Slate News
Slate News is a podcast from Slate that provides in-depth reporting and analysis on current events and major news stories. Each episode focuses on a specific issue, often featuring interviews with journalists and experts. The show covers a range of topics including politics, society, and justice. In some episodes, it also promotes Slate Plus membership for ad-free listening.
Episodes
What Next - Will Your Vote Count In The Midterms?
Democrats are excited about the prospect of a blue wave, with their Senate candidates leading races in Texas and Georgia. But beyond the races, there’s a separate issue in those states—how your vote gets counted. Guest: Greg Bluestein, Chief Political Reporter at the Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionJessica Huseman, Editorial Director at VotebeatWant more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad
Slate Money - The Specter of Puerto Rico’s Debt
When Puerto Rico’s debt crisis ballooned into the largest governmental default in U.S. history, Congress stepped in with an unprecedented solution. Felix Salmon is joined by David Skeel, who served as chair on the oversight board that helped the island regain economic stability and detailed the saga of this debt crisis in his book Promise Land. They discuss the ins and outs of government debt, the
What Next - Is This How a Red State Socialist Wins?
Up against #Resistance superstar Alexander Vindman, Angie Nixon overcame a huge spending gap to win the Democratic primary to run for a US Senate seat in Florida. As she now runs in a state-wide election in ruby-red Florida, her message remains the same: addressing people’s needs.Guest: Angie Nixon, Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives and DSA-affiliated candidate for U.S. Sen
What Next - Platypus Economics | The Hidden Force Dragging Down Consumer Sentiment
While the What Next team recovers over the holiday, enjoy this episode from our friends over at Platypus Economics. Mary will be back to her usual feed tomorrow.Americans feel almost exactly as gloomy today as they did in 1980 — when inflation was near 14% and unemployment was close to 8%. Today those numbers are a fraction of that, yet consumer sentiment hit an all-time low. Justin Wolfers treats
Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Grab Them by the Constitution
Donald Trump brags about his boundless freedom while the same Supreme Court that handed him that power has curtailed everyone else's. Confidence in the court has cratered to historic lows, and waiting for a justice to retire is not actually a plan. Could a “shadow court”––a body set up to critique and even to rival SCOTUS—rescue democracy?In her new book, The Shadow Court: Rescuing Democracy f
Slate Money - DiscoDance
This week, we’re talking about a mega-merger, Spain, and artificial intelligence. First up, hosts Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers go deep on the Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery merger. They unpack David Ellison's calculus, the potential ripple effects, and more. Then they look to Europe at the economic woes in Spain and France. Finally, Silicon Valley really, really wants A
What Next - Bonus: What Cornell Says About “Duty Of Care”
How the Cornell University rape allegations show we’re not really “post-MeToo.”This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, v
What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - The Making of Elon Musk
An exchange of insults on X was all that director Alex Gibney got directly from the main character of his new documentary, “Musk.” But by interviewing his business partners, father, wives and girlfriends—and using a bit of movie magic—Gibney takes viewers inside Elon Musk’s head. Spoiler alert: it’s not pretty.Guest: Alex Gibney, filmmaker and director of the documentary “Musk.”Want more What Next
Political Gabfest - Blue Wave or Blue Ripple?
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss where the midterms stand mere weeks out from Election Day, the legal and cultural issues at the heart of the deeply disturbing Cornell University rape case, and the perennial American debate over whether to make Daylight Saving Time permanent.Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: Samuel A. Alito Jr. for The Wall Street Journal: Opin
What Next - What Happens After a Blue Wave
Voters are angry and it looks like they’re eager to express themselves in the midterm elections. But even if Democrats take both chambers of Congress, they won’t have the power to change much—but they will have enough power to be blamed if things continue to get worse.Guest: Jonathan V. Last, editor at The Bulwark Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whol
What Next - What Pablo Torre Is Finding Out
How Steve Ballmer, the richest owner in sports, was caught dead to rights by a humble podcaster, and what lessons the media and public can take from courtside seats to the halls of power.Guest: Pablo Torre, investigative reporter and host of “Pablo Torre Finds Out.”Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Sl
What Next - Hasan Piker and Adam Mockler Are Ready for Something New
From Michigan to Florida to Texas, there are new Democrats in town and on the ballot. But other than novelty, what do these candidates have in common? Guests:Hasan Piker, political commentator and streamer.Adam Mockler, political commentator and YouTuberWant more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts
What Next - The GOP Killed His District. He’s Not Giving Up.
