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What Next - Why Adoption Isn’t Enough Jul 28, 2022

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Adoption is often invoked as an alternative to abortion. But looking back at how adoption worked before Roe v. Wade—and looking at how it works now—the option is cold comfort for many people facing unintended pregnancies.

Guest: Ann Fessler, author of The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade.

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What Next - The Fight to Defend Gay Marriage Jul 27, 2022

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The “Respect for Marriage Act” protects same-sex marriages nationwide and already has bipartisan support. If put to a vote in the Senate, it seems likely to pass. So why aren’t Democrats making it a priority?

Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, senior writer at Slate.

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What Next - The Worst Drought in 1,200 Years Jul 26, 2022

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The American southwest is in a megadrought. Water levels in lakes are dropping, threatening the local environment as well as agriculture, hydroelectric power, and the people living there. As global temperatures rise, it could be a preview of worse things to come.

Guest: Dr. Jason Smerdon, ocean and climate physicist, and Lamont research professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and co-director at the Earth Institute Faculty.

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What Next - The Price Liz Cheney Will Pay Jul 25, 2022

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Liz Cheney rose through Republican leadership based on her conservative bona fides, but thanks to her prominent role in the Jan 6th committee, she’s gained donors and admirers from across the aisle. Her constituents back in Wyoming aren’t so enthusiastic though, throwing her future in Congress into doubt.

Guest: Bob Beck, news director of Wyoming Public Radio.

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What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - Smart City: Dumb Idea? Jul 24, 2022

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Toronto’s Quayside project is a telling example of how smart cities have failed. Could it also show how to make them better?

Guest: Ben Green, Jennifer Keesmaat

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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Political Gabfest - Gabfest Reads: Revolution Through Teenage Eyes Jul 24, 2022

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Emily Bazelon talks with author Vanessa Hua about her new historical fiction book, Forbidden City. The novel tells the story of sixteen-year-old revolutionary Mei who becomes a dancer in Chairman Mao’s inner circle. Emily and Vanessa talk about Vanessa’s inspiration for the novel, the complicated dynamics between Mei and Chairman Mao, and whether we’ll hear more from Mei.

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

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth

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Slate Money - There Shouldn’t Be So Many Yachts Jul 23, 2022

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This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss Amazon’s acquisition of One Medical, the complications of start-ups offering loans to employees against their stock options, and Evan Osnos’ New Yorker article on the rise of the superyacht.

In the Plus segment: Why are Facebook and Instagram so bad now?

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

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What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - Europe Is Burning Jul 22, 2022

Show notes

The continent's deadly heat wave is only the tip of the melting iceberg.

Guest: Henry Grabar

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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Political Gabfest - Hot, Hotter, Hottest Jul 21, 2022

Show notes

This week, David Plotz, John Dickerson, and Josie Duffy Rice discuss Europe’s deadly heat wave, Joe Manchin’s balk at climate legislation, and the inevitable tragedies already happening post-Roe.

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

Lindsay Whitehurst, Camille Fassett, and Jasen Lo for the Associated Press: “Social Programs Weak in Many States With Tough Abortion Laws”

The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson

The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness, by Meghan O'Rourke

Forbidden City, by Vanessa Hua

Homesick and Happy: How Time Away from Parents Can Help a Child Grow, by Michael Thompson

John Dickerson for Slate: “My Daughter Went Away to Camp and Changed”

Here are this week’s chatters:

John: Carol D. Leonnig and Maria Sacchetti for The Washington Post: “Secret Service Watchdog Knew in February That Texts Had Been Purged”

Josie: Zak Cheney-Rice for New York Magazine: “Larry Wilmore Knows No Bounds”;

David: Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps; Elias Esquivel for World Athletics: “Patterson Takes Surprise High Jump Gold In Oregon”

Listener chatter from Mark Wegener: Gamaliel Bradford for the January 1930 issue of The Atlantic: “The Genius of the Average: Calvin Coolidge”

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 - Three Theories on Joe Manchin Jul 21, 2022

Show notes

Is there any climate-saving legislation that could win the vote of U.S. Senator Joe Manchin?

Guest: Jim Newell, senior politics writer at Slate.

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