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Last week in Georgia’s 14th congressional district runoff, a Republican candidate who believes in the dangerous and baseless QAnon conspiracy theory came out on top. Marjorie Taylor Greene is now a shoo-in to win a seat in Congress. How did her candidacy get this far? And what does it mean for the Republican party? Guest: Greg Bluestein , political reporter at the Atlanta Journal Constitution Slat...

Having the Democratic National Convention in Wisconsin was supposed to be a way for the Democrats to atone for 2016. Hillary Clinton was the first presidential candidate from either party to not campaign in the state since Richard Nixon in 1972. Wisconsin flipped from blue to red in the last presidential election as rural voters voiced their disaffection with the Democratic Party and supported Don...

One day last month, Samuel Chu woke up to the news that the Chinese government wanted him in jail. Chu doesn’t think he’s in danger -- he’s a U.S. citizen, living in Los Angeles. So how did he wind up on the wrong side of Chinese authorities? Simple: He’s lobbying Congress to support democracy in Hong Kong.  Guest: Samuel Chu, founder of the Hong Kong Democracy Council.  Slate Plus members get bon...

In the early days of internet search engines, Google set itself apart by providing a simple service. A list of links, inviting you to explore the websites that best matched your query. It was a portal to the rest of the internet. But over the last two decades, that mission has changed. Does Google search still take you to the best result for your query? Or does it point users back to its own suite...

In the early days of internet search engines, Google set itself apart by providing a simple service. A list of links, inviting you to explore the websites that best matched your query. It was a portal to the rest of the internet. But over the last two decades, that mission has changed. Does Google search still take you to the best result for your query? Or does it point users back to its own suite...

Kamala Harris is having an historic moment. What does it mean? Guest: Jason Johnson , political science professor at Morgan State University.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The pandemic moves quickly. The scientific consensus changes slowly. Did we waste time waiting for data when we could have adopted low-cost safety measures?  Guest: New York Times reporter Apoorva Mandavilli .  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The U.S. Census Bureau has faced setback after setback. And, this year, who makes it into the official population count is going to be a lot more complicated.  Guest: Hansi Lo Wang covers the 2020 Census for NPR.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This year, the election runs through the Post Office. And we have reasons to be concerned.  Guest: Jordan Weissmann , Slate’s senior business and economics correspondent.  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 past five months, city blocks have been slipping away. Bars are closed; restaurants are half-empty; retail is shuttered. As the country returns to varying states of lockdown, how long can these blocks hold on?   This week: how one commercial strip on Chicago’s South Side is weathering the pandemic.    Guests: Nedra Sims Fears , executive director of the Greater Chatham Initiative Brian d'...

Over the past five months, city blocks have been slipping away. Bars are closed; restaurants are half-empty; retail is shuttered. As the country returns to varying states of lockdown, how long can these blocks hold on?   This week: how one commercial strip on Chicago’s South Side is weathering the pandemic.    Guests: Nedra Sims Fears , executive director of the Greater Chatham Initiative Brian d'...

Even before the pandemic child care was a long, simmering crisis. With the fall approaching and school reopenings in flux, many parents are asking themselves the same question: what am I going to do with my kid? America has solved a child care crisis before, the question is whether the country can muster up the energy (and money) to do so again. Guest: Betsey Stevenson is a Professor of Public Pol...

Schools in Oklahoma are preparing to reopen, but special education teacher Nancy Shively won’t be among the teachers going back to school. Shively, who has pre-existing medical conditions, has been forced to choose between her own health and the education of her students. She says President Trump’s response to the coronavirus has led her to question her support for him and the Republican Party.  G...

Tuesday’s Kansas Senate primary has Republican party leadership concerned. Polls show that Barbara Bollier, a former Republican turned Democrat, stands a chance in the general election against one of the leading Republicans in the primary, Kris Kobach. So much so in fact that a pro-Democrat super PAC has been running ads in favor of Kobach, hoping to face off against him in November. How would a K...

The past couple of weeks have seen some alarming developments in the U.S.-China relationship. Among them is how the United States plans to deal with the wildly popular Chinese social media app TikTok. The debate over the social giant has reached the White House and discussions of what to do about it have ranged from an outright ban to Microsoft acquiring U.S. operations of the app. What makes TikT...

For the last four months, federal and state eviction moratoria have kept Americans in their apartments, even if they couldn’t pay rent. Now, with financial relief in question, and moratoria set to expire, the first of the month might look very different for millions of Americans. Guests: Emily, a resident of Chicago’s Northwest Side Mark Durakovic , principal at Kass Management Peter Hepburn , ana...

For the last four months, federal and state eviction moratoria have kept Americans in their apartments, even if they couldn’t pay rent. Now, with financial relief in question, and moratoria set to expire, the first of the month might look very different for millions of Americans. Guests: Emily, a resident of Chicago’s Northwest Side Mark Durakovic , principal at Kass Management Peter Hepburn , ana...

At the height of New York City’s “hot-spot” status during the coronavirus pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo made absentee ballots available to a wider array of voters than ever before. But state and federal agencies weren’t remotely ready for the deluge of ballots that would be mailed in.  Guest: Washington Post reporter Jada Yuan .  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. S...

Arizona largely avoided the coronavirus when it first reached the U.S., but after a rapid reopening of the state by Governor Doug Ducey, new cases in the state exploded. Arizona now has well over 165,000 COVID cases and more than three thousand deaths. It was briefly the state with the highest coronavirus death rate in the country. Wendy Smith-Reeve left her role as Director of Arizona’s Division...

The Department of Homeland Security was built to protect the country from terrorists. But its mission was always expansive. After the bizarre detainments in Portland, we’re seeing a reckoning with what this super-agency does.  Guest: Jonathan Blitzer , staff writer for the New Yorker.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priv...

Back in May, when House Democrats were teeing up additional coronavirus relief legislation, the Senate majority made a bet. Republicans waited to see if viral spread would diminish, making additional federal aid unnecessary. Instead, U.S. COVID-19 cases spiked. And economic problems mounted. Now, Senate Republicans are far from a consensus on a relief bill, even as coronavirus-related unemployment...

More than any other U.S. city, New Orleans banks on its culture. From music to restaurants to parades, the city relies on a steady stream of tourists to support its many artists and institutions. In March, those tourists stopped visiting. And without them, the fragile infrastructure of clubs, venues, and performances is starting to collapse. Can New Orleans survive the coronavirus? Guests: Patrick...

More than any other U.S. city, New Orleans banks on its culture. From music to restaurants to parades, the city relies on a steady stream of tourists to support its many artists and institutions. In March, those tourists stopped visiting. And without them, the fragile infrastructure of clubs, venues, and performances is starting to collapse. Can New Orleans survive the coronavirus? Guests: Patrick...

Twenty-six-year-old Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by a Louisville Metro Police officer in March. Four months later, and in the wake of mass protests against police brutality, her case is still being investigated. What will justice look like for Breonna Taylor? Guest: Tessa Duvall , reporter for the Courier-Journal Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. H...

The NBA has announced an ambitious plan to restart the season more than 4 months after it was abruptly halted due to the coronavirus. 22 teams have entered the COVID-free “bubble” at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Florida — a state with some of the highest cases of coronavirus in the country. As long as players and staff remain in the bubble, they will undergo regular coronavirus tests...