Slate News

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss the final midterm sprint; the latest British Prime Minister; and Trump’s legal troubles. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:Adrian Wooldridge for Bloomberg: “Rishi Sunak Is a New and Old-Fashioned Tory”Barton Gellman for The Atlantic: “The Impeachment of Joe Biden”The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward's Twenty Interviews with President Donald TrumpNathaniel Rakich for FiveThirtyEight: “The Most Important Elections Of 2022 Could Be In State Legislatures”Brittany Bernstein for The National Review: “Why Some Trump-Country Pennsylvanians Still Aren't Sold on Dr. Oz”Anna Bower for Lawfare: “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Georgia Special Purpose Grand Juries But Were Afraid to Ask”Emily Bazelon for The New York Times: “I Write About the Law. But Could I Really Help Free a Prisoner?”The Prison Letters ProjectHere are this week’s chatters:John: States United Democracy Center; Third Way Paul Revere ProjectEmily: Charlie Savage for the New York Times: “Garland Formally Bars Justice Dept. From Seizing Reporters’ Records”David: Dhruv Mehrotra for Wired: “Hot on the Trail of a Mass-School-Shooting Hoaxer”; Ben Collins’ Twitter thread collecting favorite tweets.Listener chatter from Brian DeGeer: Theresa Vargas for The Washington Post: “Fiona Apple Uses Her Voice To Call Out Prince George’s Justice System”For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily discusses The Prison Letters Project with John J. Lennon and Reginald Dwayne Betts. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twitter has been a lot of things—where you posted your lunch, where you met your people, where you were subjected to a harassment campaign. Now, as Elon Musk prepares to take the reins, where is it headed?Guest: Will Oremus, technology reporter for the Washington Post.Host: Lizzie O’LearyIf 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An investigation into child welfare agencies around the country uncovered that the vast majority of searches of home environments happen without anything like a warrant, increasing the stress for parents as well as the children whose welfare is supposed to be being protected. Guest: Eli Hager, ProPublica reporter covering issues affecting children and teens in the Southwest.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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The truth is, no one ever had a workable plan for Brexit. And as Liz Truss becomes the fourth Prime Minister to resign since the referendum and Rishi Sunak steps in as tribute, it’s an important lesson for voters on any side of the Atlantic: You can’t stake your party—or your country’s future—on a lie. Guest: Felix Salmon, host of Slate Money, chief financial correspondent at Axios.  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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reporters have questioned whether Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, who had a stroke in May, is competent to serve in the U.S. Senate. The attention on his apparent aphasia – or ability to process conversation and speak clearly – reveals the biases that keep many disabled people from disclosing their conditions or even running for office in the first place.Guest: Sara Luterman, caregiving reporter for The 19th News. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ron DeSantis broke with tradition when he rejected the Florida legislature’s redistricting map and presented his own. But by splitting a majority Black district in northern Florida into four other districts, he may have violated both Florida and federal laws against gerrymandering.Guest: Joshua Kaplan, reporter at ProPublica. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2020, the Black vote proved critical for Joe Biden in key states, and helped win the Senate for the Democrats. But in the years since, Republican leaders have pushed through laws aimed at discouraging and diluting the power of the Black vote. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson speaks with Cliff Albright, executive director of the Black Voters Matter Fund, about why fighting for ballot access remains essential, even in the face of violence. Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-MakanjuolaYou can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/awordplus for just $1 for your first month.Thanks Avast.com! Learn more about Avast One at Avast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alzheimer’s treatment hasn’t changed much in the past two decades, and the way researchers have been thinking about and approaching the disease may be to blame. Guest: Damian Garde, reporter for Stat covering the biotech industry.Host: Lizzie O’LearyIf 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior supervising producer of audio Daisy Rosario is joined by author Elissa Bassist to talk about women’s voices. They discuss Elissa’s new book, Hysterical and unpack why we cringe when we hear vocal fry, and ask why we don’t have similar words to describe male vocal ticks. Later in the show, they dig into how the fear of scrutiny women have over their voices silences them in ways you haven’t imagined. In Slate Plus, Elissa talks about her involvement in Cheryl Strayed’s famous quote, “Write like a motherfucker.” Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Shannon Palus, Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery. Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson concerning polls for Democrats, women protesting Iran’s regime, and the trial of Arkansas’ law targeting trans kids.Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:Roya Hakakian for The Atlantic: “The Bonfire of the Headscarves”A Beginner’s Guide to America for the Immigrant and the Curious, by Roya Hakakian Matthew Yglesias for Slow Boring: “Pre-Registering Some Takes On The Midterms: Why I Think Democrats Will Undershoot Their Polling And What It Means”Kelli María Korducki for The Atlantic: “'I Think the Women Are Winning': Roya Hakakian on Iran” Here are this week’s chatters:John: The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward's Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump;  Michael Wines and Neil Vigdor for The New York Times: “Videos Show Confusion as Florida Police Arrest People on Voter Fraud Charges”Emily: Emily Heil for The Washington Post: “Olivia Wilde Solves Salad Dressing Mystery With A Nora Ephron Recipe”David: Jeff Maysh for The Atlantic: “The $30 Million Lottery Scam”Listener chatter from Lara Lowenstein: The Mountain DogsFor this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John discuss Ye buying Parler. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices