Slate Health

Sometimes reading our news feeds can feel like getting hit by a semi-truck of devastating information, without really knowing how to respond. We can’t always tune the world out, which means we need to figure out how to be an empathetic person within the chaos. In this episode, Courtney Martin is joined by public theologian and best-selling author, Nadia Bolz-Weber, as well as artist and activist, Jen Bloomer. Together they explore what it means to actually respond to tragedy and injustice.  

LINKS:

Jen Bloomer’s artwork

Valerie Kaur’s book See No Strangers

If you liked this episode, check out: How To Have a Healthier News Diet: Part 1 and Part 2. 

Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen.

How To’s executive producer is Derek John. Joel Meyer is our senior editor/producer and our producer is Rosemary Belson. 

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We all want wellness, but what does that mean exactly? 

Is it achieving diet and exercise goals, or finally reaching a place where you’re happy with your body as it is? Is wellness the thing that will keep you out of the doctor’s office, or give you information you need to advocate for yourself when you get there?

No matter what you define as living a life of wellness, our expert hosts want to help you get there.

Every week, Dr. Kavita Patel and Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Maya Feller talk with professionals from all over the wellness industry and people just like you who will share what they’ve learned on their way to wellness.

Follow Well, Now from Slate wherever you listen to podcasts. Our first episode drops Wednesday, Jan. 10.

Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry with editorial oversight by Alicia Montgomery.

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

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On today’s episode of Hear Me Out… new year, new you? 

If you’ve resolved to make 2024 your happiest, healthiest, most organized, most peaceful, etc. year yet? You’re not alone. And if you’re pretty sure the people who have made resolutions are doomed to abandon ship before January is over… you’re not alone, either. Nor are you wrong, exactly.

In the season of giving, getting, and evaluating self-improvement advice, there’s a line between over-optimism and self-limiting skepticism. And our guest wants to help you walk that line. 

Zak Rosen, host of The Best Advice Show and co-host of Slate’s Care & Feeding, joins us. 

If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: [email protected]

Podcast production by Maura Currie.

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When he’s not working on How To! or coaching his daughter’s basketball team, our producer Derek John loves to play in pickup games with friends. But a serious on-court injury has kept him on the sidelines for months. Now, as he prepares to return to the sport he loves, Derek is seeking tips on how to prolong his playing days while avoiding another injury. In this episode, author Jeff Bercovici joins Carvell Wallace and Derek to share insights from his book, Play On: The New Science of Elite Performance at Any Age. 

If you liked this episode, check out: How To Trick Your Brain Into Running Longer. 

Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen.

How To’s executive producer is Derek John. Joel Meyer is our senior editor/producer and our producer is Rosemary Belson. This episode was produced by Kevin Bendis.

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Before 1990, there had never been a documented case of a patient getting HIV from a health care worker. Kimberly Bergalis changed that. Her claim that she’d been infected by her dentist would captivate and terrify the country. And the dentist, David Acer, would be made into a villain without America ever knowing who he really was.

This episode was written by Kelly Jones and Josh Levin, One Year’s editorial director. One Year’s senior producer is Evan Chung.

This episode was produced by Kelly Jones and Evan Chung, with additional production by Olivia Briley. 

It was edited by Joel Meyer and Derek John, Slate’s executive producer of narrative podcasts. Merritt Jacob is senior technical director. We had mixing help from Kevin Bendis. We had production help this season from Jabari Butler.

Join Slate Plus to get a special behind-the-scenes conversation at the end of our season about how we put together our 1990 stories. Slate Plus members also get to listen to all Slate podcasts without any ads.

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In September, Brittany Watts had a miscarriage at her home in Ohio. Prosecutors are now charging her with “abuse of a corpse,” a felony that could result in up to a year in prison. 

When does a miscarriage become a felony? And could the anti-abortion movement be using this case as a step towards achieving “fetal personhood”?

Guest: Mary Ziegler, law professor at UC Davis and author of Roe: The History of a National Obsession.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.

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This week, host Isaac Butler is joined by actor, writer, director Erik Jensen for a frank conversation about his recent cancer diagnosis and the challenges artists face holding on to health-care coverage, especially in the age of streaming. They go on to discuss Jensen’s continued creative activity, including a new film project he co-directed with his wife and acted in with his daughter. Later, Jensen explains some of the intricacies of the recent writers’ and actors’ strikes.

After the interview, co-host June Thomas joins Isaac to talk about the value of being candid about the financial realities of being a freelance artist. They also dive into creative collaborations and the importance of communicating clearly with the people you work with.

Learn more about Erik Jensen’s story and make a donation here.

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

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis and Cameron Drews.

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Earlier this week, the Texas Supreme Court said Kate Cox couldn’t have an abortion.Cox’s doctors had diagnosed the fetus with Trisomy 18, an almost certainly fatal genetic condition. On top of that, there were concerns about whether or not Cox would be able to have children again in the future if she continued with this pregnancy. None of this was enough for nine judges in Texas to allow Cox to have an abortion.

Cox’s story isn’t unique. Amanda Zurawski almost died after a Texas court said she couldn’t have an abortion. Today, she’s the lead plaintiff in Zurawski v. State of Texas. She joins Amicus this week to show the real, human effects of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Zurawski is joined by one of the lawyers representing her in the case, Jamie Levitt.

In this week’s Amicus Plus segment, Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern talks about another made-up case that this time, won’t make it to SCOTUS. 

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In recent years, several states and localities have passed “crown” laws, statutes that keep employers from discriminating against African Amercans for wearing their hair in natural styles. That’s because, historically, having straight hair has often been a requirement for professional advancement for Black women in particular. But there is more science emerging that connects chemical relaxers with cancer. In today’s episode of A Word, reporter and cancer survivor Victoria St. Martin speaks with host Jason Johnson about the dangers of formaldehyde in hair relaxers, the history of marketing toxic cosmetics to African Americans, and consumer efforts to raise awareness.

Guest: Victoria St. Martin, Inside Climate News reporter 

Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola

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Kate Cox’s fight to abort her pregnancy and save her fertility in Texas says a lot about America’s post-Roe, fractured approach to reproductive rights.

Guest: Selena Simmons-Duffin, health policy correspondent at NPR.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.

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