Slate News

Ten years ago, IBM made a gamble. Through a monumental advertising and PR campaign, it promised that its AI technology–Watson–would transform the health care industry as we know it. A decade and billions of dollars later, Watson Health is being sold for parts. 

What went wrong with IBM’s “moonshot?” And what does Watson’s failure tell us about the promise of AI for health care?

Guest: Casey Ross, national technology correspondent for STAT

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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John, Emily and David discuss Justice Breyer’s retirement. They are joined by Anne Applebaum to talk about what global moves may be coming to address threats to Ukraine, and The Gist’s Mike Pesca covers a round robin of the week's news.

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

The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics, by Stephen Breyer 

Anne Applebaum for The Atlantic: “The Bad Guys Are Winning”

The Gist

Slow Burn: Watergate

Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel 

Station Eleven series on HBO Max

The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope

Here’s this week’s chatter:

Emily: Vauhini Vara for Believer Magazine: “Ghosts”; This American Life: “The Ghost in The Machine”

John: Dylan Matthews for Vox: “Can Giving Parents Cash Help With Babies’ Brain Development?”

David: Tiffany Lukk for Mpls.St.Paul Magazine: “Where to Go Dog Sledding in Minnesota”; Nicole Wetsman for The Verge: “CDC Emails Show That Vaccine Cards Are Supposed To Fit In Your Wallet: The Covid-19 Cards Do Not Fit In Wallets”

Listener chatter from Tom McIlroy: Michael Zhang for PetaPixel: “Photographer Finds Polar Bears That Took Over Abandoned Buildings”

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, John, and David discuss the screen adaptation of Station Eleven.

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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Justice Stephen G. Breyer is expected to announce his plan to retire from the Supreme Court at the end of its term this summer. Breyer’s signal comes after a year-long pressure campaign from the political left and others anxious to ensure that Democrats control who replaces the court’s most senior liberal justice. 

Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, who covers courts and the law for 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 odds of a Russian invasion of Ukraine are increasing, with thousands of Russian troops stationed near the two countries' border. Vladimir Putin is set on ensuring Ukraine gives up its ambitions to join NATO and the European Union, and it’s unclear how much he’s willing to risk to meet that objective. 

How far will the Russian leader go to get what he wants? Is there any way to end the standoff without violence?

Guest: Amy Mackinnon, national security and intelligence reporter at Foreign 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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Over the last few years, a sleepy southern town has seen its arrest rate grow more than 1100%. It’s not because of a spike in crime in Brookside, Alabama; instead, the town’s law enforcement has adopted a policing-for-profit model that treats citizens as revenue generators and cracks down on them accordingly. In turn, some residents enter debt spirals as the town’s police force rakes in more cash, with no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Guest: John Archibald, columnist for AL.com and the Birmingham News.

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.

Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Danielle Hewitt, Elena Schwartz, and Carmel Delshad.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the last few years, a sleepy southern town has seen its arrest rate grow more than 1100%. It’s not because of a spike in crime in Brookside, Alabama; instead, the town’s law enforcement has adopted a policing-for-profit model that treats citizens as revenue generators and cracks down on them accordingly. In turn, some residents enter debt spirals as the town’s police force rakes in more cash, with no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Guest: John Archibald, columnist for AL.com and the Birmingham News.

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.

Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Danielle Hewitt, Elena Schwartz, and Carmel Delshad.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stuart Frisch gave security training to the members of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, less than six months before they found themselves under siege and held hostage—a training the rabbi cited when explaining how they managed to escape. 

How does Frisch approach protecting spaces that aren’t meant to be fortresses? Can faith and security coexist?

Guest: Stuart Frisch, advisor for the Secure Community Network.

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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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stuart Frisch gave security training to the members of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, less than six months before they found themselves under siege and held hostage—a training the rabbi cited when explaining how they managed to escape. 

How does Frisch approach protecting spaces that aren’t meant to be fortresses? Can faith and security coexist?

Guest: Stuart Frisch, advisor for the Secure Community Network.

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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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In theory, the Fair Housing Act of 1968 outlawed all forms of real estate discrimination. In reality, Black home sellers often see their homes valued much lower than similar homes owned by whites. Andre Perry of the Brookings Instititution joins the show today to talk about the how real estate discrimination has robbed Black Americans billions of dollars in generational wealth, and what can be done to change it. 

Guest: Andre Perry, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America’s Black Cities

Podcast production by Jasmine Ellis and Asha Saluja

You can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/awordplus for just $1 for your first month.

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This week, Felix Salmon and Emily Peck are joined by economics journalist and author, Peter Goodman. They discuss Goodman’s new book “Davos Man: How the Billionaires Devoured the World” Microsoft’s biggest deal ever, and what’s going on with 5G networks and airplanes. 

In the Plus segment: Peloton is down, will it survive?

Further Reading:

“Microsoft Buys Scandal-Tainted Activision in Bet on Metaverse” by Dina Bass and Nate Lanxon 

“Xbox CEO Phil Spencer on Reviving Old Activision Games as Microsoft Positions Itself as Tech’s Gaming Company” by Gene Park 

“Why Airlines Are Worried About 5G” by Andrew Ross Sorkin, Jason Karaian, Sarah Kessler, Stephen Gandel, Michael J. de la Merced, Lauren Hirsch, and Ephrat Livni

“Peloton Stock Plunges Following Report It Will Halt Production” by Aaron Gregg

“Peloton to Halt Production of its Bikes, Treadmills as Demand Wanes” by Lauren Thomas

“A New Take on Voice: The Influence of BlackRock’s ‘Dear CEO’ Letters” by Andrea Pawliczek, A. Nicole Skinner, and Laura Wellman

Sign up for Emily’s newsletter here! 

Email: [email protected]

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth

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