Democrat Justin Pearson made national headlines in 2023 when he expelled from Tennessee’s general assembly while trying to talk about gun reform after a school shooting. That same spirit has driven him to run for Congress, despite the newly redrawn electoral map that erased the state’s only majority Black district.Guest: Justin Pearson, state representative for Tennessee’s District 86, running for
Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Cruel and Unusual, Bought and Paid For
This week, the Supreme Court blessed the torture of a condemned woman, and the court is set to kick off the new term by doing fossil fuel's bidding. So here at Amicus, we’re not really in the mood for a razzle-dazzle “curtain raiser.” Instead, we’re taking a clear-eyed look at the ways the Roberts court is pulling the constitutional rug out from under the American people. First, Dahlia is join
Slate Money - The Personal Finance-sode
Adam Auriemma, author of the Bloomberg Money newsletter, brings his personal finance expertise to the show. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck pick Adam’s brain about how we should think about budgeting, his thoughts on renting and buying in the current housing market, and his take on financial advisors and planners. In the Slate Plus episode: Annuities Are So Hot Right NowWant to hear
What Next - Off the Record: This Bot Was Made for You and Me
Move over, New Deal; Donald Trump is in his public works era, using tax dollars to give the American people a…chatbot and also what looks like a campaign ad for the president, even though he isn’t running for anything, can’t run again, and also can’t use tax dollars to buy ads for himself. Uh, masterful stroke, sir?This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By
What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - ChatGPT Doesn't Love You
A.I. large language models are prompt, attentive, positive and frictionless—in short, much easier to deal with than humans with their own needs, wants, and moods.But, as long as humans aren’t social creatures by nature, this should be fine, right?Guest: Sherry Turkle, licensed clinical psychologist and the founding director of MIT's Initiative on Technology and Self.Want more What Next TBD? Su
Political Gabfest - Meet You at the Hawks Game
This week, Emily Bazelon, David Plotz, and guest host David Leonhardt discuss the GOP's failed witch hunt against Jack Smith and bizarre moments from the hearing, the Supreme Court's decision to allow the Trump administration's cruel third-country deportations to continue for now and broader issues of immigration and asylum, and the mixed bag of a college sports bill that sidesteps the
What Next - Who the "Protect College Sports Act" Actually Protects
Why the NAACP spoke out against the “Protect College Sports Act,” which was just passed by the US Senate—and why the bill is unlikely to get a vote in the House anytime soon.Guest: Alex Kirshner, Slate contributing writer and co-host of the college football podcast Split Zone Duo.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all y
What Next - The Cheap Money Era Isn't Coming Back
In the face of a tariff shock, an energy shock and a fiscal shock, the Fed is opting to raise interest rates. Donald Trump may not like it, but he has only himself to blame. Guest: Justin Wolfers, Professor of Public Policy and Economics at University of Michigan, host of Platypus Economics.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and a
Slate Money - Money Talks: Chasing Ambulances on Wall Street
In this Money Talks: Emily Peck interviews reporter Ellen Gabler about her New York Times investigation into how Wall Street investors are making money on personal-injury lawsuits that drag on for years—with unsettling consequences for plaintiffs. Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe direct
What Next - A Hit of Democratic Hopium
The party that holds the White House always braces for backlash in the midterm elections. But with Donald Trump’s approval rating hitting historic lows and voters furious at his handling of the economy, inflation, and the war in Iran, races that were once considered safe Republican wins are up for grabs. Guest: David Faris, associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University. He’s als
What Next - The Knockdown Dragout Fight for Max Miller's House Seat
Former labor organizer and iron worker Brian Poindexter embodies the emerging blue-collar, practical-minded Democrat type in the upcoming midterms. While he leads his race for an Ohio district Trump won handily, is that the power of his pitch or the mounting allegations against his opponent? Guest: Brian Poindexter, Democratic congressional candidate running for Ohio’s 7th district.Want more What
Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Everybody Out of the Pool
President Trump announced on Truth Social that he was banning CNN, Politico, and MSNow from the White House because he didn't like their coverage. Within days, a federal judge ordered the outlets be reinstated—but the White House dragged its feet. Hours later, reporters were still locked out and a state dinner with President Xi of China went ahead without them. Jameel Jaffer of the Knight Firs
Slate Money - Fabulous, Beautiful Debt
This week: The bond market continues to churn with yields spiking globally. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck are joined by Financial Times journalist Robin Wigglesworth, whose new book, A Fabulous Debt: The Epic Story of How Bonds Built the Modern World, feels particularly relevant right now. Robin recounts the research he did for the book and explains why the history of bonds is mor
What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - Is the A.I. Race Real?
Artificial intelligence is pitched as a potential economic powerhouse—and also a potential bringer of the apocalypse. Can two economic and military rivals cooperate enough to fulfill the former (and former only)?Guest: Scott Singer, fellow and co-director of the China AI Initiative at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free
Political Gabfest - Purposely Negative
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and guest host Juliette Kayyem discuss what we learn from Trump's escalating battle with the press and its track record in the courts, the likely outcomes of this week's Trump-Xi summit with former New York Times Beijing Bureau Chief and host of Face-Off: the US vs. China, Jane Perlez, and the role of voter trust as the midterm elections approach.H
What Next - Off the Record: Draining the Press Pool
Donald Trump announced that he was banning CNN, Politico and MS NOW at kind of a weird time—it’s not like he thought they were doing a great job last year or in his first term or...ever. But with the announcement of something called “Trump TV,” suddenly it all makes sense: it could just be a First Amendment-violating exercise in branding. Guest: Oliver Darcy, founder and lead author of Status News
What Next - Is a Tejano Star's Next Stop Congress?
Donald Trump’s in-roads with Latino voters was one of the surprises of his 2024 victory, carrying places like southern Texas’s 15th district by 18 points. But singer-turned-congressional candidate Bobby Pulido thinks those gains are temporary, and that Democrats have a chance, with sensible policies, to take the district and Congress.Guest: Bobby Pulido, congressional candidate for Texas’s 15th di
What Next - The Fascist Threat Brewing in…Kansas?
Trans rights have become something that’s argued about in the abstract—are Democrats too far out on a limb defending them? Did they cost the Democrats 2024? Should they be more moderate in 2026? But the real-world effects of changing laws are anything but abstract, affecting the basics of public life like your ID and whether you can use the bathroom.Guest: M Gessen, opinion columnist for the New Y
What Next - The Data Center Will Not Hold
Donald Trump owes his political career to saying what no other politician would. But now that he’s standing alone in full-throated support of data centers and artificial intelligence, he looks less like a populist, and more like a liability for Republicans trying to win elections.Guests: Jim Newell, Slate senior politics writer and author of The Surge.Patrick Reis, Slate politics editor.Want
What Next - Why is Everyone Fighting Over... Macklemore?
What it means that Macklemore decided he’d rather keep speaking out for Palestine than continue opening for Ed Sheeran.Guest: Soraya Nadia McDonald, cultural critic and writer. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of
Political Gabfest - Gabfest Reads | The Tax Nobody Talks About: Your Time
David Plotz talks with journalist Annie Lowrey about her new book The Time Tax: How the Government Wastes Our Time—and How to Fix It, an investigation into the hours Americans lose to broken bureaucracy, from 12-hour tax filings to multiyear waits for housing vouchers and building permits. Lowrey traces the waste to what she calls the “ordeal mechanism,” the deliberate friction built into some pro
Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - One Ballot After Another
You’ve seen the headlines about the lists, the claims, the THREE times this same executive order about voting by mail has gone to the Supreme Court. But is Trump’s interference with mail-in voting settled—at least with respect to the midterms? Our go-to election law expert, Richard Hasen of UCLA School of Law, joins Dahlia to unpack what just happened and how this postal chaos alters voters’
Slate Money - Avoiding the A.I. Apocalypse
This week: Everyone is talking about A.I. safety as OpenAI shares more alarming security breaches. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck examine the complicated reality of trying to slow down the A.I. frontier. Then, the hosts discuss Fed chair Kevin Warsh’s unexpected vote to raise rates—in defiance of Donald Trump. And finally, with the SEC opening the door to tokenized equities, they e
What Next - Off-the-Record: Weddings by Kremlev
Don Trump Jr.’s wedding had everything: a private island, fireworks, a Funfetti cake airlifted in from Florida—everything but the groom’s dad. But that’s the advantage of being rich, you can pay for the wedding of your drea—oh wait, one of Putin’s buddies was footing the bill. Ah well, nevertheless…This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not onl
What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - But HOW Might A.I. Kill Us All?
