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Slate Money - Which Coke's For You? Jul 19, 2025

Show notes

This week: A judge has blocked a Biden era rule that would prevent medical debt from affecting credit scores. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck discuss the logic behind the proposed rule and the economic consequences of this decision. Then, the French Prime Minister has proposed eliminating two national holidays as a way of reducing the national debt. The hosts discuss the likely efficacy of the plan, as well as Trump’s similar suggestion about axing Juneteenth. Finally, Trump made a post implying that Coca-Cola has agreed to use sugar cane instead of high fructose corn syrup in their US products– a claim which the company seems to dispute. What would such a change mean for the corn and sugar industries? And more importantly, which version of Coke actually tastes better?

In the Slate Plus episode: The Protein Obsession is Helping Cheese Farmers

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.

Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - How To Build A Police State (With The Supreme Court’s Blessing) Jul 19, 2025

Show notes

Over the last six months, life has been upended for millions of people in America as Stephen Miller's extreme immigration policies have been unleashed. And while the first weeks of the second Trump administration saw some genuine pushback from the Supreme Court, six months in, that feint at checking and balancing has fallen away. On this week's Amicus podcast, Dahlia Lithwick welcomes Aaron Reichlin Melnick, Senior Fellow at the American Immigration Council. Reichlin Melnick last appeared on the show in the days after Trump's inauguration and the initial barrage of lawless Executive Orders targeting the immigration system and the millions caught in it. Half a year into Trump 2.0, and Stephen Miller's no-holds-barred anti-immigrant plan for America, what's stuck? What's accelerated? And in light of the new budget, what's next?

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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What Next - Bonus: A Muslim, a Dad, an American Jul 18, 2025

Show notes

In this political moment where hostility towards immigrants and outsiders is openly espoused, one of our own colleagues has released a book about growing up as a Muslim-American in the post-9/11 era—and raising his own kids now.

Guest: Aymann Ismail, Slate staff writer and author of “Becoming Baba: Fatherhood, Faith, and Finding Meaning in America.”

This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

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

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

What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - How The Epstein Files Blew Up MAGAworld Jul 18, 2025

Show notes

The MAGA world has been waiting for Jeffrey Epstein’s client list to be released since the first Trump administration. But with those like Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, who stoked interest in the list literally in power, the administration is now saying that no such list exists. For some MAGA fans, this is finally a bridge too far.

Guest: Anna Merlan, senior reporter at Mother Jones.

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.

Political Gabfest - MAGA’s Epstein Obsession Jul 17, 2025

Show notes

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the epic MAGA meltdown over the DOJ’s “there’s nothing to see here” Epstein files memo, how the Supreme Court is using the “shadow docket” to bolster Trump’s efforts to dismantle the federal government, and whether rescission will kill NPR and PBS.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss what they are enjoying reading, watching, and cooking so far this summer.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, David talks with author Alison Bechdel about her new book, Spent.

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

Research by Emily Ditto

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.

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What Next - Can Trump Bully Russia? Jul 17, 2025

Show notes

For years, Donald Trump was often the only Western leader with anything nice to say about Vladimir Putin.But with Russia and Ukraine still fighting six months into his term, their friendship is on the rocks. Are we seeing a temporary spat – or a real policy shift?

Guest: Michael McFaul, U.S. ambassador to Russia 2012-2014, author of the upcoming book “Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder.”

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 Ethan Oberman, Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

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

What Next - Deported—To a Country You've Never Been To Jul 16, 2025

Show notes

His client, Nyo Myint, is a refugee from Myanmar who was deported by the Trump administration—first to Djibouti, then to South Sudan—along with seven other men. His lawyer is now reaching out to the United Nations to intervene.

Guest: Jonathan Ryan, San Antonio-based immigration attorney and author of the Firewall Substack.

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

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

What Next - Behind the Democrats’ Losing Strategy Jul 15, 2025

Show notes

Why the Democrats’ electoral strategy of “hire consultants to tell you which positions poll well enough to take” has run its course—and where they should look to start rebuilding.

Guest: Ben Mathis-Lilley, Slate senior writer and author of “How Strategist Brain Took Over the Democratic Party”.

Cited in this episode:

The Hollow Parties: The Many Pasts and Disordered Present of American Party Politics (Daniel Schlozman and Sam Rosenfeld)

Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (Robert D. Putnam)

The Unaccountability Machine: Why Big Systems Make Terrible Decisions—And How the World Lost Its Mind(Dan Davies)

Cited in this episode:

The Hollow Parties: The Many Pasts and Disordered Present of American Party Politics (Daniel Schlozman and Sam Rosenfeld)

Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (Robert D. Putnam)

The Unaccountability Machine: Why Big Systems Make Terrible Decisions—And How the World Lost Its Mind(Dan Davies)

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

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

What Next - Who Is Trump Promoting For Life? Jul 14, 2025

Show notes

This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares to vote on Emil Bove, who has been promoted from Trump’s personal lawyer to his current nominee for a lifelong appointment to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. In any other administration, Bove would be a real outlier. But here? He’s par for a very strange course.

Guest: Jay Willis, editor-in-chief of Balls and Strikes.

Podcast production by Ethan Oberman, 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 - When A.I. is Sycophantic Jul 13, 2025

Show notes

He started using ChatGPT to help with spreadsheets. But their relationship took a turn, and before long it was telling him he could leap off a 19-story building and fly.

Guest: Kashmir Hill, features writer at the New York Times.

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

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