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What Next: TBD | This Is Your Brain On Ketamine Mar 30, 2025

Show notes

Ketamine has gone from a recreational psychedelic to an approved treatment, and it has caught on in Silicon Valley in a big way. Are the long-term effects of using ketamine—recreationally or therapeutically—sufficiently known? Are we witnessing them right now?

Guest: Shayla Love, staff writer for the Atlantic.

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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What Next TBD | Trump's War on Scientific Research Mar 21, 2025

Show notes

The National Institutes of Health is the primary engine of biomedical research around the world, which makes the Trump administration's dramatic cuts to its grant program both confusing and potentially incredibly harmful.

Guest: Katherine J. Wu, staff writer for the Atlantic.

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Care & Feeding | What Your Kid’s Skin Really Needs Mar 20, 2025

Show notes

On this episode: Zak, Lucy, and Elizabeth sit down with Dr. Sheilagh Maguinness — a board-certified pediatric dermatologist, an entrepreneur, and a social media star.

This episode is your one-stop shop for all things skin. We’ll talk about sun protection, rashes, acne, and whether our tweens and teens really need all of those Sephora products.

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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How To! | Lose Your ‘Virginity’ at 43 Mar 11, 2025

Show notes

For most of her life, Elizabeth was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which forbids having sex outside of marriage. But she recently left the Mormon faith, and now she’s ready to have sex for the first time—at age 43. On this episode of How To!, Courtney Martin brings on Nicole Hardy, author of Confessions of a Latter-Day Virginto offer Elizabeth advice that’s relevant to anyone who’s ready to tap into their sexuality later in life—but unsure how (or where! or with whom!) to start.

If you liked this episode check out: How To Orgasm, How To Make Sexual Consent Sexy, and How To Be Free of Body Shame

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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What Next TBD | Cracking the Egg Crisis Mar 02, 2025

Show notes

Everyone’s talking about the price of eggs—so why are they so expensive? And when can we expect—if ever—the price to come back down?

Guests:

Dr. Jada Thompson, associate professor at the University of Arkansas

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Care & Feeding (After Dark) | Modeling Healthy Love Feb 13, 2025

Show notes

On this episode: Elizabeth, Lucy and Zak get together for our annual After Dark episode. This year, Lucy’s got a question about showing affection in front of the kids… and figuring out how to demonstrate what a healthy relationship looks like without making it weird.

If you want to catch up on last year’s After Dark episodes, do it: we talked about sex and did couple’s counseling.

And after that discussion, we’ll of course circle up for a round of triumphs and fails.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie, with special thanks to babysitter extraordinaire Rosemary Belson this week.

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How To! | Have the Best Sex of Your Life (Encore) Feb 11, 2025

Show notes

Ever since she started taking a new medication a few years ago, Meme is worried that she’s lost her sex drive. She still has a great relationship with her husband, but she isn’t interested in sex the way that she used to be, and she’s worried it’s hurting her marriage. On this episode of How To!, we bring on sex educator Emily Nagoski, author of Come as You Are, to coach Meme through how to revamp her sex life. For busy couples, you should actually schedule a time on your calendar to be intimate. “Think of like when you were dating…that was date sex,” Emily reminds us. She then breaks down the myths that so many of us have internalized about sex, and shares surprising tips to help anyone—no matter their age or relationship status—have better sex.

If you liked this episode, check out: “How To Save Your Marriage.”

Podcast production by Derek John, Rachael Allen, and Rosemary Belson.

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Death, Sex & Money | After Sobriety, Chasing Goosebumps Instead of Highs Feb 11, 2025

Show notes

When the poet and writer Kaveh Akbar likes something, he really likes it. As a high school student, he got hooked on poetry. In college, it was alcohol. This week, Kaveh talks to Anna Sale about the factors that led to his sobriety, and he explains exactly how he manages a life that’s full of healthy, wonderful obsessions as well as problematic ones.

Kaveh’s critically acclaimed novel Martyr! is now available in paperback. You can read about his temporary fixation on collecting basketball cards in GQ.

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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Dear Prudence | My Husband’s a Slob and I Want Out. Help! Feb 07, 2025

Show notes

Guest Prudie Kristen Meinzer is joined by Peloton instructor, author and podcast host Cody Rigsby. Together, they answer questions from someone who wants to end their marriage over housework, a person struggling to pronounce people’s names correctly, and someone navigating the grief of a homophobic bigot.

Want more Dear Prudence? 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/prudie-plus to get access wherever you listen.

This week’s podcast is produced by Maura Currie, Vic Whitley-Berry, and Daisy Rosario.

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Culture Gabfest: Noah Wyle Lures Us Into The Pitt Feb 05, 2025

Show notes

On this week’s show, the hosts discuss Max’s new medical drama The Pitt – a show that we legally can’t call an ER reboot but does have Noah Wyle donning scrubs and handling the next bodily emergency yet again. Our regular hosts also discuss an article from the Intelligencer, The Cruel Kids’ Table about how young Republicans now feel empowered to bring cruelty back into public discourse. Finally, we welcome LA Film Critic Amy Nicholson to discuss the Oscar-nominated film September 5 about the hostage crisis during the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Also, we’re looking for a new Production Assistant! To apply, send us an email introducing yourself and give two ideas for segments to culturegabfestassistant@gmail.com.

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel tackles the biggest luminary question of the year: Do you use ‘The Big Light’?

Email us at culturefest@slate.com.

Endorsements:

Dana: Just sort of a beautiful moment:Live wolf howls in Manitoba, Canada

Julia: Branded in Memory | Signs.com / Draw Logos From Memory – Test your recall and see if you can recreate popular brand logos

Steve: The Wired Starter Pack on bsky and Subscribe to Wired

Podcast production and research by Vic Whitley-Berry.

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