Why did the “Hugging Face Incident” scare A.I. researchers so much? And if they are so confident artificial intelligence needs to be slowed down, why aren’t they slowing it down?Guest: Nate Soares, President of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, co-author of “If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies”Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What
Political Gabfest - Kremlin Wedding Present
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss whether this week's Supreme Court intervention rejecting Trump's mail-in ballot restrictions will prevent midterm chaos, explore the fast-evolving dynamics of public and political anxieties about AI, and dissect remarkable new reporting from ProPublica exposing the Putin-adjacent Russian oligarch who paid for much of Donald Trump Jr
What Next - Who's Interfering in the Election Now
Those concerned that the Trump administration will interfere with the upcoming midterm elections can breathe a little easier this week, as the Supreme Court threw out their plan to have the Post Office muck up mail-in voting. But are we out of the woods yet?Guest: Ari Berman, Mother Jones' national voting rights correspondent.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening
What Next - JD Vance Enters the Mommy Wars
Childcare is expensive and who wouldn’t want to spend more time with their kids? Giving parents money to stay home, on its face, would seem to make sense. But a proposal from the Trump administration isn’t enough to help most stay-at-home parents—and it comes with some glaring downsides.Guests:Dr. Jessica Calarco, Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of four boo
Slate Money - Money Talks: The Zero-sum Mistake
In this Money Talks: Roy Swan joins Elizabeth Spiers to turn the assumption of a zero-sum economy on its head. Swan, the director of the Ford Foundation’s mission investments program, explains why the idea that someone has to lose in order for you to win is not just costing societally, but economically—and how positive impact and positive returns aren’t mutually exclusive. Swan’s new book is Posit
What Next - Is Trump Losing His Touch?
The GOP just held a midterm convention that was centered around the one thing their base seems to really like: Donald Trump. The only problem is that pretty much everyone outside the GOP is blaming Trump for rising inflation, a foreign war, and a stagnating economy—and, oh yeah, Trump won’t be on the ballot. Guest: Greg Sargent, host of “The Daily Blast” podcast and a staff writer at The
What Next - How Ivanka Trump Sparked a Revolution in Albania
There are thousands of people protesting the Trump family every day—but they aren’t Americans, and they aren’t protesting Donald.Guest: Imogen West-Knights, Slate contributing writer based in London.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Fr
Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Capitulation Nation
Capitulation under Trump 2.0 has been devastating to the rule of law. To review a couple of lowlights: One of the nation’s leading lawyers, Brad Karp, cut a deal with Donald Trump in the first days of the bully-in-chief’s second administration that turned out to constitute five flabby bullet points on an unsigned piece of paper. Chief Justice John Roberts is pretending the president is a generic R
Slate Money - The Private Equity Confidence Game
This week: The new book Money to Burn goes deep on private-equity behemoth Apollo Global Management and its billionaire cofounder and former CEO, Leon Black. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck are joined by author William D. Cohan to talk about his reporting on Black’s investment empire and what it means for Wall Street to be dominated by private equity. They also get into Black’s trag
What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - A.I-pocalypse Now?
After OpenAI agents hacked a rival company this summer, the word from Silicon Valley was “That’s it! They’re almost ready to kill us all!” But…are they? Really?Guest: Paul Ford, co-founder of the AI start-up Aboard, technology writer. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Su
Political Gabfest - Pretend I'm on the Ballot
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss why Republicans are holding an unusual midterm convention and what it says about the state of the race at the homestretch, talk about the new book Profiles in Cowardice: A Study of Collaboration in the Trump Era with author Jacob Weisberg, and reflect on memories and historical consequences on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terror
What Next - The 9/11 Panopticon
America didn’t start down the path to a president who is unaccountable to even the Constitution under Trump. He’s the culmination of a change that dates back to September 11, 2001.Guest: Ben Wizner, Deputy Legal Director and Director, Center for DemocracyACLUWant more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate pod
What Next - Did ICE Drive Him to His Death?
Thousands of immigrants who were in America legally were suddenly rendered unemployable and subject to deportation after the Supreme Court ruled that the Department of Homeland Security could end temporary protected status. The effect on Springfield, Ohio’s Haitian community has been devastating.Guest: Carl Ruby, senior pastor at Central Christian Church in Springfield, Ohio.Want more What Next? S
What Next - Dems Can Beat MAGA. Here’s How.
