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Hit Parade: We Want It That Way Edition Part 2 Apr 27, 2024

Show notes

When you hear “boy band,” what do you picture? Five guys with precision dance moves? Songs crafted by the Top 40 pop machine? Svengalis pulling the puppet strings? Hordes of screaming girls?

As it turns out, not all boy bands fit these signifiers. (Well…except for the screaming girls—they are perennial.) There are boy bands that danced, and some that did not…boy bands that relied entirely on outside songwriters, and those that wrote big hits…boy bands assembled by managers or producers, and quite a few that launched on their own.

From Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers to New Kids on the Block, the Monkees to the Jonas Brothers, Boyz II Men to BTS, New Edition to One Direction, and…yeah, of course, Backstreet Boys and *N Sync, boy bands have had remarkable variety over the years. (In a sense, even a certain ’60s Fab Four started as a boy band.)

Join Chris Molanphy as he tries to define the ineffable quality of boy band–ness, walks through decades of shrieking, hair-pulling pop history, and reminds you that boy bands generated some of our greatest hits, from “I Want You Back” to “I Want It That Way,” “Bye Bye Bye” to “Dynamite.” Help him “bring the fire and set the night alight.”

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

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Dear Prudence: My love language with friends is touch, but it makes my partner jealous. Help! Apr 26, 2024

Show notes

In this episode, Gina Cherelus (New York Times’ weekly dating column Third Wheel) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about how much physical affection is appropriate with people who aren’t your partner, believing you are with your partner because you are more attractive than them, and more.

If you want more Dear Prudence, 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.

This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, and Jenée Desmond-Harris, with help from Maura Currie and Jared Downing.

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A Word: True Life, True Crime Apr 26, 2024

Show notes

True crime is a hot topic for movies, television, and –yes– podcasts. At the center of many of these stories is a missing woman. In the She Has A Name podcast, veteran journalist Tonya Mosley tries to reconstruct the death –and life– of a woman who went missing in 1987, a woman who happens to be her long lost sister. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by Tonya Mosley to talk about uncovering the mystery around her sister Anita’s disappearance and death, and how the podcast helped her connect to a family that she never knew.

Guest: Tonya Mosley, host of the podcast She Has A Name

Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel

Want more A Word? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/awordplus to get access wherever you listen.

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What Next TBD: So ... Is TikTok Banned? Apr 26, 2024

Show notes

The TikTok ban that has been floating around Washington since the last administration has been signed into law. What does that mean for users, creators and the court battles ahead?

Guest:

Louise Matsakis, reporter covering tech and China.

Dillon White, TikToker under the handle @dadchats

Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and 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.

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Political Gabfest: Election Fraud Pure and Simple Apr 25, 2024

Show notes

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the testimony of prosecution witness David Pecker in Donald Trump’s criminal trial, student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, and the Supreme Court argument on presidential immunity.

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:

Matthew Haag for The New York Times: David Pecker, Ex-National Enquirer Publisher, Details How He Aided Trump

Richard L. Hasen in the Los Angeles Times: Opinion: Why it’s hard to muster even a ‘meh’ over Trump’s New York criminal trial

J. David Goodman, David Montgomery, Jonathan Wolfe, and Jenna Russell for The New York Times: Campus Protests Over Gaza Intensify Amid Pushback by Universities and Police

Spectator Editorial Board for the Columbia Spectator: Is Columbia in crisis?

Minouche Shafik in The Wall Street Journal: Columbia University President: What I Plan to Tell Congress Tomorrow

David Schizer in CNN: Opinion: To combat antisemitism, start by following the law

Michael C. Dorf for Verdict: Federal Antidiscrimination Law Does Not Require Campus Crackdowns

J Oliver Conroy for The Guardian: ‘Media firestorm’: Israel protest at professor’s home sparks heated free-speech debate

C-SPAN: Supreme Court Hears Case on Former President Trump’s Immunity Claim

Ann Marimow for The Washington Post: Supreme Court seems poised to allow Trump trial, but not immediately

Ian Millhiser for Vox: Donald Trump already won the only Supreme Court fight that mattered

Here are this week’s chatters:

John: Stephen Clark for Ars Technica: Recoding Voyager 1—NASA’s interstellar explorer is finally making sense again

Emily: Abbie VanSickle for The Washington Post: Supreme Court Appeals Sharply Divided in Emergency Abortion Case and Angela Palermo for The Spokesman-Review: Idaho has lost 22% of its practicing obstetricians in the last 15 months, report say

David: Exploring a Secret Fort on airbnb; City Cast: Work with us.; and Eve O. Schaub for The Washington Post: Don’t waste your time recycling plastic

Listener chatter from Michael Starr in New York City: Patrick Page in All The Devils Are Here; Richard the Third by Paul Murray Kendall; and Nancy Shute for NPR: No Hunch Here: Richard III Suffered From Scoliosis Instead

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David, John, and Emily talk about a question before the Supreme Court: can a city regulate homelessness? See Amy Howe for SCOTUSblog: Court divided over constitutionality of criminal penalties for homelessness; Esteban L. Hernandez and Meira Gebel for Axios: Supreme Court weighs case that could affect Denver’s approach to homelessness and Alayna Alvarez: Denver’s urban camping ban brings 10 years of turmoil; and Eli Saslow and Todd Heisler for The New York Times: A Sandwich Shop, a Tent City and an American Crisis.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, John talks with David E. Sanger about his new book, New Cold Wars: China’s Rise, Russia’s Invasion, and America’s Struggle to Defend the West.

Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth

Research by Julie Huygen

Hosts

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz

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Care & Feeding: My In-Laws Have Guns. I Don’t Trust Them. Apr 25, 2024

Show notes

On this episode: Elizabeth, Jamilah and Zak help a listener who’s worried about firearms in their in-laws’ home. They have a strained relationship already, and a recent argument led to threatening words that are lingering. If this parent wouldn’t let their kids be in a friend’s house with guns, should family be an exception?

We’ll also debrief with a round of triumphs and fails — including two triumphs about the beauty of abandoning ship.

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 an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus to help support our work.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

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What Next: How Trump Found His Lawyer Apr 25, 2024

Show notes

Who is Todd Blanche, Donald Trump’s attorney in the hush-money trial, and how did he end up representing the former president?

Guest: Andrew Rice, features writer for New York Magazine. He’s also the author of The Year That Broke America.

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ICYMI: Is Roblox Coming for TikTok? Apr 24, 2024

Show notes

On today’s episode, Steffi Cao explains Roblox to Rachelle. Cao, a culture writer with bylines at The Atlantic, Fast Company, Forbes, BuzzFeed and more, recently wrote about Roblox’s new attempt to venture outside of kids’ gaming.

This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton.

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What Next: Columbia Calls the Cops Apr 24, 2024

Show notes

Protests at Columbia University have become a talking point across national media, but does the situation on campus actually resemble the one in the press?

Guest: Aymann Ismail, Slate staff writer.

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.

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Decoder Ring: Making Real Music for a Fake Band Apr 24, 2024

Show notes

Pop culture is full of fictional bands singing songs purpose-made to capture a moment, a sound. This music doesn’t organically emerge from a scene or genre, hoping to find an audience. Instead it fulfills an assignment: it needs to be 1960s folk music, 1970s guitar rock, 80s hair metal, 90s gangsta rap, and on and on.

In this episode, we’re going to use ‘Stereophonic,’ which just opened on Broadway, as a kind of case study in how to construct songs like this. The playwright David Adjmi and his collaborator, Will Butler formerly of the band Arcade Fire, will walk us through how they did it. How they made music that needs to capture the past, but wants to speak to the present; that has to work dramatically but hopes to stand on its own; that must be plausible, but aspires to be something even more.

The band in Stereophonic includes Sarah Pidgeon, Tom Pecinka, Juliana Canfield, Will Brill, and Chris Stack. Stereophonic is now playing on Broadway—and the cast album will be out May 10.

Thank you to Daniel Aukin, Marie Bshara, and Blake Zidell and Nate Sloan.

This episode was produced by Max Freedman and edited by Evan Chung, who produce the show with Katie Shepherd. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.

If you haven’t yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends.

If you’re a fan of the show, please sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring and all other Slate podcasts without any ads and have total access to Slate’s website. Your support is also crucial to our work. Go to Slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today.

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