By Slate Podcasts
Technology coverage from across the Slate Podcast network
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On today’s episode, Rachelle and Candice answer a listener's question about “Dr.” Natalya Toryanski, an influencer with almost a quarter of million of followers on TikTok who tune into her satirical videos mimicking a prototypical “bland influencer.” Our listener writes,...
The TikTok ban that has been floating around Washington since the last administration has been signed into law. What does that mean for users, creators and the court battles ahead? Guest: Louise Matsakis, reporter covering tech and China. Dillon White, TikToker under the...
On today’s episode, Steffi Cao explains Roblox to Rachelle. Cao, a culture writer with bylines at The Atlantic, Fast Company, Forbes, BuzzFeed and more, recently wrote about Roblox’s new attempt to venture outside of kids’ gaming. This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley...
From the Wayback Machine to the mass-digitization of the history of Aruba, the Internet Archive is a non-profit doing valuable work. But some of its other projects—a pandemic-era lending library and the ongoing digitalization of 78 rpm records—have led to...
This week: Elon Musk wants his colossal, court-blocked pay package, and Tesla’s board wants to give it to him. Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers also chat with Alicia Montgomery, current Slate audio VP and veteran of NPR, to...
On today’s episode, Rachelle and Candice answer listener questions about the rapid rise of Donghua Jinlong, a Chinese company that manufactures glycine. Over the past few weeks, paradoxically deadpan and impassioned videos about the high quality of Donghua Jinlong’s products have taken over TikTok. Are teens actually consuming...
Tesla’s market cap has dropped. The company had its biggest round of layoffs ever. The Cybertruck doesn’t seem to be taking off. And Elon’s posting through it. Is Tesla in serious trouble? Guest: Dana Hull, Bloomberg reporter and contributor to the...
Candice Lim is joined by We Signed An NDA co-host Ann Maddox, who you may know as Tom Sandoval’s former personal assistant. In March 2023, Maddox was teaching improv to a middle school in Japan when she found out Sandoval and his...
Five years ago, tech investor Ben Horowitz of Andreessen Horowitz bet our own Felix Salmon a 100-year-old bottle of wine that 10% of Americans would be using Bitcoin to pay for something by now. Ben lost, of course, but he’s...
How the semi-legalization of marijuana has drawn a road map for legalizing psychedelics—and also provided a list of pitfalls to be avoided. Guest: Jane C. Hu, science journalist and author of the newsletter The Microdose. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to...
This week, Slate Money hacks the mainframe! Washington Post tech writer Shira Ovide joins Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers to discuss what’s wrong with America’s internet industry, how YouTube became the media empire no one talks about, and...
Why lately our search engines just don’t seem to deliver results. Guest: Jason Koebler, cofounder of 404 Media and co-host of the 404 Media Podcast. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What...
Why scam obituaries are edging out earnest ones, with the help of artificial intelligence and an adept Google game. Guest: Mia Sato, reporter for The Verge. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What...
How did an attempt to simplify a tedious student-aid form turn into a full-on debacle that has some high school seniors wondering if they will have to delay starting college? Guest: Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, national higher education reporter for the Washington Post. Want...
The demand for electricity is surging in the U.S. With increasing amounts of power going towards artificial intelligence, manufacturing and electric vehicles, can the grid keep up? Guest: Evan Halper, business reporter covering the energy transition for the Washington Post Want more...
This week: Americans are less revved up about EVs. Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss if Elon Musk’s mischief has played a role in slowing sales. Also: the crisis in the wine industry, and how a combination investigative...
Donald Trump got a huge financial boost when Truth Social went public last week—or did he? Guest: Nitish Pahwa, associate writer on business and tech for Slate. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the...
On today’s Internet Diary, Rachelle is joined by Rebecca Jennings, Vox’s senior correspondent covering social platforms and the creator economy. The two discuss Jennings’ recent pieces on why everyone loves NYT Connections and how self-promotion became the internet’s lingua franca. This podcast is produced...
For this edition of Money Talks: Are you feeling trapped in Zoom/Teams/Slack purgatory? Author Cal Newport’s book Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout has a way forward. Host Emily Peck speaks with him about how the digital...
From science fiction writers to American presidents to Elon Musk, everyone’s eager to send people to Mars. But, even if you could nail the physical aspects, are Earthlings cut out for life on Mars mentally? Guest: Nathaniel Rich, contributing writer for...
Rachelle Hampton and Candice Lim ask their most pressing questions about the bipartisan bill that would require TikTok’s parent company to sell the app or face a ban on all devices in the U.S. While the bill is not expected...
How supply chains, the pandemic, and a steady stream of Wall Street money led to a crisis at Boeing. Guest: Jon Ostrower, editor-in-chief of the website the Air Current. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening...
On today’s show, Rachelle is joined by writer and reporter Gaby Del Valle to discuss the rapid, contested rise of model-turned-influencer Nara Smith. Described by Rolling Stone as the “hot, young tradwife making everyone on the internet mad”, Nara’s elaborate homemade meals, hot husband...
After organized-labor victories at Amazon, with automakers, and in Hollywood, big corporations are striking back by, among other things, suing the National Labor Relations Board. Guest: Noam Scheiber, reporter for the New York Times covering working and workers. Want more What Next...
This week: Biden’s comin’ for your iPhone! Or at least, his administration wants to make it less restrictive to third-party developers. Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the new Apple DOJ lawsuit, how Reddit can leverage its massive...
