Slate Daily Feed

Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens are live from Edith Wharton's estate The Mount in the Berkshires this week to discuss the film Idiocracy and its relevancy to this year's presidential race, why people take pilgrimages to authors homes, and how technology is trying so hard to infantilize us.

Culture Gabfest is brought to you by Rocket Mortgage from Quicken Loans. Rocket Mortgage brings the mortgage process into the twenty-first century with an easy online process. Check out Rocket Mortgage today at QuickenLoans.com/culture.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does HR really work for employees — or is it just there for the company? Prudence shares a listener perspective. Then, Prudie and friend of the show Jos Lavery counsel a woman who’s essentially written in just to say how great her life is. A listener asks how to restrain their financially irresponsible fiancé before they both end up broke. Continuing the theme: a husband won’t stop smoking even though his doctors have ordered him to — and he blames his wife for conspiring with them.  And finally: is this what a midlife crisis is like? 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Enjoy this special bonus sketch from our friends at The Second City.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On The Gist, Trump critic and longtime Republican consultant Stuart Stevens shares his bleak take on his party’s chances at winning the White House anytime soon. Stevens was a top strategist for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign and is the author of The Innocent Have Nothing to Fear. 

The Spiel is taking a brief hiatus. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slate’s sports podcast talks to Franklin Foer about what will happen in Rio when the Olympics are gone, and David Epstein about the USA vs. Russia breaststroke dramatics.

Facebook: http://fb.com/HangUpAndListen

Email: [email protected]

Show notes at http://slate.com/hangup

Ending music by mtbrd http://mtbrd.bandcamp.com/ & Flamingosis https://flamingosis1.bandcamp.com/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jacob Weisberg talks to Annie Lowrey of New York Magazine about the word salad otherwise known as the Trump economic policy speech.

Trumpcast is brought to you by Ring. Get 50 dollars off the Ring of Security Kit, which includes the Ring Video Doorbell, when you go to Ring.com/TRUMPCAST.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Josh Levin, Mike Pesca, and Justin Peters talk about NBC’s Olympics coverage, American jingoism, shooting sports, and gymnastics injuries. Then, Justin discusses his part-time job as a beer vendor at Wrigley Field.

Facebook: http://fb.com/HangUpAndListen

Email: [email protected]

Show notes at http://slate.com/hangup

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On The Gist, who cares that Tim Kaine speaks Spanish? Nelson Flores says white liberals might be more excited about it than Latino voters are. Flores is an assistant professor in educational linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania. Plus, Foreign Policy’s Michela Wrong describes some of the more curious memorials popping up in Rwanda. Wrong recently published her first novel, Borderlines. 

For the Spiel, why the news should be fair, but not balanced.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slate's Justin Peters tells you what to watch all week

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Atlanta wanted an end to its public housing projects--no more pockets of

poverty, crime, and despair. In the 1990s, the city started tearing the projects down,

replacing them with mixed-income neighborhoods. The shining success story of this

effort? East Lake, which turned “Little Vietnam” into a safe, beautiful community.

We’ll meet the people who made it happen. When so much can go wrong, how did

East Lake get it right?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices