Slate News

Virginia Heffernan talks to Joel Stein, author of the book In Defense of Elitism, about the different kinds of elites and the people who both love and hate them, connections between crafting and populism, and how to avoid taking the low road in politics.

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John Dickerson, Emily Bazelon and David Plotz discuss the Iowa debacle, Mitt Romney’s impeachment vote, and Trump’s expanded immigration ban.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, David, and John discuss George Packer’s acceptance speech for the Hitchens Prize, published in the Atlantic: “The Enemies of Writing.”

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Podcast production by Jocelyn Frank.

Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.

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Michael Bloomberg has toyed with running for president many times. He has the money and the political clout, but 2020 is the first time he’s thrown all his weight behind a White House bid. It might also be the only year where his abnormal approach to politics could actually pay off. 

Guest: Edward-Isaac Dovere, reporter for The Atlantic.

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The Iowa caucuses on Monday were a mess. Only 71 percent of precincts were reporting by late Tuesday night. Rick Hasen says, we’re just lucky this disaster happened early on. That means that election officials in other states have time to get it right. 

Guest: Rick Hasen, author of “Election Meltdown” 

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Virginia Heffernan talks to Michael Rothfeld, New York Times reporter and co-author of The Fixers, about the special cadre of supporters and enablers that allowed Trump to rise to power.

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This episode originally aired in October 2019.

Growing up in D.C. during the civil rights era made the fight for D.C. statehood deeply personal for civil rights advocate Wade Henderson. He’s said that being unable to secure a voting representative in Congress is one of his greatest disappointments. Christina Cauterucci speaks with Henderson about the fight for statehood and why he still has hope for the movement.

This episode is a part of Slate’s Who Counts initiative. In the run-up to the 2020 election, Slate will be investigating who counts in the voting booth, who counts as an American, whose money counts in the democratic process, and whose doesn’t. And we need your help. Your support will let us assign more stories, travel to overlooked places, commission special podcast projects, and pay for reporting we otherwise would not be able to do. To learn more about this project and how to support our work, please go to slate.com/whocounts.

Guest: Wade Henderson, former head of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

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On Friday, Senate Republicans blocked efforts to hear new witnesses and evidence in the impeachment trial of President Trump. The decision signals an unwillingness to challenge the executive branch, despite several Republican lawmakers conceding that Trump was wrong to launch a pressure campaign against Ukraine. And even though the Senate trial is drawing to a close, we may be headed for unending impeachment-related investigations.

Guest: Dahlia Lithwick writes about law and the courts for Slate and hosts the podcast Amicus.

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In the second part of a special five-part series of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by election law professor Rick Hasen to take a close look at what happened with Michigan’s failed recounts in 2016, exploring how small mistakes can cause big problems in elections, and why democratic areas seem much more prone to incompetence in election administration. 

Rick Hasen’s new book Election Meltdown forms the basis for this special series of Amicus. 

Join Slate for the Election Meltdown live show on Feb. 19 in Washington. 

Podcast production by Sara Burningham.

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Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Barbara McQuade, professor of law at the University of Michigan and former U.S attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, to explore the ramifications of the last two weeks in the Senate. 

Join us for a live show on Feb. 19 in Washington. 

Podcast production by Sara Burningham.

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Izabella Kaminska, editor of FT Alphaville, joins the Slate Money hosts from London to discuss Brexit Day, ESG (environmental, social and governance) and LIBOR (London InterBank Offered Rate). 

Plus: An extra long Brexit segment. 

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. 

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