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What Next - Best of 2021 | When Your Town Burns Down Dec 30, 2021

Show notes

We’re re-running some of our favorite episodes from the past year. This episode originally aired in August 2021.

Last week, the northern California mountain town of Greenville was wiped out by the Dixie Fire, which lasted for two months and is now the second largest wildfire in California history. As Greenville residents assess the damage to their homes and businesses, is it safe to rebuild? Is it even ethical, when wildfires are expected to only get worse?

Guest: Margaret Garcia, also known as Meg Upton, reporter at Plumas News.

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Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Danielle Hewitt, Elena Schwartz, Davis Land, and Carmel Delshad.

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

Political Gabfest - Conundrums 2021 Dec 30, 2021

Show notes

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz wrap up 2021 considering life’s many conundrums—with special guest Dwayne Betts!

Questions this year include: if you could eliminate one word from the English language what would it be? If you could transport the characters of one book into the time and place of another, which would you choose? If you were ONLY able to brush your teeth in the morning or the night- which would be optimal?

Special thanks to everyone who sent in conundrums for consideration.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment David, Emily, John attempt a conundrum lightning round.

You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest. Tweet us your cocktail chatter using #cocktailchatter. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

The email address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com. (Email may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Give the gift of Slate Plus to a fellow Slate fan and they’ll receive all the benefits of membership: unlimited reading, ad-free listening, bonus content, and so much more.

Podcast production by Jocelyn Frank.

Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.

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

What Next - Best of 2021 | Will the NFL Finally Support Gay Players? Dec 29, 2021

Show notes

We’re re-running some of our favorite episodes from the past year. This episode originally aired in June 2021.

The Las Vegas Raiders’ defensive end, Carl Nassib, came out in an Instagram post back in June, making him the first openly gay active player in NFL histroy. The league immediately posted in celebration of Nassib’s announcement. But given the NFL’s sorry history of standing by players on the vanguard, will the league really put its money where its mouth is this time?

Guest: LZ Granderson, LA Times opinion columnist and host of ABC News’ “Life Out Loud with LZ Granderson.”

Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Danielle Hewitt, Elena Schwartz, Davis Land, and Carmel Delshad.

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

What Next - Best of 2021 | How Should We Remember Colin Powell? Dec 28, 2021

Show notes

We’re re-running some of our favorite episodes from the past year. This episode originally aired in October 2021.

Colin Powell, known as a “trailblazer” and “pathbreaker” in his military career, leaves behind a complicated legacy. The four-star general became a household name during the first Gulf War as the first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and later the first Black secretary of state.

Thirty years after his rise to national prominence, Powell’s death has prompted reflections on the Iraq War and his role in using false intelligence to justify the U.S. invasion.

Guest: Fred Kaplan, Slate’s War Stories columnist.

Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Danielle Hewitt, Elena Schwartz, Davis Land, and Carmel Delshad.

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

What Next - Best of 2021 | God Doesn’t Want Me Vaccinated Dec 27, 2021

Show notes

We’re re-running some of our favorite episodes from the past year. This episode originally aired in September 2021.

Who are the people seeking a religious exemption to the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate? What are their religious claims? And how do workplaces decide who has a real claim to belief versus a convenient letter from a pastor-for-hire?

Guest: Ruth Graham, reporter for The New York Times.

Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Danielle Hewitt, Elena Schwartz, Davis Land, and Carmel Delshad.

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

Slate Money - Hire Someone to Rob You Dec 25, 2021

Show notes

This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck and Stacy-Marie Ishmael talk all about retirement with Teresa Ghilarducci, retirement expert and professor at the New School for Social Research. They dig into what’s wrong with the retirement system and who is currently benefiting from its brokenness, how people can get the most out of retirement investments and the role gender plays in retirement planning.

In the Plus segment: Succession’s Logan Roy’s retirement plan.

Email: slatemoney@slate.com

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth

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

What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - Best of 2021: Are We Getting COVID Testing All Wrong? Dec 24, 2021

Show notes

This episode originally aired in September.

In the U.S., the PCR test is the gold standard for COVID testing. Common knowledge would have it that the test is more accurate—and therefore more effective at containing the spread of the disease—than the rapid antigen test.

What if that isn’t quite true?

Guest: Michael Mina, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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What Next - TBD | Best of 2021: Are We Getting COVID Testing All Wrong? Dec 24, 2021

Show notes

This episode originally aired in September.

What if that isn’t quite true?

Guest: Michael Mina, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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

What Next - Best of 2021 | When the Culture War Comes For Your Job Dec 23, 2021

Show notes

We’re re-running some of our favorite episodes from the past year. This episode originally aired in July 2021.

Brittany Hogan worked in diversity and inclusion for the Rockwood School District for eight years. As public debate intensified over the way race is discussed in schools and threats were made against her, Hogan eventually was pushed to resign.

Guest: Brittany Hogan, former director of educational equity and diversity for the Rockwood School District in St. Louis County.

Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Danielle Hewitt, Elena Schwartz, Davis Land, and Carmel Delshad.

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

Political Gabfest - Build Back Never Dec 23, 2021

Show notes

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson and David Plotz discuss the future of the Democratic party's agenda, Omicron's spread across the United States and they're joined by investigative journalist Azmat Khan to talk about the deaths of civilians overseas and the lack of accuracy from the U.S. military.

Give the gift of Plus to a fellow Slate fan and they’ll receive all the benefits of membership: unlimited reading, ad-free listening, bonus content, and so much more.

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

Matthew Yglesias for Slow Boring: “$1.75 Trillion Is Plenty of Money to Write a Good Build Back Better Bill Here Are Some Solid Options”

Simon Bazelon and David Shor for Slow Boring: “A Permanent CTC Expansion With a Sharper Means-Test Would Protect Poor Kids Better And Be More Popular”

Jonathan Chait for New York Magazine: “Biden Should Take Manchin's Deal Right Now”

David Wallace-Wells for New York Magazine: “Gauteng’s Omicron Wave Is Already Peaking. Why?”

Derek Thompson for the Atlantic:”Is Omicron Milder?”

Azmat Khan for The New York Times: “Hidden Pentagon Records Reveal Patterns of Failure in Deadly Airstrikes”

Azmat Khan for The New York Times Magazine: “The Human Toll of America’s Air Wars”

Azmat Khan for The New York Times Magazine: “The Uncounted”

Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad

Here’s this week’s chatter:

Emily: Katie Benner, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Charlie Savage for the New York Times: “Some Inmates Can Stay Confined at Home After Covid Emergency, Justice Dept. Says”

John: The Power of Meaning, by Emily Esfahani Smith, Mozhan Marno, and On the Meaning of Life, by Will Durant

David: Hard Knocks In Season: The Indianapolis Colts

Listener chatter from Mo Trent: stuffin.space

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, John, and David discuss their most and least useful years of formal education. Special thanks to listener Sean McPherson for the suggestion.

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 Jocelyn Frank.

Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.

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