This week on The Waves, a special episode from Slate's podcast How To!When Leslie landed her dream engineering job right out of college, she was elated but also worried she was a tad unqualified—even though she has the skills and expertise. Since then imposter syndrome has reared its ugly head on a regular basis. Besides being the youngest in her department, she’s one of the only women and the only person of color, which has made things even more isolating. On this episode of How To!, host Amanda Ripley brings on Dr. Jessica Esquivel, physicist, advocate for marginalized communities in STEAM, and author of Our Queer Universe. Dr. Esquivel has some wise, hard-earned advice for shifting the burden of being enough, learning to fail, and making systemic changes so people don’t feel imposter syndrome so acutely. If you liked this episode, check out: “I’m Great at My Job. So Why Do I Feel Like a Fraud?”Podcast production by Derek John, Rosemary Belson, Kevin Bendis, and Jabari Butler.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Waves - the freelancing side of acting with Marvelous Mrs. Maisel actress Caroline Aaron. Slate senior supervising producer Daisy Rosario is joined by Caroline Aaron - a familiar face in movies for over forty years, if not a household name. They discuss building a life with an unstable career path, how women’s stories are done a disservice in film and television, and how Caroline’s show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel seeks to overturn all of that. In Slate Plus, Caroline discusses working with strong women like Amy Sherman Palladino and Nora Ephron. Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery.Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com.Make an impact this Earth Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to bring more parks to more people across the country. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Waves, author, journalist, and former host of Slate podcast Thirst Aid Kit Nichole Perkins is joined by journalist Eliana Dockterman to discuss the disappearance of sexuality in recent movies. They unpack Eliana’s recent piece in TIME, “Why Aren’t Movies Sexy Anymore?” and try to work through the reasons films that hit the theaters are lacking heat. Hint: One reason has to do with some superheroes.In Slate Plus: Movies that DO have sex scenes. Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Tori Dominguez with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery.Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com.Make an impact this Earth Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to bring more parks to more people across the country. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate supervising producer Daisy Rosario is joined by Texas Tribune reporter Roxanna Asgarian to discuss her book We Were Once A Family: A Story of Love, Death and Child Removal in America and its findings on the foster care system. The book covers the tragic Hart family murders in 2018 where two mothers drove their six adopted children off a cliff. In Slate Plus: How Roxanna navigated writing about a tragic family story in a pandemic while being a first-time mom. Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Tori Dominguez with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery.Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior producer Cheyna Roth is joined by New Yorker editor Jessica Winter to talk all about postpartum psychosis. They dig into how the medical world is failing new moms during one of the “worst psychiatric emergencies” and why we need to talk about it more. After the break, Cheyna and Jessica talk about how movies and television have depicted postpartum depression and psychosis. In Slate Plus, are “influencer parents” really new? Articles MentionedWhat We Still Don’t Understand About Postpartum Psychosis by Jessica Winter The Many Violations of the Violent Birth Scene by Amanda HessWomen’s Heath Care is Underfunded. The Consequences Are Dire by Jessica Grose  Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Tori Dominguez with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery.Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior editor Shannon Palus talks with longtime health and foodwriter Tamar Haspel about her views on weight loss, and why it’s important for feminist to not shy away from the topic. They dig into why crank diets don’t work and often fail in trials, how Tamar changed her mind about “just lose weight!” being good, blanket advice, and how to make conversations about weight empowering—or, at least, less fraught. In Slate Plus, a discussion about the latest weight loss drug, Ozempic. Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Tori Dominguez with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery.Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate culture writer Nadira Goffe is joined by film producer, host of the Hollywood Gold podcast, and Stay Gold Features founder Daniela Taplin Lundberg to discuss the challenges of film production and the importance of movies that tell women’s stories, even when they seem too risky to make. In Slate Plus, Nadira and Daniela talk about their favorite (surprisingly) feminist movies.Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Tori Dominguez with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery.Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com.Make an impact this Women’s History Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to fund girls in STEM. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior editor Shannon Palus talks with Heather Havrilesky about the divine tedium of marriage. They discuss Heather’s book, Foreverland and the explosive response the book initially got (especially when Heather called her husband “a heap of laundry”). Later in the show, they dig into what to do when your husband is truly being a little bit of a patriarchal jerk.  In Slate Plus, a behind the scenes look at what goes into writing the Ask Polly column.  Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Tori Dominguez with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery.Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com. Make an impact this Women’s History Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to fund girls in STEM. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior editor Rebecca Onion is joined by Erika Lantz, host of the podcast The Turning to discuss the impact of ballet culture and the legacy of George Balanchine on dancers of all levels. In Slate Plus, how ballerinas and nuns have more in common than you think. Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Tori Dominguez with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery.Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Erica Berry joins Slate senior producer Cheyna Roth to discuss the inherent fear experienced by women, the symbolism of the wolf in fairy tales, and Erica's book 'Wolfish.' They also address concerns about vaccines, explore personal experiences with fear, and delve into society's response to threats. The podcast also features chapters on various advertisements and the remarkable journey of OR7, a collared wolf in Oregon.