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This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the proposed changes to retirement plans in Congress’s 2023 spending bill. They also talk about the current boom in cocaine production and debate whether or not nepotism is as bad as everyone says. In the Plus segment: Felix, Emily, and Elizabeth admit what they each got wrong about 2022. Podcast production by Anna Phillips. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the beginning of World War II, the greatest threat to the American war effort wasn’t the Nazis or the Japanese—it was runaway inflation. The man in charge of stopping it was the country’s “price czar,” Leon Henderson. In 1942, he controlled how much coffee ordinary people could drink and how many tires they could buy. Those rules made him a nationwide villain. But would they save the country?One Year is produced by Evan Chung, Sophie Summergrad, Sam Kim, and Josh Levin.Derek John is senior supervising producer of narrative podcasts and Merritt Jacob is senior technical director.Slate Plus members get to hear more about the making of One Year. Get access to extra episodes, listen to the show without any ads, and support One Year by signing up for Slate Plus for just $15 for your first three months. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss the January 6th Committee’s findings and criminal referrals; the brewing water crisis in the West–with Washington Post reporter Josh Partlow; and the biggest stories of 2022.Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:Joshua Partlow for The Washington Post: “Officials Fear ‘Complete Doomsday Scenario’ For Drought-Stricken Colorado River” Joshua Partlow for The Washington Post: “Disaster Scenarios Raise The Stakes For Colorado River Negotiations”Joshua Partlow for The Washington Post: “‘Where There’s Bodies, There’s Treasure’: A Hunt As Lake Mead Shrinks”Adam Liptak for The New York Times: “An ‘Imperial Supreme Court’ Asserts Its Power, Alarming Scholars”Marin Cogan for Vox: “The Deadliest Road in America”Here are this week’s chatters:John: Gabfest Reads: How to Avoid Disastrous Presidents; Picking Presidents: How to Make the Most Consequential Decision in the World, by Gautam MukundaEmily: Mario Ariza and Miranda Green for Floodlight News, and David Folkenflik for NPR: “In The Southeast, Power Company Money Flows To News Sites That Attack Their Critics” David: Li Cohen for CBS News: “Could Jack Have Fit On The Door With Rose In 'Titanic’? Director James Cameron Conducted A Study To Find Out ‘Once And For All.’”Listener chatter from Sam Rutledge: Kaj Tallungs for Wikimedia Commons: data visualization showing the change in U.S. population demographics over time.For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John discuss Elon Musk’s tumultuous tenure at Twitter. Tweet us your questions and chatters @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.Research by Bridgette Dunlap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we look back on some of our favorite stories from a year that had us asking—sometimes with excitement and sometimes with exasperation—"What Next”? This episode originally aired March 29. After more than 70 weeks on the Billboard U.S. Hot 100, Dua Lipa and her song “Levitating” have run into trouble: two separate copyright complaints claiming the pop star ripped off other artists in writing her hit. These aren’t the first lawsuits to test the boundaries of what counts as plagiarism in the musical realm; and if either suit succeeds, it will have far-reaching consequences for creativity in the industry. Guest: Jeremy Orosz, associate professor of music theory at the University of Memphis. 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 week we look back on some of our favorite stories from a year that had us asking—sometimes with excitement and sometimes with exasperation—"What Next”? This episode originally aired June 1. If you want to understand the way inequality is baked into the systems and structures all around us, examining the pay equity issue in U.S. soccer is a pretty good place to start. But after a six-year battle, the U.S. Women’s National Team struck an agreement with U.S. Soccer, ensuring equal pay for equal work for the men’s and women’s teams — another victory for a team that doesn’t take no for an answer. Guest: Christina Cauterucci, senior writer at Slate and a former middle school soccer star. 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 week we look back on some of our favorite stories from a year that had us asking—sometimes with excitement and sometimes with exasperation—"What Next”? This episode originally aired March 21. Few were betting that a group of workers on Staten Island could win union recognition at their Amazon warehouse. Now that they’ve done it, can they replicate this win at other shops across the country? And what will the nation’s largest unions do to help Amazon workers join the labor movement? Guest: Steven Greenhouse, senior fellow at the Century Foundation and author of Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor. 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 week we look back on some of our favorite stories from a year that had us asking—sometimes with excitement and sometimes with exasperation—"What Next?" This episode originally aired March 21.A very strange bankruptcy case is coming to a close. Its settlement hinges not on payments rendered or bills neglected, but on the pain of millions of American families who slid into the jaws of the opioid crisis. Now, the people who set off the crisis are about to settle their debts.Guest: Brian Mann, reporter on addiction for NPR.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.

The Food and Drug Administration gave an important thumbs up to lab-grown chicken, which means we could start seeing it in stores as soon as next year. While billions of dollars have been spent developing lab-grown meat, important questions remain: Is the production of it actually greener than raising livestock? Can it be made affordably? Is it healthy? And will anyone eat it?Guest: Chloe Sorvino, staff writer on food and agriculture at Forbes, and the author of Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed and the Fight for the Future of Meat.Host: Lizzie O’Leary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Dickerson talks with author Gautam Mukunda about his new book Picking Presidents: How to Make the Most Consequential Decision in the World. They talk about how Mukunda’s first book, Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter laid the groundwork for Picking Presidents. Later, Dickerson and Mukunda dig into why ‘intellectual brilliance’ – which goes beyond IQ - is a strong predictor of presidential performance and how the human portion of the job of president is changing. 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.

The highest court in the land has ignored the need for standing, the trial record, and of course precedent this past year––and it matters. Host Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Sherrilyn Ifill, former president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and a senior fellow at the Ford Foundation. They discuss Sherrilyn’s thought-provoking piece this month in the New York Review of Books, which opens out into a big-picture discussion of what this Supreme Court’s tendency to reach out and grab cases, and erase trial records, or fill in the blanks on standing, even on claims, means for whose voices are heard at the highest court in the land, and who merits consideration in its decisions.  In this week’s Amicus Plus segment, Dahlia is joined by Mark Joseph Stern to talk about oral arguments in the big elections case concerning the Independent State Legislature Theory (Moore v. Harper), and in the Oregon wedding website case that threatens civil rights public-accommodations law (303 Creative), plus the Washington right-wing party circuit’s special guest du jour, Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show. Want a behind-the-scenes look at how we create the show? Check out Slate's Pocket Collections for research and reading lists, as well as additional insights into how we think about the stories behind the episodes. Dahlia’s book Lady Justice: Women, the Law and the Battle to Save America, is also available as an audiobook, and Amicus listeners can get a 25 percent discount by entering the code “AMICUS” at checkout. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.