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Care & Feeding | My Tween Girls Are Jealous of Each Other Jun 23, 2025

Show notes

On this episode: Zak, Lucy and Elizabeth chat about sibling spats. Our question is from the mom of three tween girls who are jealous of each other — so we’ll talk about dealing with unfairness, and keeping the peace.

We’ll also check in and share what’s on our minds this week. And if you stick around for the Slate Plus Playground, we’re talking about our parenting “shoulds.”

If you’re not part of the Slate Plus community, we hope you’ll consider joining! Keep reading to learn how.

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.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

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ICYMI | Is Partiful Cancelled? Jun 21, 2025

Show notes

Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay start off with two sounds of the summer from a divisive Love Island USA contestant and a popstar “standing on business.” Then, they explain the controversy brewing behind Partiful, the hip event invite app that was a rising star in the tech world, until an NYC Noise blog post brought up that Partiful’s co-founders used to work at Palantir Technologies. Palantir is a data-analytics company co-founded by Peter Thiel, who was on President Trump’s transition team and a prominent, billionaire donor to his campaign, and for years, Palantir has been in contract with the CIA and ICE. Then in April, 404 Media was able to obtain Slacks from Palantir that showed they were helping Trump’s mass deportation effort. So, is Partiful canceled? And why are there no good invite apps left?

Also: We're asking for your help on a future Pride episode! Send us your stories of coming out on social media. Whether you posted a quick tweet or produced a full on YouTube video about it, we want to hear from you! Did coming out online make things easier IRL or more complicated? Did seeing someone else's coming out post help you to do the same? Send us a voice memo at icymi@slate.com, and you might be featured on this future episode!

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay.

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Gabfest Reads | Alison Bechdel Explains Selling Out the Progressive Way Jun 21, 2025

Show notes

David Plotz talks with author Alison Bechdel about her new book, Spent. They discuss what’s memoir and what’s less than memoir in the comic novel, David’s own contribution to the book, and more.

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.

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ICYMI: The Content Creators Crashing the Diddy Trial Jun 18, 2025

Show notes

Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay are joined by Slate staff writer Nadira Goffe, whose coverage of the United States v. Sean Combs (also known as the Diddy trial) has meant sharing a press room with YouTubers and streamers. These new media journalists have millions of followers, and aren’t beholden to the same editorial and ethical standards as traditional news outlets. As a result, they might just be beating them at their own game.

This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay.

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Decoder Ring | The Boston Cinematic Universe Jun 18, 2025

Show notes

This episode is a first for Decoder Ring: a live show, recorded at the WBUR Festival in Boston, Massachusetts. Given the setting, we decided to take on a Boston-based cultural mystery: namely, the “Boston movie.” Beginning in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Hollywood has churned out a whole cycle of films drenched in Beantown’s particularities, crimes, crops, class conflicts, and accents, from The Departed to The Town. Why does a city smaller than El Paso or Jacksonville loom so large in the cinematic imagination? Why does Boston have a movie subgenre all its own? What makes a Boston movie a Boston movie?

With the help of three guests—film critic Ty Burr; Lisa Simmons, founder of the Roxbury International Film Festival; and Boston University linguist Danny Erker—we look closely at the history and heyday of the Boston movie: how The Friends of Eddie Coyle set the template, Good Will Hunting shoved the door wide open, and Mystic River ushered in an imperial phase. We discuss the importance of race and class to the Boston movie and the city itself, the role of homegrown movie stars like Ben Affleck and Mark Wahlberg, and, of course, the best and worst of Boston accents on film.

This episode of Decoder Ring was produced by Willa Paskin and Max Freedman. Our team also includes Katie Shepherd and supervising producer Evan Chung. Merritt Jacob is Slate’s Technical Director.

If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, please email us at DecoderRing@slate.com, or leave a message on our hotline at 347-460-7281.

Films referenced in this episode:

The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
Love Story (1970)
The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)
The Brink’s Job (1978)
The Verdict (1982)
Quiz Show (1994)
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Squeeze (1997)
Monument Ave. (1998)
The Boondock Saints (1999)
Southie (1999)
Lift (2001)
Blue Hill Avenue (2001)
Mystic River (2003)
Fever Pitch (2005)
The Departed (2006)
Gone Baby Gone (2007)
The Fighter (2010)
The Town (2010)
Ted (2012)
Ted 2 (2015)
Black Mass (2015)
Spotlight (2015)

Want more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Decoder Ring show page. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus to get access wherever you listen.

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Culture Gabfest: Can Materialists Revive the Rom-com Edition Jun 18, 2025

Show notes

On this week’s show, Steve and Dana are joined by guest host Dan Kois to weigh the suitability of Materialists as a rom-com for our transactional age. In choosing between suitors played by Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans, matchmaker Dakota Johnson must choose between love and money— but is there a soul beneath all this romantic calculation? They debate.

Next, they return to the depths of a billionaire-backed fiasco in the new documentary Titan: The OceanGate Submersible Disaster about the jaw-dropping 2023 submarine implosion. Finally, they remember and appreciate the life and ineffable, enduring work of pop music auteur, and Beach Boys, frontman Brian Wilson.

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Steve, Dana, and Dan discuss Lauren Michelle Jackson’s New Yorker essay about “P.O.V.” videos and what they say about how we see the world.

Want more Culture Gabfest? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Culture Gabfest show page. Or, visit slate.com/cultureplus to get access wherever you listen.

Endorsements:

Dana - The intimate and revealing 2021 documentary about Brian Wilson, Long Promised Road.

Carl - Seeing the singular and surreal British musician Robyn Hitchcock live. And if he’s not coming to city near you, catching his performance in the Jonathan Demme-directed documentary Storefront Hitchcock.

Dan - For deeper exploration of his body of work, Brian Wilson’s 1988 self-titled solo album.

For an innovative portrayal of another eccentric musical genius the film Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould.

Steve - Roberto Bolaño's posthumous masterwork 2066, Netflix’s new mystery thriller Dept Q, and sticking with works of art beyond their initial chapters.

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How To! | Draw Outside the Lines Jun 17, 2025

Show notes

Drawing isn’t just child’s play. It’s a shortcut to joy, presence, and connection—all things we could use a lot more of these days. On this episode of How To!, Courtney Martin brings on artist, graphic journalist, and founder of DrawTogether Wendy MacNaughton to explain how everyone at the grown-ups table can start drawing, too.

Courtney’s blind contour drawing

If you liked this episode check out: How To Be an Artist and Not Starve

Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at howto@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

The show is produced by Rosemary Belson, with Kevin Bendis. Our technical director is Merritt Jacob and our supervising producer is Joel Meyer.

Want more How To!? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the How To! show page. Or, visit slate.com/howtoplus to get access wherever you listen.

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Hang Up | Carnage at Oakmont Jun 16, 2025

Show notes

Hosts Alex Kirshner, Ben Lindbergh, and Lindsay Gibbs talk about the rainy and unforgiving weekend at the U.S. Open, where J.J. Spaun was the only player to finish under par. They also get into the shocking trade of Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox to the San Francisco Giants. Plus, journalist and host of the podcast Sonic Boom, Jordan Ritter Conn, joins to discuss how Seattle lost its iconic basketball team and how Oklahoma City has reaped the benefits. There’s also an Afterball from Ben on WNBA's new “Line ‘Em Up” campaign in the wake of a three-point shooting surge.

On the bonus episode available exclusively for Slate Plus members, the panel speaks to soccer journalist Kim McCauley about the state of the USMNT.

U.S. Open (3:53): The soggiest weekend in golf.

Red Sox boot Raffy (19:01): The shocking trade of Boston’s biggest star

What happened to the SupersSonics? (36:26): How Seattle lost and OKC might win.

Afterballs (52:02): Ben on WNBA’s three-point push.

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

Want more Hang Up and Listen? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page, or visit slate.com/hangupplus to get access wherever you listen.

You can email us at hangup@slate.com.

Podcast production and editing by Kevin Bendis, with production assistance from Patrick Fort.

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Care & Feeding | This Is Your Last Parenting Book Jun 16, 2025

Show notes

On this episode: Elizabeth and Lucy sit down with Meagan Francis – she’s a parenting writer and the author of the new book, The Last Parenting Book You’ll Ever Read. It’s all about embracing the teen years and your impending empty nest.

And if you stick around for the Slate Plus Playground, Zak and Jamilah join Elizabeth to talk about what they hope an empty nest looks like.

If you’re not part of the Slate Plus community, we hope you’ll consider joining! Keep reading to learn how.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

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ICYMI: It’s International Bestselling Author Quan Millz Jun 14, 2025

Show notes

Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay are joined by Wired senior writer and producer of Black Twitter: A People’s History, Jason Parham, to attempt to explain the enigma that is “international bestselling author” Quan Millz. With titles like Old THOT Next Door and My Baby Daddy Is A Bedbug, Millz’s books have no trouble capturing the attention of the internet, so much so that the previously-anonymous author was forced to unmask himself to ward off a potential scandal. But who, exactly, are Millz’s books for? And the even more ominous question: What will he do next?

This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay, with help from A.C. Valdez.

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