Slate Books

This month, Outward explores utopian fiction and dystopian reality TV. First, Bryan and Christina are joined by author Theodore McCombs to discuss Uranians, his new collection of speculative stories, which uses queer difference and divestment from the normal as an engine to drive five fascinating tales. Then they’re joined by producer June Thomas to discuss The Ultimatum: Queer Love, Netflix’s latest take on the dating show, which follows a cast of queer women and nonbinary folks as they try to decide who they will marry. Finally, the hosts add some new items to the gay agenda.

Items discussed in the show:

The CBC report on Patricia Ginn of the WindSisters

Uranians: Stories, by Theodore McCombs

More on Karl Heinrich Ulrich’s take on the Uranian

The Ultimatum: Queer Love on Netflix

June on the queerness of portrait galleries

Gay Agenda

June: The Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh

Bryan: That! Feels Good!, by Jessie Ware

Christina: “Radical Desire: Making On Our Backs Magazine,” from Cornell University Library

This podcast was produced by June Thomas.

Please send feedback, topic ideas, and advice questions to [email protected].

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This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss Felix’s new book The Phoenix Economy: Work, Life, and Money in the New Not Normal.  

In the Plus segment: monkeys and immigration policy.

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Patrick Fort.

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Get your tickets for Amicus Live on May 24th. 

On this week’s Amicus, we head to Seattle for a live taping of the show at the Cross Cut Festival with guest Michael Waldman, President of NYU Law School’s Brennan Center. Dahlia Lithwick asks him about his new book, THE SUPERMAJORITY: How the Supreme Court Divided America, and what the ongoing ethics scandals and plummeting public approval for the court mean for our democracy. They also look ahead to next month when the court’s legitimacy may be stretched even further by major decisions that fly in the face of the majority of public opinion.

In this week’s Amicus Plus segment, Dahlia is joined by Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern to talk about the decisions that came out this week concerning pork producers and public corruption, which delivered some surprising and depressingly unsurprising opinions. They also try to figure out how many more times E Jean Carroll might have to sue Donald Trump to halt his defamation demolition derby.

Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show. 

Dahlia’s book Lady Justice: Women, the Law and the Battle to Save America, is also available as an audiobook, and Amicus listeners can get a 25 percent discount by entering the code “AMICUS” at checkout. https://books.supportingcast.fm/lady-justice

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The persistent stereotype that role-playing, tabletop game players are overwhelmingly white is rooted in race, housing, and history. The suburban homes where people could dedicate a surface to a sprawling, multiplayer board game used to be almost exclusively white. And the knights, wizards, and other fantastic creatures in these games were closely tied to European mythology. But a more diverse world of game playing is rising, with more people of color getting a seat at the creative table. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson discusses diversity in hobby games with Aaron Trammell, a professor of informatics at U.C. Irvine. He’s also the author of the new book The Privilege of Play: A History of Hobby Games, Race and Geek Culture.

Guest: Aaron Trammell, author of The Privilege of Play: A History of Hobby Games, Race and Geek Culture

Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola

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Make an impact this Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to fund APIA Scholars. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more.

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Emily Bazelon talks with author author Curtis Sittenfeld about her new book Romantic Comedy. 

They discuss why ordinary guys get to be with famous women, but usually not the other way around, the fun of writing a fictional version of Saturday Night Live, and how to write witty email exchanges.  

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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On this week’s episode of The Waves, we’re doing a very special Mom and Dad Are Fighting crossover with host Jamilah Lemieux. Jamilah sits down with author Virginia Sole-Smith to talk about her new book, Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture. They discuss helping kids accept their bodies in whatever form they take, dealing with our own internalized fatphobia, and more.

In Slate Plus, answering a listener’s question on secret snacking.

If you liked this episode, check out Making Friends As An Adult.

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Rosemary Belson 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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Make an impact this Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to fund APIA Scholars. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more.

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On this episode: Elizabeth talks with Chris Balme, author of Finding the Magic In Middle School. He explains what drives tweens, why this period is fundamentally different than high school, and how to guide them through this transition. Jamilah, Zak, and Elizabeth also open up the mailbag and give some recommendations. 

Recommendations: 

Zak: Watch David Byrne sing When Doves Cry at a karaoke bar

Elizabeth: Professor Noggin Cards, Binder Rings

Jamilah: Florida Man on Netflix

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 Mom and Dad are Fighting. Sign up now at slate.com/momanddadplus to help support our work.

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! 

Podcast produced by Rosemary Belson and Maura Currie.

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Felix Salmon, Emily Peck and Elizabeth Spiers are joined by Semafor editor-in-chief Ben Smith to discuss his new book. They also break down Tucker Carlson’s departure from Fox News and the end of Buzzfeed News.

In the Plus: A throwback to the olden days of blogging. 

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and an additional segment of our show every week. You’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Slate Money. Sign up now at slate.com/moneyplus to help support our work.

Podcast production by Patrick Fort.

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On this month’s episode of Future Tense Fiction, host Maddie Stone talks to David Iserson about “This, but Again.” The story follows Marcus, who is forced to relive his life over and over again in a never-ending computer simulation. Thanks to a glitch, Marcus already knows everything that will happen—but he can change almost nothing. That is until he meets Sara, who helps him break from the simulation’s script. But that, as you might expect, is not without consequences.After the story, Iserson and host Maddie Stone discuss what it would really be like to live in a computer simulation (and why it may actually be more hopeful than dystopian).

Guest: David Iserson, film and television writer-producer and author of Firecracker, a novel

Story read by David Iserson

Podcast production by Tiara Darnell

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On this week’s episode of The Waves, finding friends as an adult. Slate executive editor Susan Matthews is joined by author, comedian, and musician Lane Moore to talk about Moore’s new book You Will Find Your People. They dig into the necessity of healthy boundaries, letting go of old friendships that no longer serve you, and the importance of deep friendships that require work.

In Slate Plus, unpacking celebrity friendships.

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

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

If you liked this episode, check out: Make Movies Horney Again.

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 The Waves. Sign up now at slate.com/thewavesplus to help support our work.

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