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What Next - What It Took for a Red State to Pause Executions Dec 07, 2022

Show notes

Three botched lethal injections in Alabama have once again highlighted the practical complexity and possible illegality of the death penalty. Even states that are adamantly in favor of capital punishment are being stalled on a purely pragmatic level.

Guest: Elizabeth Bruenig, staff writer at The Atlantic

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 - The Last Senate Race Dec 06, 2022

Show notes

Even after a campaign awash in scandals, gaffes, and the occasional speculation on werewolves vs. vampires, Herschel Walker still can’t be counted out in the run-off election to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate. What can the parties take away from the last race of the 2022 midterms?

Guest: Jim Newell, Senior Politics Writer for Slate.

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What Next - Out of Afghanistan Dec 05, 2022

Show notes

The U.S. has welcomed thousands Afghan refugees since pulling out of Afghanistan in 2021. Safe from the Taliban, but without social security numbers,credit ratings, or even sometimes basic English, they have to make a new life relying on a patchwork of volunteers and their wits.

Guests:

Elena MacFarlane, volunteer with the Immigrant and Refugee Outreach Center and assistant Professor in the Johns Hopkins Department of Genetic Medicine.

Lila and Basheer, Afghan refugees living in Maryland.

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What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - Big Tech’s Boogeymen In Washington Dec 04, 2022

Show notes

The Biden administration’s Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission are both staffed with accomplished progressives who are proving more aggressive than their predecessors in either the Trump or Obama eras. But can Big Tech be tamed?

Guest: Leah Nylen, reporter for Bloomberg News

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 - The Tale of Two Bobs Dec 03, 2022

Show notes

This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers talk about the CEO shakeup at Disney, shrinkflation, and Sam Bankman-Fried’s unusual post-scandal media appearances.

In the Plus segment: the controversy over Balenciaga’s new ad campaign.

Podcast production by Anna Phillips.

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Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - The Blockbuster Case You Probably Haven’t Heard About Dec 03, 2022

Show notes

When Christian conservatives lost in Masterpiece Cake Shop back in 2018, they regrouped and picked up the trail of breadcrumbs from Justice Clarence Thomas’ dissent that suggested a freedom of speech approach. Next week, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in 303 Creative v Elenis - another case that takes aim at Colorado’s anti discrimination laws. This time, arguments about whether a website designer has the right to advertise that she will not design websites for same-sex weddings, will be focused on freedom of speech. But as this week’s guest, Hila Keren, argues, excluding people from the marketplace and humiliating them in the process is not a matter of free speech, and it is a matter progressives have been largely silent about. Together, Dahlia Lithwick and Professor Keren dig deep into a case that hasn’t been given the attention its potential wide-ranging consequences demand.

In this week’s Amicus Plus segment, Dahlia is joined by Mark Joseph Stern to talk about another big case - this past week’s arguments in US v Texas, including brazen judge-shopping, nationwide injunction-slapping, and President Biden’s immigration policy. Then Mark explains exactly what is - and isn’t - in the same sex marriage bill that’s making its way to President Biden’s desk.

Want a behind-the-scenes look at how we create the show? Check out Slate's Pocket Collections for research and reading lists, as well as additional insights into how we think about the stories behind the episodes.

Dahlia’s book Lady Justice: Women, the Law and the Battle to Save America, is also available as an audiobook, and Amicus listeners can get a 25% discount by entering the code “AMICUS” at checkout.

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What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - Twitter's Vulnerabilities, Exposed Dec 02, 2022

Show notes

Dating back to the Arab Spring, Twitter’s potential for real-time organizing has been a selling point. But trying to find information on China’s “Zero COVID” protests reveals just how vulnerable the now-understaffed platform is to manipulation.

Guest: Joseph Menn, cybersecurity reporter for the Washington Post.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

Thanks Avast.com! Learn more about Avast One at Avast.com

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Political Gabfest - Is Antisemitism Back? Dec 01, 2022

Show notes

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss Trump hosting prominent antisemites Ye (f/k/a Kanye West) and Nick Fuentes; Chinese protestors challenging their authoritarian government–with Sheena Chestnut Greitens; and Congress legislating to protect marriage equality through the Respect For Marriage Act.

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

Sheena Chestnut Greitens for Foreign Affairs: “Xi Jinping’s Quest for Order”

Sheena Chestnut Greitens and Julian Gewirt for Foreign Affairs: “China's Troubling Vision For The Future Of Public Health”

Here are this week’s chatters:

John: Darby Saxbe and Magdalena Martínez García for The Conversation: “Fatherhood Changes Men’s Brains, According To Before-And-After MRI Scans”

Emily: A compilation of Gabfest listeners favorite salad dressing recipes.

David: City Cast is expanding to new cities; Nicole Eustace for The New York Times: “300 Years Ago, There Was a Brutal Murder. We Could Learn From the Treaty That Followed.”

Listener chatter from Richard Medlicott: The Economist:”Shyam Saran Negi Never Failed In His Democratic Duty”; Alex Binley for the BBC: “Shyam Saran Negi: Man Dubbed 'india's First Voter' Dies Aged 105”

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John discuss the Supreme Court challenge to the Biden administration’s immigration policy in United States v. Texas.

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.

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What Next - China’s Revolt Against “Zero COVID” Dec 01, 2022

Show notes

For nearly three years, people in China have endured their government’s “Zero COVID” policies to prevent cases from overwhelming their hospital system. But after a fire in Urumqi broke out and videos spread of fire rescue having trouble reaching the building, people have taken to the streets in defiance of orders and even gone as far as demanding President Xi Jinping’s resignation.

Guest: Matthew Brazil, co-author of Chinese Communist Espionage: An Intelligence Primer and a fellow at the Jamestown Foundation.

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What Next - It Isn't Time to Negotiate in Ukraine...Yet Nov 30, 2022

Show notes

With no clear path to advance and winter settling in, what would it take for Russia to negotiate an exit from Ukraine?

Guest: Fred Kaplan. Slate’s war stories correspondent

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