Slate News

Old wounds are open again in Minneapolis. The city is struggling to investigate a police shooting from earlier this month, when officers carried out a “no-knock” search warrant and fatally shot a 22-year-old Black man in bed. The victim, Amir Locke, was not a suspect in the crime police were investigating. The shooting comes months after city voters rejected a plan to defund the police, and some c...

In just a few short years, the Chinese fast fashion company Shein upended the way countless young women shop online. It’s approach could soon shape the way everyone else shops, too.  Guest : Louise Matsakis , freelance technology reporter Host: Lizzie O’Leary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Felix Salmon and Emily Peck are joined by Kevin Roose of  The New York Times  to talk about the crypto money launder scheme Heather Morgan and Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein are accused of taking part in; the possible usefulness of crypto; and what’s going on with  Forbes . In the Plus segment: The  Sotheby’s auction  of CryptoPunks.  Mentioned In the show:  “ How The Crypto Couple Went From...

Dahlia Lithwick interviews Rep. Adam Schiff about his work on the Jan. 6 select committee and his fears for our democracy. Next, Dahlia is joined by pre-eminent election-law scholar Professor Franita Tolson, who clears up any confusion about what happened in the shadow-docket order concerning Merrill v Milligan , which appears to have kicked away the remaining protections of the Voting Rights Act’...

Facebook’s first crack at the metaverse has a problem: kids. Underage users seem to be flooding Horizon Worlds, potentially putting themselves at risk.  Is Meta doomed to repeat Facebook’s mistakes? Guest : Will Oremus, technology news analysis writer for the Washington Post.  Host: Lizzie O’Leary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emily, John and David dig into SCOTUS's failure to enforce the Voting Rights Act, the GOP's embrace of January 6th rioters, and protests in Canada. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: John Dickerson for The Atlantic: “The GOP Has No Standards Now” Adela Suliman for The Washington Post: “Marjorie Taylor Greene says Nancy Pelosi leads ‘gazpacho police,’ causing collective spit...

As the Winter Olympics unfold in Beijing, a darker reality remains: China’s abuses against the Uyghurs, an ethnic minority in the country’s Xinjiang region. While much of the world remains glued to the sports coverage, Uyghurs in the diaspora are calling on people to pay attention to China's treatment of their family members back home. Guest: Gulchehra Hoja, a Uyghur journalist with Radio Free Asi...

The Ottawa truckers protest is neither exclusive to Ottawa nor strictly composed of truckers. And its supporters are hoping to head to a city near you.  Guest: Jesse Brown , editor-in-chief of Canadaland. 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 Prudence—and...

With Roe v. Wade on the chopping block, abortion access is under fire in states around the country. At Planned Parenthood’s Knoxville location, the clinic faced that literally when an arson attack burned the building to the ground. How will providers rebuild when the things they stand for are so threatened? Guest: Tory Mills , director of community engagement for Planned Parenthood’s Knoxville Hea...

Until last month, Brian Flores was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, and one of only three Black head coaches among the NFL’s 32 teams. That number has since dropped to one.  On Tuesday, Flores announced he was suing the NFL, alleging that the league's hiring practices are racist. His suit comes almost 20 years after the creation of the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview ethnic-min...

Banks, healthcare providers, and retailers around the world still rely on COBOL, a programming language originally developed in the 1960s. By all accounts the code is powerful, practical, and very rarely problematic. But the small group of people who still know the language are aging out of the workforce.  What happens when there are no more COBOL coders left? Guest : Clive Thompson , journalist a...

This week, Felix Salmon and Emily Peck are joined by management consultant and sports fan Robin Timothy of to talk about Facebook’s sudden loss of users and revenue, why the Olympics are both problematic  and  boring, and the Brian Flores NFL lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in coach hiring.  In the Plus segment: A big gold cube. Mentioned In the show:  “ Brian Flores’ NFL Lawsuit: Can He Pr...

For Spotify, the last month has seen a cascade of controversies around its exclusive podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. Is it time for the streaming service to rethink its role as a podcast publisher? And is it even possible to moderate podcast misinformation? Guest : Evelyn Douek , lecturer at Harvard Law School, and Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society Host: Lizzie O’...

