Slate Advice

At a new job, Jenna was put in charge of some beautiful plants that are imbued with deep significance to their co-workers. But despite Jenna’s best efforts, the plants aren’t doing so hot. Can the browning leaves, flopping stems, and dry soil be nursed back to health before it’s too late? On this episode, Carvell Wallace brings on Maria Failla, host of the Growing Joy podcast and author of Growing Joy: The Plant Lover’s Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants). Maria addresses Jenna and other listeners’ questions on the How To! hotline, breaking down plant care basics and offering up practical tips to make growing houseplants fun! 

If you liked this episode check out: How To Save the Planet, Starting With Your Yard and How To Restore Nature in the Heart of a City. 

Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

How To’s executive producer is Derek John. Joel Meyer is our senior editor/producer. This episode was produced by Sara McCrae and Rosemary Belson.

Want more How To!? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the How To! show page. Or, visit slate.com/howtoplus to get access wherever you listen.

On this episode: Elizabeth, Lucy and Zak are joined by author, speaker, and soccer superstar Abby Wambach. We’ll talk about her new book, The Wolfpack Way, and what it means to raise a little leader.

We also slip in a quick conversation about what it’s like to blend families and become a “bonus mom.” And then, if you’re joining us for the Plus Playground — out now in your podcast feed — Abby answers the hosts’ kids’ questions, and it is precious.

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

In this episode, it’s a Slate three-for-one as Cheyna Roth and Candice Lim join our Guest Prudie (Nadira Goffe) to answer letters from readers about what to do when your partner keeps spontaneously changing your dinner plans, how you should handle the fact that your father is the “other woman” in his new relationship, and how to handle your brother’s incredibly insecure fiancee.

Want more Dear Prudence? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/prudie-plus to get access wherever you listen.

This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, and Jenée Desmond-Harris, with help from Nadira Goffe, Maura Currie, Kevin Bendis, and Anuli Ononye.

On this episode: Zak and Elizabeth are joined by Rachel Riskind, a longtime listener and mom to three Jewish kids. Together, they’ll commemorate Rosh Hashanah by reflecting on how to raise Jewish kids in the complicated world of 2024. Our community had a ton of questions and stories to share on everything from Gaza to fasting to how to explain to teachers that Hanukkah isn't that important.

We’re excited to do more interfaith conversations soon, and we want to know what you think: so, email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus to help support our work.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, WeGovy, Mounjaro and others revolutionized weight loss and chronic weight management. But what does it feel like for the patients who take them?

On this week’s episode of Well, Now Kavita and Maya talk with journalist and author Johann Hari. Over the course of a year, Johann dived into the research and history behind GLP-1 drugs and how they became the latest and most effective way to lose weight. All the while, he was also taking Ozempic himself. 

His latest book Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs takes a personal and research-based look at the revolutionary, controversial rise of GLP-1 drugs for weight management.

If you liked this episode, check out: The Full Truth About Ozempic and Doctors Agree: Obesity is a Disease. The Public Needs to Catch Up.

Well, Now is hosted by registered dietitian nutritionist Maya Feller and Dr. Kavita Patel.

Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry with editorial oversight by Alicia Montgomery.

Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to [email protected]

Want to listen to Well, Now uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Well, Now and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. 

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/wellplus to get access wherever you listen.

The How To! hosts love helping listeners find the answers they need. But sometimes a host needs help, too. On this episode, Courtney Martin and her brother, Chris, open up about how their father’s dementia has led them to upend their own lives in order to become his caregivers. To help Courtney and Chris talk through what comes next, Carvell Wallace welcomes Dr. Allison Applebaum, whose book Stand by Me chronicles her own caregiving journey and her work at Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Caregivers Clinic. 

If you liked this episode check out: How To Help a Loved One With Dementia and How To Make Aging Easier for Everyone

Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen.

How To’s executive producer is Derek John. Joel Meyer is our senior editor/producer. The show is produced by Rosemary Belson, with Kevin Bendis and Sara McCrae.

Want more How To!? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the How To! show page. Or, visit slate.com/howtoplus to get access wherever you listen.

On this episode: Elizabeth, Lucy and Zak help a member of the Slate Parenting Facebook group who’s struggling with wrangling her new baby… and the baby’s very clingy new grandma. Grandma’s struggled with loneliness and is-over-the-moon about the baby. But is it time to set some boundaries? And how many photos is too many?

We also check in on what’s happening in the hosts’ lives right now. And then, if you’re joining us for the Plus Playground — out now in your podcast feed — we’re sharing our favorite educational stuff to stick on ye olde tablet.

If you’re not part of the Slate Plus community, we hope you’ll consider joining! Keep reading to learn how.

Lucy’s check-in: feeling like gauze.  

Elizabeth’s check-in: the major highs and major lows of preteendom

Zak’s check-in: Ami carries a backpack (and more)

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

In this episode, Rachel Bloom (The CW musical comedy-drama series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Netflix’s Death, Let Me Do My Special) joins our Guest Prudie (Cheyna Roth) to answer letters from readers about how to handle a newly sober (and vegan) friend getting super judgy, what to do when you become friends with an ex-boyfriend and then that boyfriend gets a jealous girlfriend, and whether not wanting to listen to your friend group’s constant griping constitutes an intervention.

Want more Dear Prudence? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/prudie-plus to get access wherever you listen.

This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, and Jenée Desmond-Harris, with help from Cheyna Roth, Maura Currie, and Anuli Ononye.

On this episode: Lucy, Zak and Elizabeth answer a question from a listener who’s worried that her preschooler has already encountered a lot of bullying and cliques… so what is kindergarten going to be like? And why are these little kids already capable of being so mean?

We’ll also circle up for a round of triumphs and fails — including an update on Zak’s talking-about-the-Holocaust dilemma.

Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus to help support our work.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

Modern IUDs have been used for decades to prevent unwanted pregnancy and have been extremely effective at doing so.

But they’re not without side effects. With few places to turn, many patients have resorted to TikTok to describe their experiences of painful insertion and removal as well as cramping, changes in menstruation, and mood shifts.

But patients don’t have to be left in the dark. If there was more research into how different bodies react to IUDs, there’s a chance patients can get the care they need without as drastic of side effects.

On this week’s episode of Well, Now Maya and Kavita talk with Dr. Kavita Nanda, the Director of Medical Research for FHI360, on why there is so little research into IUDs, what we do know about them, and how you or a loved one can prepare for a conversation with your doctor about them.

If you liked this episode, check out: Michelle Obama Gets Health Advice From This Gyno. Now You Can, Too.

Further Reading: Why Is It So Hard to Get a Basic Question Answered About My IUD

Well, Now is hosted by registered dietitian nutritionist Maya Feller and Dr. Kavita Patel.

Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry with help from Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola. Editorial oversight by Alicia Montgomery.

Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to [email protected]

Want to listen to Well, Now uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Well, Now and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. 

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/wellplus to get access wherever you listen.