Slate News

Over the last week, millions of Texans have been forced to live without power or heat. At least 16 have died since Monday. In a state that’s no stranger to extreme weather and high power demand, how did it all go so wrong?

Guest: 

Josh Rhodes, research associate at the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas at Austin

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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

Emily, John and David discuss Republican allegiance to Trump, schools during COVID-19, and they're joined by guest Jonathan Cohn to look back on Obamacare and to explore the current state of COVID-19 vaccinations.

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

Susan Dominus for the New York Times Magazine: “Rhode Island Kept Its Schools Open. This Is What Happened.”

Shawn Hubler for The New York Times: “Vaccinating Oregon’s Teachers Might Not Be Enough to Reopen its Schools.”

The Ten Year War by Jonathan Cohn

Here’s this week’s chatter:

Emily: Anna Holmes for the Atlantic: “The Magazine That Helped 1920s Kids Navigate Racism”

John: Radio Garden

David: Pick of The Litter

Listener chatter from Ming Richie: Cathy Free for the Washington Post: “This Man Mistakenly Left his Wallet in Antarctica. Some 53 Years Later, He Got it Back.”

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 the legacy of Rush Limbaugh.

You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest. Tweet us your cocktail chatter using #cocktailchatter. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

The email address for the Political Gabfest is [email protected]. (Email 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.

Rush Limbaugh’s radio show provided a roadmap that the Republican Party has been following, more or less faithfully, for decades. 

Guest: Nicole Hemmer, author of Messengers of the Right and co-host of This Day in Esoteric Political History. 

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

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

In the year since the pandemic began, the number of attacks against Asian Americans has skyrocketed. The most recent wave of assaults left a number of victims injured and one man dead. Many Asian American activists say the attacks reflect a pattern of violence “as old as America itself.” 

Guest: Kim Tran, an anti-oppression consultant and the author of the forthcoming book, The End of Allyship: A New Era of Solidarity.

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 Taffy Brodesser-Akner to discuss the 1993 film Indecent Proposal starring Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson and Robert Redford. They get into topics like whether there can possibly be a feminist read of this film, the moral value of money and why Taffy quotes this movie all the time in her professional life. 

Email: [email protected]

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

Twitter: @felixsalmon, @Three_Guineas, @EmilyRPeck

Taffy Brodesser-Akner is an author and a journalist for New York Times Magazine.

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

Gustavo Arellano’s father is what he would call a ‘pandejo’ - someone who doesn't take COVID safety seriously. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Gustavo has been fighting the uphill battle to dissuade him of his skepticism. And two weeks ago, his father finally got vaccinated. 

We all know a ‘pandejo.’ What can we learn from Gustavo’s relationship with his father?

Guest: Gustavo Arellano, columnist for the LA Times

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

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

Dahlia Lithwick is joined by renowned communications researcher and campaign adviser Anat Shenker-Osorio to talk about the messaging of impeachment outside the lens of the law. Then, Bob Bauer, former White House counsel under President Barack Obama and senior adviser to the 2020 Biden campaign, joins Dahlia to discuss the significance of this impeachment as a legal matter, and the next steps needed when the trial ends (in acquittal). 

In our Slate Plus segment, Mark Joseph Stern on the guessing-game that is the law of Covid and death-penalty protocols in late-night SCOTUS orders.

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.

Felix Salmon, Emily Peck and Anna Szymanski talk about Tesla’s $1.5 million Bitcoin investment, the recent growth of fast fashion and Bumble’s IPO.

 In the Slate Plus segment: Birkinstocks. (Not to be confused with Birkenstocks.)  

‘Ultra-fast Fashion Is Eating the World’ by Rachel Monroe for the Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/03/ultra-fast-fashion-is-eating-the-world/617794/ 

Email: [email protected]

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

Twitter: @felixsalmon, @Three_Guineas, @EmilyRPeck

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

For most of the last year, Clubhouse—the audio-only social media app—has been dominated by conversations about business, branding, and Elon Musk. But as users picked up the app around the globe, something extraordinary happened.  

Censors in mainland China overlooked it. And for two weeks in February, it hosted a series of unusual, unfiltered conversations. Han Chinese, Hong Kongers, Taiwanese, and Uighurs all flooded to the app to speak freely about authoritarianism, democracy, and propaganda. 

Here’s what happened when the censors looked the other way. 

Guest: 

Melissa Chan, journalist with the Global Reporting Centre

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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

For most of the last year, Clubhouse—the audio-only social media app—has been dominated by conversations about business, branding, and Elon Musk. But as users picked up the app around the globe, something extraordinary happened.  

Censors in mainland China overlooked it. And for two weeks in February, it hosted a series of unusual, unfiltered conversations. Han Chinese, Hong Kongers, Taiwanese, and Uighurs all flooded to the app to speak freely about authoritarianism, democracy, and propaganda. 

Here’s what happened when the censors looked the other way. 

Guest: 

Melissa Chan, journalist with the Global Reporting Centre

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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