Slate Daily Feed

Latest Episodes:

Care & Feeding | The Secret to Becoming the Hangout House Aug 25, 2025

Show notes

On this episode: Elizabeth shares stories from her big moving trip, Zak talks through the chaos of his own move, and Lucy navigates some surprising crush talk with her teen. Then, a listener asks how to make their home the go-to hangout spot for kids and friends. The hosts get real about why it’s less about beanbags and ping pong tables, and more about food, trust, and creating the right vibe.

Listen to Opportunity Gap wherever you get your podcasts: ⁠https://lnk.to/opportunitygapPS!careandfeeding⁠

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

What Next: TBD | Trump Vs. Cancer Research Aug 24, 2025

Show notes

President Trump has proposed cutting $2.5 billion from the National Cancer Institute, which in addition to cuts to the National Institutes of Health and research universities almost makes you wonder: whose side is he on in the fight against cancer?

Guest: Angus Chen, cancer reporter for STAT news

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.

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

Slate Money | ATM Scam Summer School Aug 23, 2025

Show notes

This week: We got more details on the ATM scam that swept New York City thanks to a teen summer job program and an infinite money glitch last month. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck discuss the mechanics of the scam, the fallout for the many parties involved, and the tragic irony that a program meant to teach teen financial literacy led them straight into a harsh real world lesson. Then, Yieldstreet is part of a growing trend of startups that want to democratize private investing but it’s not proving to be a great bet. The hosts discuss the economy of private investment and ask whether or not it's a good idea to make it more public. And finally, the Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece from a 22-year-old about how you should sacrifice your youth to get rich. What’s the real value in trying to become a “thought leader” with pieces like this?

In the Slate Plus episode:

Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth.

Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at ⁠www.monarchmoney.com/SLATE⁠

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

ICYMI | ChatGPT Has Ruined the Em Dash Aug 23, 2025

Show notes

Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay get into the war between em dashes and artificial intelligence. Back in 2024, what started as a developer question became an all-out grammar war, with the use of em dashes becoming a possible indicator that something was written using ChatGPT. In the past week alone, several writers have published their defenses of the em dash and how we shouldn’t let ChatGPT ruin our favorite keyboard shortcut. However, the em dash may be a symptom of a bigger issue: have our AI detection skills gotten worse? Or, are we all doomed to be tricked by a hyphen or two?

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

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

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

Amicus | Punished For Their Pregnancies Aug 23, 2025

Show notes

Women were prosecuted for experiencing miscarriage or stillbirth even before the Supreme Courtswept away the protections of Roe v. Wade. But these prosecutions have ramped up since, in both red and blue states. The stakes are ramping up too, with legislators introducing bills that would treat abortion as homicide, potentially subjecting patients to the death penalty. This week, Mark Joseph Stern talks with Karen Thompson, the legal director of Pregnancy Justice. They discuss what happens when the state decides a fetus, or even an embryo, has equal or greater rights than pregnant people. As fetal personhood legislation moves ahead in more and more red states, this concept is also seeping into the law in blue states. Women have been jailed because their pregnancies ended in a way the state disliked. Grandmothers have been prosecuted decades after pregnancy loss thanks to investigators using forensic genetic genealogy to hunt them down. As Thompson explains, a frightening frontier in the battle for bodily autonomy and reproductive rights is here, and it demands our attention.

Want more Amicus? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Amicus show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/amicusplus to get access wherever you listen.

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

What Next: TBD | The CDC Under Fire Aug 22, 2025

Show notes

Two weeks ago, a gunman fired over 500 bullets at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention building in Atlanta. Between the anti-public health rhetoric coming from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the top, personnel cuts and firings, and now a literal shooting, many employees are reaching their breaking point.

Guest: Lauren Weber, health science accountability reporter for the Washington Post.

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

Political Gabfest | Is This Martial Law? Aug 21, 2025

Show notes

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Trump’s deepening takeover of Washington D.C. as National Guard troops from red states arrive, what if anything was accomplished in the whirlwind of Putin-Trump-Zelensky diplomacy, and this week’s launch of the new liberal publication The Argument with its Editor-in-Chief Jerusalem Demsas.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss escalations of the retribution campaigns against Trump’s rivals, spearheaded by Department of Justice officials Pam Bondi and Ed Martin.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily talks with Jonathan Mahler about his new book, The Gods of New York. They discuss the unraveling of Mayor Ed Koch’s New York City; how the city’s current mayoral race is mirroring the past; and more.

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

Research by Emily Ditto

You can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here.

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

What Next | D.C’s Senator Knew This Would Happen Aug 21, 2025

Show notes

Donald Trump was able to take over the Metropolitan Police Department and send in National Guard troops and federal agents to patrol the streets due to Washington D.C.’s strange, not-a-state status. One of the district’s (non-voting) Congressional representatives believes D.C. statehood could come in the backlash.

Guest: Ankit Jain, U.S. Senator for Washington, D.C. since 2024.

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.

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

Care & Feeding | When Your Kid Hates Mornings Aug 21, 2025

Show notes

This week on Care and Feeding, Zak, Lucy, and Elizabeth tackle a letter from a parent whose mornings are a nonstop battleground. What do you do when your kid just isn’t a morning person, and every transition out the door spirals into crankiness and chaos? The hosts share strategies for smoother starts to the day, and in triumphs and fails: a birthday party pulled off without a hitch, the joys (and wobbles) of re-learning to ride a bike, and back-to-school prep that actually went right.

Join us on Facebook and email us at careandfeedingpod@slate.com to ask questions, share feedback, and suggest future topics. 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 extra weekly grab-bag of content on the Plus Playground, an ad-free experience across the network, and support the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus — or try it out on Apple Podcasts.

Listen to Opportunity Gap wherever you get your podcasts: ⁠https://lnk.to/opportunitygapPS!careandfeeding⁠

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

What Next | Can Trump Kill Mail-In Ballots? Aug 20, 2025

Show notes

Donald Trump returned from his meeting with Vladimir Putin convinced that mail-in voting is how he was cheated from winning the 2020 election. Though he’s come to this conclusion without evidence, how much damage can he do to American democracy?

Guest: Rick Hasen, UCLA School of Law, Director, Safeguarding Democracy Project, Election Law blog

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

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected