Slate News

With 9.1% ownership of Twitter—and a board seat—Elon Musk is the new master of Twitter's future. Why did the wealthiest man in the world just take over the world's most influential platform?

Guest: Ranjan Roy, writer of the Margins newsletter

Host: Lizzie O'Leary 

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Emily, John and David discuss Russia’s war crimes; Disney’s reaction to “don’t say gay”; and Amazon’s first union.

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

Andrew Exum for The Atlantic: “The Russian Military Has Descended Into Inhumanity”

Noam Scheiber for The New York Times: “Amazon Workers Who Won a Union Their Way Open Labor Leaders’ Eyes”

Microsoft: “The Rise of the Triple Peak Day”

When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, by Daniel H. Pink 

Here are this week’s chatters:

David: Jessica Contrera for The Washington Post: “The Remarkable Brain of a Carpet Cleaner Who Speaks 24 Languages”; The Wedding Party; Smithsonian National Museum of African Art: “Iké Udé: Nollywood Portraits”

John: Jill Lawless for The Associated Press: “Darwin Notebooks Missing For 20 Years Returned to Cambridge”; Darwin Correspondence Project: “Fanny Owen”

Emily: Twitter thread by Manvir Singh @mnvrsngh on time spent “doing nothing” in small-scale, non-industrial societies. 

Listener chatter from Kate Conquest: “The Avian Soap Opera Unfolding Atop This Berkeley Bell Tower Has Humans Riveted”

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, John, and David discuss the trend of working a “third shift.”

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 Jocelyn Frank.

Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.

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In a speech before the United Nations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of the worst war crimes since World War II. But whether there will be accountability on the international stage is a separate question—especially with Russia sitting permanently on the UN Security Council. 

How difficult would it be to prove war crimes have in fact been committed in Ukraine? And even if they were, would Putin ever actually be punished? 

Guest: Stephen Rapp, former United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues in the Office of Global Criminal Justice under President Obama.

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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Few were betting that a group of workers on Staten Island could win union recognition at their Amazon warehouse. Now that they’ve done it, can they replicate this win at other shops across the country? And what will the nation’s largest unions do to help Amazon workers join the labor movement?

Guest: Steven Greenhouse, senior fellow at the Century Foundation and author of Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor.

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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Few were betting that a group of workers on Staten Island could win union recognition at their Amazon warehouse. Now that they’ve done it, can they replicate this win at other shops across the country? And what will the nation’s largest unions do to help Amazon workers join the labor movement?

Guest: Steven Greenhouse, senior fellow at the Century Foundation and author of Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor.

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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Welcome to Slate Money Goes to the Movies, a miniseries in which Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and a different guest each week discuss popular business-themed movies.

Shazna Nessa of The Wall Street Journal joins Felix and Emily to talk about the 1963 Bengali film, The Big City. They talk about how the feminist themes resonate today, what makes it an “art house” film, and why the ending seems like a low point, but doesn’t feel like one.  

Email: [email protected]

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth

Thanks Avast.com!

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At the beginning of the pandemic, Congress loosened the rules around school lunch programs, and approved additional funding to help schools provide more meals to more kids. But those allowances are set to expire on June 30th, leaving schools desperate for help as they anticipate a future of less funding and less flexibility. 

Guest: Helena Bottemiller Evich, senior food and agriculture reporter at POLITICO.

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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Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has become an avatar of the Republican far-right. But that has its downsides. It makes you a target. But Greene isn’t running scared.  

Guest: Charles Bethea, staff writer at the New Yorker. 

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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For nearly a decade, Margrethe Vestager has led Europe's efforts to rein in big tech. One newspaper article described Vestager as putting the fear of God into Silicon Valley. How is she thinking about fairness in tech in 2022?

Guest: Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for a Europe fit for the Digital Age 

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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Chris Rock is back on tour, days after Will Smith struck him and won his first Oscar in the same night. While the Academy strongly condemned Smith, several Black stars and writers have publicly defended him, or even applauded him for standing up for his wife. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson talks with entertainment journalist Chris Witherspoon about how race is playing out in the debate over what happened, and what should happen next.

Guest: Chris Witherspoon, entertainment journalist and founder/CEO of @PopViewers. 

Podcast production by Sam Kim

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