Slate Gender and Society

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss E. Jean Carroll’s $83.3 million win against Donald J. Trump; the events of 1920-1948 that shaped the current relationship of Israel and Palestine; and the tech-bro billionaires of techno-authoritarianism with Adrienne LaFrance of The Atlantic.  Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:Eric Lach for The New Yorker: Nine Regular People Tell Donald Trump to Shut Up and Pay UpMonica Hesse for The Washington Post: Is it really sexism that Trump is showing? Or is it something worse?Maggie Haberman and Shane Goldmacher for The New York Times: Trump’s PACs Spent Roughly $50 Million on Legal Expenses in 2023Erik Larson for Fortune and Bloomberg: Most of Trump’s cash stockpile is at risk from possible $450m dual verdicts in E. Jean Carroll and New York business fraud casesCBS News: Face The Nation and Emily Tillett: Nikki Haley on Trump accusers: Women who accuse anyone “should be heard” and “dealt with”Gabriella Abdul-Hakim for ABC News: Tim Scott insists voters don’t care about Trump’s defamation loss, plays down ‘provocative’ Haley attacksDietrich Knauth for Insurance Journal: Sandy Hook Denier Alex Jones Eyes Settlement With Families, Bankruptcy ExitEmily Bazelon for The New York Times: The Road to 1948 and Was Peace Ever Possible?Adrienne LaFrance for The Atlantic: The Rise of Techno-AuthoritarianismEzra Klein for The New York Times: The Chief Ideologist of the Silicon Valley Elite Has Some Strange IdeasSteven Levy for Wired: What the Techno-Billionaire Missed About Techno-OptimismJonathan Taplin for Vanity Fair: How Musk, Thiel, Zuckerberg, and Andreessen—Four Billionaire Techno-Oligarchs—Are Creating an Alternate, Autocratic RealityLisa Desjardins and Jonah Anderson for PBS Newshour: Lawmakers grill Big Tech executives, accusing them of failing to protect childrenThe Dictator’s Learning Curve: Inside the Global Battle for Democracy by William J. Dobson Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: The Fight to Save the Town: Reimagining Discarded America by Michelle Wilde AndersonJohn: PenTips; Toluse Olorunnipa and Liz Goodwin for The Washington Post: Biden vows to ‘shut down’ an overwhelmed border if Senate deal passes and Jacob Bogage and Jeff Stein: House votes to expand child tax credit, beef up corporate tax breaksDavid: Visual Arts, St. Albans School; John Buzbee for The Advocate: LSU students bare it all as nude art models: ‘It’s a very brave thing to be able to do.’; and Kim McGill for The Union: The naked truth: Art models at El Camino inspire students to portray humanity in all its formsListener chatter from Jay Lloyd in Louisville, Kentucky: Eric Berger for Ars Technica: What happens when an astronaut in orbit says he’s not coming back? For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David, John, and Emily discuss the Love Story of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce and the message for MAGA madness: You Need To Calm Down. See Mariana Alfaro for The Washington Post: Why Trump’s MAGA Republican movement dislikes Taylor Swift and Ross Douthat for The New York Times: Taylor Swift, Donald Trump and the Right’s Abnormality Problem. In the latest Gabfest Reads, John talks with Brad Stulberg about his book, Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything Is Changing – Including You. 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 HostsEmily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode: Elizabeth, Zak and Jamilah help a member of our Facebook group who’s worried that her son isn’t making friends… because the kids at school separate into gender cliques, and he’s not into roughhousing “boy stuff.” We’ll discuss how to help this kid feel more comfortable joining games — and whether the teacher needs to be looped in.We’ll also debrief on our week in parenting with a round of triumphs and fails, and then revisit a conversation we had about a toddler with separation anxiety. Join us on Facebook and email us at careandfeedingpod@slate.com to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus to help support our work.Podcast produced by Maura Currie, with special thanks to Rosemary Belson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Candice Lim is joined by Slate writer Nadira Goffe to break down the latest developments surrounding Nicki Minaj’s beef with rapper Megan Thee Stallion. On January 26, Megan Thee Stallion released “Hiss,” which takes aim at several unnamed parties. Fellow rapper Minaj took offense to certain lyrics, leading her to post about Megan for 72 hours on social media and ultimately, release a diss track titled “Big Foot.” While Minaj is notorious for her fraught relationships with female emcees, the social media spiral that occurred has fans questioning their loyalty to the increasingly problematic rapper.This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Jules and Bryan join Slate Editor Jeffrey Bloomer to take on the spooky and surreal of All Of Us Strangers, a new film from director Andrew Haigh. Plus, prides, provocations, and delicious new additions to the gay agenda.Podcast production by Palace Shaw.