Slate Gender and Society

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out… Kim, there’s people that are dying. We can probably all agree that reality shows aren’t exactly peak TV. But there’s a time, a place, and an audience for pretty much everything.In a world where Love Is Blind’s chart-topping run is frequently described as brilliant and awful in the same breath, it’s easy to dismiss this stuff as a product of the social media era. But that’s not quite accurate.Culture critic and podcast host Kristen Meinzer joins us to talk all things trashy. She maintains that not everything we watch needs to be brain food… and that, in fact, the entertainment we hate to love and love to hate might be good for society after all. Podcast production by Maura CurrieYou 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

Spring is in the air, and the Outward hosts are gay like tulips and queer like allergies! First, they discuss a new animated version of the beloved Frog and Toad series of children’s books, which premieres on Apple TV+ on April 28. Then they welcome Daniel M. Lavery to the pod. Danny was Slate’s own Dear Prudence for many years, and now a Dear Prudence book is here to grace our bookshelves. Danny shares his philosophy of advice-giving, talks about what it was like to transition in the public eye, and offers his take on a reader question current Prudie Jenée Desmond-Harris answered a few weeks ago.Items discussed in the show:Jules and the Framing Agnes team at the GLAAD AwardsOutward’s December 2022 discussion of Framing Agnes with actress Jen RichardsLMN’s scheduleSomerville, Massachusetts, extends protections to polyamorous families“Frog and Toad: An Amphibious Celebration of Same-Sex Love,” by Colin Stokes in the New Yorker“How Frog and Toad Author Arnold Lobel Explored Gay Intimacy in His Work,” by J. Bryan Lowder in Slate“This Is a Terrible Way to Commemorate a Major Civil Rights Victory,” by June Thomas in SlateDear Prudence: Liberating Lessons From Slate.com’s Beloved Advice Column, by Daniel M. LaveryJenée Desmond-Harris answered the question we put to Danny at the end of this Dear Prudence columnThe Big Mood, Little Mood With Daniel M. Lavery podcastThe Dear Prudence podcastGay AgendaChristina: Mae Martin’s new Netflix special, SAPJules: “Conservatives Are Turing to a 150-Year-Old Obscenity Law to Outlaw Abortion,” by Melissa Gira Grant in the New RepublicBryan: Erick Adame’s Daily Weather Report (more background from the New York Times)This podcast was produced by June Thomas.Please send feedback, topic ideas, and advice questions to outwardpodcast@slate.com.Make an impact this Earth Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to bring more parks to more people across the country. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, host June Thomas talks to drag queen, author, and activist Lil Miss Hot Mess. In the interview, LMHM explains the origins of her drag persona and drag name and discusses the skills she had to build up early in her career. Then she discusses her work with Drag Story Hour and talks about what it means for drag to be simultaneously more mainstream and constantly under attack. Finally, she discusses her two children's books, The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish and If You’re a Drag Queen and You Know It. After the interview, June and co-host Isaac Butler talk about the importance of playfulness and humor in creative work. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, LMHM talks about the current hostile political climate and her feud with senator Maro Rubio. Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. 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 Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s a terrible legal Easter egg in Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk’s ruling on the abortion medication, Mifepristone. And that same Easter egg makes an appearance in the Fifth Circuit’s partial stay. It’s the Comstock Act - a mostly forgotten 19th century vice statute that is suddenly the anti-abortion movement’s favorite zombie legislation. On a special extra episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Mary Ziegler, an expert on the law, history, and politics of reproduction, health care, and conservatism in the United States from 1945 to the present. Together, they tackle the chaos upon chaos of the past week’s medication abortion cases, and take a long hard look at the next steps in the anti-abortion movement’s fight for a nationwide ban. In this week’s Amicus Plus segment, Dahlia is joined by Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern to discuss the “quid pro Crow” of Justice Clarence Thomas’ real estate deals with GOP mega donor, and avid court-watcher, and amicus-brief-funder Harlan Crow. Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, David Plotz and Emily Bazelon discuss the federal court rulings on the F.D.A.-approved abortion medication mifepristone, the expulsion of two Democratic representatives by the Republican-supermajority state legislature in Tennessee, and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ latest ethics problem.  Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:Adam Unikowsky for Adam’s Legal Newsletter: “Mifepristone and the rule of law, part II”Allison McCann for the New York Times: “Inside the Online Market for Overseas Abortion Pills”Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott, and Alex Mierjeski for ProPublica: “Clarence Thomas and the Billionaire”Sylvie McNamara for the Washingtonian: “Clarence Thomas’s Billionaire Benefactor Collects Hitler Artifacts”Chenjerai Kumanyika for This American Life: “Ghost Industrial Complex” Here are this week’s chatters:Emily: Vladimir: A Novel by Julia May JonasDavid: The D.C. Sing-Along; The Dropout on Hulu; Air (Amazon Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)Listener chatter from David Foreman: Rosemary Mosco for Audubon: “Meet the Little Brown Bird That Holds a Mirror Up to Humanity” For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David and Emily discuss the Hitler memorabilia collected by Harlan Crow, Texas billionaire and friend of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Email your questions and chatters to gabfest@slate.com or tweet us @SlateGabfest. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna RothResearch by Julie HuygenMake an impact this Earth Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to bring more parks to more people across the country. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Waves - the freelancing side of acting with Marvelous Mrs. Maisel actress Caroline Aaron. Slate senior supervising producer Daisy Rosario is joined by Caroline Aaron - a familiar face in movies for over forty years, if not a household name. They discuss building a life with an unstable career path, how women’s stories are done a disservice in film and television, and how Caroline’s show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel seeks to overturn all of that. In Slate Plus, Caroline discusses working with strong women like Amy Sherman Palladino and Nora Ephron. Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery.Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com.Make an impact this Earth Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to bring more parks to more people across the country. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week a federal judge in Texas refuted the FDA approval for mifepristone, a pill used for medication abortions, which would suspend that approval across the country.But some experts say - plenty of drugs don’t have FDA approval, and are still widely distributed… from baby formula, to multivitamins. Guest: Rachel Rebouché, dean and James E. Beasley professor of law at the Temple University Beasley School of Law and faculty fellow at the Center for Public Health Law Research.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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Danny Lavery welcomes Tuck Woodstock, a journalist, educator, and the host of the podcast Gender Reveal. Lavery and Woodstock give advice to someone wondering why they’re suddenly identifying with their birth sex five years into their transition. Another letter writer is concerned about coming out to their social media following. A third letter is about fearing you are no longer attractive to your partner. Finally, a letter writer is wondering if they should speak up about her daughter’s water acclimation class.Need advice? Send Danny a question here.Email: mood@slate.comIf 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 Big Mood, Little Mood. Sign up now at Slate.com/MoodPlus to help support our workProduction by Phil SurkisMake an impact this Earth Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to bring more parks to more people across the country. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Danny M. Lavery (former Prudie and host of Slate’s Big Mood, Little Mood) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to recount his time answering your questions and take on new ones from people dealing with unwanted gifts, wedding dilemmas, and a parent refusing to let their college-aged daughter get a gun.If you want more Dear Prudence, you should join Slate Plus, Slate’s membership program. Jenée answers an extra question every week, just for members. Go to Slate.com/prudieplus to sign up. It’s just $15 for your first three months. Podcast production by Se’era Spragley Ricks and Daisy Rosario, with help from Brandon Nix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Waves, author, journalist, and former host of Slate podcast Thirst Aid Kit Nichole Perkins is joined by journalist Eliana Dockterman to discuss the disappearance of sexuality in recent movies. They unpack Eliana’s recent piece in TIME, “Why Aren’t Movies Sexy Anymore?” and try to work through the reasons films that hit the theaters are lacking heat. Hint: One reason has to do with some superheroes.In Slate Plus: Movies that DO have sex scenes. Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Tori Dominguez with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery.Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com.Make an impact this Earth Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to bring more parks to more people across the country. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices