Slate News

Ransomware attacks--when hackers break into digital systems, encrypt files, and demand payment to unlock them, isn’t new. But 2020 has seen an explosion in the frequency of these hacks, which are often targeted at schools and hospitals. Who is behind this recent spate of attacks? And is there anything schools and hospitals can do to protect themselves?

Guests:

Jessica Beyer, teacher at Baltimore County Public Schools

Dave Uberti, cyber security reporter at the Wall Street Journal

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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Virginia Heffernan talks to former FBI special agent and CNN analyst Asha Rangappa about the case for Federalism and why even with pardons, Trump won’t get off completely scot-free.

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It's conundrum season! Pass along your most pressing conundrums here: www.slate.com/conundrum. Our annual Conundrum holiday show is coming soon.

Emily, John and Jamelle discuss presidential pardons; coronavirus exemptions for houses of worship; and David joins in for a conversation with Australia's former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull about disinformation.

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

Jamelle Bouie for The New York Times: “It Started With ‘Birtherism’”

Greg Nunziata for The Atlantic: “Republicans With Any Love of Country Must Acknowledge That Trump Has Lost”

Spencer S. Hsu for The Washington Post: “Court-Appointed Adviser in Michael Flynn Case Says Justice Dept. Yielded to Corrupt ‘Pressure Campaign’ Led by Trump”

Amy Howe for SCOTUSblog: “Christian School in Kentucky Asks Justices to Intervene in Dispute Over In-Person Classes at Religious Schools”

Emily Bazelon for the New York Times Magazine: “The Problem of Free Speech in an Age of Disinformation”

A Bigger Picture, by Malcolm Turnbull 

To celebrate our 15th anniversary we'd love to know about your clever, politically themed, original cocktail! Please send us the details here: www.slate.com/cocktail

Here are this week’s cocktail chatters: 

Jamelle: Jamelle chatted about the superior experience of watching films on a Blu-Ray player, as opposed to streaming.

John: Caroline Lange for Food52: “A History of The American Milkman”; Matt Novak for Smithsonian Magazine: “The Milkman’s Robot Helper”; Atticpaper.com’s prints from the Mid-century advertising campaign “Beer Belongs” 

Emily: The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans 

Slate Plus members get a bonus 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 David, Emily, and John learn about navigating water sports in shark-infested waters from Former Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull.

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.

In the last month, multiple drug companies have announced highly effective vaccines for the coronavirus. But getting everyone vaccinated will be a challenge - not just logistically, but also from a PR standpoint. With distribution on the horizon, how can we build vaccine trust?

Guest: Heidi Larson, director of the Vaccine Confidence Project and author of Stuck: How Vaccine Rumors Start -- and Why They Don't Go Away.

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

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The assasination of a top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh has made a difficult situation even harder for the incoming Biden administration. Re-entering the Iran nuclear agreement was already going to be an uphill battle. Now, as tensions mount, only a big swing might save the day.

Guest: Trita Parsi, co-founder and Executive Vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and author of Losing an Enemy & Treacherous Alliance.

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Janet Yellen’s is a name most Americans will recognize, even if they’re not quite sure why. She’s the former chair of the Federal Reserve and the former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, and now, she’s been nominated to serve as Joe Biden’s Treasury Secretary. 

If confirmed, Yellen will assume her new role during one of the greatest economic crises in a century. How would she guide Biden through the storm?

Guest: Jordan Weissman, Slate’s senior business and economics correspondent.

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

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North Dakota has the highest COVID-19 case rate in the country. As infections spiked, contact tracers struggled to keep up. Eventually, their bosses told them to stop trying. 

Guest: Kailee Leingang, a nursing student and contact tracer in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 

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

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Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Anna Szymanski discuss Janet Yellen’s historic appointment to Treasury Secretary, Penguin Random House buying Simon & Schuster for more than $2 billion and why you might want to think twice before giving to United Way Worldwide on Giving Tuesday. 

In the Slate Plus segment: A Brexit check in. 

United Way Accused Of Retaliation Against Women Employees by Emily Peck for HuffPost

Is Dunkin’s $500 Tandem Bike Real? An Investigation. by Jillian Capewell for HuffPost

Email: [email protected]

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

Twitter: @felixsalmon, @Three_Guineas, @EmilyRPeck

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In this Trumpcast Plus preview, Virginia Heffernan talks to Princeton University professor Eddie Glaude Jr. about why she thinks Trumpism will fizzle out after Trump leaves office—and why he thinks he won’t, and why it’s also dangerous to call it “Trumpism.”

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It's conundrum season! Pass along your most pressing conundrums here: www.slate.com/conundrum. Our annual Conundrum holiday show is coming soon.

This week, Emily, David and John discuss the Trump Administration's efforts to hobble the Biden transition; ethical problems in vaccine distribution; and how to deal with the damage of the election fraud lie.

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

Alex Kalman for the Atlantic: “The Letters That Outgoing Presidents Wrote to Their Successors”

John Dickerson for The Atlantic: “Why You Don’t Mess Around With Presidential Transitions”

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: “A Framework for Equitable Allocation of Vaccine for the Novel Coronavirus”

Kathryn Olivarius for The New York Times: “The Dangerous History of Immunoprivilege”

Jeanna Smialek and Alan Rappeport for The New York Times: “Mnuchin Cites Principles in Clawing Back Fed Money. Democrats See Politics.”

Kevin Roose, Mike Isaac, and Sheera Frenkel for The New York Times: “Roiled by Election, Facebook Struggles to Balance Civility and Growth”

Colin Dickey for Medium: “How to Talk to a Conspiracy Theorist”

To celebrate our 15th anniversary we'd love to know about your clever, politically themed, original cocktail! Please send us the details here: www.slate.com/cocktail

Here are this week’s cocktail chatters: 

John: W.E.B. Du Bois: Writings; The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry 

David: Death, Sex & Money: “51 Years Loving A Man Named Sissy”; David’s twitter thread pitch for remaking Love Actually every year.

Emily and listener Barbara Torrey Workman @thethirdbarbara: Twitter thread by United Farm Workers @UFWupdates featuring farm workers at work harvesting the ingredients in favorite Thanksgiving recipes. 

Slate Plus members get a bonus 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 David, Emily, and John discuss the elements of pre-pandemic Thanksgiving that they won’t miss this year and don't plan to reinstate next year.

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.