Slate News

The public scrutiny applied to Facebook has been building for years, as the company grows its user base faster than its ability to regulate its content. But distrust among Facebook employees is also building, as evidenced by the remarkable disclosure of internal Facebook documents by whistleblower Frances Haugen. A crisis of trust could be what undoes Mark Zuckerberg’s plans to dominate the intern...

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 3, Felix Salmon and Emily Peck are joined by  Matt Haber , Newsletter Editor for the Alta Journal, to armchair psychoanalyze Kendall, talk about the daddy issues of the Roy children, an...

This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck and Stacy-Marie Ishmael talk about Facebook’s transformation to Metaverse, how the billionaire income tax would work (and why it won’t happen), and Hertz’s new deal with Tesla.  In the Plus segment: How a butt dial blundered a coup. Mentioned In the show:  “ Why Hertz’s big Tesla deal is such a blockbuster ” by Rebecca Heilweil “ Democrats’ billionaire tax would...

The bots aren’t just buying cool sneakers. They’re buying concert tickets. Tickets to basketball games and Broadway shows. At the beginning of the pandemic, they were buying hand sanitizer and face masks. And later, they were booking vaccine reservation spots. Why are bots taking over certain markets? And is there anything we can do to slow them down? Guests :  Derreck Johnson , designer at Slate...

The bots aren’t just buying cool sneakers. They’re buying concert tickets. Tickets to basketball games and Broadway shows. At the beginning of the pandemic, they were buying hand sanitizer and face masks. And later, they were booking vaccine reservation spots. Why are bots taking over certain markets? And is there anything we can do to slow them down? Guests :  Derreck Johnson , designer at Slate...

Emily, John and David talk about the Facebook Papers; Building Back (somewhat) Better; and are joined by author Pamela Paul to talk about the trivial and serious sides of her new book: 100 Things We've Lost to the Internet. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Casey Newton for Platformer on Substack: “ How The American Internet Is Turning European ” Farhad Manjoo for The New Y...

Last week, five members of Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s Veterans Advisory Council publicly stepped down. In their resignation letter, they claimed that they were just “window dressing for her image” and called her “one of the principal obstacles to progress.” One of those veterans explains why she finally said enough.    Guest: Sylvia González Andersh, former member of Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s Veteran...

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funds many, if not most, of the world’s global health initiatives, so much so that the Foundation has become one of the most influential deciders of global health policy. With the distribution of vaccines to developing countries all but completely failing, how do we assess the Gates’ culpability? And is it time to imagine another model for global health cooper...

Sharifa Abbasi knows exactly what it’s like to board a plane to a new country. She immigrated from Afghanistan to the U.S. with her family in 1993. Now, she’s helping other Afghans navigate the complicated red tape of American immigration law after the Taliban takeover. For these immigrants, coming to America wasn’t easy -- being able to stay here might prove even harder. Guest: Sharifa Abbasi , i...

Last weekend, 17 foreign missionaries living in Haiti were taken hostage by a criminal gang demanding million-dollar ransom payments. Kidnappings have become routine in Haiti over the past two years, as the national government has weakened in the wake of years of foreign influence, corruption, persistent poverty, natural disasters, and political upheaval. But the latest mass abduction of so many A...

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 2, Felix Salmon and Emily Peck are joined by author and rich people expert  Kurt Anderson , to talk about and whether Logan is in a decline, Kendal’s big speech, and those doughnuts.   ...

Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of Berkeley Law School at the University of California to discuss a pair of brief opinions from the Supreme Court on qualified immunity for the police that came down this week. They hint that the high court may be ready to expand police immunity from lawsuits. Dean Chemerinsky’s new book, Presumed Guilty: How the Supreme Court Empowered the Polic...

This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck and Stacy-Marie Ishmael talk about ad tracking and big changes at Apple, what’s going on with tuna bonds, and big businesses buying up real estate. In the Plus segment: Legacy admissions.  Mentioned In the show: “ Snap’s Stock Plummets as It Blames Apple’s Privacy Changes for Hurting Its Ad Business ” by Sarah E. Needleman “ Zillow pauses homebuying as tech-powe...

