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What Next - Does Steven Spielberg Have an Oscars Curse? Mar 09, 2023

Show notes

For all of his success, Steven Spielberg has a spotty record at the Oscars. He’s been nominated 22 times, but he’s only won three. Is it a curse?

This Sunday could mark a shift for the King of Hollywood’s five decades in the industry. And with The Fabelmans this year, it’s personal.

Guest: Michael Schulman, New Yorker staff writer and the author of Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Amicus—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.

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What Next - Why Child Labor is an Immigration Issue Mar 08, 2023

Show notes

The New York Times published an exposé on immigrant children illegally employed to do dangerous jobs across the country. To one U.S. representative, it’s not just a labor issue; it’s symptomatic of the larger problems in the immigration system. Fixing it, then, will require once again taking up the fight to overhaul immigration.

Guest: Rep. Hillary Scholten, U.S. representative from Michigan’s 3rd congressional district.

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What Next - Food Stamps Face Their Biggest-Ever Cut Mar 07, 2023

Show notes

The federal government ended the COVID-19 increase to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program this month. What does this mean for people who depend on SNAP to put food on the table?

Guests: Helena Bottemiller Evich, reporter and founder of Food Fix, a publication on food policy.

Jennifer Barnes, founder of Solidarity Sandy Springs in Georgia.

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What Next - The Fight To Return Native Remains to Their Tribes Mar 06, 2023

Show notes

The “Native American Graves and Repatriation Act” passed more than 30 years ago, with the goal of returning human remains, which were taken from native burial sites, back to their tribes. But museums and universities still hold the remains of thousands of people—UC Berkeley alone has nearly 10,000.

Guest: Mary Hudetz, Propublica reporter focusing on tribal issues throughout the Southwest.

Make an impact this Women’s History Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to fund girls in STEM. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more.

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What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - The Hollywood Weight Loss Wonder Drug Mar 05, 2023

Show notes

The diabetes medication Ozempic has exploded in popularity, particularly amongst those in Hollywood looking to lose a few extra pounds. But a silver bullet for weight loss leads to a number of questions: Is “buying weight loss” via injection somehow worse than diet and exercise? Are so many people buying and using this drug that people who need it for its intended purpose are missing out? What happened to body positivity?

Guest: Matthew Schneier, feature writer for New York Magazine.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.

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Slate Money - Microchips and Child Care Mar 04, 2023

Show notes

This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss a stipulation in the CHIPS Act that requires companies who take federal funding from the CHIPS Act to provide child care options for their employees. They also discuss the political controversy over ESG investing, and the confusion over a new partnership that will allow Amazon employees to pay for their mortgage with Amazon stock.

In the Plus segment: restaurant ordering etiquette.

Podcast production by Anna Phillips.

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What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - What Would Convince a Lab Leak Skeptic? Mar 03, 2023

Show notes

It was reported this week that the U.S. Department of Energy now believes, “with low confidence,” that the COVID-19 virus came from a lab. But is there enough evidence for the “lab leak theory” to convince those who believe the virus emerged from animals in a wet market?

Guest: Angela Rasmussen, virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Political Gabfest - So It Was A Lab Leak? Mar 02, 2023

Show notes

This week, David Plotz, John Dickerson, and Emily Bazelon discuss the Supreme Court challenge to loan forgiveness; lab leak v. wet market Covid politics; and the future of humanities education–with John Plotz.

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

Nathan Heller for The New Yorker: “The End of The English Major”

Recall This Bookpodcast with John Plotz

Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea, by John Plotz

“The Eden of the Author of Sleep,” by Brian Teare

Sarah Fullerton for UC Berkeley: “Defying Negative Stereotypes, Humanities Majors Are Booming At UC Berkeley”

Culture: The Story of Us, From Cave Art to K-Pop, by Martin Puchner

The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; and The Amber Spyglass, by Philip Pullman

Here are this week’s chatters:

John: Drew Harwell for The Washington Post: “Tech’s Hottest New Job: AI Whisperer. No Coding Required.”

Emily: Michelle Goldberg for The New York Times: “Don’t Let Politics Cloud Your View of What’s Going On With Teens and Depression”; Matthew Yglesias for Slow Boring: “Why Are Young Liberals So Depressed?”; Ross Douthat for The New York Times: “American Teens Are Really Miserable. Why?”

David: Ben Taub for The New Yorker: “How the Biggest Fraud in German History Unravelled”

Listener chatter from Arthur Baraf: The National High School Ethics Bowl

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment David, John, and Emily discuss the Bidens ordering the same entree at a restaurant.

Tweet us your questions and chatters @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

Research by Bridgette Dunlap.

Make an impact this Women’s History Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to fund girls in STEM. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more.

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What Next - Will SCOTUS Kill Student Loan Relief? Mar 02, 2023

Show notes

President Biden’s student loan debt relief plan goes before the Supreme Court this week. Though the court’s conservative majority seems opposed to the program, debt-relief detractors are struggling to answer a major question: who does this program harm?

Guests:

Mark Joseph Stern, Slate senior writer covering the courts

Alice Turner, hospital pharmacist and compounder

Make an impact this Women’s History Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to fund girls in STEM. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more.

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What Next - Why Insulin Prices Keep Rising Mar 01, 2023

Show notes

It’s a rare bi-partisan point of agreement: the price of insulin is too high—and it’s still rising. With the stakes literally life-or-death for millions of Americans, what can be done?

Guest: Bram Sable-Smith, Midwest correspondent for Kaiser Health News.

Make an impact this Women’s History Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to fund girls in STEM. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more.

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