Slate News

Live from Virginia Public Media in Richmond, Mary Harris sat down with Reveal's Al Letson and On the Media's Micah Loewinger to discuss contentious interviews, Pentagon influencers, sifting through the Trump news cycle, and the journalism cliches they love to hate.

Guests: Al Letson, host of Reveal

Micah Loewinger, co-host of On the Media

This episode is a Slate Plus exclusive. 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 t...

Everyone wants A.I. to be regulated—including the major A.I. companies like Anthropic and OpenAI. There’s just one problem… they want to have a say in what regulation looks like for their industry. Doesn’t that defeat the whole point?

Guests: Cal Newport, Full Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University

Take our listener survey at slate.com/whatnextsurvey

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 Po...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss whether Trump is as unpopular as polls suggest and what this means for the midterms, the causes and consequences of the riots in France with Paris-based journalist Rachel Donadio, and how a seemingly trivial courtroom fight over the fate of the East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, D.C. is an important illustration of the lawlessness that defines Trumpism.

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: Owen Dahlkamp for Politico: Exclusive: Anthropic quietly pitches its own AI safety bill to lawmakers; Sophie Hu...

The sexual assault allegations against seven Cornell fraternity members has sparked a debate about the role of Greek life on college campuses. But maybe the solution is to get rid of it, full stop?

Guests: Susan Matthews, executive editor at Slate.

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 our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you...

Trump has long harbored resentment towards Ukraine. But his latest olive branch to Putin marks a turning point in how he views the region—and how Ukrainians view us.

Guests: Romeo Kokriatski, managing editor of New Voice of Ukraine

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 our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

Stacey Abrams, Ilyse Hogue, and Daphna Renan join Dahlia Lithwick in conversation for a live By The People finale.

This is part five of our series on popular constitutionalism, the idea that the Constitution belongs to the people—and not just to nine justices. Our listeners showed up with stories: a 62-year-old heading to law school, an 8th-grade teacher emailing her senators, an artist drawing the court, and a woman literally knitting the Constitution. They also came with questions for our guests: What about court expansion? What about term limits? Is it just too late? Abrams argues we...

One thing that’s clear about this midterm cycle? Voters are mad about Trump. The war in Iran and an affordability crisis back home are paving the way for a blue wave. And yet, despite his universally loathed policies, Trump’s core base still loves him… which puts the GOP in a tight spot if the Democrats retake congress and beyond.

Guests:

Isaac Saul, founder of Tangle News

Jamelle Bouie, columnist at the New York Times

Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the...

The last time Nebraska sent a non-Republican to the US Senate, George W. Bush joked that his nickname was “Dino”—for Democrat-in-name-only. But this year, independent Dan Osborn has a narrow lead on the GOP incumbent. But don’t call Osborn a Democrat-in-all-but-name.

Guest: Dan Osborn, independent running for US Senate in Nebraska

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 our show page. Sign u...

On Monday, the Justice Department raided a sitting congresswoman's D.C. home to build a denaturalization case. Andrew Weissmann joins Dahlia Lithwick to explain the new depths being plumbed by Trump’s DOJ.

ICE executed an early morning search of Rep. Ilhan Omar's D.C. home—apparently targeting immigration statements made when she was 12 years old, by a father who is now deceased—all in service of a reported plan to strip her of her citizenship and deport her. Weissmann, lead prosecutor in Robert S. Mueller’s Special Counsel’s Office from 2017 to 2019 and chief of the Fraud Sect...

This week: Inflation is going bananas (unless you’re talking about the actual fruit.) First up, hosts Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers dig into what is causing inflation and why bananas should actually cost more than they do. Then, Meta wants everyone to play with its new A.I. model but is the cuteness covering up something sinister? Finally, why Kelly Clarkson really doesn’t get that Brooklyn magic shop’s whole deal.

Mentioned in the episode:

‘America’s Favorite Fruit Is Being Bruised by the Iran War’, from The New York Times

...

For this month’s edition of Gabfest Reads, John Dickerson interviews Angela Duckworth about her new book, Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best. Her previous best-selling book, Grit, explored the idea that passion and perseverance drive success. This new book argues that grit is not enough to succeed. Yes, grit matters, but the real game-changer is your situation, that is, the objects within reach, the people around you, the physical and social environment that you inhabit.

Duckworth reveals how the most successful people don't just grind harder; they reshape their circumstances to...

Perimenopause’s journey from little-understood phase before menopause to the subject of every ad on social media for women of a certain age was quick—and impossible to imagine without the internet.

Guest: Kate Knibbs, 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 Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.<...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss what the evidence beyond polling signals for the impending midterm elections, how Trump betrayed Ukraine with his sudden deal over Russian diesel and Starshield restrictions for Ukrainian operations, and how the chilling federal raid on Rep. Ilhan Omar's home is part of the administration's escalating attempt to build a case for stripping her citizenship.

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: Danny Funt for Columbia Journalism Review: ‘I’m Not Going to Have Blood on My Hands’

John: The Human Tr...

Our current fascists are obsessed with the apocalypse—it drives everything they do, from stoking anti-immigration fervor around the world to wanting to colonize Mars. But why run from our beautiful planet when we can still fight?

Guest: Naomi Klein, co-author of End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World.

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 our show page. Sign u...

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-Constitution

Jessica Huseman, Editorial Director at Votebeat

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 o...

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. Senate.

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 Ap...

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 idea of state bankruptcy, and what lessons can be learned for future legislation.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 this like a detective case: the standard economic statistics predict sentiment should sit around 82, but the actual reading is 52 — a 30-point gap begging for an explanation.

Hosted on Acas...

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 from the Supreme Court, Fordham law professor Julie Suk argues that the court isn't just making some bad decisions—it's working exactly as designed. Drawing on constitutional courts in democracies...

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.I. in schools. But pretty much everyone else is unconvinced.

In the Slate Plus episode: Stocks for Kids!

Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Pl...

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, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.

Paige Osburn is the senior...

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 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 b...

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: Opinion: Commentary: Justice Samuel Alito: Even Originalists Make Mistakes

John: Hamed Aleaziz, David A. Fahrenthold, Nicholas Nehamas, Tyler Pager, and Niraj Chokshi for The Ne...

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 whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of...

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 Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnext...

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 YouTuber

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 our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get...

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 Congress.

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 cli...

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 Now

Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You...

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 joined by Corinna Barrett Lain, author of Secrets of the Killing State: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection, to discuss the botched execution of Christa Pike. After th...

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 joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcas...

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? 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 c...

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 key question of whether college athletes count as employees.

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: A Woman's Work: Reclaiming the Radical History of Mothering by Elinor Cleghorn

Da...

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 your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at sla...

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 across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up n...

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 also the author of The Kids Are All Left and It’s Time to Fight Dirty.

Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the...

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 directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

Hosted on Acast. See acas...

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 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...

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 more interesting than you might think. They also discuss the state of theTreasury market now and, naturally, what makes debt beautiful.

In the Slate Plus episode: The $60 Loaf of Bread

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 First Amendment Institute joins Dahlia Lithwick to explain the First Amendment and due-process arguments at the heart of the case, why the administration's national security justification fell apart in court, and what it me...

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 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 our show page. Sign up now...