Slate News

In buying One Medical, Amazon is primed to be your doctor. Are they disrupting health care, or just collecting more data?

Guest: Rebecca Pifer

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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This week, David Plotz, John Dickerson, and Emily Bazelon discuss the surprise deal for climate legislation, new January 6th revelations, and the deadliest road in America. 

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:

Carol D. Leonnig, Devlin Barrett, Josh Dawsey and Spencer S. Hsu for The Washington Post: “Justice Dept. Investigating Trump’s Actions In Jan. 6 Criminal Probe”

Carol D. Leonnig and Maria Sacchetti for The Washington Post: “Secret Service Watchdog Knew in February That Texts Had Been Purged”

Forbidden City, by Vanessa Hua

Dan Kaufman for The New Yorker: “Will Wisconsin’s Republicans Make Voting Meaningless, or Just Difficult?”

Richard L. Hasen for Slate: “What the Critics Get Incredibly Wrong about the Collins-Manchin Election Bill”

Marin Cogan for Vox: “The Deadliest Road In America”

Robert James Schneider, Rebecca Sanders, Frank Proulx, Hamideh Moayyed for the Journal of Transport and Land Use: “United States Fatal Pedestrian Crash Hot Spot Locations And Characteristics”

Unsafe At Any Speed, by Ralph Nader

Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity, by Charles L. Marohn Jr. 

Allison Russell’s Outside Child

John Dickerson for Slate: “Getting Naked Every Night: Girlyman and the Pursuit of Creative Risk.”

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: Jonathan Bernstein for Rolling Stone: “‘She Schooled Us All’: Inside Joni Mitchell’s Stunning Return to Newport Folk Festival”; David McCabe and Mike Isaac for The New York Times: “F.T.C. Sues to Block Meta’s Virtual Reality Deal as It Confronts Big Tech”

John: Oliver Whang for The New York Times: “‘Parentese’ Is Truly a Lingua Franca, Global Study Finds”

David: April Rubin and Jesus Jiménez for The New York Times: “4,000 Mistreated Beagles Need Homes. These Folks Stepped Up.”

Listener chatter from Mark Allender: The Dollop #283: “James Clark McReynolds, the Worst Supreme Court Justice Ever”

Tweet us your questions and chatters @SlateGabfest or email us at [email protected]. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

Research by Bridgette Dunlap.

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Adoption is often invoked as an alternative to abortion. But looking back at how adoption worked before Roe v. Wade—and looking at how it works now—the option is cold comfort for many people facing unintended pregnancies. 

Guest: Ann Fessler, author of The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade.

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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The “Respect for Marriage Act” protects same-sex marriages nationwide and already has bipartisan support. If put to a vote in the Senate, it seems likely to pass. So why aren’t Democrats making it a priority?

Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, senior writer at Slate.

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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The American southwest is in a megadrought. Water levels in lakes are dropping, threatening the local environment as well as agriculture, hydroelectric power, and the people living there. As global temperatures rise, it could be a preview of worse things to come. 

Guest: Dr. Jason Smerdon, ocean and climate physicist, and Lamont research professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and co-director at the Earth Institute Faculty. 

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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Liz Cheney rose through Republican leadership based on her conservative bona fides, but thanks to her prominent role in the Jan 6th committee, she’s gained donors and admirers from across the aisle. Her constituents back in Wyoming aren’t so enthusiastic though, throwing her future in Congress into doubt.  

Guest: Bob Beck, news director of Wyoming Public Radio.

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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Toronto’s Quayside project is a telling example of how smart cities have failed. Could it also show how to make them better?

Guest: Ben Green, Jennifer Keesmaat

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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Emily Bazelon talks with author Vanessa Hua about her new historical fiction book, Forbidden City. The novel tells the story of sixteen-year-old revolutionary Mei who becomes a dancer in Chairman Mao’s inner circle. Emily and Vanessa talk about Vanessa’s inspiration for the novel, the complicated dynamics between Mei and Chairman Mao, and whether we’ll hear more from Mei. 

Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at [email protected]. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth

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In Georgia, award-winning hip hop artist Young Thug and rapper Gunna are awaiting trial on multiple charges, and prosecutors used some of their lyrics in their indictment. Is that fair game, or an attack on free speech? On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by ACLU attorney Stephanie Willis to talk about the broader implications of the case, and ways that artists are learning to protect themselves.

Guest: Attorney Stephanie Willis

Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola

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This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss Amazon’s acquisition of One Medical, the complications of start-ups offering loans to employees against their stock options, and Evan Osnos’ New Yorker article on the rise of the superyacht.

In the Plus segment: Why are Facebook and Instagram so bad now?

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

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