Slate Race and Identity

Supreme Court watchers are concerned that the Justices are poised to make racial gerrymandering all but impossible to prove. This comes after the Court recently heard arguments in the case of Alexander v. the South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by Brandon Tensley, national political reporter for Capital B News. They discuss the South Carolina voters who are directly impacted by the case, and what it could mean for voting rights around the country. 

Guest: Brandon Tensley, national political reporter for Capital B News

Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola

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In this week’s big voting rights case, Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, the Supreme Court heard arguments concerning whether to uphold a South Carolina congressional map that is avowedly partisan (everyone agrees it favors Republicans, but partisan gerrymanders are A-OK under SCOTUS precedent). What is disputed here is whether the mapmakers relied on race to reach their partisan aims. A three-judge panel in South Carolina found it to be a racial gerrymander, and threw out the map. In arguments on Wednesday, it became clear that the high court’s conservatives would rather toss out the evidence the lower court used to reach its decision, an unusual move for the highest court in the land, but perhaps the bed it’s made for itself after ruling partisan gerrymanders non justiciable in Rucho v. Common Cause in 2019. And so SCOTUS cos-played as a trial court for two hours on Wednesday.

On this week’s Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Leah Aden, senior counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund who argued the case on behalf of the South Carolina Conference of the NAACP, and Taiwan Scott - a South Carolina voter and individual plaintiff in the case, who says the electoral power of his Gullah Geechee community is suppressed by the gerrymander. 

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Dahlia’s book Lady Justice: Women, the Law and the Battle to Save America, is also available as an audiobook, and Amicus listeners can get a 25 percent discount by entering the code “AMICUS” at checkout.

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With more than one and half million people behind bars, the U.S. is second only to China in the number of citizens who are incarcerated. And an estimated one of three African American men spend some part of their lives under the control or supervision of the criminal justice system. The consequences of incarceration for individuals, families, and communities are devastating…and little understood. Even the worst outcomes in prison –sickness, suicide and other deaths– are frequently overlooked because the victims aren’t valued and the incidents aren’t documented.

On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by Andrea Armstrong. She’s a professor at Loyola University of New Orleans College of Law, and the chair of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. She also recently won a MacArthur Fellowship –widely known as a genius award– for her work.

Guest: Andrea Armstrong, professor at Loyola University of New Orleans College of Law, and the chair of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel

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On this week’s episode of The Waves: the case for taking a sabbatical. 

Host TK Dutes speaks with author and former television writer Patty Lin on her latest book End Credits: How I Broke Up With Hollywood. Lin worked in some of the most notable writers' rooms like Friends, Freaks and Geeks, Desperate Housewives and Breaking Bad. But when she hit a breaking point, she made a big change and stopped working for an entire year. After that? Her relationship with work–and everything else–transformed.

In Slate Plus: Patty Lin on how her closest relationships changed after going on sabbatical

If you liked this episode, check out: Female CEOs Can’t Save Us

Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery.

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On today’s episode of Hear Me Out… sailing the ocean blue.

Most of us just had Monday off for the holiday formerly known as Columbus Day — and technically, still known as Columbus Day, on the federal level.

Indigenous People’s Day, or Native Americans’ Day, was christened as a rebuttal to what Columbus actually meant for many: colonialism, violence, death, and destruction. But there are those who believe that Columbus, the man, is a different beast than Columbus, the event. Spanish ships landing in the Caribbean was a monumental moment in global history… so could that still be worth commemorating, even in a world that’s no longer kind to Columbus? 

Prof. William Connell, chair of Italian Studies at Seton Hall University and organizer/co-editor of the definitive Routledge History of Italian-Americans, joins us. 

If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: [email protected]

Podcast production by Maura Currie

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Many of the gains of the Civil Rights movement were built by African Americans who turned grief—often over the violent deaths of loved ones—into activism. At the same time, grief over anticipated or theoretical losses within the white community is frequently harnessed into political power. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by political science professor Juliet Hooker, author of Black Grief/White Grievance, about why anger and even violence has often been framed as a justified response to white losses of power and influence, but inappropriate among Black people, even when there’s loss of life.

Guest: Juliet Hooker, Professor of Political Science at Brown University

Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel

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Ten years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, 25 women who’d been disfigured by the blast came to the United States. Those Japanese survivors would go to the White House and end up on a bizarre proto reality TV show. They’d also put their lives in the hands of American doctors, hoping that risky, cutting-edge surgeries might repair their injuries and give them a chance for a fresh start.

Josh Levin is One Year’s editorial director. One Year’s senior producer is Evan Chung.

This episode was produced by Kelly Jones and Evan Chung, with additional production by Sophie Summergrad. 

It was edited by Joel Meyer and Derek John, Slate’s executive producer of narrative podcasts. 

Merritt Jacob is our senior technical director. Holly Allen created the artwork for this season.

Join Slate Plus to get a bonus 1955 episode at the end of the season. Slate Plus members also get to listen to all Slate podcasts without any ads. Sign up now to support One Year.

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**Today’s episode discusses sensitive language, including the n-word, and may not be appropriate for all listeners.**

For decades, words and phrases that originate in Black homes, churches, and entertainment have been pulled into the national conversation…where their meanings are often changed or widely misunderstood. And social media has accelerated the process, taking Black vernacular from a group chat, to Twitter, to national headlines in record time. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by journalists Tre’vell Anderson and Jarrett Hill, co-authors of the new book, Historically Black Phrases: From ‘I Ain’t One of Your Lil’ Friends’ to ‘Who All Gon’ Be There?’ They talk about what inspired their book, and how they hope the book can provide a snapshot of authentic Black language, and the spark to more honest conversations about race and identity.

Guests: 

Acclaimed writer Tre’vell Anderson, author of We See Each Other: A Black, Trans Journey Through TV and Film.

Award-winning journalist Jarrett Hill, professor at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Journalism.

Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel

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On this week’s episode of The Waves, Host Kat Chow turns to Afghanistan, two years since the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country. She speaks with reporter Tanvi Misra, who recently published an article with Politico following a family trapped in immigration limbo at a U.S. embassy in Doha, Qatar. Tanvi also explains how the U.S. immigration process singles out women and marginalized genders.

Further reading: They Thought Their Sick Little Girl Would Be Safe in America. Then It Denied Her Family Entry.

In Slate Plus: The drama and life of luxury on Prime Video’s Made in Heaven with Host Kat Chow and reporter Tanvi Misra

If you liked this episode, check out: Incompetent Cervix - The Misogynist History Behind Naming The Female Body

Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry and Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery.

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Why is everyone—on the left and the right—suddenly touting the benefits of a married two-parent family? And what is it about this institution that appeals to a certain class of politicians and pundits as means to address American poverty, even as it loses popularity?

We consider the public meltdown over lower marriage rates and the renewed interest in ending no-fault divorce. 

Guest: Rebecca Traister, author of All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation and writer-at-large for New York magazine. 

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Madeline Ducharme, Anna Phillips, Paige Osburn, and Rob Gunther.

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