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Shailene Woodley and Aaron Rodgers might not be the most expected pairing, until you look at their willingness to embrace conspiracy nonsense. On the show today, Rachelle and Madison and joined by Vulture’s Rachel Handler to discuss her recent piece, “What Do Aaron Rodgers and Shailene Woodley ‘Agree to Disagree’ About?” They talk about the history of weird beliefs these two celebrities have, how it’s no longer fun to believe in conspiracy theories, and why these two should just log off.Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Culture Gabfest is coming to you live from The Strand Bookstore in NYC for a special event! In this live taping, Steve interviews Dana about her new book (Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century) and Isaac Butler about his new book (The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act).In Slate Plus, Dana and Isaac answer some questions from the audience.Email us at culturefest@slate.com.Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Production assistance by Nadira Goffe. Thanks to Jason Stack for this great photo!Outro music is "Spinning the Wheels" by Dusty Decks.Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts, a bonus segment in each episode of the Culture Gabfest, full access to Slate's journalism on Slate.com, and more. Sign up now at slate.com/cultureplus. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Ottawa truckers protest is neither exclusive to Ottawa nor strictly composed of truckers. And its supporters are hoping to head to a city near you. Guest: Jesse Brown, editor-in-chief of Canadaland.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. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Roe v. Wade on the chopping block, abortion access is under fire in states around the country. At Planned Parenthood’s Knoxville location, the clinic faced that literally when an arson attack burned the building to the ground. How will providers rebuild when the things they stand for are so threatened?Guest: Tory Mills, director of community engagement for Planned Parenthood’s Knoxville Health Center.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. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel Anderson, Stefan Fatsis, and Josh Levin are joined by the New York Times’ John Branch to discuss Chinese-American skier Eileen Gu. They also talk about Brian Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL and ponder the 76ers’ Ben Simmons problem and the Nets’ various conundrums. Eileen Gu (6:02): What to make of her decision to represent China at the Beijing Games. Flores (23:40): Can anything change the NFL’s hiring practices? NBA (43:15): Should we sympathize with Ben Simmons? Can the Nets turn it around? Afterball (1:04:42): Joel on Jim Brown, Syracuse basketball player. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Until last month, Brian Flores was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, and one of only three Black head coaches among the NFL’s 32 teams. That number has since dropped to one. On Tuesday, Flores announced he was suing the NFL, alleging that the league's hiring practices are racist. His suit comes almost 20 years after the creation of the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview ethnic-minority candidates for senior positions, and eight years after Colin Kaepernick was black-balled from the sport for kneeling during the national anthem—begging the question of how much has really changed in that time. Guest: LZ Granderson, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of ABC News’ “Life Out Loud with LZ Granderson.”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. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to he

Banks, healthcare providers, and retailers around the world still rely on COBOL, a programming language originally developed in the 1960s. By all accounts the code is powerful, practical, and very rarely problematic. But the small group of people who still know the language are aging out of the workforce. What happens when there are no more COBOL coders left?Guest: Clive Thompson, journalist and author of "Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World."Host: Lizzie O’Leary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last month, a Tennessee school board voted to ban Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel about the Holocaust, Maus, from their eighth grade curriculum. This caused Maus to experience the "Streisand effect." On the show today, Rachelle and Madison explain the origins of the Streisand effect as an online phenomenon, how it helped Maus’ recent sales skyrocket, and why this short-term publicity isn’t really the solution to bans like these.Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Derek John. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Felix Salmon and Emily Peck are joined by management consultant and sports fan Robin Timothy of to talk about Facebook’s sudden loss of users and revenue, why the Olympics are both problematic and boring, and the Brian Flores NFL lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in coach hiring. In the Plus segment: A big gold cube.Mentioned In the show: “Brian Flores’ NFL Lawsuit: Can He Prove Systemic Racism? What We Know About Claims of ‘Sham Interviews’ and Incentivizing Tanking, Plus What’s Next” by Kevin Seifert“An Artist Placed a Cube Made From $11.7 Million Worth of Gold in Central Park – Protected By Its Own Security Detail” by Dorian Batycka Email: slatemoney@slate.comPodcast production by Cheyna Roth Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For Spotify, the last month has seen a cascade of controversies around its exclusive podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. Is it time for the streaming service to rethink its role as a podcast publisher? And is it even possible to moderate podcast misinformation?Guest: Evelyn Douek, lecturer at Harvard Law School, and Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & SocietyHost: Lizzie O’Leary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emily, John and David discuss Donald Trump’s attempts to seize voting machines, the racist attacks on the yet-to-be-named SCOTUS nominee, and they are joined by Joseph Allen, director of the Healthy Buildings program at Harvard University's T. H. Chan School of Public Health, to discuss ways we might update U.S. COVID norms.Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:Joseph G. Allen for The Washington Post: “Our Playbook to Fight Covid-19 Is Outdated. Here Are 10 Updates for 2022.”Joseph G. Allen and Celine R. Gounder for The Hill: “We Have a Once-in-a-Generation Opportunity to Fix Our Crumbling Schools”Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity, by Joseph G. Allen and John D. MacomberAdam Serwer for The Atlantic: “Republicans Seem to Think Putting a Black Woman on the Supreme Court Is the Real Racism”Meltdown: What Plane Crashes, Oil Spills, and Dumb Business Decisions Can Teach Us About How to Succeed at Work and at Home, by Chris Clearfield and András Tilcsik Here’

On this week’s episode: Elizabeth, Zak, and Aymann aren’t shying away from the difficult conversations. First, they answer a listener question about how to handle death with a toddler. Should you take a toddler to their grandparent’s funeral? Should you explain death? Should you let them see you cry? Then, Zak is talking with comedian Chris Gethard about his new essay Dad on Pills, available on Scribd. They get candid about parenting, mental health, and a rather upsetting joke. On Slate Plus, Elizabeth is panicking about school valentines. Are you too? Luckily, Zak and Aymann give us a reality check. Recommendations:Zak recommends finding bridge songs to sneakily swap out kid music.Aymann recommends Halal Hot Dogs by Susannah Aziz and A Moon for Moe and Mo by Jane Breskin Zalben. Elizabeth recommends Don’t Forget to Write.If you, or anyone you know, are in crisis, having thoughts of suicide, or need help immediately, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, anytime, at 1-800-273-8255, or you

A popular, outgoing liberal mayor in Silicon Valley is taking on gun rights groups with a splashy municipal ordinance fashioned to curb gun violence—and be the first of its kind. Gun rights groups are foretelling doom for the new law, and the NRA called it a “ridiculous publicity stunt.” Does this city’s initiative have the hallmarks of a breakthrough on gun violence prevention? Will lawsuits tank it before anyone has the chance to find out?Guest: Sam Liccardo, mayor of San Jose, California.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. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rihanna is having a baby, and Romance Twitter is furious. On today’s show, High Speed Downloads are back! Madison and Rachelle will zoom through all the important news about Rihanna’s baby bump reveal and Romance Twitter’s toxic reaction to an innocuous tweet. Then, they explain exactly what’s going on with podcast host Joe Rogan over at Spotify, and why it’s so difficult for platforms to part ways with their big personalities.Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Derek John. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, the panel is first joined by author and co-host of Slate’s Working podcast, Isaac Butler, to discuss the new Joel Coen rendition of The Tragedy of Macbeth. (Buy Isaac’s new book!) Then, the panel is joined by author and Slate correspondent, Justin Peters, to explain the phenomena of Joe Rogan and the recent Spotify controversy. Finally, the panel discusses the decision to rebrand the famous advertising characters of the Mars candy M&M’s.In Slate Plus, the panel answers listener questions about culture’s relationship to climate change.Email us at culturefest@slate.com.EndorsementsDana: An episode of the public radio show On the Media from WNYC called “Humans, Being.”Julia: The endorsement: the Chez Panisse Vegetables cookbook from Alice Waters, owner of the famous California restaurant Chez Panisse. And a request for listeners to send in their favorite salad dressing recipes.Steve: The song “Sweet Baby” by Prince and The New Power Generation.Buy Dana’s book, Isaac’s book, and a ticket to Dana an

Cobalt is the most important mineral of the future. It’s a key part of lithium-ion batteries, which power cell phones and laptops, not to mention electric cars. That demand is giving rise to a mining industry in Idaho, which sits atop a giant cobalt deposit. But the environmental costs of extraction raise questions about what “clean energy” really means.Guest: Michael Holtz, freelance journalist and author of “Idaho Is Sitting on One of the Most Important Elements on Earth.”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. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The expanded Child Tax Credit slashed childhood poverty in the U.S. by an estimated 30%. Why won’t congress revive it?Guest: Jordan Weissmann, writer and editor at Slate focused on economics, politics, and public policy.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. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and special guest Louisa Thomas of the New Yorker discuss the NFL’s conference championship games and Tom Brady’s (probable) retirement. Then, they talk about Rafael Nadal’s record-setting Australian Open victory. Finally, Grant Wahl joins Josh and Stefan to assess the U.S. men’s national soccer team’s frigid loss to Canada.NFL (2:32): How did the Chiefs blow it? Is Joe Burrow as charismatic as he thinks he is?  Tennis (26:32): How Nadal staged the best comeback of his career.U.S. men’s soccer (45:49): Why can’t the U.S. score? Could they miss the World Cup?Afterball (1:06:49): Josh and Stefan celebrate the winner of Hang Up’s goofy sports idea contest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

No one is happy with the way this year’s Winter Olympics are unfolding. Athletes are frustrated with China’s excessive pandemic precautions. Diplomatic tensions are rising. Are the second COVID games on thin ice? Guest: Henry Bushnell, features writer for Yahoo Sports.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. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the past few weeks, Britney Spears has been posting all sorts of Notes App screenshots about how hurt she is by what her sister is saying on her press tour while promoting her new book Things I Should Have Said, by Jamie Lynn Spears. On the show today, Madison and Rachelle read the tweets, and the whole book, so you don’t have to. They talk about the origins of this fight, what’s caused it to resurface, and why a lot of this really has to do with their childhoods.Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Derek John. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.