Slate Culture

Hosts Alex Kirshner, Lindsay Gibbs, and Ben Lindbergh speak with the Athletic’s Paul Tenorio on why Apple TV and MLS revised their deal and removed the paywall for viewers. They’re then joined by Massachusetts state senator John Keenan about his proposal to regulate online sports betting and why he’s changed his views on the issue. Finally, they wrap with a discussion of Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini, the young hockey phenoms leading the NHL in scoring. Lindsay has an Afterball on the one New York team that is actually good: Gotham FC. On the bonus episode available exclusively for Slate Plus members, the panel discusses the abysmal football on display from both the New York Jets and Giants. Apple and MLS (6:00): Tear down the wall Regulating Big Gaming (25:41): Mass. state senator John Keenan wants to rein in sports betting Hockey’s Young Guns (51:36): Shooting it out for the Art Ross trophy Afterballs (1:07:04): The Bats win it (Note: time codes are only accurate for Slate Plus members, who listen ad-free.) Get more Hang Up and Listen with Slate Plus! Join for weekly bonus episodes of Hang Up and Listen and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Hang Up and Listen show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or visit slate.com/hangupplus for access wherever you listen. You can email us at hangup@slate.com. Podcast production and editing by Kevin Bendis, with production assistance from Patrick Fort. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode: Lucy Lopez, Elizabeth Newcamp, and Zak Rosen are trying to take some of the holiday stress off your shoulders. They have gift recommendations for every type of kid, from the sports obsessed (tickets to a game are always a win) to the young scientist (science kits like those from Kiwi Co. are sure to be a hit), they have ideas to help you make all the kiddos happy this season.   But first: A listener has a very important question - how do they end the yearly (exhausting) tradition of the Elf on the Shelf. Is it possible to “kill” the elf while keeping holiday magic?  Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Video production by Micah Phillips.  Join us on Facebook and email us at careandfeedingpod@slate.com to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode host Kate Lindsay is joined by porn historian Noelle Perdue, author of the Porn World newsletter. OpenAI announced that they’d allow adult users to have erotic conversations with ChatGPT, just one more way AI and porn are becoming intertwined. As sex becomes more online, not only does it become more solitary, but also more surveilled. Both of these things are intended to divide us, but Noelle is confident that AI’s attempted sex-takeover will fail.  This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode: Lucy Lopez, Elizabeth Newcamp, and Zak Rosen are joined by mother-daughter writing team Leslie and Lindsey Glass. They share their estrangement and reconnection that led to their book The Mother Daughter Relationship Makeover. They give advice for how to deal with toxic personalities around the dinner table and at parties, talk about when estrangement might be the answer, and more. But first, they share their latest Triumphs and Fails. Lucy has an explosion (literally), Elizabeth is in a new country, and Zak learns the local bus routes. This podcast is produced by Rosemary Belson and Cheyna Roth.  Join us on Facebook and email us at careandfeedingpod@slate.com to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode host Kate Lindsay is joined by New York Magazine feature writer, Rebecca Jennings, to discuss the two internet villains currently trying to get back in the internet’s good graces. First, there’s former Try Guy Ned Fulmer, who was ousted from the group after having an affair with an employee, and has now relaunched his YouTube channel as well as his own podcast. Then, Colleen Ballinger, also known as MirandaSings, appeared on Tea Time with Raven Symone and Miranda Maday to discuss allegations that she had interacted inappropriately with her fans. In both cases, fans have rejected their attempts to return. So why do they keep coming back? This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Americans are currently besotted with protein. It’s touted as being good for muscle growth, weight loss, skincare, mental acuity, longevity, and much else besides. It’s sold to men, women, children, the elderly— you can even buy protein for your pets. The protein supplement market alone is worth $21 billion and growing—and extra protein is being added to coffee, cereal, pasta, beer, ice cream, and popcorn. But as frenzied as we currently are about protein, this is not the first protein boom—or even the second. Protein has been promoted as a charismatic, cure-all nutrient for nearly two centuries. In this episode, with the help of Samantha King and Gavin Weedon, the authors of Protein: The Making of a Nutritional Superstar, we look closely at all our protein crazes and their associated protein products—from beef tea to whey powder—and see what they can tell us about our current protein mania.  This episode was produced by Max Freedman. Decoder Ring is also produced by Willa Paskin, Katie Shepherd, and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. We had editing support from Josh Levin and fact-checking by Sophie Summergrad. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com  or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281. Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen. Sources for This Episode King, Samantha and Gavin Weedon. Protein: The Making of a Nutritional Superstar, Duke University Press, 2026. Baker, Ryan. “Protein has become America's latest obsession. Companies like General Mills and PepsiCo are capitalizing on it,” CNBC, July 22, 2025. Brock, William H. Justus von Liebig: The Chemical Gatekeeper, Cambridge University Press, 1997. Callahan, Alice. “The More Protein, the Better?” New York Times, April 9, 2025. Draper, Kevin. “America’s Protein Obsession Is Transforming the Dairy Industry,” New York Times, July 16, 2025. Gayomali, Chris. “Big Food Gets Jacked: How protein mania took over the American grocery store,” New York Magazine, Feb. 12, 2025. “The Great Protein Fiasco,” Maintenance Phase, Aug. 31, 2021. Liebig, Justus von. Researches on the Chemistry of Food, Taylor and Walton, 1847. McLaren, Donald S. “The Great Protein Fiasco,” The Lancet, 1974. Oncken, John. “Stingy, 'half-way' dairy farmer's curiosity changed the world,” Wisconsin State Farmer, April 27, 2022. “Subject of Whey Disposal Discussed in UW Bulletin.” Wausau Daily Herald, Aug. 28, 1965. Torrella, Kenny. “You’re probably eating way too much protein,” Vox, Jan. 30, 2024. Wilson, Bee. “Protein mania: the rich world’s new diet obsession,” The Guardian, Jan. 4, 2019. Wu, Katherine J. “Should We All Be Eating Like The Rock?” The Atlantic, Aug. 28, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’ve got a cultural question or topic you’d like our hosts to tackle, now is your chance because we’re preparing for our annual call-in show! Call and leave us a message with your cultural query at:  347-201-2397 On this week’s show, Julia, Dana, Steve are off to the dystopian races with Edgar Wright’s adaptation of The Running Man. Based on a novel by Stephen King and starring movie-star-to-be Glenn Powell, the film is chockfull of adrenaline and stylish wit but does it overcome its own authoritarian bleakness? They discuss with Slate’s own Sam Adams. Next, they take a look at the oft-forgotten presidency and assassination of James A. Garfield in the Netflix limited series Death By Lightning, starring Michael Shannon, Matthew Macfadyen, and a whole lot of period accurate beards. Finally, they look to the heavens with the loftily ambitious, operatic, and polyglottal new album LUX by Rosalía.  In an exclusive bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, they continue their recap series and get into the twists and turns of the fourth episode of Pluribus. Endorsements Dana: The 17th century nun and poet (a very Rosalía-like divine feminine) Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and particularly the poem "The Ripcord of Love" as translated by Ada Límon. Steve: Joyce Carol Oates’s iconic, lacerating subtweet for the ages—illustrated beautifully on Literary Hub—as well as the prolific author's essay about the novel We Have Always Lived In the Castle in The New York Review of Books. (Steve welcomes listener recommendations for their favorite Oates's novel.) Julia: The Alpine Men's Snow Boot from Xero, for when the Los Angeles Almanac predicts rain. Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com.  Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kerry is ready to leave rural Virginia and move to a walkable, vibrant city. The only problem? She can’t decide which walkable, vibrant city is right for her. On this episode, How To!’s Courtney Martin brings on Melody Warnick, author of This Is Where You Belong and If You Could Live Anywhere. Melody asks Kerry what she’s really seeking in a new place—and introduces a process that can help make such an important decision. Next week, we’ll talk with Melody about learning to love where you live. Can’t wait for part two? Slate Plus members can listen to that episode in their feeds right now! If you liked this episode check out: Moving Stories from Slate’s Death, Sex & Money.  Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at howto@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen. The show is produced by Rosemary Belson and Sophie Summergrad. Our technical director is Merritt Jacob and our supervising producer is Joel Meyer. Get more of How To! with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of How To! and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the How To! show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/howtoplus for access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Even though the documentary Tig Notaro produced won the Festival Favorite Award at Sundance, she did not spend the festival hobnobbing with industry types. Instead she stayed holed up at the Airbnb she rented with friends and the film's crew. "We were calling it Snuggle Down because we were all sitting around the fire and having tea and just laughing so hard." Among the people at Snuggle Down was the subject of the documentary, poet Andrea Gibson, who was dying of ovarian cancer. In this episode, Tig describes meeting Andrea, what made them click creatively, and how making a documentary about the end of Andrea's life brought an already tight-knit group of friends closer together.  Watch: Come See Me In the Good Light And we also want to acknowledge the passing of disability activist Alice Wong. She died on Friday in San Francisco at age 51. Alice and Anna first talked in 2020.  Listen here: Alice Wong On Ruckuses, Rage And Medicaid Podcast production by Andrew Dunn Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus. And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com. Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at ⁠www.monarchmoney.com/DSM⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hosts Alex Kirshner, Lindsay Gibbs, and Ben Lindbergh speak with Yahoo Sports writer Dan Devine about the fallout from the Luka Dončić trade and the subsequent sacking of GM Nico Harrison in Dallas. Then Slate’s Nitish Pahwa joins to unpack the latest dispute between Disney and YouTube TV and what it means for the future of sports streaming. Finally, the Ringer’s Danny Chau stops by to discuss Victor Wembanyama’s breakout season and whether this could be the year he carries the Spurs back to the playoffs. On the bonus episode available exclusively for Slate Plus members, the panel discusses Shedeur Sanders' far-from-stellar  NFL debut. Nico Harrison gets the boot (3:02): The Dallas collapse is complete Disney vs. YouTube (26:12): What was behind the recent clash of the streamers Wemby (42:52): The rise of the unguardable? (Note: time codes are only accurate for Slate Plus members, who listen ad-free.) Get more Hang Up and Listen with Slate Plus! Join for weekly bonus episodes of Hang Up and Listen and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Hang Up and Listen show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or visit slate.com/hangupplus for access wherever you listen. You can email us at hangup@slate.com. Podcast production and editing by Kevin Bendis, with production assistance from Patrick Fort. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices