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Care & Feeding | My Kid Won’t Pee Without A Towel Mar 27, 2025

Show notes

On this episode: Zak, Lucy, and Elizabeth are answering a question from a mom who’s wondering if she’s going to accidentally cause body issues for her four-year-old. This kid has developed what seems like a compulsive habit every time she uses the bathroom… and our mom wants it to stop, but also doesn’t want to somehow make things worse.

We’ll talk through what might be happening here — and then, of course, we’ll circle up for a round of triumphs and fails.

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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Decoder Ring | How Books About Things That Changed the World… Changed the World Mar 26, 2025

Show notes

Look in the nonfiction section of any bookstore and you’ll find dozens of history books making the same bold claim: that their narrow, unexpected subject somehow changed the world. Potatoes, kudzu, soccer, coffee, Iceland, bees, oak trees, sand, chickens—there are books about all of them, and many more besides, with the phrase “changed the world” or something similarly grandiose right there in the title. These books are sometimes called “microhistories” or “thing biographies” and they’ve been a trope in publishing for decades. In this episode, we establish where this trend came from, figure out why it’s been so persistent, and then we put a bunch of authors on the spot, asking them to make the case for why their subjects changed the world.

The writers you’ll hear from include:

Simon Garfield (Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World)
Mark Kurlansky (Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World)
George Gibson, publisher of Cod and Dava Sobel’s Longitude
Historian Bronwen Everill
Slate writer Henry Grabar (Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World)
Gastropod co-host Nicola Twilley (Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves)
Tim Queeney (Rope: How a Bundle of Twisted Fibers Became the Backbone of Civilization)
Leila Philip (Beaver Land: How One Weird Rodent Made America).

This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Evan Chung, Decoder Ring’s supervising producer. Katie Shepherd and Max Freedman also produce our show. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.

Thank you to Joshua Specht, author of Red Meat Republic: A Hoof-to-Table History of How Beef Changed America; Dan Koeppel, author of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World; Tina Lupton; Dan Kois; and Nancy Miller.

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.

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: Netflix’s Incel Tragedy Adolescence Mar 26, 2025

Show notes

On this week’s show, Slate’s Rebecca Onion sits in for Julia. The team discusses Netflix’s current number 1 program Adolescence and what it says about how the descent into incel culture starts young. They then invite Chris Molanphy to talk about Lady Gaga’s new album, MAYHEM. They close out with a discussion on Trump's continued assault against DEI, this time holding funding over the heads of public universities if they don’t end programs that they say advance "racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities."

Endorsements:

Steve: Lauren Theisen’s review of A Streetcar Named Desire

Dana: “That’s Life” on the Lady Gaga album Harlequin

Rebecca: The Fall

Podcast production and research by Vic Whitley-Berry. Email us at culturefest@slate.com.

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Outward: Renaissance Trans Theologies and History with Colby Gordon Mar 26, 2025

Show notes

In this episode of Outward, Jules Gill-Peterson sits down with Colby Gordon to talk about his new book, Glorious Bodies: Trans Theology and Renaissance Literature. Gordon digs into early modern religious texts that, instead of rejecting trans existence, actually provided ways to think about gender transformation—socially, surgically, and theologically. They explore what Shakespeare, Milton, and other writers had to say about gender, how history challenges today’s assumptions about transition, and why the right-wing war on trans people gets the past all wrong.

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ICYMI | Are Influencers Too Normalized To Be Mocked? Mar 26, 2025

Show notes

Kate Lindsay and Candice Lim recap their weekends which include Waymo cars and accidentally bumping into content creators, which brings them to the recent kerfuffle between Glacier Express and Influencers in the Wild. Earlier this month, Influencers in the Wild — an Instagram account that crowdsources and posts footage of content creators in public spaces — was asked to remove a video that featured one of Glacier Express’ employees being filmed and posted without their consent. The train company cited Article 28 of the Swiss Civil code, which dictates that individuals have the right to their own image. But this incident begs the question: do accounts like Influencers in the Wild contribute to a troubling self-surveillance culture, and what rights do any of us have if we accidentally end up in someone’s vlog or Instagram post?

This podcast is produced by Olivia Briley, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay.

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How To! | Write Your Memoir Mar 25, 2025

Show notes

To some, the act of writing a memoir might seem daunting, invasive, or navel-gazing. But excavating memories, noticing patterns, and revisiting events from other points of view can lead to healing—regardless of whether your work gets published.

On this episode of How To!, Carvell Wallace brings on Melissa Febos. Melissa is the bestselling author of five books, including Girlhood—winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism—and a forthcoming memoir, The Dry Season. She teaches us how to create our own narrative in ways that are safe for you and empathetic of others.

If you liked this episode check out: Carvell Wallace on Another Word for Love, How To Start Writing (with Anna Quindlen and John Dickerson), and How To Get Your Book Published

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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Death, Sex & Money | A Middle-Aged Couple Made Porn to Spice Things Up. Then One of Them Got Fired. Mar 25, 2025

Show notes

When Joe Gow was fired from his position as chancellor and professor at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse, his superiors said it was due to “abhorrent” behavior. Joe had made porn videos with his wife Carmen and uploaded them onto the internet under the name “Sexy Happy Couple.”

This week, Joe and Carmen tell their side of the story and explain how making porn spiced up their marriage. They also defend themselves against the argument that what they did was inappropriate.

Slate writer Dan Kois’ previous interviews with Joe Gow:

You can check out our previous series about erectile dysfunction, called Hard, here.

Podcast production by Cameron Drews.

Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.

And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.

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Hang Up | Hot Dogs and Tommy Johns Mar 24, 2025

Show notes

Three days from Opening Day, hosts Alex Kirshner, Lindsay Gibbs, and Ben Lindbergh share their roses, thorns, and buds for the upcoming MLB season. The panel also talks about the lows and highs of March Madness and finally, they remember the legendary boxer and businessman George Foreman.

On the bonus episode available exclusively for Slate Plus members, the panel discusses President Trump's love of sports and his recent conversation with Putin over hockey.

Opening Day (3:04): Who will be the winners, losers, and most yawn-inducing?

March Madness (32:26): The basketball tournament has so far had very few upsets

George Foreman (45:38): We remember the grill, but sometimes forget his 76-5 boxing career record.

(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.

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Care & Feeding | My Daughter’s Dying To Be Popular Mar 24, 2025

Show notes

On this episode: Jamilah and Zak talk about the popular kids. A member of the Slate Parenting Facebook group has a daughter who’s become obsessed with being popular… even though she doesn’t seem to fit in with those kids.

We’ll help her out and then check in and share what’s on our minds this week. Then, if you’re hanging out for the Slate Plus Playground, we’re taking a look at a recent article listing some slang the teens are apparently using.

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

Zak’s check-in: Rumi.

Jamilah’s check-in: getting the itch.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

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ICYMI | The Manosphere That Made Adolescence Mar 22, 2025

Show notes

Kate Lindsay and guest co-host senior Slate editor Rebecca Onion talk Adolescence, the new hit Netflix series Onion wrote is “one of the best shows of the year.” What looks on the surface to be a typical murder mystery unfolds as a brutal illustration of the rise of toxic masculinity online. Kate and Rebecca break down the manosphere ideology that radicalized the show’s protagonist, and how key manosphere figures like Andrew Tate continue to indoctrinate young boys.

This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Olivia Briley, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay.

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