Slate Debates

Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay get into the war between em dashes and artificial intelligence. Back in 2024, what started as a developer question became an all-out grammar war, with the use of em dashes becoming a possible indicator that something was written using ChatGPT. In the past week alone, several writers have published their defenses of the em dash and how we shouldn’t let ChatGPT ruin our favorite keyboard shortcut. However, the em dash may be a symptom of a bigger issue: have our AI detection skills gotten worse? Or, are we all doomed to be tricked by a hyphen or two?

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

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On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by senior supervising producer Daisy Rosario to talk about Kendra, the woman whose 25-part TikTok series about falling in love with her psychiatrist has captivated the internet. However, what viewers thought would be the next Reesa Teesa “Who The Fuck Did I Marry?” series turned out to be something much more complicated, as Kendra’s story went from suspicious to downright troubling. Now, TikTok is diagnosing Kendra with mental health issues, while still consuming her content like entertainment.

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

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

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On today’s episode, hosts Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay are joined by Slate staff writer Aymann Ismail to discuss the controversial YouTube channel, Jubilee. A video of political commentator Mehdi Hasan debating 20 far-right republicans has gone viral, but as Ismail argues in his piece for Slate, it also crossed a line. When political disagreement becomes content and extremism is rewarded with clicks, everybody loses. 

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

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

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Kate Lindsay and Candice Lim discuss the latest in Labubu-land, from a TikTok blackface controversy to leaving one on an iconic anti-capitalist’s grave. Then, they dive into the growing trend of fanfiction getting a big marketing push from the publishing world. From Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis starting as Reylo fanfic to Julie Soto basing her latest novel on a Dramione ship, traditional publishing is reaching into the channels of AO3, Tumblr, and Wattpad to find their next big hit. But what do we lose when our favorite fanfictions get taken mainstream? And is it good or bad for the community they originated from?

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

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

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Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay investigate the disappearance of SylvanianDrama. The creator behind the account gained millions of followers for role-playing salacious narratives with the fuzzy Calico Critters children’s toys, but a copyright lawsuit from the brand itself has threatened the future of the account. Fans of SylvanianDrama are in an uproar, but the story isn’t black and white. Instead, it’s a warning for all of us about how personal posts online could end up paying professional consequences.

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

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

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Kate Lindsay and Candice Lim parse through the annoying practice of logging in and downloading apps. From hiking in the woods to brushing our teeth, it seems like we can’t do anything online these days without being prompted to make an account or download an app. Why do tech companies pressure us to log in all the time? And if we log out, why do they shame us into downloading apps for fast food places and refrigerators? But first, what’s the “Gen-Z Stare” and is this simply TikTok creating another intergenerational conflict? 

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

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

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Candice Lim is joined by Dazed senior writer Laura Pitcher to discuss her piece, “Meet the people using ChatGPT as their therapist.” Since ChatGPT’s public release in late 2022, there has been a growing reliance on the artificially intelligent chatbot in people’s everyday lives. TikTok users are talking about the way they use ChatGPT as their therapist, their best friend, their life organizer, and more. But is reliant, daily use of an AI service worth possible consequences such as climate change, loneliness, and data privacy concerns? On today’s episode, ICYMI dives into the unexpected ways people have been using ChatGPT and whether we can predict its role in the near future.

This podcast episode was produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario and Candice Lim, with production assistance from Alexandra Botti and Kat Hong.

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Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay are joined by Slate senior tech editor Tony Ho Tran to parse through what Meta’s victory in a recent AI lawsuit means for its users. Tools like ChatGPT are becoming more common at home and at work, but without protections, they could threaten not just the creativity of artists, but anyone who posts online. As regulation lags behind, how can we protect ourselves? And how many of us are using AI without even knowing it?  

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

Further reading: The Court Battles That Will Decide if Silicon Valley Can Plunder Your Work from Slate’s Nitish Pahwa

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Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay discuss an American woman in her 50s who is going viral for her plastic surgery journey. Michelle Wood is a mom who traveled to Guadalajara to undergo several procedures, including a facelift and a chin implant. She documented her journey before and after the procedure, creating intrigue, curiosity, and surprisingly positive responses online. TikTok reacted similarly when Kylie Jenner revealed the details of her boob job and broke the internet within the same week. So what do Wood and Jenner’s transparency say about the way women are talking about their bodies, and their surgeries, in 2025?

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

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Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay start off with two sounds of the summer from a divisive Love Island USA contestant and a popstar “standing on business.” Then, they explain the controversy brewing behind Partiful, the hip event invite app that was a rising star in the tech world, until an NYC Noise blog post brought up that Partiful’s co-founders used to work at Palantir Technologies. Palantir is a data-analytics company co-founded by Peter Thiel, who was on President Trump’s transition team and a prominent, billionaire donor to his campaign, and for years, Palantir has been in contract with the CIA and ICE. Then in April, 404 Media was able to obtain Slacks from Palantir that showed they were helping Trump’s mass deportation effort. So, is Partiful canceled? And why are there no good invite apps left?

Also: We're asking for your help on a future Pride episode! Send us your stories of coming out on social media. Whether you posted a quick tweet or produced a full on YouTube video about it, we want to hear from you! Did coming out online make things easier IRL or more complicated? Did seeing someone else's coming out post help you to do the same? Send us a voice memo at [email protected], and you might be featured on this future episode!

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

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