Slate News

With the release of Wicked: For Good, spectacle is back in theaters and back on the press circuit: Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are again “holding space” along with each other’s individual fingers and other quirks they picked up along the way. This is, apparently, how movies are promoted now. Guest: Michael Schulman, staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Trump administration has announced a 28-point plan to end the war in Ukraine that involves ceding territory, giving up on joining NATO and reducing its military—in essence an extremely, even suspiciously, friendly deal for Russia and Russian demands. How does Ukraine play this without losing a powerful ally or the war? Guest: Fred Kaplan, Slate’s War Stories correspondent. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this Money Talks: The Wall Street Journal’s Heather Haddon joins Emily Peck to unpack her recent reporting on the fast food industry, including the reason we’re seeing the “Value Wars” play out at places like McDonalds and Chili’s, Starbuck’s strategies to revive sales, and the intense drive-thru operations research being done by Chik-fil-A. Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shefali Luthra, a reproductive health reporter at The 19th, and George Hill, President of Maine Family Planning, dive into the harsh realities of funding cuts affecting Planned Parenthood. They explore how federal policies have led to clinic closures and the implications for reproductive health access. Luthra discusses the impact of the Title X funding freeze and the political strategies behind defunding. Hill shares insights on sustaining services amidst these challenges and the proactive measures being taken to ensure continued care.

Tracking a license plate across the country has never been easier, which is good news if your car has been stolen, but in an era of ICE and Border Patrol raids, these warrantless searches feel increasingly invasive—and unconstitutional. Guest: Joseph Cox, co-founder of 404 Media and host of the 404 Media podcast. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week: Larry Summers has stepped down from his public positions following the release of unsavory emails he exchanged with Jeffrey Epstein. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck discuss Summers’ correspondence with the infamous sex trafficker, the veracity of his “genius” reputation, and his beef with Felix. Then, Meta has won its anti-trust case, highlighting the current struggle to regulate Big Tech. The hosts examine the landscape of anti-trust efforts in the US and whether it is the correct tool for regulating tech behemoths. Then, everyone is talking about the “AI bubble” right now, but what does that actually mean? The hosts break down the state of the AI market and whether or not calling it a “bubble” is the right way to think about it.  In the Slate Plus episode: Thanksgiving Hot Takes! Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth. 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

Dahlia Lithwick is joined by former federal prosecutor Mimi Rocah, who brings her extensive experience trying and supervising federal criminal cases to a discussion of what the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse can teach us about justice. She suggests that the Trump administration’s eleventh-hour switchback tactic of calling for investigations of only Democrats speaks volumes about how the Justice Department is functioning these days, proving that vindictive prosecutions are the only game in town, bonus if they also have the effect of power-washing the president’s shadow from the scandal. Next, they turn to the extraordinary scenes in a Virginia courtroom this week, as the DOJ’s case against former FBI director and Trump foe James Comey seemed ready  to fall apart at the seams. As this administration’s practice of political interference in legal proceedings is supercharged by dear leader’s “Dear Pam”  posts to “his” AG Pam Bondi, this conversation highlights why judicial integrity and the ever-expanding ranks of judges refusing to accept lies, are among the last best hopes for equal justice under the law in America.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump promised to stop the “persecution” of the cryptocurrency industry. He did call off the SEC investigations that began under Biden, and pardoned Binance cofounder and ex-CEO Changpeng Zhao. But is the crypto industry ultimately better off because of that?  Guest: David Yaffe-Bellany, tech reporter for the New York Times. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss a new oral history of President Trump’s Department of Justice, the complex transactional nationalism of this week’s visit from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with guest Jake Sullivan, former National Security Advisor and co-host of the new podcast The Long Game, and what is likely to happen now that Trump has signed the bill to release the Justice Department’s Epstein files. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the sordid scandal around the tangled relationships of political reporter Olivia Nuzzi and the complex questions it raises about relationships between journalists and their sources.   In the latest Gabfest Reads, John talks with journalist and author Andrew Ross Sorkin about his new book, 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History and How It Shattered a Nation — the story of speculation, debt, and the human drives that fueled the Wall Street crash that changed everything.   Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)   Podcast production by Nina Porzucki   Research by Emily Ditto You can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here.   Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices