Slate News

Emily and David are joined by guest host David Leonhardt to discuss the pandemic economy; a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics, and the Ghislaine Maxwell trial.

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

John J. Mearsheimer for Foreign Affairs: “The Inevitable Rivalry: America, China, and the Tragedy of Great-Power Politics”

Corey Robin for The New York Times: “Why the Biden Presidency Feels Like Such a Disappointment”

The Enigma of Clarence Thomas, by Corey Robin

Mike Baker for The New York Times: “The Sisters Who First Tried to Take Down Jeffrey Epstein”t

Andrew Anthony for The Guardian: “Meet Julie K Brown, The Woman Who Brought Down Jeffrey Epstein”

Jill Filipvoc’s newsletter 

Matthew Yglesias’ Slow Boring newsletter

Joe Sheehan’s baseball newsletter

Matt Levine’s Money Stuff newsletter

Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American newsletter

Here’s this week’s chatter:

Emily: Leah Litman for NBC News: “The Death Penalty Cases Before The Supreme Court That Could Keep Innocent People In Prison”: Amy Howe for SCOTUSblog: “Conservative Justices Scoff at Maine’s Exclusion of Religious Schools From Tuition-Assistance Program”

David Leonhardt: Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite

David Plotz:: Work at City Cast; Sex Lives of College Girls

Listener chatter from Andrew Lacko: “Miracle and Wonder: Conversations with Paul Simon”

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and David talk about newsletters and what they do well.

Give the gift of Slate Plus to a fellow Slate fan and they’ll receive all the benefits of membership: unlimited reading, ad-free listening, bonus content, and so much more. Here's how!

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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Michigan state Senator Rosemary Bayer has been fighting for years to get safe storage laws on the books in her home state. In the wake of the shooting at Oxford High School, a school that sits in her district, her mission has become that much more urgent. 

Guest: Rosemary Bayer is a state senator in Michigan. She represents the northern suburbs of Detroit.

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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Michigan state Senator Rosemary Bayer has been fighting for years to get safe storage laws on the books in her home state. In the wake of the shooting at Oxford High School, a school that sits in her district, her mission has become that much more urgent. 

Guest: Rosemary Bayer is a state senator in Michigan. She represents the northern suburbs of Detroit.

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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When Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai accused a former Chinese Vice Premier of rape, what came next was darkly predictable: the athlete disappeared from public view while the government scrubbed all mentions of her allegations and censored searches for her name. But few expected the Women’s Tennis Association to strike back, suspending all future tournaments in China and Hong Kong.

As the WTA stands up to China - leaving millions of dollars on the table - will other sports organizations follow suit and hold the government to account over its human rights abuses?

Guest: Ben Rothenberg, senior editor of Racquet Magazine and host of the tennis podcast No Challenges Remaining.

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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All signs point to rough congressional elections next year. What are House Democrats doing to hold their majority?

Guest: Rep. Sean Maloney (D-N.Y.), chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

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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Slate Money is obsessed with Succession, HBO's wonderful drama about the lives of the superrich Roy family. So, every Monday, we'll be discussing the previous night's episode with spoiler-filled glee. For Episode 8, Felix Salmon and Emily Peck are joined by Rachel Syme of The New Yorker to talk about the terrible parents of Succession, the fabulous – and not quite working – fashion choices, and Roman’s…ahem…picture. 

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. 

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After oral arguments last week, the Supreme Court looks ready to overturn Roe v. Wade. How did conservatives get to this moment when the majority of Americans favor legalized abortion? And do liberals have the patience to keep the fight alive?

Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, staff writer at Slate covering the Supreme Court.

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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With a growing number of Americans vaccinated, many are contemplating traveling for the holidays, despite concerns about a new COVID variant. For Black travelers, navigating an unfamiliar society’s ideas about race adds another complication. On this episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by veteran lifestyle journalist and travel expert Dayvee Sutton to talk about her experience while traveling as a Black woman during the pandemic. 

Guest: Dayvee Sutton, veteran lifestyle journalist and travel expert

Podcast production by Jasmine Ellis

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Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Julie Rikelman, senior director of litigation at the Center for Reproductive Rights, who argued for reproductive rights and liberty on behalf of Jackson Women’s Health in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health at the Supreme Court this week. Together, they unpack the arguments and discuss the women missing from the narratives in the courtroom that day. 

Then, Dahlia’s joined by Professor Katherine Franke, director of the Center for Gender and Sexuality Law at Columbia University and the founder and faculty director of the Law, Rights, and Religion Project at Columbia Law School. Professor Franke helps us examine how the Supreme Court’s conservative majority’s views on religious liberty undergirded Wednesday’s arguments, are set to influence the court’s jurisprudence, and will likely alter your constitutional rights. 

In our Slate Plus segment, Slate’s own Mark Joseph Stern joins Dahlia for a frank discussion of the liberal justices’ performances in this week’s monumental abortion case, the gaslighting that maybe got us here, and then they look ahead to a big religious-liberty case coming up next week.

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Podcast production by Sara Burningham.

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This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck and Stacy-Marie Ishmael talk about the problems facing Buzzfeed as it goes public, understanding the latest jobs report amidst the new COVID-19 variant, and the transition of the company Square to Block.  

In the Plus segment: Debating whether Twitter should become a paid for subscription service.  

Mentioned In the show: 

Block Heads on BLOCK’s new website 

Email: [email protected]

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth

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