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Political Gabfest - Trump and the Iranians Deserve Each Other Apr 23, 2026

Show notes

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Trump's need for a face-saving exit amid his economically disastrous standoff with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, how Kash Patel's defamation suit against The Atlantic could hurt him more than help him, and a controversial new Yale report on trust in higher education with guest and report committee co-chair Beverly Gage.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the personal and political dimensions of President Trump's new executive order aimed at increasing federal psychedelics research and therapeutic access for mental health treatments.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily Bazelon talks with journalist Mark Oppenheimer about his new book, Judy Blume: A Life. Oppenheimer, who spent years with Blume’s papers at Yale and conducted extensive interviews with the author herself, traces how a restless housewife in New Jersey became one of the most beloved—and most banned—writers in American history.

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

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis

Research by Emily Ditto

You can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here.

Want more Political Gabfest? 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 Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Next - Congress’s Purge Era Apr 23, 2026

Show notes

Representatives Eric Swalwell, Tony Gonzales, and now Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick are out; Virginia is redistricting and Republicans are bracing for a tsunami of a blue wave in the fall midterms. What’s gotten into Congress all of a sudden?

Guest: Jim Newell, Slate’s senior politics writer.

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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Next - Where’s MY Tariff Refund? Apr 22, 2026

Show notes

The government is getting ready to pay $166 billion in tariff refunds to American businesses. But the consumers who had to foot the bill for the higher costs? No such luck.

Guest: Justin Wolfers, economist and professor at the University of Michigan.

Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Next - Taking ICE to Court Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

During the Trump administration’s winter immigration surge, high-level officials assured ICE agents that they could act with impunity. But two different legal cases from Minnesota and Maine are finding ways to challenge the immunity they assumed they had as federal officers.

Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, senior staff writer at Slate covering courts and the law cohost of Amicus.

Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Next - Why International Law Can’t Stop Trump Apr 20, 2026

Show notes

From bombing fishing boats in the Caribbean, to kidnapping Nicolás Maduro, to the Iran War, the Trump administration seems to operate like it has just as much immunity from international law as John Roberts says it has domestically. They’re probably not wrong.

Guest: Philippe Sands, professor of law at University College London,

Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - Iran's Memes Are Winning Apr 19, 2026

Show notes

This very online administration is facing push back from Iran in their own home territory: the world of insipid memes, A.I. videos, and online mockery.

Guest: Ali Breland, 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.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Trump Thwarted, Orban Toppled: The New Roadmap for Democrats Apr 18, 2026

Show notes

Hungary’s autocratic creep was turned back at the ballot box last weekend, in a stark rebuke to the forces of illiberalism and to the American conservatives who invested so heavily in former Hungarian leader Viktor Orban’s mission. It’s good news. But it’s not the end of the story. It behoves pro-democracy forces in the United States to move past the example of democratic resilience in Hungary to real, systemic change to the machinery of American democracy. On this week’s Amicus podcast, Norm Eisen, former ambassador and current democracy warrior (as founder of www.democracydefendersfund.org), tells Dahlia Lithwick that America’s response to Trumpism starts with protecting the rule of law, safeguarding elections, and strangling corruption—the three pillars of a genuine democratic recovery. The key isn’t just fixing courts or passing reforms—it's about building a democratic coalition based on simple, clear issues. As Democrats dare to dream of what may be possible in a post-Trump America, it’s time to start making concrete, workable plans. This week’s show highlights the roadmap out of autocracy, through coalitions, court reform, and corruption-busting.

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.

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Slate Money - Allbirds Aren’t Real Apr 18, 2026

Show notes

This week: Sneaker company Allbirds announced a pivot into A.I. infrastructure. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck explain why this absurd-sounding venture is actually a pretty clever piece of financial engineering. Then, the hosts get into the market surge that put the S&P 500 at a record high. And finally, the courts confirmed what we all knew: Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster are screwing everyone over. The hosts discuss what led to the federal jury ruling that the concert behemoth was acting as a monopoly.

In the Slate Plus episode: The con behind SantaCon.

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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Political Gabfest - Gabfest Reads | The Unlikely Rise of Judy Blume Apr 18, 2026

Show notes

Emily Bazelon talks with journalist Mark Oppenheimer about his new book

Judy Blume: A Life. Oppenheimer, who spent years with Blume’s papers at

Yale and conducted extensive interviews with the author herself, traces

how a restless housewife in New Jersey became one of the most

beloved—and most banned—writers in American history.

They discuss what made Blume’s frank, funny voice so revolutionary for

young readers in the 1970s, the surprisingly progressive household that

shaped her, and the genius of Forever, her landmark novel in which

teenage sex is depicted as pleasurable rather than catastrophic. They

also dig into the scandalous adult novel Wifey, Blume’s dogged

persistence through rejection, and her tireless championing of other

writers’ right to be read.

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 Nina Porzucki.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - Everyone Is Lying to You For Money Apr 17, 2026

Show notes

Back in the depths of the pandemic, what was an actor to do? Ben McKenzie started looking into cryptocurrency—and his research yielded both a book and a new documentary. The works are both non-fiction, which is more than McKenzie can say for crypto.

Guest: Ben McKenzie, actor, director of the documentary Everyone Is Lying to You for Money, and co-author of Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.