Slate Conversations

Zoë Heller is a novelist and essayist. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss Trump’s peculiar Americanness, lame defenses of Hillary Clinton, working on Fleet Street, and becoming friend’s with writers whose books you have savaged. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lydia Polgreen is the editor-in- chief of HuffPost. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss her decision to leave the New York Times, the real reason the media screwed up election coverage, and why diversity in newsrooms is so lacking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthew Heineman is an Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss his new movie, ‘City of Ghosts,’ about the journalists resisting ISIS, what he learned interviewing Mark Zuckerberg, and the similarities between extremist groups and drug cartels. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maggie Haberman is White House Correspondent for The New York Times and an analyst for CNN. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss the anxiety and stress that come with reporting nonstop news, whether the media was fair to Hillary Clinton, and what people don’t get about the President. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Obama foreign policy adviser Ben Rhodes sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss working in the White House, the threat Russia poses to American democracy, why Trump’s advisers can’t control him, and the successes and failures of the Obama presidency.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Raúl Grijalva is a Democratic Congressman from Arizona’s Third Congressional district. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss the unrelenting fear in immigrant communities, the divisions that threaten the Democratic Party, and whether the Trump administration is “unhinged.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George Saunders is a short story writer and essayist who has just written his first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss what he learned while researching Abraham Lincoln, why spending time with Trump supporters is important for progressive writers, and the necessity of art in a society under siege. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Delia Ephron is a novelist, humorist, and screenwriter, whose credits include You’ve Got Mail. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss what she learned about movies from Tom Hanks, why dating apps are ruining romance, and the challenge of being funny in the age of Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tom Cole is a Republican Congressman from Oklahoma’s 4th Congressional District. He speaks with Isaac Chotiner to discuss whether Trump’s “ban” is religiously motivated, whether repealing Obamacare will cause 23 million people to lose health insurance, and how Fox News has changed the Republican Party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ashley Parker is a political reporter at The Washington Post. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss what it’s really like to cover this White House, how the President’s staffers manage his personality, and the stresses of waking up to Trump’s tweetstorms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices