Slate Gender and Society

When it comes to gender affirming care for teenagers, parents’ rights no longer matter. Doctors’ opinions no longer matter. Next week, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in United States. v Skrmetti, challenging Tennessee’s ban on healthcare for trans kids, and upending half a century of gender protection doctrine. Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Chase Strangio, co-director of the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project, who will also be the first openly trans lawyer to argue at SCOTUS when he argues, alongside the Biden administration, representing the parents and physician of trans adolescents seeking care, in what will be the biggest trans rights case the court has ever heard. Chase and Dahlia dig through the doctrine to reveal the conservative legal movement’s deep hypocrisy when it comes to trans rights as compared to the rights of parents and doctors when it comes to abortion.Want more Amicus? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Amicus show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/amicusplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than half the population will experience menopause if they’re fortunate enough to age. Yet so much of this full-body transformation remains a mystery.Journalist and filmmaker Tamsen Fadal is out to change that. Her new documentary The M Factor: Shredding the Silence on Menopause premiered on PBS earlier this year. In it, her team interviews patients and health experts worldwide about the lack of research into this important stage of life.On this week’s episode of Well, Now Kavita and Maya ask her what can be done to better care for the millions of women experiencing it now and in the future.If you liked this episode, check out: Michelle Obama Gets Health Advice From This Gyno. Now You Can, Too.Well, Now is hosted by registered dietitian nutritionist Maya Feller and Dr. Kavita Patel.Editing and podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry with oversight from Alicia Montgomery.Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to wellnow@slate.com.Want to listen to Well, Now uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Well, Now and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/wellplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, the hosts come together to unpack Sarah McBride’s groundbreaking win as the first openly transgender member of Congress. While the win is historic, Bryan, Jules, and Christina dig in to unpack the limits of representational politics and what it means for this win to exist alongside the emergence of anti-trans politics, which hit their all time high during this election cycle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Supreme Court threw out the last attempt to ban mifepristone, the “abortion pill,” because they couldn’t figure out who in the case was being injured. Now three states are claiming they are being harmed, because abortion access is preventing population growth for them Guest: Linda Greenhouse, Supreme Court reporter for the New York Times from 1978 to 2008, author and winner of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize. Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.Disclosure in Podcast Description: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond’s yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond’s YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A sizable number of pregnancies end in a loss, whether to miscarriage, still-birth or abortion. But until very recently, discussions of these losses were kept out of public—and policy—conversations. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by Colleen Long and Rebecca Little, co-authors of the book, “I’m Sorry for My Loss: An Urgent Examination of Reproductive Care in America.” They share their own stories of pregnancy loss, and what they learned about the range of experience from dozens of interviews for their book. They also offer their insights about why reproductive rights remain popular, even when the politicians who champion them aren’t.Guest: Colleen Long and Rebecca Little, co-authors of “I’m Sorry for My Loss: An Urgent Examination of Reproductive Care in America.”Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-MakanjuolaWant more A Word? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/awordplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Regular movement is crucial for lifelong health, but finding a routine that fits well in your life can be challenging and overwhelming.On this week’s episode of Well, Now we speak to retired volleyball player Gabby Reece on transitioning out of professional sports and talk about ways to realistically bring performance-level fitness to every kind of exercise routine.If you liked this episode, check out: Breaking Up With Diet Culture Well, Now is hosted by registered dietitian nutritionist Maya Feller and Dr. Kavita Patel.Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry with editorial oversight by Alicia Montgomery.Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to wellnow@slate.com.Want to listen to Well, Now uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Well, Now and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/wellplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Candice Lim is joined by Vox senior correspondent Rebecca Jennings to discuss what their timelines have looked like since the U.S. presidential election was called. From TikToks accusing men of entering their feminine era, to a surge of Americans posting about the 4B movement, they discuss how the dynamic between men and women has become increasingly regressive online, and what battles are yet to come. But first, Rebecca pitches the Netflix Christmas movie that’s even better than Hot Frosty.This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario and Candice Lim, with production assistance from Alexandra Botti and Kat Hong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, host Jules Gill-Peterson speaks with the co-founders of Invisible Histories about their groundbreaking work preserving the rich, often overlooked history of queer life in the American South. At a time when LGBTQ+ communities face growing threats, safeguarding these stories is more urgent than ever. Together, they discuss how archiving resilience, joy, and everyday lives challenges erasure and ensures these vital narratives inspire future generations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Political Gabfest host Emily Bazelon talks with author Stephanie Gorton about her new book, The Icon & The Idealist.They discuss racism and prudishness in the early suffragist movement, how eugenics played a role in the birth control movement, and how two different women fought each other, despite wanting the same things. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do women gain social influence? Understanding this is crucial because research shows they often face unique challenges in having their voices heard and their expertise recognized, even in highly qualified fields like medicine. The consequences of this could be dire, both for female patients and their healthcare providers.On this week’s episode of Well, Now, Kavita and Maya talk with psychologist Alison Fragale about the science behind effective social influence. Her new book is Likeable Badass: How Women Get the Success They Deserve.If you liked this episode, check out: Who Cares for the Caregivers?Well, Now is hosted by registered dietitian nutritionist Maya Feller and Dr. Kavita Patel.Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry with editorial oversight by Alicia Montgomery.Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to wellnow@slate.com.Want to listen to Well, Now uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Well, Now and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/wellplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices