Slate Daily Feed

The U.S. has hit the debt ceiling—again And with Congress divided, it’s unclear when or how the government will get approved to borrow more.Why is this perennial fight coming back around now? And what happens—locally and to the world economy—if the U.S. Treasury defaults?  Guest: Jordan Weissmann, Washington editor for Semafor. 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

Joel Anderson, Stefan Fatsis, and Josh Levin assess the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. They also discuss Tony Dungy’s history of anti-gay rhetoric, and whether NBC and the NFL should do something about it. Finally, Slate contributor Isaac Butler joins to talk about the rise of American men at the Australian Open and Netflix’s tennis reality series Break Point.   NFL (5:37): The biggest takeaways from the weekend’s games.   Dungy (26:19): Should the ex-coach still be on television?   Tennis (47:49): Who are all these new American stars? Is Break Point worth watching?   Afterball (1:11:37): Josh on Shannon Sharpe, Vernon Maxwell, and NBA fracases. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode: Elizabeth, Jamilah, and Zak answer a question about a princess-obsessed little girl who keeps asking if she can marry her mom. The mom finds it sweet but doesn’t know how to respond.  Recommendations:  Jamilah: Vintage Contemporaries by Dan Kois   Zak: Keep Going First Aid Kit Elizabeth: Help Your Kids with Adolescents by DK.  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 Mom and Dad are Fighting. Sign up now at slate.com/momanddadplus to help support our work. Join us on Facebook and email us at momanddad@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.  Podcast produced by Rosemary Belson and Maura Currie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California going from drought-to-downpour this month was a vivid illustration of the future we’re facing: with more dramatic weather in a warmer, wetter climate. But how can cities—built for a world where hundred-year floods happened only once a century—adjust to a new reality?  Guest: Henry Grabar, staff writer for Slate, author of Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World.  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

It can feel very personal to have your Facebook or Instagram page hacked—they’re your pictures and your friends after all. But Meta, the social media parent company, handles hacks with anything but a personal touch.  Guest: Kirstin Grind, investigative reporter for the Wall Street Journal. Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, host June Thomas talks to poet Chip Livingston, who recently compiled a collection of letters titled, Love, Loosha: The Letters of Lucia Berlin and Kenward Elmslie. It documents the friendship between the writer Lucia Berlin, who is now well-regarded for her short stories but was underappreciated during her lifetime, and the poet and librettist Kenward Elmslie. In the interview, Chip shares how he put the collection together and talks about his personal relationships with both Berlin and Elmslie. He also explains how the book can serve as a useful depiction of what it’s like to live as an artist.   After the interview, June and co-host Isaac Butler talk more about what we can learn from the letters of great writers. They also discuss overly confessional writing and how to determine the audience for your work.  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Chip talks about how his love of poetry blossomed in part thanks to his friendship with Kenward Elmslie.  Do you have a question about creative work? C

This week, Felix Gillette joins Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers to talk about his new book It's Not TV: The Spectacular Rise, Revolution, and Future of HBO and discuss the state of streaming, the relationship between sports and advertisers, and the decline of the movie theater industry.   In the Plus segment: YouTube.   Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode, Rachelle Hampton is joined by Nadira Goffe to talk about Austin Butler and Kerrygold butter. First, High Speed Downloads return so Rachelle can explain why everybody was melting down about Irish butter online, and Nadira takes us through Austin Butler’s persistent Elvis accent. Then, they discuss the fact that Vanessa Hudgens’ online fans won’t let Austin Butler forget his ex-girlfriend so quickly. This podcast is produced by Daniel Schroeder, Rachelle Hampton, and Daisy Rosario. Subscribe to Slate Plus at http://slate.com/icymiplus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Plotz talks with author Shahan Mufti about his new book, American Caliph: The True Story of a Muslim Mystic, a Hollywood Epic, and the 1977 Siege of Washington, DC. They discuss an Islamic group’s multi-location attack in D.C., the terror that hostages experienced while held captive for the two days, and the movie that started the whole thing.  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

Headlines suggest that Haiti could be on the verge of collapse, with gangs controlling its streets, the economy at a standstill, and political leaders fearing for their lives. But while international observers decry it as a “failed nation,” Haiti’s path to success has been consistently blocked since its successful slave rebelion in 1804. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by Professor Leslie Alexander, author “Fear of a Black Republic: Haiti and the Birth of Black Internationalism in the United States.“  Guest: Historian Leslie Alexander, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of History at Rutgers University Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola You 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The idea that COVID-19 vaccines are linked to sudden deaths among young people has no scientific support, but the theory nevertheless has a lot of traction on social media.  How can public health officials educate the public—especially on subject like vaccines, where their effectiveness renders them effectively invisible?  Guest: Katelyn Jetelina, epidemiologist and data scientist Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week’s Spoiler Specials takes on M3gan, with Slate’s movie critic Dana Stevens and features director Jeffrey Bloomer. Note: As the title indicates, this podcast contains spoilers galore. Read another Slate review here. Email us at spoilers@slate.com. Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss the discovery of classified documents at Biden’s home; the justices of the Supreme Court exhibiting open animosity toward one another; and fears of a “polycrisis” at Davos. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Matt Viser, Tyler Pager, Carol Leonnig and Yasmeen Abutaleb for The Washington Post: “Inside The White House Document Strategy And Its Pitfalls” Steven Mazie for The Atlantic: “The Supreme Court Justices Do Not Seem to Be Getting Along” Jess Bravin and Sadie Gurman for The Wall Street Journal: “Supreme Court Investigators Have Narrowed Leak Inquiry to Small Number of Suspects” Andrew Van Dam for The Washington Post: “The Happiest, Least Stressful, Most Meaningful Jobs In America” Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, by Studs Terkel Here is the poem (by an unknown author) that listener Christina Roosen sent to David after his cat died: Eyes bright, claws sharp, tail h

On this episode: Elizabeth, Jamilah, and Zak catch up on their week in parenting—which includes a lunchbox meltdown, a terrible board game, and bribing a kid to verbalize his emotions. Then they talk about parent shaming and share some wild listener submitted stories. Finally, on Slate Plus, they talk about the thing many parents are missing.   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 Mom and Dad are Fighting. Sign up now at slate.com/momanddadplus to help support our work. Join us on Facebook and email us at momanddad@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.  Podcast produced by Rosemary Belson and Maura Currie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate science and health editor Shannon Palus talks with freelance science writer Eleanor Cummins about how to detach exercise from diet culture, and learning to strive toward fitness goals that actually serve them. They discuss two recent pieces in Slate, Shannon’s article on the benefits of slow running and Eleanor’s on why yoga classes cost so much—an how the teachers, which are mostly women, can actually get paid more. They discuss why relaxing in a workout setting can be necessary and difficult, and how letting go of the idea that working out always has to be painful can actually help you accomplish big, impressive goals.   In Slate Plus, is Prince Harry feminist? 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the early 2000s, economic growth exploded in South America—and the citizens of Brazil, Peru, Chile and elsewhere enjoyed increasing prosperity. But over the last decade, the churn of the world economy has made it hard for leaders across the region to meet their people’s raised expectations.  Guest: Brian Winter, editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly, former foreign correspondent for Reuters in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. 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

On today’s episode, Rachelle Hampton is joined by BuzzFeed’s Kelsey Weekman for a crash course in the history and significance of YouTuber MrBeast. Kelsey tells Rachelle all about how he first got started counting numbers to camera, his wild philanthropic stunts, and why his blandness is so arresting and unnerving at the same time. This podcast is produced by Daniel Schroeder, Rachelle Hampton, and Daisy Rosario. Subscribe to Slate Plus at http://slate.com/icymiplus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Dana and Julia are joined by Slate writer Dan Kois. They start by discussing HBO’s new series, The Last of Us, a video game adaptation with culture editor and writer at The New Yorker, Alex Barasch. Then they discuss the French film, Saint Omer, shortlisted for Best International Film at the 2023 Oscars. Finally, they finish by talking about Dan's essay on how the Trunchbull, the formidable villain of Roald Dahl’s 1988 novel Matilda, is still evolving.  Email us at culturefest@slate.com. Endorsements:  Dan: Two books publishing this week, an anti-romantic comedy, Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey, about a young woman in Toronto failing to deal with her divorce, and a novel by Matthew Salesses titled The Sense of Wonder about the ways Asian Americans navigate the worlds of sports and entertainment when everything is stacked against them.  Julia: The Smitten Kitchen recipe for seven-yolk pasta dough. Dana: An unexpected yet beautiful viral Twitter thread by @annethegnome about mushrooms. P

In the wake of mass protests and a depressing effect on its economy, China has ended its “zero COVID” policy. But with cases now rising, is the country ready for the upcoming Spring Festival, a huge holiday for travel that could spread the virus to its remotest corners?  Guest: Dake Kang, reporter for the Associated Press Beijing bureau. 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

This month, hosts Christina Cauterucci, Jules Gill-Peterson, and Bryan Lowder take an in-depth look at the latest fixation of the far right: drag, an art form as old as gender itself, which has brought generations of queer people together. In the first segment, the hosts consider why conservatives are now trying to regulate drag shows out of existence and armed hate groups are showing up at drag events to threaten and intimidate performers and audiences. Then they are joined by Lil Miss Hot Mess, who in addition to performing with Drag Story Hour, has taken an academic interest in what children take away from drag events. Items discussed in the show: The beautiful lullaby version of “Titanium” in M3GAN. M.J. Rodriguez’s gorgeous 2023 Golden Globes dress Drag Story Hour Diane di Prima’s poem “Rant” Lil Miss Hot Mess’ clap-back video to Marco Rubio’s attack ad Gay Agenda Jules: Any DJ set by Honey Dijon. (Here’s one to start with.) Bryan: Cleanse your social media feeds, and introduce some cozy vibes