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Host Shannon Palus explores a future in which high school girls stay atop the social hierarchy by editing their genes, giving themselves purple eyes, and glittery skin. That’s what fiction author E. Lily Yu imagines 2060 is like in her short story, Zero In Babel , which was published on Slate as part of the Future Tense Fiction Series . Shannon and producer Cameron Drews read and excerpt of the st...

Henry Grabar explains why the global market for your trash collapsed, and how American recyclers are course-correcting. Guest: Meleesa Johnson, president of the Associated Recyclers of Wisconsin. This show originally aired in April 2019.  Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some of your favorite presidents have tried to pack the Supreme Court. So why does it sound like such an extreme tactic? And how did some of the top Democrats running for president come to embrace it? Guest: Mark Joseph Stern , Slate’s legal correspondent.  This episode originally aired in March 2019.  Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

Joe Biden might be the favorite to defeat President Trump, but that doesn’t mean Biden would defeat Trumpism.  Guest: Jamelle Bouie, New York Times Columnist. This episode was first posted on March 12, 2019.  Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the past several months, tensions have escalated in Hong Kong, Kashmir, and the United States. Each for their own reasons. But what if all these headlines are connected? Guest: Josh Keating, international editor at Slate For more information about this episode please read: • “ The Next Jimmy Aldaoud ” by Chris Gelardi • “ India’s Great Disenfranchisement ” by Namrata Kolachalam • “ Crossing a...

Henry Grabar fills in as host, surveying how the Democratic presidential candidates would try to fix the housing affordability crisis. What kinds of local policies have given rise to the crisis in the first place? Guest: Jenny Schuetz , a fellow at Brookings. Related: Watch Elizabeth Warren explain her plan to boost homeownership among black and brown families . Podcast production by Sam Lee with...

Aaron Mak learns about how law enforcement is using public genealogy websites to crack cold cases. His guest is Nila Bala, Associate Director of Criminal Justice Policy at the R Street Institute, which is a think tank whose mission is to find solutions to complex policy problems. Bala is also a former public defender. She says while it’s great that criminals are being brought to justice, there sho...

When it comes to pedestrian deaths, the Sun Belt is the most dangerous area in the country. Six of the 10 most dangerous metro areas for pedestrians are located in Florida. Nineteen of the top 20 are in the Sun Belt. How is the way we build our cities and suburbs contributing to the problem? And what can be done to try to reduce traffic deaths across the country? Guest: Angie Schmitt , writer Stre...

Activists invigorated by the Women’s March and the Me Too movement are expanding the definition of what it means to be a female political leader. Meet one woman who’s coaching them along the way. Guest: Chris Jahnke , speech coach to women working in politics. Podcast production by Samantha Lee with help from Danielle Hewitt. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up...

Sarah McBride made waves at the Democratic National Convention in 2016 as the first transgender person to speak at a major party convention. Three years and many political successes later, McBride is trying to add another win to her résumé. One that would make her the first elected openly transgender state senator in America’s history. Guest: Sarah McBride , candidate for Senate District 1 in Dela...

Did your heart skip a beat reading and hearing about all the economic news this week? Today on the show we explain just what’s happening in the markets and try to pin down why things are happening the way they are. Plus, we offer a few possible ways to stave off the worst of an economic downturn. Guest: Jordan Weissmann , Slate’s senior business and economics correspondent Slate Plus members get b...

This week the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong escalated, as activists effectively shut down an airport and beat up suspected imposters. Activists show no sign of letting up, even though the local government has withdrawn the extradition bill that initially sparked outcry. How could this possibly end? Guest: Yvonne Chiu , professor at the U.S. Naval War College.  Slate Plus members get bonus se...

In this episode Shannon Palus learns about personalized guns, sometimes referred to as “smart” guns. Her guest is Cassandra Crifasi, Deputy Director at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy & Research. More specifically, Crifasi is an epidemiologist focused on policies, procedures, and practices that prevent injury. She says personalized firearms are great for keeping kids and thieves away f...

Another presidential primary means another trip to the Iowa State Fair. But the Democratic Party’s new rules for thinning down the field of candidates means a photo-op with a turkey leg isn’t all it used to be. Guest: Slate’s politics writer Jim Newell . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The demographics of migrants crossing the southern border of the United States have changed over the last several decades. What used to be young Mexican men seeking economic opportunity has turned into families seeking refuge from broken Central American governments.  Sonia Nazario has spent decades reporting from Honduras, a country where corruption runs rampant and gangs have become the de facto...

In the absence of new federal laws to address mass shootings, school safety has become a design problem. Guest host Henry Grabar asks: How are architects responding to an era of active shooter drills and bulletproof backpacks? Guest: Jenine Kotob , architectural designer at Hord Coplan Macht. Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free po...

Five years ago Wesley Bell watched as protests erupted across Ferguson in the wake of Michael Brown’s death. Bell, the son of a police officer, stood between the protestors and the police as he watched Ferguson descend into chaos. In an effort to make lasting change in the community he decided to run for public office. Seven months ago, he won. In our third and final episode revisiting Ferguson, w...

There are two stories of what happened in Ferguson, Missouri, the day Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson: the story we heard immediately after, and the story we came to know months later. In the second part of our three-part series, we ask: If we misremember Michael Brown’s death, does that change Ferguson’s legacy? Guest: John McWhorter , writer, professor, and host...

In this episode Aaron Mak learns about all the ways China is using cyber warfare to disrupt the efforts of protesters in Hong Kong. His guest is Nick Frisch, a fellow at Yale’s Information Society Project and a scholar of media and technology in the Chinese speaking world. Frisch was recently in Hong Kong as a fellow at the Journalism and Media Studies Center at Hong Kong University.  After the in...

Its been five years since Michael Brown was shot and killed by officer Darren Wilson in the middle of Ferguson’s Canfield Drive. His death at the hands of a police officer sparked protests across the country and cemented the Black Lives Matter movement into the American consciousness. In the first of our three-part series, we ask: "On the worst night of clashes between protestors and police in Fer...

In 1993, a mass shooting in downtown San Francisco prompted a familiar debate about restricting access to guns and assault weapons. But something unusual happened. Two major gun control bills passed Congress and were signed into law. How did it happen? Guest: Harry Cheadle , senior editor at Vice. Read his piece on the 101 California Street shooting. Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Le...

Capital One is only the latest victim of a massive data breach. Equifax announced millions of users were affected by its data breach back in 2017. The fallout from Equifax’s episode is still playing out today. Why is the United States so bad at defending against cyberattacks? And once the damage is done, why can’t we manage the fallout? Guest: Josephine Wolff , assistant professor of cybersecurity...

Advocate Mariame Kaba explains why the Cyntoia Brown story is compelling, complicated, and deeply frustrating -- why it's wrong to portray Cyntoia Brown as a child, why Brown’s story is deeply familiar to black women in America, and why Kaba considers Brown’s crime a radical act of “self-love.” This episode originally aired January 9th, 2019. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informa...

In just over a month, North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District will hold a special election. The Democratic candidate has been running for over two years and following the red state Democrat playbook to the letter. The new Republican candidate is running as the sensible conservative who will defend the president. Which strategy will prevail? What can that tell us about voters heading into 2020?...

In this episode Shannon Palus talks to Victoria Fu and Gloria Lu, co-founders of Chemist Confessions. Their goal is to help us all cut through the marketing buzzwords of the skincare industry, and understand some of the actual chemistry behind the products we use.  After the interview, Aaron Mak joins the show for this week’s edition of Don’t Close My Tabs.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...