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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

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme, Patrick Fort and Micah Peters.

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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.

Corrections: France has the highest borrowing cost in the EU and not the highest debt. French President Macron was seen as the best hope against the far right, not the center right.

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: Owen Dahlkamp for Politico: Exclusive: Anthropic quietly pitches its own AI safety bill to lawmakers; Sophie Hurwitz for Mother Jones: Anthropic’s AI Safety Bill Has an Alarming Threshold for Government Action

John: Erica Pandey for Axios: The dad who gave 22 kids a home

David: Alex Horton and Dan Lamothe for The Washington Post: Exclusive: Hegseth wanted Eisenhower’s globe for his office. His staff broke it.

Listener chatter from Aaron Tax in Washington, D.C.: Jason Fuller, Christopher Intagliata, and Patrick Jarenwattananon for NPR: 'The 101 Plays Itself': This computer program treats the interstate into music; The 101 Plays Itself

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss investigative journalist Bob Woodward's upcoming memoir, Secrets: A Reporter’s Memoir, excerpted in The New Yorker this week. They explore how Woodward's relationship with friend and key source Dick Darman collapsed, journalistic ethics, and whether reporters can really be friends with sources.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, John Dickerson interviews Angela Duckworth about her new book, Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best. This new book argues that the most successful people don’t just grind harder; they reshape their circumstances to make success feel automatic.

Email your chatters, questions, and comments to [email protected]. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Nina Porzucki

Research by Emily Ditto

You can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here.

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Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park.

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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.

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

Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD.

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Clowns have existed in various forms for thousands of years. From the big top to Bozo’s TV show, they used to be beloved figures of amusement and delight. What changed and made so many people suspect and fear them? In this episode, originally aired in 2018, Decoder Ring traces the history of clowns and clowning and finds that both the scary clown and the happy clown are over-simplifications that have more in common than it might first appear.

This episode was produced and edited by Benjamin Frisch. Decoder Ring is produced by Max Freedman, Alesandra Tejeda, and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.

Thank you to Benjamin Radford, Isaac Butler, Jim Bredesen, Andrew Kahn, Aisha Harris, and June Thomas. And special thanks to Daniel Royer for recommending this subject.

If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at [email protected] or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.

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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're not cooked, but “things are just really hot.” Renan walks us through the tools Congress has used throughout U.S. history to rein in judicial supremacy. And, Hogue shares the story she’s hearing at town halls across the country: Americans of all stripes still believe in the Constitution's promise—they just don't know how to claim it.

Later: Our panelists offer clear and concrete steps for reclaiming the constitution.

• Stacey Abrams’ 10 Steps Campaign can be found here: https://10stepscampaign.org/
• Read about Ilyse Hogue’s work on her Substack: https://theallamerican.substack.com/
• Check out Daphna Renan and Niko Bowie’s new book, Supremacy: How Rule by the Court Replaced Government by the People

Want more Amicus? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Amicus show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/amicusplus to get access wherever you listen.

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The latest internet “trend,” apparently, is adult children cutting off their parents. And while there are plenty of spaces on the internet where both children and parents can seek advice and community about their estrangement, the reality is much more complicated, and these digital support groups may be doing more harm than good. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by author Christina Wyman to talk about coming across her own mothers posts in a Facebook group for estranged parents, which she wrote about for Slate. But in a social media world, is there ever such a thing as “no contact”? And how can we stop algorithms and echo chambers from making it even worse?

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.

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

Clowns have existed in various forms for thousands of years. From the big top to Bozo’s TV show, they used to be beloved figures of amusement and delight. What changed and made so many people suspect and fear them? In this episode, originally aired in 2018, Decoder Ring traces the history of clowns and clowning and finds that both the scary clown and the happy clown are over-simplifications that have more in common than it might first appear.

This episode was produced and edited by Benjamin Frisch. Decoder Ring is produced by Max Freedman, Alesandra Tejeda, and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.

Thank you to Benjamin Radford, Isaac Butler, Jim Bredesen, Andrew Kahn, Aisha Harris, and June Thomas. And special thanks to Daniel Royer for recommending this subject.

If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at [email protected] or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.

Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.

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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

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Fill out our listener survey at slate.com/whatnextsurvey

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

Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD.

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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

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Now famous as a New York City nightlife fixture and for his role on Somebody Somewhere, comedian Murray Hill used to keep his personal history private. In fact, the persona of “Murray Hill” started as a drag king character modeled after old-timey comedians. Over time, though, the gap between the character and the man has shrunk.

This week on the show, Murray opens up about everything: his upbringing in Connecticut with a family who could be cruel and abusive, teachers who looked out for him, and friends who helped the real Murray emerge.

His new memoir is called Showbiz!: My Life as a Middle-Aged Man.

The interview with Norman Lear that Anna mentions can be found here.

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If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is [email protected].

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