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Hang Up: The Best Comeback That Never Was May 31, 2023

Show notes

Josh Levin and Stefan Fatsis are joined by Joel Anderson to talk about the Celtics’ Game 7 loss to the Heat. They’re also joined by Mike Simmonds of Luton Today for a conversation about Luton Town’s rise to the Premier League. And finally, writer Sam Miller comes on to discuss the indelible image of Randy Johnson killing a bird with a fastball.

Celtics-Heat (6:49): How Boston came so far, and then collapsed.

Luton Town (28:27): The inside scoop on an incredible underdog story.

Baseball and birds (47:15): Why we’re still talking about a pitch from 2001.

Afterball (1:07:07): Stefan on Tom Wambsgans and Bill Wambsganss and Josh on whether Clarence Thomas could dunk.

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Slate Money: Succession S4 Ep10: Fairly Explosive Mega-F*** May 29, 2023

Show notes

This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers are joined by NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik to discuss the series finale of Succession. It all comes down to this; who wins, who loses, and, who gets ‘the kiss from Daddy’?

The Tom/Greg Taylor Swift video.

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Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Patrick Fort.

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What Next: TBD | The Trouble With TikTok Songs May 28, 2023

Show notes

How the music streaming business opened the door to billions of dollars in fraud.

Guest: Ashley Carman, Bloomberg News reporter covering the podcasting, music, and audio beat.

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.

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Working: The Breakout Star of HBO’s Barry May 28, 2023

Show notes

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to actor Sarah Goldberg, who plays Sally on the hit HBO show Barry. In the interview, Sarah discusses her training at The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and the important lessons she learned there. Then she digs into the role of Sally and discusses her first impressions of the role, the many dimensions of the character, and her ability to access powerful emotions for certain scenes.

After the interview, Isaac and co-host June Thomas talk about the emotional toll that acting can take.

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Sarah discusses the differences between theater acting in the U.K. vs the U.S.

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.

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Future Tense Fiction: When Robots Go to War May 27, 2023

Show notes

On this month’s episode of Future Tense Fiction, host Maddie Stone talks to Justina Ireland about her short story “Collateral Damage.”

The story follows a group of soldiers deployed alongside TED, the Army’s first self-aware combat drone. TED is relentlessly efficient, quickly outpacing its human counterparts—and leaving them worried for their jobs. But when a wrong call from the clunky robot puts soldiers’ lives at risk, they realize just how hard it is to program for battlefield experience.

After the story, Ireland shares how her own time in the military shapes her writing, and why tech dreamed up in D.C. rarely reflects the needs of soldiers on the ground.

Guest: Justina Ireland, a veteran and author of books including Dread Nation, Deathless Divide, and Ophie’s Ghosts

Story read by Joanne Lichtenstein

Podcast production by Tiara Darnell

Check out AWS Insiders here: https://link.chtbl.com/awsinsiders?sid=podcast.futuretensefiction

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Hit Parade: Champagne Supernova Edition Part 2 May 26, 2023

Show notes

In the ’90s, U.K. rock was by Britons, for Britons. The music of the U.K. indie, Madchester and shoegaze scenes fused together into a new wave of guitar bands with punk energy, laddish lyrics and danceable grooves. They called it Britpop.

In the motherland, Britpop set the charts alight: Blur faced off against Oasis. Pulp poked fun at the class system. Suede sold androgyny, and Elastica repackaged ’70s art-punk as ’90s pop. But with rare exception, these hits didn’t translate in America. There was no Third British Invasion in the ’90s—with the exception of that one inscrutable Oasis song about a “Wonderwall.”

Why did Britpop fire up Old Blighty and flop with the Yanks? Join Chris Molanphy as he tries to define Britppop—was it a scene? a sound? a movement?—and explains how the music boomed and busted faster than a cannonball.

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Make an impact this Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to fund APIA Scholars. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more.

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Dear Prudence: I Saved My Neighbor’s Life And Now She Won't Leave Me Alone. Help! May 26, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, Kelsey McKinney (host of Radiotopia’s Normal Gossip and co-owner of Defector.com) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer your letters from readers about who to share random thoughts with after your spouse dies, what to do when you’ve saved a neighbor’s life but don’t want to be friends with her, and how to handle petty insults in the family group chat.

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.

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A Word: Racial Reckoning on Campus May 26, 2023

Show notes

The murder of George Floyd prompted a number of American colleges and universities to reckon with their historic roles in slavery. Three years later, many institutions have abandoned those efforts. One that’s still going strong is the Hard Histories Project at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by historian Martha Jones, the director of that effort. The scholars associated with the project have uncovered many challenging truths, including evidence that the founder of Johns Hopkins—widely hailed as an abolitionist—owned slaves.

Guest: Historian Martha Jones, Director of the Hard Histories Project at Johns Hopkins 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 $15 for your first three months.

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The Waves: I Don’t Care If You Like Me May 25, 2023

Show notes

On this week’s episode of The Waves, are female characters becoming less likable? Slate senior supervising producer, Daisy Rosario is joined by author and comedian Jena Friedman. Jena’s new book Not Funny explores likeability and what that means for women in comedy and the world. They talk about unlikeable female characters and anti-heroines in shows like Rosanne, Killing Eve, and more. How unlikeable female characters have evolved - and how streamers actually helped bring down some gatekeepers making more room for complex women on TV.

In Slate Plus: When Jena asked famous male comics the questions so many female comics get asked every day.

If you liked this episode, check out: How to Survive in Hollywood.

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.

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Outward: Queer Utopian Fiction and Dystopian Reality TV May 24, 2023

Show notes

This month, Outward explores utopian fiction and dystopian reality TV. First, Bryan and Christina are joined by author Theodore McCombs to discuss Uranians, his new collection of speculative stories, which uses queer difference and divestment from the normal as an engine to drive five fascinating tales. Then they’re joined by producer June Thomas to discuss The Ultimatum: Queer Love, Netflix’s latest take on the dating show, which follows a cast of queer women and nonbinary folks as they try to decide who they will marry. Finally, the hosts add some new items to the gay agenda.

Items discussed in the show:

The CBC report on Patricia Ginn of the WindSisters

Uranians: Stories, by Theodore McCombs

More on Karl Heinrich Ulrich’s take on the Uranian

The Ultimatum: Queer Love on Netflix

June on the queerness of portrait galleries

Gay Agenda

June: The Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh

Bryan: That! Feels Good!, by Jessie Ware

Christina: “Radical Desire: Making On Our Backs Magazine,” from Cornell University Library

This podcast was produced by June Thomas.

Please send feedback, topic ideas, and advice questions to outwardpodcast@slate.com.