The stage is set for the president’s party to take a real shellacking in this year’s midterm elections—that is, if the Democrats can put together a compelling pitch. What might that look like?Guest: Sarah Longwell, author of “How to Eat an Elephant,” political consultant and publisher of The Bulwark. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Ne
What Next - Question Everything: The Sunscreen Paradox
While the What Next team enjoys the holiday, hear this episode from our friends at Question Everything. Mary will be back in the feed with a new episode of What Next tomorrow.In June, disgraced former Florida Congressman turned right-wing One America News Network anchor Matt Gaetz peddled a novel and dangerous conspiracy to his audience: that using sunscreen causes skin cancer. Gaetz’s guest was N
Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - SCOTUS Rewrites the Rules for One Special Boy
It’s past time to say it. This Supreme Court is helping President Donald J. Trump evade accountability. Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the Berkeley School of Law, joins Dahlia Lithwick to break down the conservative majority's procedural toolkit—standing, ripeness, the Purcell principle, and inscrutable rulings on the shadow docket —and how these doctrinal headfakes are being used to ensure Trump alwa
Slate Money - The $12.93 Billion Emoji Joke
This week: Nvidia joined Silicon Valley’s A.I. investment frenzy and bought Hugging Face for $12.93 billion. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck discuss what this deal signals about the astounding amounts of money being thrown around the relatively niche market of A.I. investment. Then, bond yields are on the rise and the hosts discuss why global concern is rising with them. And finally
What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - Meta Settled. Is it a "Reckoning?"
Does Meta’s $17 billion (give or take) settlement address people’s concerns about social media and its impact on teenagers… or is it already too late?Guest: Paresh Dave, senior writer for WIRED.Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Fre
Political Gabfest - What Is the Bond Market, Anyway?
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss how a narrow Supreme Court majority used aesthetic standing to greenlight Trump's ballroom construction, why bond yields are rising around the world and how that impacts everyone with guest Jason Furman, and how the extradition showdown between Texas and Minnesota over an ICE officer involved in a shooting betrays fraying relations
What Next - ICE Allegedly Shot Someone. Texas Let Him Go
Extraditing someone who was arrested in one state for a crime committed in another state is an extremely routine process—or at least it was. But an ICE officer charged in a shooting in Minnesota was arrested in Texas and, rather than being sent to Minnesota for trial, he was simply released 90 days later.Guest: Quinta Jurecic, staff writer at The Atlantic.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Pl
What Next - Is Scott Bessent in Over His Head?
Inflation is up, borrowing is up, debt is rising. If the bond market is offering a review of the new US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, it seems to be saying “This guy may not know what’s going on.” Guest: Catherine Rampell, economics editor at The Bulwark, author of the Receipts and anchor at MS NOW.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What
Slate Money - Money Talks: The Dinosaur Economy
One-hundred-million-year-old bones are so hot right now. In this Money Talks, Felix Salmon is joined by Salomon Aaron, director of an antiquities gallery specializing in fossils, to explain everything you ever wanted to know about dealing in dinosaurs and why the market has exploded in recent years.Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all yo
What Next - The WNBA's Caught in the Culture Wars
The WNBA is enjoying its most profitable and popular season in league history. At the same time, it’s become another front in the culture war. Guest: Matreyi Anantharaman, staff writer at Defector. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clickin
What Next - Can I Still Vote By Mail?
Donald Trump, Supreme Court justices, states, and even the Post Office are all trading legal salvos over mail-in voting. Where does it stand now? And what’s Trump’s end goal in making mail-in voting—something rural and elderly voters rely on—more difficult?Guest: Richard Hasan, Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law, Professor of Political Science, Director, Safeguarding Democracy Project
Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Becoming Justice Gorsuch | 3. A Lunch Room for Life
With Amicus on a brief summer break, we’re bringing you the final installment of Slow Burn’s latest season, Becoming Justice Gorsuch. Host Susan Matthews enlists Slate’s jurisprudence team—Amicus co-hosts Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern—to discuss Neil Gorsuch’s key rulings to date, his unpredictability, and how this textualist will shape this court (and our country) for decades to come.In t
Slate Money - Canadian Beef
This week: Meta settles with the U.S. states suing the company over teen safety concerns. Emily Peck and Elizabeth Spiers are joined by Scarlet Fu of the new Bloomberg Money (while Felix is stuck on a tarmac somewhere in Canada) to discuss if Meta’s $17 billion settlement is as big of a deal as it sounds, and what this outcome really means for the social media guardrails overall. Then, they turn t
What Next - Off-the-Record: Friends Don’t Let Friends Ruin Vacation
