Slate Daily Feed

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to Steph Paynes, founder and guitarist of Lez Zeppelin, an all-female group dedicated to the musical and performative stylings of Led Zeppelin. In the interview Steph explains why she doesn’t consider Lez Zeppelin to be a “tribute band.” Then she describes the challenge of mimicking some aspects of the legendary rock band while still being unique and expressive.  After the interview, Isaac and co-host June Thomas discuss Steph’s attention to detail and the raw sexuality of both Lez and Led Zeppelin.  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Steph tells the story of the time Jimmy Page showed up at one of Lez Zeppelin’s shows.  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 benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Little Mood—an

They’ve stolen billions of dollars. Is the U.S. ready to crack down? Guest: Jason Bartlett, research associate in the Energy, Economics, and Security Program at the Center for a New American Security Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While TikTok’s “For You” page is designed to get inside users’ heads—and only show them videos about their niche interests—certain trends and sounds on the app can become too big to avoid. On this week’s episode, Madison and guest host Moises Mendes II break down the disturbing ubiquity of TikToks making fun of the Depp v. Heard defamation trial. Then, they offer insight into the app’s newest dance craze and our strongest contender for 2022 song of the summer, Lizzo’s “About Damn Time.” Finally, they trace the origins of TikTok’s strangest earworm, the “Jiggle Jiggle” rap. Podcast production by Madeline Ducharme and Derek John. Support ICYMI and listen to the show with zero ads. Sign up to become a Slate Plus member for just $1 for your first month.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers talk about Tesla dropping out of the ESG index, Grubhub’s disastrous promo, and Tiktok’s terrible worker conditions.    In the Plus segment: The going rate of a lost tooth.   Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Ambassador Norm Eisen to discuss The Big Picture: democracy, the Rule of Law and the new volume he has co-written and edited, Overcoming Trumpery: How to Restore Ethics, the Rule of Law, and Democracy. Norm and Dahlia look back to January 6th 2021, and ahead to the coming hearings and the midterms.  In this week’s Amicus Plus segment, Dahlia is joined by Mark Joseph Stern to talk about Ted Cruz’s victory at the Supreme Court, and what it means for what’s left of campaign finance law, the stunning decision out of the 5th circuit that questions the constitutionality of, well, pretty much the whole of the civil service… And Oklahoma’s new abortion ban law that picks up Texas’ vigilante reproductive regulation and runs with it. Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show.  We'll be back with another episode of Amicus on June 4th, when we’ll start coming to you weekly as the Supreme Court’s term hurtles to its conclusion and we are deluged with consequential decisions. Ho

What was in the water in Virginia Beach? Starting in the ’90s and peaking in the ’00s, Pharrell Williams, Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley and Missy Elliott—friends and family from the Tidewater Region—made nerdy pop normal on the charts. Their productions whirred, gurgled, pinged and rumbled—the handiwork of studio geeks—while their lyrics embraced the freaky: Missy demanding that you work it…Pharrell declaring he’s a hustler, baby…Timbaland bringing sexy back. Join host Chris Molanphy as he explains how these three supa-dupa fly Virginia Beach geniuses helped us get our freak on. For over two decades, they never left you without a dope beat to step to. Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The recent massacre targeting the Black community in Buffalo has led to strong words from President Biden and other leaders, denouncing white supremacist violence. But for the remaining survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and their descendants, those words ring hollow. On this week’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by Damario Solomon-Simmons, a civil rights lawyer who is leading an effort to win reparations for Tulsa Race Massacre survivors. He won a historic legal victory this month, but argues that the president has failed to follow through on promises to do everything he could to pursue justice for Tulsa.  Guest: Damario Solomon-Simmons is a civil rights attorney, and is leading efforts to win reparations for Tulsa Race Massacre victims and their descendants. He’s the Managing Partner of SolomonSimmonsLaw. Podcast production by Jasmine Ellis 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 a

The shooting in Buffalo raises questions about the effectiveness of content moderation. Is the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism the answer to how social media can moderate extremist content? Guest: Emma Llansó, director of the Free Expression Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology Host: Ray Suarez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Thomas B. Edsall for The New York Times: “Status Anxiety Is Blowing Wind Into Trump’s Sails” Karn Yourish and Nicholas Confessore for The New York Times: “A Fringe Conspiracy Theory, Fostered Online, Is Refashioned by the G.O.P.” Jamelle Bouie for The New York Times: “The Slaughter in Buffalo Hasn’t Quieted the Great Replacement Caucus” Nathaniel Rakich for FiveThirtyEight: “What Went Down During the May 17 Primary Elections”  David A. Graham for The Atlantic: “John Fetterman Wins on Vibes” Greg Sargent for The Washington Post: “Say it Clearly: Republicans Just Nominated a Pro-Trump Insurrectionist” Lauren Debter for Forbes: “A Startup Wanted To Make A Better Baby Formula. It Took Five Long Years.” Mary McNamara for Los Angeles Times: “Worried About The Declining Birthrate? How About Giving Mothers a Break”  Ruth Marcus for The Washington Post: “For Justice Thomas, The Roberts Court is More Feud Than Family”   Here are this week’s chatters: John: Steve

On this episode: Jamilah, Elizabeth, and Zak talk about the baby formula shortage. Then they are joined by Dr. Christine Stephenson, pediatric physical therapist and author of The Constipation Game Plan, to help a four year old who refuses to use the restroom when he’s not at home.  On Slate Plus, Jamilah, Elizabeth, and Zak talk about the highly annoying time gap between school pickup and work ending. Slate Plus members get a bonus segment on MADAF each week, and no ads. Sign up now at slate.com/momanddadplus to listen and support our work. Recommendations:  The Constipation Game Plan The Poo in You  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 Jasmine Ellis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Waves, historian and original Waves host, Marcia Chatelain is joined by sociologist Danielle Lindemann to talk all things reality TV. They discuss Danielle’s new book, True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us and why we don’t take reality television as seriously as we should. Later in the show they talk about why women are more successful at monetizing their reality TV brand and how the genre takes us on a tour of the class system.   In Slate Plus: Is The Bachelorette feminist?  Recommendations: Marcia: The True Crime Obsessed podcast, Let the Women Do the Work Danielle: The Netflix series Selling Sunset   Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Shannon Palus 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

On this edition of Working Overtime, hosts June Thomas and Karen Han hear from a listener who can’t decide which creative project to move forward with. First, they discuss how to evaluate a project’s potential for success. Then they imagine what it would be like to choose between projects if money weren’t a factor.  Do you have a question about creative work? Call and leave a message at 304-933-9675, or email us at working@slate.com. Podcast production by Kevin Bendis and Cameron Drews.  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 Big Mood, Little Mood—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When China first instituted its zero-COVID policy, it was a success: as other countries struggled with soaring infection rates and overburdened hospitals, life for many Chinese citizens began to look normal again within months—so long as they weren’t infected. But the omicron variant changed the game. Now, people are speaking out against draconian lockdown measures they say are inappropriate to face the current level of threat. How did zero-COVID evolve from being the most effective virus prevention strategy in the world to a disproportionate and punitive system? And how has that evolution expanded state control? Guest: Dake Kang, journalist in the Beijing bureau of the Associated Press. 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 mor

In this episode, Rachelle Hampton and Madison Malone Kircher speak with Dion Beary, a writer and online community builder who founded the Tumblr blog This Is White Privilege. They talk with Beary about where that blog began, its impact on online discourse, and why he stepped away. Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Derek John. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month Bryan, Christina, and Jules explore the intersection of queer life and incarceration. How has America’s prison-loving penal system shaped our history and present, and how does that experience get channeled—or not—into the culture we make and consume? The hosts are joined by Hugh Ryan, author of the new book The Women’s House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison, which uses one infamous mid-century institution in New York’s Greenwich Village to return the overlooked lives of incarcerated women and transmasculine folks to our collective story, and to make a stirring case for prison abolition as a queer issue. Then they discuss how prison shows up in pop culture—and whether they’re entirely comfortable with those fantasies. Items discussed in the show: Selling Sunset Two recent articles on phalloplasty: “How Ben Got His Penis,” by Jamie Lauren Keiles in the New York Times, and “My Penis Myself,” by Gabriel Mac in New York Original Plumbing “Madison Cawthorn Thrusting His Naked Body on A

