The Waves: Gender, Relationships, Feminism

This week on The Waves, a special episode from Slate's podcast How To! When Leslie landed her dream engineering job right out of college, she was elated but also worried she was a tad unqualified—even though she has the skills and expertise. Since then imposter syndrome has reared its ugly head on a regular basis. Besides being the youngest in her department, she’s one of the only women and the on...

On this week’s episode of The Waves - the freelancing side of acting with Marvelous Mrs. Maisel actress Caroline Aaron . Slate senior supervising producer Daisy Rosario is joined by Caroline Aaron - a familiar face in movies for over forty years, if not a household name. They discuss building a life with an unstable career path, how women’s stories are done a disservice in film and television, and...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, author, journalist, and former host of Slate podcast Thirst Aid Kit Nichole Perkins is joined by journalist Eliana Dockterman to discuss the disappearance of sexuality in recent movies. They unpack Eliana’s recent piece in TIME, “ Why Aren’t Movies Sexy Anymore? ” and try to work through the reasons films that hit the theaters are lacking heat. Hint: One reason...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate supervising producer Daisy Rosario is joined by Texas Tribune reporter Roxanna Asgarian to discuss her book We Were Once A Family: A Story of Love, Death and Child Removal in America and its findings on the foster care system. The book covers the tragic Hart family murders in 2018 where two mothers drove their six adopted children off a cliff.  In Slate P...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior producer Cheyna Roth is joined by New Yorker editor Jessica Winter to talk all about postpartum psychosis. They dig into how the medical world is failing new moms during one of the “worst psychiatric emergencies” and why we need to talk about it more. After the break, Cheyna and Jessica talk about how movies and television have depicted postpartum...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior editor Shannon Palus talks with longtime health and foodwriter Tamar Haspel about her views on weight loss, and why it’s important for feminist to not shy away from the topic. They dig into why crank diets don’t work and often fail in trials, how Tamar changed her mind about “just lose weight!” being good, blanket advice, and how to make conversati...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe is joined by film producer, host of the Hollywood Gold podcast , and Stay Gold Features founder Daniela Taplin Lundberg to discuss the challenges of film production and the importance of movies that tell women’s stories, even when they seem too risky to make.  In Slate Plus, Nadira and Daniela talk about their favorite (surpris...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior editor Shannon Palus talks with Heather Havrilesky about the divine tedium of marriage. They discuss Heather’s book, Foreverland and the explosive response the book initially got (especially when Heather called her husband “a heap of laundry”). Later in the show, they dig into what to do when your husband is truly being a little bit of a patriarcha...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior editor Rebecca Onion is joined by Erika Lantz , host of the podcast The Turning to discuss the impact of ballet culture and the legacy of George Balanchine on dancers of all levels.  In Slate Plus, how ballerinas and nuns have more in common than you think.  Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Tori Dominguez with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosa...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior producer Cheyna Roth talks all about fear with author Erica Berry . They discuss trying to navigate alone in the world as a woman, how one fairy tale tells you everything you need to know about women and fear, and Erica’s new book, Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear . In Slate Plus, Cheyna and Erica talk about how one wolf, OR-...

We’ve all heard the saying: winners never quit and quitters never win. But what if it turns out they do? In this episode of The Relentless , host Kristen Meinzer is joined by two fearless guests who are reshaping the way we think about quitting. First, she sits down with Annie Duke, a former professional poker player, bestselling author, and sought after consultant in the decision-making space. Th...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate supervising producer Daisy Rosario is joined by stand-up comic Blaire Postman to discuss their journeys as women with ADHD, from receiving a diagnosis to the many ways it affects their everyday lives.  In Slate Plus, how Blaire navigated living with ADHD in the pandemic-era social media boom of all things ADHD content.   Podcast production by Cheyna Roth...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior editor Rebecca Onion is joined by NPR political reporter Danielle Kurtzleben to unpack all the fears that come with pending motherhood. They unpack Danielle’s brilliant Substack piece, “A Professional Lady Correspondent Stares Down Motherhood,” their fears of “cool moms” and…the possible merits of ”lean in feminism.” Heavy emphasis on the possible....

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior producer Cheyna Roth is joined by author and Slate editor Dan Kois to talk about men writing women. Dan’s new book, Vintage Contemporaries , is the coming of age story of Em and the two women who had a meaningful impact on her life. Dan and Cheyna talk about how Dan wrote true to life female characters without falling into the #menwritewomen trap,...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate science and health editor Shannon Palus talks with freelance science writer Eleanor Cummins about how to detach exercise from diet culture, and learning to strive toward fitness goals that actually serve them. They discuss two recent pieces in Slate, Shannon’s article on the benefits of slow running and Eleanor’s on why yoga classes cost so much —an how t...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate Money co-host Emily Peck is joined by New York Times writer, Amy Larocca to discuss, as Amy says, the “ menopause gold rush .” They dig into when exactly menopause starts, how younger women embracing their bodies has trickled up to their moms, and the companies that have started aggressively targeting menopausal women - for better and for worse.   In Slat...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate science and health editor Shannon Palus is joined by author and co-host of Maintenance Phase , Aubrey Gordon . Shannon and Aubrey discuss Aubrey’s new book, “You Just Need to Lose Weight” and 19 Other Myths About Fat People , the fraught nature of “body positivity” and the insidious goalpost moving of the Dove “Love Your Body” campaign. In Slate Plus, Aub...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate staff writer  Heather Schwedel  is joined by Slate books and culture columnist  Laura Miller  on the 10-year anniversary of Gillian Flynn’s  Gone Girl . They talk about the initial reaction to  Gone Girl , why the twists packed such a punch, and the enduring impact of the famous “cool girl” speech. Then they explore why, despite many books proclaiming to...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior supervising producer Daisy Rosario talks to comedian and activist Aida Rodriguez about the state of women in comedy. They dig into Aida’s background and what it was like to come up as a woman of color in comedy. They also unpack the sneaking suspicion that women of color are getting fewer and fewer chances these days, and how to turn trauma into co...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, host of Slate’s ICYMI podcast Rachelle Hampton is joined by Vulture’s Rebecca Alter to talk all about those cheesy holiday movies we can’t escape this time of year. They dig into what makes a Hallmark Holiday Movie™ (inns and men who have probably been to therapy are a must), how the movies have evolved over the years and whether their attempts at diversity are...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior supervising producer of audio Daisy Rosario is joined by sisters and authors Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar . Amber and Lacey just released their second book, The World Record Book of Racist Stories , a collection of humorous and sometimes heartbreaking essays about the racism they and the people they know experience every day. Daisy, Amber and Lacey...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate Money host Emily Peck is joined by journalist and author Taffy Brodesser-Akner to talk about Taffy’s new show, Fleishman is in Trouble , based on her bestselling novel. They dig into why men’s magazines are more freeing to write for, how ambition can mess up a marriage, and how midlife crises and divorce are different experiences for women.  In Slate Plus...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior producer Cheyna Roth is joined by author Gabrielle Blair . Blair’s new book Ejaculate Responsibly presents the radical idea that men should take control of the fertility conversation by better managing their sperm. After all, they're fertile 24-hours a day compared to women’s 24-hours a month. Cheyna and Gabrielle also talk about the problem with n...

This season of The Relentless , we’re speaking with inspiring leaders who break through barriers and move fearlessly. In episode two, we meet a social entrepreneur, explorer, and titan of the tech world, Silvia Vasquez-Lavado. As one of the most influential executives in Silicon Valley and the first Peruvian and openly gay woman to climb the Seven Summits, she knows a thing or two about overcoming...

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior supervising producer of audio, Daisy Rosario is joined by actress and director Lake Bell to talk about voices. Bell’s new audio book Inside Voice is all about her obsession with how people sound. They dig into why we should take better care of our voices, how trauma impacts our ability to speak, why candidate voices impact their electability, and m...