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A spike in COVID cases this fall led to new restrictions in several parts of New York. Many of these locations were home to Orthodox Jewish communities which were hard hit early on in the pandemic. Feeling singled out by these new rules, Orthodox communities across the city rebelled and began protesting by burning masks and flouting social distancing guidelines. That anger has given rise to a new...

Two years ago, Mark Zuckerberg held up Holocaust denial as an example of the type of speech that would be protected on Facebook. The company wouldn’t take down content simply because it was incorrect. This week, Facebook reversed that stance. Is this decision the first step toward a new way of policing speech on the social network? Guest: Evelyn Douek , Lecturer at Harvard Law School and affiliate...

Two years ago, Mark Zuckerberg held up Holocaust denial as an example of the type of speech that would be protected on Facebook. The company wouldn’t take down content simply because it was incorrect. This week, Facebook reversed that stance. Is this decision the first step toward a new way of policing speech on the social network? Guest: Evelyn Douek , Lecturer at Harvard Law School and affiliate...

Olivia Troye spent nearly two years in Trump’s White House. In that time, she sat in on meetings about natural disasters, border security - and the coronavirus task force. In July, she announced she had resigned. The White House says she was fired. One way or another, she’s speaking out about what she saw, why she stayed, and what ultimately pushed her out the door. Guest: Olivia Troye , former Ho...

The White House, Senate Republicans and the House Democrats are all on completely separate pages about another coronavirus relief package. With the election just three weeks away, is now the best time to strike a deal? And what would it look like?  Guest: Jordan Weissmann , Slate senior economic and business correspondent. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up no...

Earlier this summer, Senator Kelly Loeffler leaned into a war of words with the WNBA. She may have underestimated her opponents.  Guest: Amira Rose Davis , assistant professor at Penn State and cohost of the Burn It All Down podcast.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the last decade, born from the chaos of the 2008 financial crisis, automated tenant screening has grown into a billion-dollar industry. Now, nine out of 10 landlords rely on automated tenant-screening reports, scraped from eviction history, criminal background records, and terror watchlists, to decide if they can trust potential renters. The problem? Often, the reports contain major errors, m...

Over the last decade, born from the chaos of the 2008 financial crisis, automated tenant screening has grown into a billion-dollar industry. Now, nine out of 10 landlords rely on automated tenant-screening reports, scraped from eviction history, criminal background records, and terror watchlists, to decide if they can trust potential renters. The problem? Often, the reports contain major errors, m...

Who will be able to cast a vote in Texas? And will Texans be able to figure that out before election day -- or after ? Guest: Emma Platoff , justice and politics reporter for the Texas Tribune.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If Vice President Mike Pence does agree to show up at the debate on Wednesday in Salt Lake City, he’ll have plenty to answer for -- in particular, why the White House’s coronavirus task force wasn’t able to do more to fight the pandemic here in the U.S.  Guest: Dan Diamond , reporter for Politico and author of the Politico Pulse newsletter.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcas...

We have a sitting senator with a COVID-19 positive test. We have his opponent, admitting to an extramarital affair. And we have a surge in mail-in ballots, even as absentee rules change before voters’ eyes.  Guest: Michael Bitzer, professor of politics and history at Catawba College.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva...

The president has tested positive for COVID. Does he realize what that means for the rest of us? Guest: Slate’s Will Saletan , author of Bearing Right .  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Spanish-speaking voters in Florida have been exposed to a steady uptick in falsities and conspiracy theories. This misinformation is shared in WhatsApp groups, Facebook groups, and YouTube channels, then amplified by enormously popular local radio stations. Now there are signs that the flood of misinformation is having an effect. Groups that voted Democrat in 2...

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Spanish-speaking voters in Florida have been exposed to a steady uptick in falsities and conspiracy theories. This misinformation is shared in WhatsApp groups, Facebook groups, and YouTube channels, then amplified by enormously popular local radio stations. Now there are signs that the flood of misinformation is having an effect. Groups that voted Democrat in 2...

There have been instances in the past when kids did not go to school for long periods of time. The history and research show that it’s devastating for kids. Will this period of remote learning have lasting effects on the most vulnerable students? Guest: Alec MacGillis , reporter at ProPublica. Read his story The Students Left Behind By Remote Learning in the New Yorker. Slate Plus members get bonu...

Donald Trump has spent the last four years refusing to release his tax returns. When the New York Times published 20 years worth of them, it revealed a possible reason why. The president’s balance sheet listed huge losses, which he used to dramatically cut down what he owed in taxes.  Were these the dealings of a savvy businessman, or an unscrupulous swindler? And what does it mean for the electio...

When you settle in to watch the Presidential debate tonight, maybe you’ll be listening to hear how Trump talks about the New York Times story regarding his tax returns. Maybe you’ll want to hear what Joe Biden has to say about the Supreme Court.  But Rick Hasen, an election law expert at UC-Irvine, says he’ll be listening for something else: how the two candidates talk about the integrity of this...

Over the weekend, President Trump announced that Amy Coney Barrett would be his pick to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. What can we glean from her biography and past rulings about what kind of Justice she would be?  Guest: Mark Joseph Stern , covers the courts and the law for Slate. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Ac...

As of Sept. 24, there are 42 vaccines in clinical trials on humans. At least 92 others are being developed but have not yet gone to trial. For months, the world has tracked the progression of these vaccines closely, with the expectation that once one arrives on the market, we can finally start to go back to normal. But, is that true? Does the world really look much different with an effective vacc...

As of Sept. 24, there are 42 vaccines in clinical trials on humans. At least 92 others are being developed but have not yet gone to trial. For months, the world has tracked the progression of these vaccines closely, with the expectation that once one arrives on the market, we can finally start to go back to normal. But, is that true? Does the world really look much different with an effective vacc...

As Lindsey Graham gears up to push the President Trump's nominee through to the Supreme Court, he’s fighting another battle back home in South Carolina -- for his senate seat. The polls have him neck and neck with Democrat Jaime Harrison, but will deep red South Carolina really go blue? Guest: Megan Kinnard, national political report for Associated Press Slate Plus members get bonus segments and a...

Senate Republicans are almost certainly going to fill Justice Ginsburg’s vacant Supreme Court seat ahead of the election. It may look like Democrats are backed into a corner but they have ways to check a SCOTUS supermajority. Guest: Jamelle Bouie, New York Times opinion columnist  We want to know how you are preparing for the election. Leave us a voicemail at 202-888-2588. We might use your messag...

Megan Brown’s family has worked their land in Northern California for 170 years. Fire was always a normal part of the ecosystem but Megan says, in recent years, “it’s become a monster.”  Guest: Megan Brown , rancher from Northern California Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Friday, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away at the age of 87. Her work as a lawyer and a judge forever changed how women are viewed under United States law. As the nation mourns, her absence sparks a fight in the senate about who is going to choose the next Supreme Court Justice.  Guest: Dahlia Lithwick , host of Slate’s Amicus podcast.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free pod...

For pregnant women in the U.S., there are plenty of reasons to mistrust the medical establishment. Mortality rates are high compared to other western countries, and one-third of women in the U.S. give birth by C-section. It’s no wonder that many women turn to the internet for alternatives.   This week, the story of one woman who was drawn into a network of private Facebook groups dedicated to the...