Slate News

Dahlia Lithwick is joined by leading environmental lawyer and Harvard professor Richard Lazarus , author of The Rule of Five: Climate History at the Supreme Court , to discuss cases currently flying under many court-watchers’ radar, which could have a huge impact on our ability to respond to climate change.  In our Slate Plus segment, Slate’s senior jurisprudence editor Nicole Lewis joins Dahlia t...

This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck and Stacy-Marie Ishmael are joined by author  Christopher Mims  to talk about his new book,  Arriving Today , what’s really going on with the supply chain crisis, the logistics of how Amazon works, and the crazy story of a crypto group trying to get a copy of the U.S. Constitution at auction.    In the Plus segment: The people you don’t think about in the supply...

Over the weekend, Russia tested a new weapon​​—a type of missile that can fly into space and destroy a satellite in orbit.  The test created thousands of pieces of debris, which will hurtle around the Earth’s orbit for years to come. What’s the real risk of the rapid increase in space junk? And is there anything to be done about it? Guest : Laura Grego , Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at MIT Host...

John, Emily and David discuss Biden’s approval numbers, authoritarianism on the rise, and they are joined by author Jay Caspian Kang to talk about his new book, The Loneliest Americans. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: FiveThirtyEight, Latest Polls  Isaac Chotiner for the New Yorker: “ Can Biden’s Agenda Survive Inflation? ” Jason Furman for the Wall Street Journal: “ ​​Bi...

Beto O’Rourke is running to replace Greg Abbott as governor of Texas. Though it’s his first time in this particular race, you’d be forgiven for thinking, “again?”  Where does this habitually-losing smooth-talking Irish-guy-with-a-bordertown-nickname fit into a state with changing demographics and an incumbent governor under assault from both the right and left? Is Beto building a coalition, or hea...

After dragging its feet on reopening schools this winter, the San Francisco Unified School District school board is under fire. Their every decision is being scrutinized by angry parents and three of its members are facing recall elections. What happens when the school board debate comes to the Bay?  Guest: Jill Tucker , education writer for the San Francisco Chronicle.  If you enjoy this show, pl...

Members of an Orange County mosque noticed a new convert was asking some strange questions. He turned out to be an FBI informant. Will the Supreme Court allow the bureau to be held accountable?  Guest: Rowaida Abdelaziz , national reporter covering Islamophobia & immigration for HuffPost. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like ze...

You’ve likely heard about the great resignation -- this moment when millions of workers across the country have handed in their notice. Sometimes, people left because they were overworked. Sometimes, it’s because they wanted to change paths, or make more money elsewhere. But for every employee quitting, there’s an employer being quit on . These are stories from the great resignation: Who’s quittin...

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. For Episode 5, Felix Salmon and Emily Peck are joined by Edmund Lee ,  longtime media industry reporter  for  The New York Times  to talk about the real-life influences behind Sandy and Sandy, the...

This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck and Stacy-Marie Ishmael talk about the deconglomeration of Johnson & Johnson and General Electric, the impact worker revenge has on inflation, and Elon Musk’s big Twitter poll costing him ten percent of his stocks. In the Plus segment: Talking on background.  Mentioned in the show:  “ ’It’s a walkout!’ Inside the fast-food workers’ season of rebellion ” by G...

A recent poll showed that about a third of parents of younger children would get their kids vaccinated, a third would not, and the final third said they wanted to wait and see how the vaccines worked. Public health officials are asking: what will it take to convince that third group that now is the time to vaccinate?  Guests : Julie Hamill Dr. Aaron Carroll , pediatrician and professor of pediatri...

John and David are joined by guest host Ruth Marcus to discuss Biden’s infrastructure win, Trump’s January 6 obstruction, and the Rittenhouse trial. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Adie Tomer, Joseph W. Kane, Caroline George, and Andrew Bourne, for The Brookings Institution: “ America Has An Infrastructure Bill. What Happens Next? ” Ruth Marcus for the Washington Post: “...

