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While the What Next team recovers over the holiday, enjoy this episode from our friends over at Platypus Economics. Mary will be back to her usual feed tomorrow.Americans feel almost exactly as gloomy today as they did in 1980 — when inflation was near 14% and unemployment was close to 8%. Today those numbers are a fraction of that, yet consumer sentiment hit an all-time low. Justin Wolfers treats this like a detective case: the standard economic statistics predict sentiment should sit around 82, but the actual reading is 52 — a 30-point gap begging for an explanation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump brags about his boundless freedom while the same Supreme Court that handed him that power has curtailed everyone else's. Confidence in the court has cratered to historic lows, and waiting for a justice to retire is not actually a plan. Could a “shadow court”––a body set up to critique and even to rival SCOTUS—rescue democracy?In her new book, The Shadow Court: Rescuing Democracy from the Supreme Court, Fordham law professor Julie Suk argues that the court isn't just making some bad decisions—it's working exactly as designed. Drawing on constitutional courts in democracies around the world that rebuilt the rule of law after falling to fascism and authoritarianism, Suk outlines a bold institutional answer: a shadow court that would issue advisory opinions on the same issues the Supreme Court decides, giving lawmakers and the public a concrete alternative to judicial supremacy.Dahlia and Julie also discuss how America’s legal and constitutional systems continue to fail women (also by des

As soon as Jane Doe filed her civil suit against Cornell University, the internet was up in arms. Everyone from Florence Pugh to Love Island contestants took to social media to share their disgust, imploring men to do better when it comes to preventing sexual assault. For those who lived through #MeToo, it all feels eerily familiar. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by writer and creator Kat Tenbarge to talk about how the internet is organizing in response to this news moment, and how we can avoid repeating #MeToo’s mistakes. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay, with help from Kevin Bendis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we’re talking about a mega-merger, Spain, and artificial intelligence. First up, hosts Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers go deep on the Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery merger. They unpack David Ellison's calculus, the potential ripple effects, and more. Then they look to Europe at the economic woes in Spain and France. Finally, Silicon Valley really, really wants A.I. in schools. But pretty much everyone else is unconvinced.In the Slate Plus episode: Stocks for Kids!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 and Cheyna Roth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you’d like to support our podcast and show everyone how important and impactful this story is, we hope you will take a moment to vote for us for The Signal Listener’s Choice Award by going to vote.signalaward.com/publicvoting.When We All Get to Heaven tells the story of one of the first LGBTQ-positive churches, the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco (MCC-SF), and how it faced the personal, social, and political trials of the AIDS epidemic, including the deaths of hundreds of its members. This 10-episode series uses historical tapes rescued from the church to bring listeners into the heart of a community struggling to live while struggling with faith. The first two episodes are available here at Outward on October 15. This show is produced by Eureka Street Productions. Our theme song, “When We All Get to Heaven,” was written by Eliza Hewitt and performed by MCC-SF’s congregation and choir. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How the Cornell University rape allegations show we’re not really “post-MeToo.”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 Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An exchange of insults on X was all that director Alex Gibney got directly from the main character of his new documentary, “Musk.” But by interviewing his business partners, father, wives and girlfriends—and using a bit of movie magic—Gibney takes viewers inside Elon Musk’s head. Spoiler alert: it’s not pretty.Guest: Alex Gibney, filmmaker and director of the documentary “Musk.”Want more What Next TBD? 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 Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss where the midterms stand mere weeks out from Election Day, the legal and cultural issues at the heart of the deeply disturbing Cornell University rape case, and the perennial American debate over whether to make Daylight Saving Time permanent.Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: Samuel A. Alito Jr. for The Wall Street Journal: Opinion: Commentary: Justice Samuel Alito: Even Originalists Make MistakesJohn: Hamed Aleaziz, David A. Fahrenthold, Nicholas Nehamas, Tyler Pager, and Niraj Chokshi for The New York Times: Kristi Noem’s Agency Gave Her Donor a Lucrative Contract Just Before She Left; David Gilmour for Mediaite: ABC News Mysteriously Deletes Report on Trump Sons’ ‘$6B’ Business Dealings (original from ABC News on Internet Archive); Dana Mattioli, Drew Hinshaw, Rebecca Ballhaus, and Joe Parkinson for The Wall Street Journal: Exclusive: ‘Honey Please’: Kimberly Guilfoyle Pushed Donor to Wire $100,000 to Her Amex Account; Record Lows by CJ

Voters are angry and it looks like they’re eager to express themselves in the midterm elections. But even if Democrats take both chambers of Congress, they won’t have the power to change much—but they will have enough power to be blamed if things continue to get worse.Guest: Jonathan V. Last, editor at The Bulwark 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 Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 1980s yielded a bumper crop of near-miss hits—songs that stalled out at No. 2, No. 11, or No. 41 during their original Billboard runs but were vindicated in the streaming era. The song that lent its title to a Molly Ringwald movie missed the Top 40—twice. Stevie Nicks missed the Top 10 with what is now her most beloved solo song. And Bruce Springsteen missed his only chance at a No. 1 song thanks to another ’80s icon.Today on Hit Parade: Chris Molanphy flashes back to the Reagan era to tally the greatest near-misses from Def Leppard, Huey Lewis, the Cars, Madonna, the Cure, Paula Abdul, Eddie Murphy, Prince and others.For more about near-miss hits, listen to Hit Parade’s episode on the near misses of the 1970s.Pssst! Do you love Hit Parade? Support what we do and help us absolutely crush it during Slate’s podcast pledge drive! For a limited time, you can join Slate Plus for 50 percent off and get bonus episodes of "The Bridge," ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts, and unlim

One of the many perks of subscribing to Decoder Ring Plus is access to every episode of Decoder Rings Back, our member-exclusive series where host Willa Paskin calls up a listener to answer their question about a cultural mystery directly. This week we’re offering a taste of the latest Decoder Rings Back, where Willa tries to clear up our listener Samantha’s culinary confusion: Why, of all spices in the world, is black pepper always on the dinner table, right there next to salt? It’s a delectable story that involves ancient Rome, Louis XIV, and Salem, Massachusetts. But to hear the whole thing, you’ll have to join Decoder Ring Plus. Now through October 16, you can get 50% off a year’s membership when you visit slate.com/decoderplus and enter the promo code DECODER50 at checkout. If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at [email protected] or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Steve Ballmer, the richest owner in sports, was caught dead to rights by a humble podcaster, and what lessons the media and public can take from courtside seats to the halls of power.Guest: Pablo Torre, investigative reporter and host of “Pablo Torre Finds Out.”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 Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if I told you there was a machine that, using powerful energy and frequencies, could cure everything from common colds to cancers to missing limbs? Well, I’d be lying. And yet, a not-insignificant part of the internet is waiting with baited breath for the arrival of “medbeds,” a QAnon-adjacent conspiracy theory that President Trump has even acknowledged himself. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Slate staff writer Molly Olmstead, who spent a year investigating how the myth of medbeds came to be, and found the man behind it all. He regrets everything. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After three years as Poet Laureate, Ada Limón craved a smaller, more private life. Then she saw a sign: her childhood home was for sale. In this episode, Anna and Ada talk about writing, memory, chronic pain and making a life where she started.Ada Limón’s latest book is called Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry. She’s also the editor of You Are Here: Poetry In the Natural World. Death, Sex & Money is 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 on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Michigan to Florida to Texas, there are new Democrats in town and on the ballot. But other than novelty, what do these candidates have in common? Guests:Hasan Piker, political commentator and streamer.Adam Mockler, political commentator and YouTuberWant 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 Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Democrat Justin Pearson made national headlines in 2023 when he expelled from Tennessee’s general assembly while trying to talk about gun reform after a school shooting. That same spirit has driven him to run for Congress, despite the newly redrawn electoral map that erased the state’s only majority Black district.Guest: Justin Pearson, state representative for Tennessee’s District 86, running for Congress. 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 Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, the Supreme Court blessed the torture of a condemned woman, and the court is set to kick off the new term by doing fossil fuel's bidding. So here at Amicus, we’re not really in the mood for a razzle-dazzle “curtain raiser.” Instead, we’re taking a clear-eyed look at the ways the Roberts court is pulling the constitutional rug out from under the American people. First, Dahlia is joined by Corinna Barrett Lain, author of Secrets of the Killing State: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection, to discuss the botched execution of Christa Pike. After the Supreme Court overturned a last-minute stay without explanation, Tennessee attempted to execute Pike by lethal injection—twice. She survived and was taken to hospital where doctors tried to save her life. She was unconscious and on a ventilator at the time of writing. Professor Lain explains how lethal injection's medicalized facade hides state violence, why the court keeps green-lighting botched protocols, and what Pike's case reveals about a sy

There are some controversies that can only happen on Threads. Discussions about mermaid trauma, for instance, or Pepsi having to apologize for their post about Wild Cherry. The platform is home to particularly unhinged users, but why? On today’s show, host Kate Lindsay is joined by creator, podcaster, and reluctant Threads lover Franchesca Ramsey to discuss why Threads got its reputation, and how it still manages to be the best alternative to Twitter.This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adam Auriemma, author of the Bloomberg Money newsletter, brings his personal finance expertise to the show. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck pick Adam’s brain about how we should think about budgeting, his thoughts on renting and buying in the current housing market, and his take on financial advisors and planners. In the Slate Plus episode: Annuities Are So Hot Right NowWant 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.

Move over, New Deal; Donald Trump is in his public works era, using tax dollars to give the American people a…chatbot and also what looks like a campaign ad for the president, even though he isn’t running for anything, can’t run again, and also can’t use tax dollars to buy ads for himself. Uh, masterful stroke, sir?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 Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.