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What Next | 2025: The Music of the Year Jan 01, 2026

Show notes

2025 might not have been a great year —but the music sure was stellar.

Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.

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Decoder Ring - A New Year’s Message from Willa Dec 31, 2025

Show notes

We can’t make this show without you, our listeners. Today, you can help support Decoder Ring – and get a really good deal. To join Slate Plus for just $59/year, visit slate.com/decoderplus on December 31st and type in the promo code DECODER50 at checkout. Slate Plus members get to listen to episodes of Decoder Ring (and all your favorite Slate podcasts!) with no ads, and get access to exclusive bonus episodes.

You can join Slate Plus at any time from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, but the discount code DECODER50 will only work through the end of 2025. Subscribe today at slate.com/decoderplus.

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Culture Gabfest - The 2025 Call-In Spectacular Edition Dec 31, 2025

Show notes

In the waning moments of 2025, Julia, Dana, and Steve say goodbye to the year that was with a beloved annual end-of-year tradition… our listener call-in show! And you delivered some great queries, dear listeners.

The hosts tackle questions about everything ranging from under-dramatized historical eras to Wuthering Heights to wedding registry etiquette. They also zoom out to grapple with a fundamental philosophical question underlying this whole show’s existence and take a cue from Las Culturistas Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers for some Schimpfen und Toben.

No endorsements this week. But for listeners in the New York area, don’t miss Steve when he joins Booker Prize-finalist Ben Markovitz for a conversation about his new novel The Rest of Our Lives on January 5, 2026 at the Upper West Side Barnes & Noble.

For Slate Plus subscribers, the hosts delight in answering an additional listener question in an exclusive bonus episode. They share their ideal cultural outings with their co-hosts.

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Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com.

Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Next | 2025: The Movie(s) of the Year Dec 30, 2025

Show notes

If you were to sum up 2025 in a film, which would you pick? The question that nearly wrecked the brain of Slate’s chief movie critic.

Guest: Dana Stevens, Slate’s movie critic.

Dana’s ten best movies of 2025.

Her review of Sinners.

And her review of One Battle After Another.

Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

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How To! | Our Favorite Advice of 2025 Dec 30, 2025

Show notes

In 2025, our listeners contacted How To! for advice about outsmarting student loans, moving to a new city, hosting a low-key gathering, living with chronic pain, quitting a dream job, letting go of ADHD shame, and yes, losing your virginity in your 40s. Today on the show: Carvell Wallace and Courtney Martin get updates from some of those advice-seekers—and they check in with Jeff, whose family narrowly escaped an L.A. wildfire this year. Plus, what’s ahead for How To! in 2026.

How To! is produced by Rosemary Belson and Sophie Summergrad. Our technical director is Merritt Jacob and our senior supervising producer is Joel Meyer.

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Death, Sex & Money | The Family Drama of Inheritance Dec 30, 2025

Show notes

Your stories about inheritance: Gwynn wrestles with her mother's will that would cut out her sister; Trevor inherited money from his father and questions about whether his death was planned; and Anna talks to two young people giving away their inherited wealth despite some family opposition.

Podcast production by Zoe Azulay

Sign up for a full year of Slate Plus for 50% off by using the code DSM50 at checkout: slate.com/dsmplus (offer available until Jan 1).

My Father is Worth $70 Million. I Disinherited Myself.

Anna and Husband Arthur Play the Not-So-Newlywed Game

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Death, Sex & Money - The Family Drama of Inheritance Dec 30, 2025

Show notes

Podcast production by Zoe Azulay

Sign up for a full year of Slate Plus for 50% off by using the code DSM50 at checkout: slate.com/dsmplus (offer available until Jan 1).

My Father is Worth $70 Million. I Disinherited Myself.

Anna and Husband Arthur Play the Not-So-Newlywed Game

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Next | 2025: The Game of the Year Dec 29, 2025

Show notes

Canada and the United States usually have a pretty good-natured sports rivalry—but from hockey to baseball, that was not the case in 2025.

Guest: Alex Kirshner, contributing writer at Slate, co-host of Hang Up and Listen and the Split Zone Duo podcasts.

Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Care & Feeding | What We Learned From Our Biggest Parenting Triumphs and Fails Dec 29, 2025

Show notes

On this episode: Lucy Lopez, Elizabeth Newcamp, and Zak Rosen are looking back on 2025, but keeping an eye on 2026. They discuss their biggest parenting fails from this year, and what they’re looking to learn and improve on in the new year. Then, it’s poetry night! Each of the hosts wrote poems for the others to cap off 2025. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you won’t want to miss it.

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Video production by Micah Phillips.

Join us on Facebook and email us at careandfeedingpod@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. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts.

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Hang Up and Listen - Prediction Season Dec 29, 2025

Show notes

Hosts Alex Kirshner, Lindsay Gibbs, and Ben Lindbergh look into their crystal balls and tell us what to look out for in the sports world of the future! Will we see more LeBron? More sports betting scandals? A Bill Super Bowl win? A Trump immigration World Cup incident? Only time and the all-knowing Hang Up hosts can tell.

In the second half of our show, we’re sharing Alex’s recent conversation with Mary Harris on What Next.

Predictions (2:54): 2026

What Next (41:50): Mary Harris interviews Alex

(Note: time codes are only accurate for Slate Plus members, who listen ad-free.)

Get more Hang Up and Listen with Slate Plus! Join for weekly bonus episodes of Hang Up and Listen and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Hang Up and Listen show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or visit slate.com/hangupplus for access wherever you listen.

You can email us at hangup@slate.com.

Podcast production and editing by Kevin Bendis, with production assistance from Ben Richmond.

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