Last Friday, a surging crowd killed at least eight people and left hundreds injured at Travis Scott’s music festival Astroworld in Houston. Public uproar over the needless deaths has placed responsibility at the rapper’s feet - and at those of police officers who failed to intervene and shut the show down. How did Scott’s signature “raging” spill over into a mass casualty event? And how do we teas...

The Los Angeles City Council has passed a new policy giving Council members the power to target specific encampments for cleanup. While the effort might eventually result in less visible homelessness in some parts of the city, critics say it might be more in service of political gain than anything else. Guest: Benjamin Oreskes , reporter at the LA Times. If you enjoy this show, please consider sig...

Minneapolis voters have rejected a referendum to dissolve and replace their police department by a dramatic 12-point margin. The election result reflects a different mood from what the city saw a year ago, when protesters booed the mayor for resisting the movement to defund the police. Why were the planned police reforms so unpopular in the city where George Floyd’s murder sparked an international...

In mid-October, Mayor Bill DeBlasio announced that New York City municipal workers would have just nine days to get the COVID vaccine or risk being put on unpaid leave. Thousands of workers showed up the next week to protest the mandate. A week after the hammer came down, did Mayor DeBlasio correctly call their bluff?  Guest: Eric Lach , staff writer for The New Yorker. If you enjoy this show, ple...

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. For Episode 4, Felix Salmon and Emily Peck are joined by Michael Mechanic , author of  Jackpot: How the Super-Rich Really Live – and How Their Wealth Harms Us All  to talk about the arrival of Adri...

John Dickerson talks with Kirsten Powers about her new book Saving Grace: speak your truth, stay centered and learn to coexist with people who drive you nuts. Powers offers advice about on how to navigate the toxic divisions within our culture without compromising personal convictions and emotional well-being. Kirsten Powers  is a New York Times bestselling author, USA Today columnist, and senior...

Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Elizabeth Wydra, President of the Constitutional Accountability Center, a think tank, law firm, and action center dedicated to the project of using the original text, purpose and history of the Constitution to achieve progressive outcomes. Together, they take us inside the chamber for the big cases at the Supreme Court this week, concerning guns and abortion.  In our S...

This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck and Stacy-Marie Ishmael talk about a recent CNN segment claiming milk has gone from $1.99 per gallon to $2.79 per gallon, the United Nations climate summit in Scotland, and the conflict surrounding the Penguin Random House merger attempt with Simon & Schuster.  In the Plus segment: Holding a tungsten cube.    Email:  slatemoney@slate.com Podcast production b...

In schools across the country, tighter digital controls were put in place to keep kids on task during the pandemic. Are they here to stay? Guests : Priya Anand , reporter at Bloomberg Host: Lizzie O’Leary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

NYTimes columnist Ross Douthat joins the show to help untangle the implications of the off-year elections and John, Emily and David discuss the Supreme Court arguments on abortion in Texas and guns in New York. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: The Deep Places: A Memoir of Illness and Discovery , by Ross Douthat Emily Bazelon for The New York Times: “ It’s Amy Coney Barrett...

Democrats suffered major losses in local and state elections this week. Are the results a harbinger for the party’s fate heading into the 2022 midterms?  Guest: Jim Newell , Slate’s senior politics writer. 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—an...

It’s been over four years since white supremacists gathered in a violent and deadly demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia. Now, nine people are suing the organizers and groups involved with the Unite the Right rally as they try to prove the protest was a conspiracy to commit racially-motivated violence. This isn’t the first time white supremacists have been taken to court -- but could this tr...

India Walton won the Democratic primary for Mayor of Buffalo, New York, in June. Her victory put her on track to become the first socialist mayor in the city’s history, and the first nationwide in more than half a century. The only problem is, her opponent - current mayor Byron Brown - refuses to bow out, and is waging a well-funded write-in campaign in the hopes of keeping his post. How has a sel...