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The Supreme Court is hearing two cases this month regarding religion in public schools that seem to contradict each other—a public school in Maryland where parents claim books with LGBTQ characters or themes are indoctrination, and a Catholic charter school in Oklahoma arguing it has the right to state funding. Can the court’s religion-friendly majority give them both what they want without falling afoul of the First Amendment? Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, senior writer for Slate. Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your  other 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, Isabel Angell, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode: Zak, Elizabeth and Lucy take a question about how to handle birthday money. This parent’s son wants to buy some stuff in a video game, and while it feels like a waste… it IS also his money. So we’ll talk about whether this parent really needs to intervene.  And then, we’ll circle up for a round of checkins… and on Slate Plus, we’ll vent about the end-of-the-school-year frenzy. If you’re not part of the Slate Plus community, we hope you’ll consider joining! Keep reading to learn how. Zak’s check-in: snark! Elizabeth’s check-in: we kept it together! Lucy’s check-in: calm (on the surface)! Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole a

The Trump administration has already begun cutting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which includes the U.S. National Weather Service. What’s the advantage to understanding the weather less? Guest: Daniel Swain, weather and climate scientist with the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week: Trump has reversed his stance on Jay Powell and his extreme tariffs on China. Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss Trump’s backtrack on his threat to fire the Fed chair as well as his recent concession that his 145% tariffs on China aren’t sustainable. Then, the hosts weigh in on the growing trend of film and television productions moving out of California in search of budget breaks, as reported by The New York Times. And finally, the ice bucket challenge is back. The hosts debate the efficacy of viral awareness campaigns.  In the Slate Plus episode: Junk fees have been vanquished! 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 Cheyna Roth. Learn mo

J.D. Vance killed the Pope. Demi Lovato keeps their twin Poot locked in the basement. Lea Michele still can’t read. These things, unfortunately, aren’t true, and are instead just some of the inside jokes the internet has decided to collectively agree on over the years. In this episode, Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay break these internet lies down, and ask: Why do we make these jokes, and what happens when an inside joke breaks containment?  This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we approach President Trump’s 100th day in office (this time around) this Wednesday, Dahlia Lithwick checks in with one of the key architects of the litigation strategy that is successfully confounding the administration’s most exorbitant executive overreach. After almost 140 executive orders and scores of associated lawsuits, it’s hard to keep track of the state of play. But Skye Perryman of Democracy Forward is on hand to help us think through the main strands of anti-authoritarian litigation, and to explore how some recent wins in court against Trump 2.0 are upending the administration’s attempt to style itself as an all-powerful unitary authority. Next, Slate senior writer Mark Joseph Stern joins to discuss the Supreme Court's recent actions, including a significant order halting deportations to El Salvador, reflecting a growing judicial resistance to the administration's overreach and a confusing claim that Presidents work for . . . their lawyers? Want more Amicus? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly

In this episode, Jenée is joined by Willa Paskin, the host of Slate’s podcast Decoder Ring. Together, they answer questions from a listener hoping their sister will “gain sanity” to leave her husband soon, another from a self proclaimed girls’ girl who can’t stop getting into disagreements with other women at work, a step-mother wondering if it’s time to “step up” and defend her husband’s ex-wife to their children, and “the pickiest eater on earth” wondering whether their food habits are impacting their professional relationships.  Want more Dear Prudence? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/prudie-plus to get access wherever you listen. This week’s podcast is produced by Jenée Desmond Harris, Maura Currie, and Daisy Rosario, with special thanks to Anuli Ononye and Cameron Drews. Learn more about

It’s been nearly a decade since Rihanna released a studio album—and fans and critics alike have wondered when, if ever, a follow-up to 2016’s Anti might arrive. Which is ironic, because in her heyday, Rihanna was the most productive hitmaker on the charts. Churning out at least one album a year in the late aughts and early ‘10s,  Rihanna’s approach to the charts was closer to early Motown or the Beatles than Beyoncé or Taylor. The result: the Barbadian pop deity scored more No. 1s than any 21st century artist, from “SOS” and “Umbrella” through “Diamonds” and “Work.”  Join Chris Molanphy as he traces Rihanna’s journey from tropical tyro to commanding chart queen and explores how she found hits at a boundless pace. Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of DOGE’s goals is to get government data out of “silos” and make it more easily shared across departments. But there are good reasons for some data to be kept apart.  Guest: Vittoria Elliot, WIRED reporter covering platforms and power. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Emily Bazelon and David Plotz are joined by Henry Blodget to discuss the financial and political fallout from the President’s threats to fire Fed Chair Powell and subsequent retreat; a Supreme Court case over free exercise of religion that could have broad implications; and why Trump stands by Hegseth after Signalgate Part 2. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily and David are joined by Henry Blodget to discuss the weird and somewhat terrifying AI experiment he conducted for his Substack Regenerator.   In the latest Gabfest Reads, John talks with author Maggie Smith about her new book, Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life.   Email your chatters, questions, and comments to [email protected]. (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 subsc

On this episode: Zak, Elizabeth and Lucy answer a letter about parenting a kid through a toxic relationship… and more specifically, a girlfriend’s toxic mom. Our letter-writer is trying to balance respecting her son’s first serious relationship with wanting to protect him from some really nasty behavior. And after that, of course, we’ll circle up for a round of triumphs and fails. Join us on Facebook and email us at [email protected] to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus – or try it out on Apple Podcasts.

The Trump administration’s actions on immigration and firing the federal workforce have drawn condemnation from all sorts of unions—from building trades to graduate students. What happens when labor speaks as one? Guest: Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL–CIO. Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your  other 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, Isabel Angell, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why Trump wants to ouster his own appointee, Jerome Powell, from the Fed chair—and why the rest of the world is rooting for Powell to stay put. Guest: Liz Hoffman, Semafor’s business and finance editor, host of Semafor’s World Economy Summit, and author of Crash Landing: The Inside Story of How the World’s Biggest Companies Survived an Economy on the Brink. Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your  other 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay run through the lows of Coachella, before breaking down a lawsuit against one of the festival’s most visible e-commerce brands, Revolve. Earlier this month, Revolve was hit with a $50 million class-action lawsuit accusing them of deceiving more than 1 million customers using social media marketing tactics. The lead plaintiff named three influencers as co-defendants, saying they didn’t disclose that Revolve paid them for sponsored posts and had she known the posts were sponsored, she would not have purchased clothing from them. Does this case have merit, which past influencers have gotten in trouble for similar mistakes, and what does it say about our sponcon literacy today? This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s show, Julia, Stephen, and Dana are together and talk about Sinners with Slate Culture Writer Nadira Goffe.  Then, they talk about a new animated series from Ramy Youssef called #1 Happy Family USA. Finally, they take a listener's suggestion and listen to a few episodes of the new podcast, Good Hang with Amy Poehler.  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Nadira rejoins the panel to go deep on Sinners.  Email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chicken Soup for the Soul was the brainchild of two motivational speakers who preach the New Thought belief system known as the Law of Attraction. For more than 30 years, the self-help series has compiled reader-submitted stories about kindness, courage, and perseverance into easily digestible books aimed at almost every conceivable demographic: Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, Chicken Soup for the Grandma’s Soul, Chicken Soup for the Golfer’s Soul, and on and on. Since 1993, these books have sold more than 500 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling non-fiction book series of all time. But in recent years, the company has become many other things that seem lightyears away from inspirational publishing: a line of packaged foods, a DVD kiosk retailer, and a meme stock. In this episode, with the help of journalist Amanda Chicago Lewis, we tell the story of how this feel-good brand went from comfort food to junk. This episode was written by Willa Paskin and Max Freedman and produced by Max. It wa

Preaching for empathy and compassion, Pope Francis at times felt like a dramatic change in the Catholic Church. Did he succeed? Can you even answer that question before you know who his successor will be? Guest: David Gibson, director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your  other 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, Isabel Angell, and Rob Gunther.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the third installment of our series Living at Odds, How To!’s Courtney Martin examines what it’s like being in conflict with your family history. She talks with ancestors of the famous names in Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court decision that affirmed racial segregation in the U.S. as “separate but equal.” Later, researcher Kellie Farrish explains how reparative genealogy can unlock family history that’s been lost or erased—and bring together descendants of enslaved people and their enslavers into conversations about the past, present, and future. If you’re enjoying Living at Odds, check out this How To! episode: How To ‘Do the Work’ of Racial Justice.  Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen. This episode was produced by Maura Currie and Rosie Belson. Our technical director is Merritt Jacob, who composed original music for this se

To fly a plane, pilots must prove to the Federal Aviation Administration that they’re physically and mentally fit. But when it comes to mental health, the rules are complicated and, some say, outdated. Pilots who need antidepressants are limited to a short list of approved medications and must take a mandatory six-month leave. Even common diagnoses like anxiety or depression can trigger reviews that could ground them. The F.A.A.’s rules are born out of desire to keep the public safe, but in this episode we talk to pilots, aspiring pilots, and medical aviation professionals about their unintended consequence: incentivizing people to stay quiet about their mental health issues. Read: Why Airline Pilots Feel Pushed to Hide Their Mental Illness  Podcast production by Zoe Azulay. Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles

Hosts Alex Kirshner, Lindsay Gibbs, and Ben Lindbergh preview the NHL playoffs. Can the Maple Leafs or Jets finally break a Canadian Cup curse? The panel also give their NFL draft predictions, and discuss Paige Bueckers  joining the Dallas Wings and Unrivaled. For Afterballs, Ben does a deep dive into how last-minute timeouts have (and have not) led to MLB pitcher injuries, and what became of the long-forgotten pitcher Dick Windbigler. On the bonus episode available exclusively for Slate Plus members, the panel discusses longtime College GameDay broadcast Lee Corso’s retirement. NHL Playoffs (2:00): Can Canada finally do it? NFL Draft (19:31): Where will Shadeur Sanders land? Paige Bueckers (36:30): The UConn star is ready for the pros. Afterballs (57:38): Remember Dick Windbigler (Note: time codes are only accurate for Slate Plus members, who listen ad-free.) Want more Hang Up and Listen? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all