And if Trump’s nomination is preordained – what does that mean for the general election?   Guest: Ben Mathis-Lilley, Slate senior writer If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus....

How much of our lives—our tastes, preferences and choices—have been fed to us through an interlocking, impersonal network of algorithms?  Guest: Kyle Chayka, staff writer at the New Yorker and author of Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes...

The immigration fight on the U.S. - Mexico border keeps getting uglier - not between the U.S. and its southern neighbor, Mexico, but between the federal government and a Texas administration apparently unconcerned by constitutional supremacy. Earlier this month, members of the Texas Military Forces took over a public park in Eagle Pass, TX at the behest of Gov. Greg Abbott. The park, on the banks...

On this month’s edition of Gabfest Reads, John Dickerson talks with author Brad Stulberg about his new book,  Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything is Changing – Including You.  They discuss how to make change itself a mindset, John’s notebooks, what we can learn from athletes, and more. Tweet us your questions  @SlateGabfest  or email us at  gabfest@slate.com . (Messages could be quoted...

This week, Axios tech and policy reporter Ashley Gold joins Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers to discuss the scuttled Spirit/Jet Blue merger and the ambitious anti-trust efforts of Trade Commission chair Lina Kahn. Also: how hybrid work won the office wars and why conflict in the Middle East isn’t really affecting oil prices. In the Slate Plus segment: Will a squabble with Epic Game...

When a cyberattack knocked the British Library out of commission in October of last year, a nation's researchers, scholars, students, and bookworms were left high and dry. Months later, the library is starting to come back online in limited capacity, but the attack has laid bare just how fragile our digital systems are.  Guest: Sam Knight , staff writer at the New Yorker If you enjoy this show, pl...

This week, John Dickerson re-joins Emily Bazelon and David Plotz to discuss the Republican presidential race, the Iowa caucuses, and the New Hampshire primary; the  Loper Bright  and  Relentless  cases at the Supreme Court and the possible end of  Chevron deference; and  The Misguided War on the SAT  with  David Leonhardt  of The New York Times.    Here are some notes and references from this week...

How American white evangelical Christianity has reshaped itself in the image of Donald Trump. Guest: Rev. Angela Denker, Lutheran pastor and author of Red State Christians: A Journey into White Christian Nationalism and the Wreckage It Leaves Behind If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes...

South Africa has accused Israel of committing genocide before the International Court of Justice and is asking the United Nations to intervene and order the Israeli government to cease military operations in Gaza. The ICJ now must decide how to characterize an increasingly bloody campaign. Guest: Adil Haque, professor of international law at Rutgers University and author of Law and Morality at War...

Biden’s poll numbers have been bad pretty much his whole presidency, but going into an election year, he looks especially weak where his party is usually strongest: young voters, Black voters, and Latino voters. What messaging unlocks some—any—enthusiasm for voting for Joe Biden again?  Guest: Alexander Sammon , politics writer for Slate .  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Sl...

It’s a holiday weekend, so the What Next team is taking a little break from the news, and dropping you one of our favorite other Slate podcasts. This time around, we’re listening to One Year: 1990. We'll be back in your feed tomorrow. A middle-aged single dad in Chicago was outraged by all the cigarette billboards popping up in Black communities. In 1990, he picked up a paint roller and became an...