Emily, John and David discuss Donald Trump’s attempts to seize voting machines, the racist attacks on the yet-to-be-named SCOTUS nominee, and they are joined by Joseph Allen, director of the Healthy Buildings program at Harvard University's T. H. Chan School of Public Health, to discuss ways we might update U.S. COVID norms. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Joseph G. Allen...

A popular, outgoing liberal mayor in Silicon Valley is taking on gun rights groups with a splashy municipal ordinance fashioned to curb gun violence—and be the first of its kind. Gun rights groups are foretelling doom for the new law, and the NRA called it a “ridiculous publicity stunt.”  Does this city’s initiative have the hallmarks of a breakthrough on gun violence prevention? Will lawsuits tan...

Cobalt is the most important mineral of the future. It’s a key part of lithium-ion batteries, which power cell phones and laptops, not to mention electric cars. That demand is giving rise to a mining industry in Idaho, which sits atop a giant cobalt deposit. But the environmental costs of extraction raise questions about what “clean energy” really means. Guest: Michael Holtz , freelance journalist...

The expanded Child Tax Credit slashed childhood poverty in the U.S. by an estimated 30%. Why won’t congress revive it? Guest: Jordan Weissmann , writer and editor at Slate focused on economics, politics, and public policy. 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...

No one is happy with the way this year’s Winter Olympics are unfolding. Athletes are frustrated with China’s excessive pandemic precautions. Diplomatic tensions are rising. Are the second COVID games on thin ice?  Guest: Henry Bushnell , features writer for Yahoo Sports. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate po...

This week,  Felix Salmon  and  Emily Peck  are joined by reporter for  The Wall Street Journal ,  Vipal Monga . They discuss the implications of the continued pumping of oil at one of the world’s dirtiest oil patches, how Canada’s housing situation compares with the U.S. and why ‘old’ music is suddenly so popular now. In the Plus segment: The latest on Fintech. Mentioned In the show:  “ One of the...

As Justice Stephen Breyer announces his intention to step down from the Supreme Court, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Judge Nancy Gertner to discuss why now, what now, and who now. Judge Gertner is a former federal judge, member of the White House’s Supreme Court Reform Commission, Harvard Law professor … and she’s known Justice Breyer for decades. They discuss what’s changed on the court and wax no...

Ten years ago, IBM made a gamble. Through a monumental advertising and PR campaign, it promised that its AI technology–Watson–would transform the health care industry as we know it. A decade and billions of dollars later, Watson Health is being sold for parts.  What went wrong with IBM’s “moonshot?” And what does Watson’s failure tell us about the promise of AI for health care? Guest : Casey Ross,...

John, Emily and David discuss Justice Breyer’s retirement. They are joined by Anne Applebaum to talk about what global moves may be coming to address threats to Ukraine, and The Gist’s Mike Pesca covers a round robin of the week's news. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics , by Stephen Breyer  Anne Applebaum for The Atlantic...

This week, Justice Stephen G. Breyer is expected to announce his plan to retire from the Supreme Court at the end of its term this summer. Breyer’s signal comes after a year-long pressure campaign from the political left and others anxious to ensure that Democrats control who replaces the court’s most senior liberal justice.  Guest: Mark Joseph Stern , who covers courts and the law for Slate. If y...

The odds of a Russian invasion of Ukraine are increasing, with thousands of Russian troops stationed near the two countries' border. Vladimir Putin is set on ensuring Ukraine gives up its ambitions to join NATO and the European Union, and it’s unclear how much he’s willing to risk to meet that objective.  How far will the Russian leader go to get what he wants? Is there any way to end the standoff...

Over the last few years, a sleepy southern town has seen its arrest rate grow more than 1100%. It’s not because of a spike in crime in Brookside, Alabama; instead, the town’s law enforcement has adopted a policing-for-profit model that treats citizens as revenue generators and cracks down on them accordingly. In turn, some residents enter debt spirals as the town’s police force rakes in more cash,...