A shooting Saturday at a supermarket in a predominantly-Black neighborhood in Buffalo left at least 10 people dead and three more injured. The suspected shooter left a manifesto riddled with racist ideology, laying out plans to specifically target Black people and citing the so-called “great replacement theory” as his motivation.  How much will white supremacist violence be a part of the everyday lives of Americans — and what’s being done to stop it? Guest: Wesley Lowery, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist covering race in America.  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

This week, the panel begins by discussing the new true crime series Under the Banner of Heaven. Then, the panel time travels with the film Petite Maman. Finally, the panel debates “The Future of Public Parks,” inspired by a New Yorker piece from Alexandra Lange. In Slate Plus, the panel discusses their experiences having their work edited. Email us at culturefest@slate.com. Endorsements Dan: The novel, Howards End by E.M. Forster. Julia: A listener response to her former request of snorkeling’s relationship to birdwatching. Steve: A book review in The New Statesman from Scotland’s National Poet, Kathleen Jamie, titled “What rocks teach us about the human condition,” which reviews Hugh Raffles’ book The Book of Unconformities: Speculations on Lost Time. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Nadira Goffe. Outro music is "Last Sunday" by OTE. Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts, a bonus segment in each episode of the Culture Gabfest, full access to Slate's journalism on Slate.com, and

When did everyone become a storyteller? Decades after George Lucas and Steve Jobs made storytelling a big business, every company now wants to tell “Our Story.” Instagram and TikTok let everyone else tell their “stories,” and the number of people calling themselves storytellers on LinkedIn is now more than half a million. Something we have done for the entirety of our existence as a species has become just another fad.  In this episode of Decoder Ring, we’re going to look at where this trend came from and where it’s going. What Willa discovered changed the way she now thinks about stories—and it might do the same for you.  Some of the voices you’ll hear in this episode include Margaret O’Mara, historian and author of The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America; Michael Simon, director and producer; Francesca Polletta, sociologist at University of California, Irvine; Steve Clayton, Chief Storyteller at Microsoft; Seth Godin, entrepreneur and author of All Marketers Tell Stories; Everett Cook, Associat

Danny Lavery welcomes Jane Rice, a civil servant, and Edward Szekely, a radiographer, who live in Edinburgh, Scotland with their 3 year old daughter and 6 year old cat.  Lavery, Rice, and Szekely take on two letters. First, from a young adult who wants to know why he can’t help lying to his parents. Another letter writer is trying to break their habit of using their dead name at work.  Slate Plus members get another episode of Big Mood, Little Mood every Friday: sign up now! Need advice? Send Danny a question here. Email: mood@slate.com Production by Phil Surkis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Tubbs grew up in poverty. And when, at 26, he was elected mayor of his hometown, he decided to do something about it. And what he did in Stockton, California, no American mayor had done before. He started giving poor people cash. No strings attached. Stockton’s pilot program in Guaranteed Basic Income started lifting people out of poverty. It gave parents more time with their kids. And it was actually cost-effective. So as we look to the Future of Work and Wellbeing, could Guaranteed Basic Income programs play a central role in lifting all of us up — and boosting the standard of life for all Americans? Guests Michael Tubbs, elected mayor of Stockton, California in 2016 at the age of 26 — the youngest mayor in the country. He is known nationally for establishing the first city-led Guaranteed Basic Income program in America, which has inspired dozens of other cities across the country to try similar programs. Having lost his re-election bid in 2020, Tubbs recently founded the nonprofit End Poverty in