Candice Lim is joined by internet culture reporter Morgan Sung to run through the five messiest moments that have wracked the knitting and crocheting communities. From the controversial acrylic vs. natural wool debate to knitfluencers overcharging their followers, they’ll recall...
Despite the blackouts, moderator revolts, and long string of controversies, Reddit remains an active, healthy website. As the site goes public this week, can it remain that way? Guest: Priya Anand, Bloomberg News tech reporter. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to...
Rachelle and Candice catch up on Matthew Koma, the husband of singer/actress Hilary Duff, who got a vasectomy and documented his post-op Valium spiral on Instagram. Then, they give an update on Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who wiped her public Instagram and...
Private equity firms have been buying up doctors’ offices and hospitals around the country. But if profits are the primary goal, what happens to the cost and quality of healthcare for patients? Guest: Gretchen Morgenson, senior financial reporter for the NBC...
While all eyes and brains are on what SCOTUS thinks about making Trump emperor-king, a lesser known case will be heard Monday that could have a huge impact on how social media can (or cannot) keep election workers safe this...
This week: Americans don’t care as much about work. They have better things to do. Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the prospect of a four-day workweek and what it could mean for the economy. Also: How Liquid Death...
On today’s episode, Rachelle Hampton is joined by Jonquilyn Hill, the host and reporter of Vox’s policy and politics podcast The Weeds. The two reunite to discuss the most recent season of Netflix’s Love is Blind. Following an unmemorable season and a disastrous attempt...
TikTok’s connection to the Chinese government has been a Washington talking point since the Trump administration, but earlier this month lawmakers in the House introduced a bill requiring the app’s parent company to either divest the company into American hands—or...
This month marks not only the third birthday of In Case You Missed It but the birthdays of 75% of the ICYMI production team so what else could we do but host a birthday spectacular? On today’s episode, Rachelle and...
This week, we’re revisiting an episode about the transitional lives of Uber drivers. Anna and then-producer Katie Bishop hitched multiple rides in the Bay Area and heard stories about immigration, domestic violence, personal finance, and more. Death, Sex & Money is...
As the debate around child safety online rages on, an investigation by The New York Times found a seedy world of pedophiles interacting with child influencer accounts, often run by their parents, on Instagram. Guest: Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, investigative reporter at the...
Rachelle Hampton and Candice Lim are joined by writer and journalist Fortesa Latifi who has been reporting extensively on child influencer legislation for Teen Vogue. In August 2023, the governor of Illinois passed an amendment to the state’s child labor law that...
The New York Times declared that physical wallets are on the outs. But is digital enough? Felix Salmon Emily Peck and Elizabeth Spiers discuss! Also: Steve Mnuchin’s heroic $1 billion bailout of New York Community Bank, and new rules requiring...
Thousands of songs have disappeared from TikTok in recent months as music giant Universal Music Group, or UMG, has pulled its catalog from the app. UMG claims that TikTok is a music platform, and that TikTok needs to pay more...
On today’s show, Rachelle and Candice return to the halcyon days of YouTube in 2013, when wholesome youths with names like Zoe Sugg and Caspar Lee and Troye Sivan ruled supreme. Colloquially known as the Brit Crew, these teens and twenty-somethings...
Why scam obituaries are edging out earnest ones, with the help of artificial intelligence and an adept Google game. Guest: Mia Sato, reporter for The Verge. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole...
This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck and Elizabeth Spiers ponder the future of computers, cars, and…fast food? They discuss why Elon Musk is suing Sam Altman and OpenAI and the altruistic origins of ChatGPT. Also: Wendy’s “surge pricing” gaff had...
Candice Lim is joined by Link in Bio writer Rachel Karten, whose Substack breaks down how Stanley Cups went viral, why the Duolingo owl got a BBL and how “seemingly ranch” hit supermarket shelves. Karten was a social media manager who started...
Is it censorship for social media platforms to moderate their content, or is censorship when the state tells social media platforms how to moderate their content? Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, Slate writer on courts and the law. Want more What Next TBD?...
On today’s episode, Rachelle is joined by her best friend Danielle Hewitt, a producer at Prologue Projects and, formerly, Slate’s daily news podcast What Next. In a deeply revealing exercise, the two go through a selection of the 250 TikToks...
Fertility doctors and their patients trying to conceive via in vitro fertilization (IVF) were stopped in their tracks this week, as the Alabama Supreme Court declared that embryos have the same rights as people. The decision has left doctors wondering...
This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck and Elizabeth Spiers come with 0% interest and no fees! They discuss what the proposed merger between Capital One and Discover would mean for the rest of us and why the government probably won’t...
Rachelle and Candice dive deep into the scammer story currently scratching the internet’s itch: Reesa Teesa’s 52-part “Who TF Did I Marry?” TikTok series. On February 14, @ReesaMTeesa detailed the very harrowing story of meeting, dating and divorcing a man she...
Studies have found that, in tiny increments, America’s East Coast is sinking into the ground thanks to climate change. Can a new approach to urban planning mitigate the effect? Guest: Matt Simon, senior staff writer at Wired. You can read Matt’s reporting...
Shotspotter lost a huge contract and some face when Chicago opted out of its partnership with the gunfire-identification tech company. Why can’t new policing tech seem to break the old patterns and problems? Guest: Jim Daley, investigations editor at South Side Weekly Want...