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite Donald Trump’s efforts, there will be a significant cost for his continued defamation of E. Jean Carroll (And it’s $83.3 million!!). For much of the proceedings he sat behind Carroll muttering under his breath and posting three-dozen times on Truth Social in one night about the unfairness of the judge and the court. But zoom out, and Trump’s actions at the trial and toward women generally have far bigger implications than the size of the check he’ll have to write. This week, Vanity Fair’s Molly Jong-Fast joins Dahlia Lithwick to explain how Trump has fanned the flames of GOP misogyny playing out in every aspect of our politics, from the GOP primary to the leadership in the House of Representatives to women who have been raped in states with no access to abortion. And she asks what it ultimately says about our justice system that 80-year-old E. Jean Carroll is the one prepared to take the stand against the man who assaulted her.In this week’s Amicus Plus segment, Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern discusses the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision that kinda sorta resolved the battle between federal immigration authorities and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, and the horrifying turn the conservative turn has taken on capital punishment this week.Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade, Democrats have found wins after standing up for abortion. But can they ride this issue to a second Biden term, when the administration isn’t offering a clear plan for reproductive rights—and Joe Biden has a history of ambivalence about the issue? Guest: Grace Panetta, political reporter at 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

Danny Lavery and Madeline Ducharme join Bryan in taking on your uniquely queer queries, like- what to do when your facial piercing helps everyone remember your name- but you can’t remember theirs. White lies about homophobia, queer kids coming out, philosophical questions, and more in this latest round of Outward advice. Podcast production by Palace Shaw. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of Well, Now, Maya and Kavita talk about practical ways to break up with diet culture with fitness instructor, speaker and educator Chrissy King. She’s the author of The Body Liberation Project: How Understanding Racism and Diet Culture Helps Cultivate Joy and Build Collective Freedom.Chrissy also ties in how breaking up with diet culture is a piece of a larger conversation about diversity, equity and inclusion in the wellness industry.If you liked this episode, check out: What “Wellness” Is and Isn’tPodcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry with editorial oversight by Alicia Montgomery.Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to wellnow@slate.com Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now at slate.com/podcasts/well-now Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out… which wave is this, anyway?There’s no denying that the feminist movement looks different now than it did 50 years ago — and in some ways, that’s a good thing. But there’s an argument to be made that the modern movement skews politically progressive… so much so that it’s leaving some women, and some issues, behind. Phyllis Chesler, author and second-wave feminist, joins us.If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: hearmeout@slate.comPodcast production by Maura Currie.You can skip all the ads in Hear Me Out by joining Slate Plus! Sign up now at slate.com/hearmeoutplus for just $15 a month for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Bryan Lowder sits down with Evan Urquhart of Assigned Media, a news site dedicated to daily coverage of anti-trans propaganda and its effects to discuss his latest article ‘The Outing of Bubba Copeland’ for Slate. Bubba Copeland was the Mayor of Smiths Station who was outed for having an online trans-identity by a conservative news website and later that week committed suicide. Bryan and Evan discuss how this outing reflects the wave of anti-trans legislation.Podcast production by Palace Shaw.Email us at outwardpodcast@slate.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices