Slate News

The federal Lifeline program was intended to bridge the gap between Americans who could comfortably pay for phone and internet service, and those who couldn’t. But in the midst of the pandemic, Lifeline is falling woefully short.

How did a program meant to help connect low-income Americans with phone and internet service ended up making them second-class digital citizens at the worst possible moment? 

Guest: 

Tony Romm, senior tech policy reporter at the Washington Post, author of

“How the Federal Lifeline Program Failed Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic”

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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

The federal Lifeline program was intended to bridge the gap between Americans who could comfortably pay for phone and internet service, and those who couldn’t. But in the midst of the pandemic, Lifeline is falling woefully short.

How did a program meant to help connect low-income Americans with phone and internet service ended up making them second-class digital citizens at the worst possible moment? 

Guest: 

Tony Romm, senior tech policy reporter at the Washington Post, author of

“How the Federal Lifeline Program Failed Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic”

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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

Emily, John and David discuss the stimulus bill, sexual harassment allegations against Andrew Cuomo, and escalating voter suppression efforts.

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

Dahlia Lithwick for Slate: “Maybe It’s a Good Thing Andrew Cuomo Is Still Governor”

Charlotte Klein for Vanity Fair: “Pence Can’t Quit The Big Election Lie That Nearly Got Him Killed”

The Brennan Center’s State Voting Bills Tracker 2021

Here’s this week’s chatter:

Emily: Elizabeth Nolan Brown for Reason: “Science-Based Policy Means Decriminalizing Sex Work, Say Hundreds of Researchers”; Heads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-Spires 

John: The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Civics Test

David: David chattered in Seussian rhyme about the controversy over Dr. Seuss Enterprises’s decision to take six books with racist imagery out of print.

Listener chatter from Lily Shield: Amy Littlefield for the Nation: “As the Pandemic Raged, Abortion Access Nearly Flickered Out”

Slate Plus members get great bonus content from Slate, a special segment on the Gabfest each week, and access to special bonus episodes throughout the year. Sign up now to listen and support our show. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, David, and John discuss when they first realized the coronavirus would be life-changing. 

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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After Joe Biden’s surprising win in Georgia, Republicans in the state started in on legislation to limit voting access in the state. Their efforts mirror what’s happening in state houses across the country. Is there any way to slow down these efforts to limit access to the ballot? 

Guest: Ari Berman, writer for Mother Jones and the author of Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America. 

Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.

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

As legislative sessions begin across the country, a rash of anti-trans bills have been brought to the floor by Republican legislators. Many of the proposals target trans youth -- both in sports, and access to medical care. If any of these bills become law, what will it mean for trans rights across the country? 

Guest: Kate Sosin, Reporter for the 19th

Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.

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

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

This week, Felix and Anna are joined by Louise Roug, International executive Editor at HuffPost, to talk about the hit 1980 comedy 9 to 5. They discuss how the film’s original, darker tone was abandoned, why its themes are, sadly, still so relevant today and, of course, the wonderful Dolly Parton. 

Email: [email protected]

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

Twitter: @felixsalmon, @Three_Guineas

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

President Joe Biden has said he wants to focus his foreign policy on rebuilding international alliances and standing up to China and Russia. But just five weeks into the new administration, the Middle East has already started to demand Biden’s attention.  

Guest: Josh Keating, senior editor at Slate.

Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.

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The power’s back on in Texas, but many residents are still struggling to clean up after a disastrous winter storm. The cold snap knocked out electricity for several days and froze water lines. Some Texans are still without water; others are bailing out flooded homes. But this storm was just the latest in a series of catastrophes to hit Texas in the past several years, leaving the state’s most vulnerable residents in ever more precarious positions. 

Guest: Amal Ahmed, reporter at the Texas Observer. 

Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.

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Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, to try to unpack how the First Amendment has become the answer to everything and yet actually applies to so few of the speech issues we face. 

In our Slate Plus segment, Mark Joseph Stern takes a look at Justice Clarence Thomas’ dissent this week that sounded a lot like an endorsement of the Big Lie of 2020: Just because there’s no evidence of voter fraud, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

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

Podcast production by Sara Burningham.

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

Author and science journalist, Annalee Newitz joins Felix Salmon and Emily Peck to talk about their new book Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age, electric vehicles and why the internet may be doomed. 

In the Slate Plus segment: The payments infrastructure in the US. 

Email: [email protected]

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

Twitter: @felixsalmon, @EmilyRPeck

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