The idea of a big ol’ group of friends taking a vacation sounds so fun…in theory. In practice, though, the museum friends and the beach friends are forming opposing factions, and the vegetarian friend is hovering between malnourishment and total banishment. But these problems have one elegant solution: the parallel play vacation.Guest: Luke Winkie, Slate staff writer and author of “There’s Only On
What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - A.I. Enshittifies Everything (Still)
Through stealing your job or simply tanking the stock market—whichever comes first—the rise of artificial intelligence (companies) is a very futuristic sounding problem. It may have some very old-fashioned sounding solutions however.Guest: Cory Doctorow, sci-fi author, journalist, blogger and author of “The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI.”This episode originally aired June 26. TBD will b
Political Gabfest - Please Do Not Ruin the Post Office
This week, John Dickerson, David Plotz, and guest host Juliette Kayyem discuss this week's Supreme Court ruling allowing the Trump administration to move forward for now with his order restricting mail-in voting, the likely effects of trade wars with Canada and Iran, and what we humans can do about safety as A.I. models rapidly get more sophisticated and autonomous.For this week’s Slate Plus bonus
What Next - How to Lose Wars and Tank the Economy
From the trade war with Canada to the literal war with Iran, US foreign policy seems to have become “flail at whatever Trump says to flail at, no matter the cost.” But the American people are the ones left holding that bill—and it’s adding up.Guest: Adam Kinzinger, former Republican congressman and an Air Force veteran, host of The Kinzinger Report, writes about news, politics, and Trump on adamki
What Next - The A.I. Populist
Intertwined with many Americans’ contempt for data centers is their suspicion of artificial intelligence itself, which is being used to spy on you, being forced on anyone who still has a job, and will eventually, we’re promised, put them out of it. Seems like the Democrats easily could stake a claim as the party that won’t let A.I. wreck the economy—alas, there’s a lot of money in looking the othe
What Next - What Lindsay Clancy Truthers Are Missing
As the trial of Lindsay Clancy over the murder of her three children goes into closing arguments this week, the reactions to the case reveal just how little the general public understands about postpartum psychosis.Guest: Meghan Cliffel, writer, mindfulness teacher, postpartum psychosis survivor and maternal mental health advocate.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free list
What Next - The Progressive Case for Midterms Optimism
Since losing the 2024 presidential election, Democrats have been doing a lot of finger pointing. But with the midterms this fall, it’s time to stop pointing and start saying what you actually believe and why people should vote for you.Guest: Amanda Litman, author of “When We’re in Charge” and head of Run for Something.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the
Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Becoming Justice Gorsuch | 2. The Stolen Seat
With Amicus on a brief summer break, we’re bringing you the second installment of Slow Burn’s latest season, Becoming Justice Gorsuch.When Justice Antonin Scalia died in February of 2016, the Supreme Court appeared to be headed for a 5-4 liberal majority. Instead, a staggering blockade by Senate Republicans and a shocking electoral upset helped steal a seat and clear the way for today’s conservati
Slate Money - P(doom) and Other AI Questions
This week: the Slate Money hosts ask all their burning A.I. questions to someone who can actually answer them. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck sit down with A.I. expert Noah Brier and pick his brain about the reality of all our A.I. fears, the arms race with China, and how businesses are using it now.In the Slate Plus episode: What’s Up With Robots?Want to hear that discussion and h
What Next - Off the Record: We Don’t Talk About Natalie
Nobody objected to Jon Ossoff calling the president disinterested in doing his job. But an off-hand mention of Trump’s “human printer”? That, for some reason, took things way too far.This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slat
What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - Can the Midterms Withstand Prediction Markets?
Hundreds of millions of dollars, desperation for insider info, fury and accusations of conspiracy when it doesn’t go your way—is this gambling or elections? Through the magic of prediction markets, it’s both! Guest: David Gilbert, reporter at WIRED covering disinformation, online extremism, and how these trends impact people’s lives across the globe.Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate
Political Gabfest - Listener Questions
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz answer listeners' questions of all kinds: the political, the personal, and everything in-between. Many thanks to all question contributors: Daniel, Karen, Kelly, Jason, Phoebe, Phil, Alex, Adrian, and Dale! For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David answer a few more listener questions, just to tide you
What Next - How Islamophobia Got Even Worse
Islamophobia has never gone away. And while it has been wielded as an electoral strategy against Zohran Mamdani, Abdul El-Sayed and even Barack Obama, the shameless nature of the Islamophobia coming from politicians this electoral cycle may be a new low.Guest: Mehdi Hasan, Editor-in-chief and CEO of ZeteoWant more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Nex
What Next - Is Tech Dismantling Democracy?
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