Slate News

As journalists, a-listers, and some of the most vociferous critics of journalism from  the Trump administration gather for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Dahlia Lithwick tackles the president and his allies’ tactics to chill the press and undermine the First Amendment. 

In conversation with Guardian columnist and former New York Times public editor, Margaret Sullivan she explores the Trump administration’s use of meritless, high-dollar defamation suits, focusing on FBI Director Kash Patel’s $250 million lawsuit lodged against The Atlantic this week. Sullivan links democratic decline to media decline, citing oligarch ownership, consolidation, weakened local news, reduced public media, and corporate leaders’ capitulation via settlements and editorial interference.

Margaret’s newsletter, American Crisis can be found here: 

margaretsullivan.substack.com/

Next, Dahlia and co-host Mark Joseph Stern examine New York Times’ reporting on leaked Supreme Court memos showing the 2016 Clean Power Plan stay as a pivotal shadow docket moment that perfectly illustrates how activity on the shadow docket is driven by institutional grievance rather than legal urgency. They also dissect Trump’s renewed attacks on the justices despite their frequent support for his agenda.

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This week: Tim Cook announced he was stepping down as Apple’s CEO after 15 years. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck, unpack his unique legacy as the leader of the very beloved, very visible brand. Then, Axios’ Senior Health Care Editor Adriel Bettelheim joins to explain what peptides are and how  RFK Jr. is trying to throw the doors open for the undertested wellness trend. And finally, they get into The Onion’s mission to take over the right-wing conspiracy platform InfoWars in the name of parody and paying the victims of Sandy Hook. 

In the Slate Plus episode: The Avis short squeeze.

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Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth.

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The Trump administration is, let’s say, experiencing a bit of turnover this spring. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer is out and Kash Patel has reached the “embroiled in scandal and suing the press” zone. 

Guest: Jeet Heer, national affairs correspondent for The Nation.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

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Is artificial intelligence a blessing to all humanity, or a demon sent to lead us astray from God’s path? MAGA is choosing between two extremes.

Guest: Kiera Butler, national correspondent for Mother Jones.

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Trump's need for a face-saving exit amid his economically disastrous standoff with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, how Kash Patel's defamation suit against The Atlantic could hurt him more than help him, and a controversial new Yale report on trust in higher education with guest and report committee co-chair Beverly Gage.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the personal and political dimensions of President Trump's new executive order aimed at increasing federal psychedelics research and therapeutic access for mental health treatments.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily Bazelon talks with journalist Mark Oppenheimer about his new book, Judy Blume: A Life. Oppenheimer, who spent years with Blume’s papers at Yale and conducted extensive interviews with the author herself, traces how a restless housewife in New Jersey became one of the most beloved—and most banned—writers in American history.

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

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis

Research by Emily Ditto

You can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here.

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Representatives Eric Swalwell, Tony Gonzales, and now Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick are out; Virginia is redistricting and Republicans are bracing for a tsunami of a blue wave in the fall midterms. What’s gotten into Congress all of a sudden?

Guest: Jim Newell, Slate’s senior politics writer. 

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

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The government is getting ready to pay $166 billion in tariff refunds to American businesses. But the consumers who had to foot the bill for the higher costs? No such luck.

Guest: Justin Wolfers, economist and professor at the University of Michigan.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

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During the Trump administration’s winter immigration surge, high-level officials assured ICE agents that they could act with impunity. But two different legal cases from Minnesota and Maine are finding ways to challenge the immunity they assumed they had as federal officers.

Guest:  Mark Joseph Stern, senior staff writer at Slate covering courts and the law cohost of Amicus.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

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From bombing fishing boats in the Caribbean, to kidnapping Nicolás Maduro, to the Iran War, the Trump administration seems to operate like it has just as much immunity from international law as John Roberts says it has domestically. They’re probably not wrong.

Guest: Philippe Sands, professor of law at University College London,

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

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This very online administration is facing push back from Iran in their own home territory: the world of insipid memes, A.I. videos, and online mockery.

Guest: Ali Breland, staff writer for the Atlantic.

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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