Slate News

The Champlain Tower South building in Surfside Florida collapsed early last Thursday morning, seemingly out of the blue. But reporting shows that the condo board members were aware the building was structurally unsound for years.

Right now the death toll stands at 12, with 149 people still unaccounted for. How did such a preventable tragedy take place?

Guest: Daniel Rivero, reporter for WLRN in Miami.

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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. 

Shane Ferro, former economics journalist and current public defender, stops by to talk about how Magic Mike is a film about the gig economy and the precarity of freelance work in a post Great Recession world. 

Email: [email protected]

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

Twitter: @felixsalmon, @EmilyRPeck 

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Pop star Britney Spears spoke out in court last week about the conservatorship she’s been under for 13 years, shedding light on all the restrictions she’s lived under. In doing so, Spears opened up a world rarely-seen outside of courtrooms and the reality for an estimated 1.3 million people living under a court-ordered guardianship.

Guest: Sara Luterman, freelance journalist covering disability policy, politics and culture.

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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Last week, Las Vegas Raiders defensive end, Carl Nassib, came out in an Instagram post, making him the first openly gay active player in NFL histroy. The league immediately posted in in celebration of Nassib’s announcement. But given the NFL’s sorry history of standing by players on the vanguard, will the league really put its money where its mouth is this time? 

Guest: LZ Granderson, LA Times opinion columnist and host of ABC News’ “Life Out Loud with LZ Granderson.”

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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This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Stacy-Marie Ishmael discuss the apparently abusive conservatorship of Britney Spears, the failures of COVAX and worldwide vaccine distribution, and Peter Thiel’s shocking Roth IRA. 

In the Plus segment: Small businesses in the pandemic.

Mentioned in the show:

“The Darker Story Just Outside the Lens of Framing Britney Spears,” by Sara Luterman for the New Republic

“A Beautiful Idea: How COVAX Has Fallen Short,” by Ann Danaiya Usher for the Lancet 

Email: [email protected]

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

Twitter: @felixsalmon, @EmilyRPeck, @s_m_i 

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For nearly two years, an unprecedented experiment has been taking place in the town of El Zonte in El Salvador. Funded by a mysterious donor, the town’s residents built a Bitcoin economy, using the cryptocurrency to purchase just about anything. 

Now, El Slavador has passed a new law making it the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. Can they replicate El Zonte’s success at a national scale?

Guest: Ezra Fieser, reporter at Bloomberg

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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For nearly two years, an unprecedented experiment has been taking place in the town of El Zonte in El Salvador. Funded by a mysterious donor, the town’s residents built a Bitcoin economy, using the cryptocurrency to purchase just about anything. 

Now, El Slavador has passed a new law making it the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. Can they replicate El Zonte’s success at a national scale?

Guest: Ezra Fieser, reporter at Bloomberg

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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

Emily, John and David discuss the post-pandemic workforce, Tucker Carlson, and student wins at the Supreme Court.

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

Ben Smith for the New York Times: “Tucker Carlson Calls Journalists ‘Animals.’ He’s Also Their Best Source.”

Slate: “David Plotz and Tucker Carlson Debate Scott Brown, Health Care, and More”

Andrew Van Dam for the Washington Post: “The Seven Industries Most Desperate for Workers”

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, by Cal Newport

John Dickerson for 60 Minutes: “Colleges and Universities Prepare for Fall Classes in the Middle of the Coronavirus Pandemic”

The Sound Scene Festival: an annual free and interactive audio arts festival organized by the D.C. Listening Lounge, an audio collective of Washington-based sound artists and enthusiasts.

Here’s this week’s chatter:

John: Steve Rathje, Jay J. Van Bavel, and Sander van der Linden for the Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences: “Out-Group Animosity Drives Engagement On Social Media”

Emily: Associated Press: “Connecticut Is Firstst State to Make All Prison Phone Calls Free”

David: Mad Men

Listener chatter from Laura Forsythe: Stephanie Lai for the Washington Post: “26 Years After Being Convicted Of Murder, A D.C. Jail Inmate Is Elected To Public Office”; campaign videos at https://neighborsforjusticedc.org/takeaction/

If you enjoy the 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 Danny Lavery's new show Big Mood, Little Mood" and you’ll be supporting the Political Gabfest. Sign up now at slate.com/gabfestplus to help support our work. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, John, and David discuss things that have gotten better since their childhoods.

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 Morgan Flannery.

Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.

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COVID’s Delta variant is on the rise in the U.S. The data suggest we have room for optimism -- so why are we seeing dire messages from public health experts? 

Guest: Dr. Monica Gandhi, infectious diseases and HIV doctor at UCSF/San Francisco General Hospital. 

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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Senate Democrats tried to open up debate on sweeping voting rights legislation Tuesday but were stopped by a lack of support from their Republican counterparts. Would a more incremental approach have succeeded? 

Guest: Rick Hasen, professor of law and political science at the University of California–Irvine School of Law and the author of Election Meltdown: Dirty Tricks, Distrust, and the Threat to American Democracy.

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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