This week, host Isaac Butler talks to writer John Cotter, whose new memoir Losing Music tells the story of a mysterious illness that degraded John’s hearing and caused periods of vertigo. In the interview, John explains how writing became a necessary tool that helped him make sense of his illness and his changing world. 

After the interview, Isaac and co-host June Thomas discuss how creative practices can change drastically as people get older and their lives change. They also expand on a writing tip that Isaac mentions in his interview with John. 

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, John talks about how his teaching informs his writing and vice versa. 

Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to [email protected] or give us a call at (304) 933-9675.

Podcast production by Cameron Drews. 

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Folklorist and Harlem Renaissance author Zora Neale Hurston made her hometown of Eatonville, Florida famous in her writing, including her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. But her fame hasn’t saved the town from the pressures that many African American communities have endured: a population fighting poverty, government indifference, and developers that want to scoop up the land to build housing that current residents can’t afford. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by Aallyah Wright, a reporter with Black news non-profit Capital B, who has written about the town’s recent success in resisting developers, and its hopes for the future.

Guest: Capital B reporter Aallyah Wright

Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola

You can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/awordplus for just $15 a month for your first three months.

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On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate supervising producer Daisy Rosario is joined by Texas Tribune reporter Roxanna Asgarian to discuss her book We Were Once A Family: A Story of Love, Death and Child Removal in America and its findings on the foster care system. The book covers the tragic Hart family murders in 2018 where two mothers drove their six adopted children off a cliff. 

In Slate Plus: How Roxanna navigated writing about a tragic family story in a pandemic while being a first-time mom. 

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Tori Dominguez with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery.

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

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On this month’s episode of Future Tense Fiction, host Maddie Stone talks to Annalee Newitz about “When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis.” Annalee’s short story follows a disease-fighting robot—and its companions, both human and crow—on a quest to track an outbreak and develop a vaccine before it's too late. The story was published in December 2018, but now, three years after the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, it offers a look at how public health responses could better reflect the needs of the communities they serve. Plus, Annalee shares how they learned to speak crow language. 

Guest: Annalee Newitz, author of the Terraformers, the Future of Another Timeline, and Autonomous.

Story read by Gin Hammond

Podcast production by Tiara Darnell

You can skip all the ads in Future Tense Fiction by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/plus for just $15 for your first three months.

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When you imagine how science and technology will reshape our future, does it excite you, or scare you, or both? Each month, the Future Tense Fiction podcast will introduce you to a short work of science fiction, one that will challenge, surprise and intrigue you. Then host Maddie Stone will talk with the author to explore how their own experiences with technology—from smart weapons, to electronic pets, to virtual reality—informed their writing and their vision.

That’s every month on Future Tense Fiction, a podcast from Slate, Arizona State University, and New America. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. See you in the future.

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John Dickerson talks with author Chris Miller about his new book, Chip War: The Fight for The World’s Most Critical Technology. They discuss how semiconductor chips became so important, why everyone is so dependent on Taiwan for chips, and what lessons China can glean from what’s happening in Ukraine.

Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at [email protected]. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

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For decades, there has been a stigma attached to remaining unmarried and childless in the Black community, particularly for women. But a growing part of the Black middle class is single, childfree adults. Does the trend threaten the future of the Black family, or is it time to recognize a different model for family life? On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by sociologist Kris Marsh, author of “The Love Jones Cohort: Single and Living Alone in the Black Middle Class.”

Guest: Kris Marsh, University of Maryland Sociology Professor and author of “The Love Jones Cohort: Single and Living Alone in the Black Middle Class.”

Podcast production by Ahiyana Angel

You can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/awordplus for just $1 for your first month.

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The Scream franchise returns to theaters this weekend. Since it first debuted in 1996, the racial dynamics of horror films have evolved. And for the first time in generations of scary movies, African American characters are surviving, killing the monsters, or even slaying as horror villains themselves. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by Mark Harris, the co-author of The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar, to talk about the evolution of Black horror. 

Guest: Mark Harris, writer and co-author of The Black Guy Dies First 

Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola

You can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/awordplus for just $1 for your first month.

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On today’s episode, Rachelle Hampton is joined by Gita Jackson to talk about a video game that has stirred up anger across the internet, Hogwarts Legacy. They discuss the controversy surrounding it, how the game reveals so many holes in JK Rowling’s world building, and why it’s not even fun to play.

Instead of playing Hogwarts Legacy, Gita’s got some recommendations.

Books:

Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer

Vita Nostra, by Maryna and Serhiy Dyachenko

Magic for Liars, by Sarah Gailey

Games:

Persona 5

Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side

Magical Diary

Life Is Strange

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Elden Ring

This podcast is produced by Daniel Schroeder, Rachelle Hampton, and Daisy Rosario.

Subscribe to Slate Plus at http://slate.com/icymiplus

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On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior editor Shannon Palus talks with Heather Havrilesky about the divine tedium of marriage. They discuss Heather’s book, Foreverland and the explosive response the book initially got (especially when Heather called her husband “a heap of laundry”). Later in the show, they dig into what to do when your husband is truly being a little bit of a patriarchal jerk.  

In Slate Plus, a behind the scenes look at what goes into writing the Ask Polly column. 

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Tori Dominguez with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery.

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

Make an impact this Women’s History Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to fund girls in STEM. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more.

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