Slate Debates

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: hearmeout@slate.comPodcast production by Maura CurrieYou can skip all the ads in Hear Me Out by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/hearmeoutplus for just $15 a month for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out… stretching our legs.We know we like to bring you deep conversations about the biggest topics in the news. But today? Let’s go for a walk.Lots of us picked up this new healthy habit over the course of the pandemic. But walking is still one of those things you either love or really, really hate. So we took our host — an enthusiastic walker — and sat her down with someone who hates it. Our guest is Lucy Lopez, media personality and host of the Mamacita Rica podcast.If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: hearmeout@slate.comPodcast production by Maura CurrieYou can skip all the ads in Hear Me Out by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/hearmeoutplus for just $15 a month for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rebecca Traister, author of All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation and writer, discusses the renewed interest in marriage as a means to address American poverty. They delve into the societal perception of marriage, the historical context of marriage panics, the link between marriage panics and race, and the problematic notion of marriage as an easy fix for societal inequities.

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out… what? Oh my god, who told you?Adoption is a complicated thing. Raising a child who’s not related to you is challenging — and being that child, in many ways, is even harder. And it’s all too easy for adoption, particularly a white family adopting a black or brown child, to be framed as a heroic act. The truth, as adoptees will tell you, is a lot messier.Angela Tucker, a writer and transracial adoptee, joins us to argue that adoption is traumatic… and with the right reforms, it shouldn’t need to happen as often as it does.If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: hearmeout@slate.comPodcast production by Maura CurrieYou can skip all the ads in Hear Me Out by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/hearmeoutplus for just $15 a month for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out… the conscription question.The U.S. military is having trouble meeting recruitment goals — and for the first time in recent history, the Army has actually failed to meet its minimum. Joe Plenzler, a writer, consultant and Marine Corps veteran, joins us to argue that it’s time to bring back the draft; more specifically, a partial one. It’d help address recruiting shortfalls, but more importantly, it might also change how Americans feel about public service… and how politicians feel about endless war.If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: hearmeout@slate.comPodcast production by Maura CurrieYou can skip all the ads in Hear Me Out by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/hearmeoutplus for just $15 a month for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following “The Call,” our series on the opioid epidemic continues in Harlem. Inside a safe-consumption site, addiction is destigmatized—outside, however, the neighbors feel differently.Guest: Syderia Asberry-Chresfield, co-founder of the Greater Harlem Coalition and a former Vice President for JP Morgan Chase.If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Belinda Luscombe argues for the end of the engagement ring, questioning tradition and societal pressure. The discussion explores alternative symbols of commitment, challenges gender expectations, and highlights affordable manmade diamond alternatives. The podcast also questions the necessity of wedding rituals and the role of capitalism in the wedding industry.

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out… supreme hubris.The Supreme Court is currently unpopular to a historic degree. That popularity is, of course, contingent on political opinion – and whether the court has bucked it recently. But most people agree that something’s wrong with the Supreme Court as an institution.And, according to Aaron Tang, it’s not partisanship… even though that’s a popular scapegoat. It’s overconfidence and egos running wild.Professor and author Aaron Tang joins us to discuss what’s wrong with SCOTUS, and how we might start to fix it.If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: hearmeout@slate.comPodcast production by Maura CurrieYou can skip all the ads in Hear Me Out by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/hearmeoutplus for just $15 a month for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out… preventing the preventable.At best, the rate of epidemic of drug overdose deaths in this country is slowing — but by many metrics and in many jurisdictions, the situation remains as dire as ever. Which begs the question: what tactics will work to prevent these deaths, if nothing has yet? Laura Guzman, Executive Director of the National Harm Reduction Coalition, joins us to say that harm reduction strategies like clean needles, clean pipes, and Narcan distribution are the way forward… because criminalizing drug use isn’t.RESOURCES FOR PREVENTING OVERDOSES:Access guidance and emergency mental health support via Overdose Lifeline.Find Naloxone near you here.You may be able to receive Naloxone through the mail; check here.Find harm reduction centers near you here.If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: hearmeout@slate.comPodcast production by Maura CurrieYou can skip all the ads in Hear Me Out by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/hearmeoutplus for just $15 a month for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out… main character syndrome. As concerts and movie theaters have roared back to life this summer, so has a disturbing trend: bad behavior. You’ve seen the videos, probably — picking fights with neighbors, throwing things onstage, and taking videos during Barbie.Some of these behaviors have higher stakes than others, obviously. But it’s clear that we’re in a new frontier of public behavior… and that it might be more difficult, and more dangerous, to chide our neighbors.Freelance writer Sara Stewart joins us to argue that times have changed… and it’s time for venues to step up.If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: hearmeout@slate.comPodcast production by Maura CurrieYou can skip all the ads in Hear Me Out by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/hearmeoutplus for just $15 a month for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices