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While the What Next team spends some time with their families this week, we revisit some of 2023’s biggest, strangest, and best stories. Regularly scheduled programming resumes Jan. 2.In a recent public hearing, three government officials told Congress that not only are “unidentified anomalous phenomena” real, they’re a major national security concern. But one witness took his testimony even further, claiming the government possesses materials of “non-human origin.” How much do we really know about UAPs – or, as they’re more commonly known, UFOs? And now that Congress is involved, are we about to learn a whole lot more? Guest: Garrett Graff, contributor at WIRED magazine; author of the forthcoming book, “UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here—and Out There”Originally aired July 7.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 Amicus—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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While the What Next team spends some time with their families this week, we revisit some of 2023’s biggest, strangest, and best stories. Regularly scheduled programming resumes Jan. 2.Everybody loves pandas—and China knows it. As we say goodbye to the National Zoo’s pandas, we look back at 50 years of “panda diplomacy” and consider its uncertain future.Guest: E. Elena Songster, author of Panda Nation: The Construction and Conservation of China’s Modern Icon and professor of environmental history of modern China at St. Mary’s College of California.Originally aired Sept. 27.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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This podcast explores the opposition faced by Pope Francis within the Catholic Church, his leadership style and efforts to bring about progressive changes, and the process of succession in the Catholic Church to shape its future.

While the What Next: TBD team spends some time with their families during the holidays, we revisit some of 2023’s biggest, strangest, and best stories. Regularly scheduled programming resumes in January.Twitter’s “blue check” verification went from something you applied for, to something you could pay for, to something you had to pay for…to something that many celebrities wouldn’t even accept for free. Master of horror Stephen King told us he wouldn’t pay for a blue check, but he’s not going to fight it either—he just doesn’t really understand what’s going on. Does anyone at Twitter understand?Guests: Alex Heath, deputy editor of The VergeJon Favreau, co-founder of Crooked Media, speechwriter for President Barack ObamaStephen King, authorOriginally aired April 28th, 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and guest host Edmund Lee, media reporter for the New York Times, recap the 2023 economic year, which saw strong growth, reduced inflation, and soaring stocks. Also: What a potential Warner Bros.-Paramount merger means for the entertainment business, and why a growing number of pedestrians are being killed by cars at night. In the Plus segment: Can the news industry profit from ChatGPT? If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and an additional segment of our show every week. You’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Slate Money. Sign up now at slate.com/moneyplus to help support our work.Podcast production by Jared Downing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, the Colorado Supreme Court determined in a pivotal decision that Donald J Trump should not appear on the ballot in the state's Republican primary. Meanwhile the high court is already involved in the possible briefing of another Trump case (about presidential immunity) and has agreed to docket another involving the obstruction of the vote certification on Jan 6 2021. And we haven’t even mentioned the Georgia case. Basically, Trump is going to have a very lawyer-y 2024. So where do all these cases sit right now? Slate’s Jeremy Stahl joins Amicus host Dahlia Lithwick to give us an update.In this week’s Amicus Plus segment, Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern joins the show to talk about Rudy Giuliani’s defamation lawsuit and the $150 million he owes election workers. Mark and Dahlia also discuss the latest in ProPublica’s continued deep dive into the finances of Clarence Thomas. Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Dickerson talks with author Christine Coulson about her new book, “One Woman Show.” They discuss the moment that inspired Coulson to tell a story in museum wall labels, her 25-years working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and why restraint can be an artist’s best friend. Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From our friends at Financial Times's FT News Briefing:The FT’s Peter Spiegel, Katie Martin and Elaine Moore preview what could happen in geopolitics, markets and artificial intelligence in 2024. Listen to the FT News Briefing podcast every Monday through Friday here:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ft-news-briefing/id1438449989The FT News Briefing is produced by Fiona Symon, Sonja Hutson, Kasia Broussalian and Marc Filippino. Additional help by Sam Giovinco, Peter Barber, Michael Lello, David da Silva and Gavin Kallmann. Our engineer is Monica Lopez. Topher Forhecz is the FT’s executive producer. The FT’s global head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. The show’s theme song is by Metaphor Music.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Without infrastructure to support all-electric vehicles, consumers have increasingly embraced the hybrid. The lower emissions are good—but are they slowing down our transition into an electric future? Guest: Patrick George, editor-in-chief of InsideEVs.com, contributor to The Atlantic and The Verge.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 TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to block Donald Trump from the ballot, the new Texas law to allow state and local authorities to arrest immigrants, and guest Amanda Ripley’s suggestions to survive 2024.  Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:Colorado Supreme Court’s opinion in Anderson, et al. v. Griswold, et al.Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United StatesJohn Dickerson for CBS News Prime Time: John Dickerson on Trump, Colorado and the 14th AmendmentAdam Unikowsky for Adam’s Legal Newsletter: Is the Supreme Court seriously going to disqualify Trump?Mark A. Graber in The New York Times: Donald Trump and the Jefferson Davis ProblemLawfare: Tracking Section 3 Trump Disqualification ChallengesKaroun Demirjian for The New York Times: Congress Abandons Ukraine Aid Until Next Year as Border Talks ContinueAshley Wu for The New York Times: Why Illegal Border Crossings Are at Sustained HighsElizabeth Findell for The Wall Street Journal: Texas Spent Billions on Border Security. It’s Not WorkingTom Cohen and Bill Mears for CNN: Supreme Court mostly rejects Arizona immigration law; gov says ‘heart’ remainsEdgar Sandoval for The New York Times: Appellate Court Says U.S. Can’t Cut Through Texas Border Wire Along Rio GrandeGabriela Baczynska for Reuters: What’s in the new EU migration and asylum deal?Karen Musalo for Just Security: Biden’s Embrace of Trump’s Transit Ban Violates US Legal and Moral Refugee ObligationsAmanda Ripley for Unraveled: How to Survive 2024Adam Mastroianni in The New York Times: Your Brain Has Tricked You Into Thinking Everything Is Worse and for Experimental History: Things could be betterThe Economist: What psychology experiments tell you about why people deny factsHere are this week’s chatters:John: Jason Bittel for National Geographic: A bonobo was separated from her sister for 26 years. She still remembers her.Emily: May December on NetflixDavid: Hiroaki Nakagawa and Yasushi Miyata in Internal Medicine: An Underdiagnosed Cause of an Itchy Back Listener chatter from Michael in Queens, New York: Irin Carmon for New York Magazine: A $45 Million Effort to Make Pregnancy Less Deadly in Brooklyn For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Amanda joins David, John, and Emily to talk about their holiday plans, which include To Asia, With Love: Everyday Asian Recipes and Stories From the Heart by Hetty McKinnon, the DC Public Library, Purlie Victorious, the National Zoo, and Sara Lee’s Butter Streusel Coffee Cake. In the next Gabfest Reads, John talks with Christine Coulson about her new book, One Woman Show. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna Roth Research by Julie Huygen Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.