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Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers talk about Threads, the new competitor to Twitter. They also discuss Janet Yellen’s trip to China and what it means for American foreign policy. Finally, have tipping and service charges gone too far?In the plus segment: Pregnant workers now have more workplace rights.If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and an additional segment of our show every week. You’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Slate Money. Sign up now at slate.com/moneyplus to help support our work.Podcast production by Patrick Fort. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It seems like with each new Musk innovation, a new Twitter replacement appears in response. But Threads is backed by Meta and available in just a few clicks for an Instagram user. Could it be the one?Guest: Mike Isaac, technology reporter for the New York Times.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 TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz are on vacation, but Emily taped an extra episode of Gabfest Reads for everyone. She sits down with author Monica Potts to talk about her new memoir The Forgotten Girls. They discuss growing up in rural Arkansas, Monica’s childhood best friend Darci, and more.For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David, Emily, and John chatter about what’s making them happy this summer, an article about how bad things really are, and more.In the June edition of Gabfest Reads, Emily talks with Peter Singer @PeterSinger about his book, Animal Liberation Now: The Definitive Classic Renewed.  Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com or Tweet us @SlateGabfest. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna RothResearch by Julie Huygen Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Biden administration’s plan to forgive federal student loan debt has been stalled, perhaps indefinitely, by the Supreme Court’s decision in Biden v. Nebraska. Was their plan to help borrowers always doomed, or was there another way? And after the Roberts court delivered such a broad-sweeping decision, what options does Biden have left?Guest: Jed Shugerman, professor at Boston University School of Law.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.

America’s winner-take-all electoral system casts third-party candidates as spoilers—but what would it take to open the door to not just a third party, but a fourth or more? Guest: Lee Drutman, senior fellow in the Political Reform program at New America, author of Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop.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 honor of the holiday, enjoy this episode from our colleagues at Slow Burn. What Next resumes regular programming tomorrow.Anita Hill’s accusations launched urgent and heated conversations about racism and sexual harassment. They also stoked an anger in Clarence Thomas that’s never stopped raging.Season 8 of Slow Burn is produced by Joel Anderson, Sophie Summergrad, Sam Kim, and Sofie Kodner.Josh Levin is the editorial director of Slow Burn.Derek John is Slate’s executive producer of narrative podcasts.Susan Matthews is Slate’s executive editor.This episode was edited by Josh Levin, Derek John, Sophie Summergrad, and Joel Meyer.Merritt Jacob is our senior technical director.Our theme music is composed by Alexis Cuadrado. Artwork by Ivylise Simones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unpopular decisions and multiple scandals involving lavish, undisclosed gifts from conservative megadonors have the Supreme Court handing down decisions under a cloud of public outcry and controversy—but that hasn’t stopped the conservative majority from acting just as hardline as its critics feared. Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, court watcher and senior writer at Slate.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.

Even if you like the convenience of your phone unlocking after it reads your face, there are reasons to be wary of the TSA bringing facial recognition technology to the airport. Guest: Geoffrey Fowler, technology columnist for the Washington Post.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 TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Felix Salmon, Emily Peck and Elizabeth Spiers take on the Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action. They also talk about the (very good!) marketing campaign behind the upcoming Barbie movie, and the (less good) influencer campaign for SHEIN. In the Plus segment: Vanna White needs a raise! If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and an additional segment of our show every week. You’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Slate Money. Sign up now at slate.com/moneyplus to help support our work.Podcast production by Patrick Fort. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is a part of Opinionpalooza. Slate’s coverage of Supreme Court decisions. We consider this coverage so essential that we’re taking down the paywall for all of it. If you would like to help us continue to cover the courts aggressively, please consider joining Slate Plus. And sign up for the pop-up newsletter to see the latest every week in your inbox.As the Supreme Court’s June term wraps up with a slew of awful decisions, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Slate’s own Mark Joseph Stern to analyze 303 Creative LLC v Elenis, a case with startling implications for the dignity and equal treatment of LGBTQ couples and families. They also discuss the new reporting that shines light on the hall of mirrors that brought the case to court. Then, Dahlia and Mark are joined by Dalié Jiménez, Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, and Director of the Student Loan Law Initiative at UCI Law to discuss the court’s decision to strike down the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness program.Finally, Dahlia turns to Michaele Turnage Young of the NAACP LDF to take a closer look at Thursday’s affirmative action decision, which outlawed race-conscious admissions in most higher education contexts. In this week’s Amicus Plus segment, Dahlia is joined by Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern to answer a listener question about something that has us all scratching our heads in the wake of Moore v Harper, and look ahead to some gun safety litigation that’s winding its way up to the High Court.Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.