Slate News

Israel and America’s war with Iran has spread, leading to the displacement of nearly 20 percent of people in Lebanon. What does that look like on the ground—and how will the conflict end?

Guests:  

Basma Alloush, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Rescue Committee. 

Joshua Keating, senior correspondent at Vox.

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

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In this Money Talks: UVA law professor Mitu Gulati joins Felix Salmon and Emily Peck to explain how an over-reliance on boilerplate language in contracts—that apparently never gets updated or even read—is leaving all of us vulnerable to legal traps.

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Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth.

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The Republican-led Senate prepares this week to tackle an issue that’s very important to the president, his diehards, and hardly anyone else: passing the SAVE Act in order to force people to prove citizenship before voting.

Guest: Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones. 

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

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If no other explanations for the Iran War seem satisfying, have you considered that the point is to bring about the end of the world and the return of Jesus Christ? The people in power have. 

Guest:  Tim Dickinson, senior writer and editor at The Contrarian.

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

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A half dozen state attorneys general have sued the online gaming platform Roblox after multiple investigations found child predators on the site and more than 20 people were arrested for abducting or abusing children they had met via Roblox. 

Guest: Mike Hilgers, Nebraska Attorney General.

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Next month, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the birthright citizenship case, Trump v. Barbara. It’s still somewhat unbelievable that the high court will entertain arguments in favor of gutting an utterly clear constitutional commitment. Nonetheless, our motto on Amicus is “legal knowledge is power,” and in this case, historical understanding of legal knowledge … is power. On this week’s show, Dahlia Lithwick interviews constitutional and immigration scholar Anna O. Law about her forthcoming book, Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship.

In preparation for a lot of very bad originalist takes, Lithwick and Law discuss how immigration actually worked in the colonial and pre-Civil War eras and why the framers of the Reconstruction Amendments (including the birthright citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment) meant exactly what they said and said exactly what they meant. Law also explains how and why Wong Kim Ark affirmed birthright citizenship for children of Chinese immigrants, and emphasizes that the words “subject to the jurisdiction” had narrow historical exceptions. Finally, a reminder that the framers of the 14th Amendment chose to constitutionalize citizenship rather than establish it in statute—in anticipation of exactly the situation America finds itself in today. 

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This week: We summoned technologist and journalist Paul Ford to answer all our questions about A.I. As he explains to Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck, A.I. is a hyperobject that touches everything in unknowable ways. They get into “vibe coding,” how it could change the game for small businesses and large corporations alike, and other concerns—like A.I.-powered wars. 

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On this week’s Slate Plus exclusive, Timothée Chalamet enters the pas de deux between an Oscar-nominated actor and a public itching for a villain. But as one Gen Z star’s public approval goes down, another’s rises, on the strength of a “bixie.” 

Guest: Nadira Goffe, Slate culture writer.

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

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Drone warfare has evolved immensely since Ukraine. The use of artificial intelligence in combat has evolved just since Venezuela. 

Guest: Steven Feldstein, political scientist and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program.

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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 whether Trump will be willing to endure the political pain if his capricious Iran war causes gas to hit $5 a gallon, the system of ICE mega-prisons DHS is starting to build, and new fronts in Trump’s efforts to control the 2026 elections and beyond.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss last weekend’s attempted bomb attack in front of Gracie Mansion in NYC, and how it somehow managed to be a terrorism story, a protest story, and a media story all in one.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, John Dickerson talks with Father James Martin about his new book, Work in Progress: Confessions of a Busboy, Dishwasher, Caddy, Usher, Factory Worker, Bank Teller, Corporate Tool, and Priest. They discuss the spiritual lessons learned through eight different jobs, Martin’s controversial LGBTQ ministry that made him a target of criticism within the Catholic Church, and what the Gospels demand about welcoming strangers and caring for the marginalized.

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

Podcast production by Nina Porzucki

Research by Emily Ditto

You can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here.

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Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park.  

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