Between April and June of this year, Zillow bought nearly 4,000 homes. And they had no intention of holding onto them. The plan was to flip houses, often and at scale, joining the ranks of companies like Opendoor and Offerpad, also known as iBuyers.  So, why did Zillow put their plans on pause last weekend? Can online middlemen really change the way we buy and sell houses? Guests :  Tony Santos, h...

Between April and June of this year, Zillow bought nearly 4,000 homes. And they had no intention of holding onto them. The plan was to flip houses, often and at scale, joining the ranks of companies like Opendoor and Offerpad, also known as iBuyers.  So, why did Zillow put their plans on pause last weekend? Can online middlemen really change the way we buy and sell houses? Guests :  Tony Santos, h...

Emily, John and David discuss Steve Bannon’s contempt of Congress, supply chain woes, and Americans pro-actively leaving their jobs. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Jordan Weissmann for Slate: “ The Absolute Simplest Explanation for America’s Supply Chain Woes ” David J. Lynch for The Washington Post: “ Inside America’s Broken Supply Chain ” Derek Thompson for The Atlanti...

Once an obscure legal doctrine, the practice of qualified immunity for police has drawn widespread public scrutiny in the past year. But as mainstream support for ending qualified immunity grows, police unions are amping up their opposition.  Guest: Kimberly Kindy , national investigative reporter for The Washington Post. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plu...

Virginia’s gubernatorial election is just weeks away, with former Virginia governor, Democrat Terry McAuliffe, vying against newcomer Republican Glenn Youngkin. Many polls show a slim margin between the two candidates, as they spar over issues like critical race theory and Trump’s legacy in an election seen as a bellwether for the upcoming midterm elections. Guest: Ben Paviour , state politics rep...

Colin Powell, known as a “trailblazer” and “pathbreaker” in his military career, leaves behind a complicated legacy. The four-star general became a household name during the first Gulf War as the first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and later the first Black secretary of state. Thirty years after his rise to national prominence, Powell’s death has prompted reflections on the Iraq War...

Democrats spent months fretting last year about the Postal Service and the fate of democracy. Now the Democrats are in charge. So why is the mail slowing down? And could planned changes fix what ails the Postal Service? Guest: Jacob Bogage , business reporter for the Washington Post.  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads o...

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 the series premier, Felix Salmon and Emily Peck are joined by Janine Gibson , assistant editor of Financial Times to talk about Geri's glass cliff promotion, who might be going to jail, and all...

This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck and Stacy-Marie Ishmael talk about spoiled customers acting out, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva and the scandal plaguing her job position, and a new poll finding that a third of households making less than $50,000 in the U.S. lost or spent their savings during the pandemic.  In the Plus segment: The Coinbase proposal for an entirely new regulation system for cry...

Over the last month, the domain company Epik and the streaming service Twitch have fallen prey to massive-scale hacks. The hackers revealed not just email addresses, but detailed personal information too. For Twitch, it was the entire source code for their site.  But the attackers aren’t holding this data for ransom. In fact, they don’t seem to want much of anything. What’s motivating this new wav...

Over the last month, the domain company Epik and the streaming service Twitch have fallen prey to massive-scale hacks. The hackers revealed not just email addresses, but detailed personal information too. For Twitch, it was the entire source code for their site.  But the attackers aren’t holding this data for ransom. In fact, they don’t seem to want much of anything. What’s motivating this new wav...

Emily, John and David discuss the ways that U.S. democracy is in peril, the Democrats‘ strategy woes, and they are joined by author Andrea Elliott to talk about her new book Invisible Child. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Ezra Klein for The New York Times: “ David Shor Is Telling Democrats What They Don’t Want to Hear ” Jamelle Bouie for The New York Times: “ Bill Clinto...