Slate News

Emily, John and David discuss Donald Trump’s attempts to seize voting machines, the racist attacks on the yet-to-be-named SCOTUS nominee, and they are joined by Joseph Allen, director of the Healthy Buildings program at Harvard University's T. H. Chan School of Public Health, to discuss ways we might update U.S. COVID norms.

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

Joseph G. Allen for The Washington Post: “Our Playbook to Fight Covid-19 Is Outdated. Here Are 10 Updates for 2022.”

Joseph G. Allen and Celine R. Gounder for The Hill: “We Have a Once-in-a-Generation Opportunity to Fix Our Crumbling Schools”

Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity, by Joseph G. Allen and John D. Macomber

Adam Serwer for The Atlantic: “Republicans Seem to Think Putting a Black Woman on the Supreme Court Is the Real Racism”

Meltdown: What Plane Crashes, Oil Spills, and Dumb Business Decisions Can Teach Us About How to Succeed at Work and at Home, by Chris Clearfield and András Tilcsik 

Here’s this week’s chatter:

Emily: Kristin Toussaint for Fast Company: “How Do Workers Take on a National Chain Like Starbucks? One Store at a Time”; Noam Scheiber for The New York Times: “Taking On Starbucks, Inspired by Bernie Sanders”

John: Adam Gopnik for The New Yorker: “Molière to the Panthéon!”; History, Art and Archives: United States House of Representatives: Representative Clement Vallandigham of Ohio

David: Neil Vigdor for the New York Times: “A Teenager Tracked Elon Musk’s Jet on Twitter. Then Came the Direct Message.” 

Listener chatter from Erin Arizzi-Shores: The Double Shift: “The Check's Not In The Mail”

More listener chatter from Larry Williams: Barbara J. King for NPR: “Watch The Moment A Dying Chimpanzee Recognizes An Old Friend”; Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves, by Frans De Waal. 

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, John, and David offer advice about how to establish a work/life balance.

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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A popular, outgoing liberal mayor in Silicon Valley is taking on gun rights groups with a splashy municipal ordinance fashioned to curb gun violence—and be the first of its kind. Gun rights groups are foretelling doom for the new law, and the NRA called it a “ridiculous publicity stunt.” 

Does this city’s initiative have the hallmarks of a breakthrough on gun violence prevention? Will lawsuits tank it before anyone has the chance to find out?

Guest: Sam Liccardo, mayor of San Jose, California.

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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Cobalt is the most important mineral of the future. It’s a key part of lithium-ion batteries, which power cell phones and laptops, not to mention electric cars. That demand is giving rise to a mining industry in Idaho, which sits atop a giant cobalt deposit. But the environmental costs of extraction raise questions about what “clean energy” really means.

Guest: Michael Holtz, freelance journalist and author of “Idaho Is Sitting on One of the Most Important Elements on Earth.”

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 expanded Child Tax Credit slashed childhood poverty in the U.S. by an estimated 30%. Why won’t congress revive it?

Guest: Jordan Weissmann, writer and editor at Slate focused on economics, politics, and public policy.

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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No one is happy with the way this year’s Winter Olympics are unfolding. Athletes are frustrated with China’s excessive pandemic precautions. Diplomatic tensions are rising. Are the second COVID games on thin ice? 

Guest: Henry Bushnell, features writer for Yahoo Sports.

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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No one is happy with the way this year’s Winter Olympics are unfolding. Athletes are frustrated with China’s excessive pandemic precautions. Diplomatic tensions are rising. Are the second COVID games on thin ice? 

Guest: Henry Bushnell, features writer for Yahoo Sports.

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 decades, it has a running joke that Black characters were the first to die in horror movies. But movies like Nia DaCosta’s Candyman and Jordan Peele’s Get Out are rewriting the script, and creating horror villains and heroes who represent the real Black experience. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by Tananarive Due, an award-winning author and producer who teaches Black Horror and Afrofuturism at UCLA, to discuss the past and future of Black horror.  

Guest: Tananarive Due, award-winning author, and producer who teaches Black Horror and Afrofuturism at UCLA

Podcast production by Jasmine Ellis

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As Justice Stephen Breyer announces his intention to step down from the Supreme Court, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Judge Nancy Gertner to discuss why now, what now, and who now. Judge Gertner is a former federal judge, member of the White House’s Supreme Court Reform Commission, Harvard Law professor … and she’s known Justice Breyer for decades. They discuss what’s changed on the court and wax nostalgic about Justice Breyer and Justice Scalia’s Muppet stadium tour. 

In our Slate Plus segment, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Slate’s own Mark Joseph Stern to dig into some of the nastier commentary around possible nominees for Justice Breyer’s seat, and to figure out what the rest of the term might look like in light of this week’s news. 

Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show.

Podcast production by Sara Burningham.

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This week, Felix Salmon and Emily Peck are joined by reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Vipal Monga. They discuss the implications of the continued pumping of oil at one of the world’s dirtiest oil patches, how Canada’s housing situation compares with the U.S. and why ‘old’ music is suddenly so popular now.

In the Plus segment: The latest on Fintech.

Mentioned In the show: 

“One of the World’s Dirtiest Oil Patches Is Pumping More Than Ever” by Vipal Monga 

 “Big Hot Sauce Wants More Hot Sauce” by Austin Carr 

Email: [email protected]

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth

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On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate podcast producer Cheyna Roth is joined by author Danielle Friedman. Friedman’s new book Let’s Get Physical explores the history of women’s exercise, and how some old attitudes still linger. They talk about the double bind women have faced when it comes to exercising, the “uterus myth,” and where we’re at with anti-fatness and inclusivity in exercise.  

In the Slate Plus segment: Are yoga pants feminist? 

Recommendations:

Cheyna: YouTube yogi Yoga With Adriene. 

Danielle: Watching movies from the 1930s. Especially Jewel Robbery.

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Susan Matthews and June Thomas. 

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