Slate Technology

Fidelity made headlines when they announced you could invest your retirement savings in Bitcoin. Then the crypto market crashed.

Guest: Anthony Lee Zhang

Host: Sonari Glinton

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Log onto any social app and you’ll quickly find content that’s been ported over from another platform. On the show today, Rachelle and Madison talk about the homogenization of internet humor and how every platform is trying to copy its competition. Then they discuss the return of anonymous online spaces with the new app NGL, an app that allows people to solicit anonymous comments and questions from Instagram, and why these anonymous spaces always tend toward toxicity.

Make sure to check out our episode on period trackers, and the newest season of Slow Burn.

This podcast is produced by Daniel Schroeder, Rachelle Hampton, and Madison Malone Kircher.

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The openness of the internet is its greatest strength. Or a glaring weakness, depending on who you ask. Does something need to change?

Guest: Jared Schroeder

Host: Sonari Glinton

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Lesbians on dating and hookup apps aren’t looking for men, but that’s what platforms like Bumble and Tinder are serving them. On today’s show, Madison and Rachelle speak to some queer women who’ve had this problem and what sorts of issues it creates. Then they discuss the women-focused apps that’ve tried to fill that space, and why it’s so difficult to find safe queer dates online.

This podcast is produced by Daniel Schroeder, Madison Malone Kircher, and Rachelle Hampton.

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This episode originally aired in July 2021.

Last year, North Americans saw record-breaking heat, droughts, wildfires, and floods. The science is clear: we are living through the effects of climate change. Now scientists are trying to answer: is this the new normal?

Guest: Daniel Swain, climate scientist at UCLA 

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Earlier this month, the American Girl Doll Instagram account announced the return of the classic Molly doll, and because it was announced during Pride month everybody started wondering, “Is Molly gay?” On today’s show, Rachelle and Madison discuss the recent gay panic of the conservative American Doll Instagram community, the online life of American Girl memes, and their own histories with these beloved childhood treasures. Plus, they discuss the drama around Lizzo’s “GRRRLS” and why she’s one of the few celebrities to nail the Notes app apology.

This podcast is produced by Daniel Schroeder, Madison Malone Kircher, and Rachelle Hampton.

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One state wants to stop people from buying one. But can electric vehicles be stopped? 

Guest: Ryan Cornell

Host: Sonari Glinton

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Throughout the 2010s, the One Direction fandom was inescapable online. On today’s show, Atlantic writer Kaitlyn Tiffany is here to discuss her new book all about that subject, Everything I Need I Get From You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It. Rachelle and Madison talk to Kaitlyn about why she chose One Direction, how fan theories get out of hand, and why neither she nor Rachelle would ever want to meet Harry Styles.

Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder, Rachelle Hampton, and Madison Malone Kircher.

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She wanted to be an icon for working women. What went wrong?

Guest: Sheera Frenkel

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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The market for cryptocurrency crashed in May, losing billions of investor dollars. That’s a special concern for African Americans, who are twice as likely as white people to invest in crypto. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by economist Darrick Hamilton to discuss the unique appeal of cryptocurrency among Black Americans, and whether the potential rewards outweigh the risks.

Guest: Darrick Hamilton, the founding director of the Institute for the Study of Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School.

Podcast production by Jasmine Ellis and Eric Aaron

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