Slate Technology

This week: Tiktok gets a stay of execution in America. Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers speculate on the reasons Trump changed his mind on the TikTok ban and who will ultimately win the jackpot if an American company gets a stake. Then, in a move that’s sketchy at best, Trump launched a memecoin just as he became president again and the cryptobros aren’t happy. Finally, digital shoplifting is a thing. And if you’re a Gen Z or Millennial, you’re probably doing it. 

In the Slate Plus episode: Are Barack and Michelle the new Harry and Megan?

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Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth.

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Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay make sense of TikTok’s surprise return, and what’s going on with the influencers who said goodbye to the app by sharing controversial secrets, only for it to come back the next day. Then, the pair debunk some of the social media conspiracy theories that have proliferated since the presidential inauguration. 

This podcast is produced by Alexandra Botti, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay.

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The Department of Government Efficiency was made to Elon Musk’s specifications, right down to its meme-indebted name. Now that DOGE is shaping up to be an actual part of the government, what can it actually accomplish? And isn’t this all a huge conflict of interest for Elon Musk and his many government contracts?

Guest: Teddy Schleifer, New York Times reporter on billionaires.

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay are joined by ICYMI producer (and resident linguist) Alexandra Botti, who shares her experience attending the American Dialect Society’s words-of-the-year vote. Then, Candice and Kate break down 2024’s winners (the WOTYs), and predict what internet words we’ll be seeing in 2025.

This podcast is produced by Alexandra Botti, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay. 

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Looking for up-to-the-minute updates on where the fires are, LA residents have been turning to the app Watch Duty, rather than getting updates directly from the local or state government, or even local media.

Guests:

David Merritt, cofounder and CTO of Watch Duty

Alyssa Jeong Perry, LA-based producer for Slate.

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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Misinformation, disinformation, politics—Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg is not going to shield users from those anymore. What’s behind the abrupt change in direction?

Guest: Sheera Frenkel, New York Times tech reporter

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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On today’s episode, Candice Lim is joined for the first time by ICYMI’s new co-host. Tune in to hear about their relationship to MuggleNet, Shrimp Jesus, and their most deeply held, but least provable internet conspiracy theory.

This podcast is produced by Alexandra Botti, Daisy Rosario, and Candice Lim.

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How the FCC and its incoming head, Brenden Carr, could enact Trump’s top policy goal: punishing anyone who says mean stuff about Trump.

Guest: Drew FitzGerald, telecom reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

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Candice Lim is joined by Slate culture writer Scaachi Koul, the host of Scamfluencers and the author of the upcoming book Sucker Punch (coming out this March). Today, they’re diving into Scaachi’s internet diaries to hear about her most-referenced meme, the internet rule she thinks everyone should follow, and whether there’s hope for the next generation online. But first, they’re discussing Trisha Paytas and Scaachi’s personal beef with Moo Deng.

This podcast is produced by Alexandra Botti, Daisy Rosario, and Candice Lim.

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While Donald J Trump was virtually fuming at his sentencing hearing in Judge Juan Merchan’s New York City courtroom on Friday morning, the nine justices of the US Supreme Court were taking their seats for oral arguments in the so-called TikTok ban case. And while it only took 40 minutes for the president elect’s sentence of an ‘unconditional discharge’ to be pronounced, the arguments over national security, the First Amendment, and an app that 170 million Americans use took a couple of hours longer. 

Amicus has an analysis of all of it. First, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern discuss whether and how Trump’s sentence matters, and what it tells us about the Supreme Court under Trump 2.0. Next, they’re joined by  Gautam Hans, clinical Professor of Law at Cornell Law School, who specializes in constitutional law, technology law and policy, to discuss why the Supreme Court seemed so very ready to reach right past the First Amendment and grab for national security in order to uphold the TikTok ban.

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