Slate News

A self-described activist had late-stage, fallopian tube cancer. She didn’t live in one of the 11 jurisdictions that allows terminally-ill patients the choice to medically end their own lives. But rather than relocating, she argued Vermont’s residency restrictions were unconstitutional. Guest: Lynda Bluestein, a 75-year-old woman seeking to end her life on her terms, who successfully sued Vermont over their residency requirement in their “Patient Choice At End of Life” 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 Amicus—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.

Tucker Carlson has now completed the holy trinity of cable TV news: joining — and leaving — MSNBC, CNN, and now Fox News. Why did Fox oust him so abruptly? And how did he create a feedback loop that made Fox millions — and changed American politics forever?Guest: Nicole Hemmer, Director of the Rogers Center for the Study of the Presidency at Vanderbilt University.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 Amicus—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.

“Stand Your Ground” laws have expanded across the country over the past 20 years, allowing people to use deadly force even when they could safely retreat from a perceived threat. But when someone shoots a person standing on their porch, or as they turn around in a driveway, or in a crowd, the claim that these laws exist for self-defense doesn’t seem to wash.Guest: Tamara Lave, professor of criminal law at the University of Miami and a former public defender.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 Amicus—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.

Evan Gershkovich is the first foreign journalist arrested in Russia as a spy since the Cold War. When the war in Ukraine began, Evan - like most journalists - left the country. But then, he went back. Why? Guest: Drew Hinshaw, senior reporter at the Wall Street JournalIf 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 Amicus—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.

Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers are joined by Peter Kafka of Vox. They discuss episode five of the final season of HBO’s Succession, including a drug-fueled party, a very normal trip to Norway, and why the baguette may in fact be mightier than the bagel. Also, bags of blood. Really. Check out how the Succession timeline (kind of) works. 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.

Weather apps can be frustrating. And with how much we rely on them to know if we should wear pants or shorts, they'll still leave you in the rain. But as the climate gets wilder, the questions of how to tell people what they need to know—and quickly—can be an issue of life or death.Guest: Charlie Warzel, staff writer at the AtlanticDaniel Swain, UCLA climate scientist Host: Lizzie O'LearyIf 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.

As laughter ricocheted around the Supreme Court chamber Wednesday, Professor Mary Anne Franks wondered if she could quite believe her ears. The matter of some hilarity, it seems, were messages sent by a convicted stalker to his victim. Individual messages that were among what one detective estimated to number in the hundreds of thousands - possibly as many as one million messages - sent by Billy Raymond Counterman to singer Coles Whalen. Counterman’s campaign of harassment drove Whalen away from performing, indeed drove her away from her home state. She moved across the country to get away. On this week’s Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Professor Mary Anne Franks to discuss Counterman v Colorado and how the details of a cyber-stalking case were lost to free speech concerns about trigger warnings and "sensitivity". You can read Prof. Franks’ powerful piece on this here. In this week’s Amicus Plus segment, Dahlia is joined by Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern to discuss the big fat settlement Dominion got in its defamation case against Fox News, and why it feels so unsatisfying, the religious liberty case you probably missed at the court this week, Groff v DeJoy. They also talk about how Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s continued absence from the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senate Democrats’ workarounds for it, are like bringing a bubble blower to a knife fight. Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

David Plotz talks with author Alexandra Petri about her new book, Alexandra Petri’s US History: Important American Documents. They discuss how to transform staid history documents into rollicking parodies, how Petri found her “voice” multiple times, and her grander ambitions for the book. Plus, Petri reads some choice selections.Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the biggest business, tech and finance stories of the week. This week, Fox News settles with Dominion, Elon’s rocketship blows up, and Apple has a savings account now. In the plus: Quantifying the value of domestic labor. 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.

Reddit announced it will start charging companies to use its huge, ever-growing trove of text to train A.I. chatbots. It’s another expense for the fledgling tech and another knock against the “open internet” ideals that Reddit once embodied. Guest: Mike Isaac, tech 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.