Why some parts of town are hard to navigate.
Start the Week - Kate Tempest: Everyday Epic
On Start the Week Andrew Marr talks to the writer and performer Kate Tempest about her desire to bring out the epic in everyday lives, and to show the poetry in lived experience. Tracy Chevalier has taken the themes of Shakespeare's Othello and transported them to a US elementary school, while Hanif Kureishi mines the dark world of jealousy and revenge in his latest novel. Lewis Hyde looks back to mythical mischief makers from Hermes to Loki to celebrate modern day rule breakers as the shapers of culture. Producer: Katy Hickman
Image: Kate Tempest Photographer: Hayley Louisa Brown.
Crimetown - S1 E18: The Prince of Providence
Buddy Cianci was once a crusading prosecutor who took on the mob. Now, he’s behind bars. For the mayor of any other city, this would be the end of the road. But Buddy isn’t any other mayor. And Providence isn’t any other city.
For a full list of credits, and more information about this episode, visit crimetownshow.com.
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Pod Save America - Pod Save America Takes Seattle
Jon, Jon, Tommy, and Dan hold a live show at Seattle’s Showbox SoDo Theater, where they’re joined by Washington Governor Jay Inslee to talk health care, activism, and the future of Democratic Party.
Curious City - Boystown: How Chicago Got Its Gay Neighborhood
Political activism and businesses helped shape the city's gay neighborhood, but there's a debate about its future.
50 Things That Made the Modern Economy - Video Games
From Spacewar to Pokemon Go, video games – aside from becoming a large industry in their own right – have influenced the modern economy in some surprising ways. Here’s one. In 2016, four economists presented research into a puzzling fact about the US labour market. The economy was growing, unemployment rates were low, and yet a surprisingly large number of able-bodied young men were either working part-time or not working at all. More puzzling still, while most studies of unemployment find that it makes people thoroughly miserable, the happiness of these young men was rising. The researchers concluded that the explanation was simply that this cohort of young men were living at home, sponging off their parents and playing videogames. They were deciding, in the other words, not to join the modern economy in some low-paid job, because being a starship captain at home is far more appealing.
Producer: Ben Crighton
Editors: Richard Knight and Richard Vadon
(Photo: Hands holding game pad and playing shooter game on TV screen. Credit: Getty Images)
The Gist - What’s in the Bill? With Sarah Kliff
Vox health care writer Sarah Kliff returns to discuss the return of the health care reform bill that just won’t die. In Kliff’s estimation, the new bill, if passed in the Senate, would be great for the rich and terrible for the sick. Kliff is a columnist and co-host of The Weeds podcast. In the Spiel, why we were surprised by zombie health reform. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus.
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More or Less: Behind the Stats - Is Crime Rising?
It looks like homicides are on the rise - but better check the footnotes
The Gist - Observing Obscura Day
A hallowed day is nearly upon us: Obscura Day on Saturday, May 6. Think of it like a worldwide quest to discover all things odd and remarkable. The whole thing was dreamed up by the surveyors and spelunkers at Atlas Obscura. Today, Mike steps in as your Obscura Day scout, venturing into the Lite Brite Neon Studio in Brooklyn. Saturday’s expeditions include a kayaking trip to a ship graveyard in Maryland, an Absinthe demonstration in London, and a tour of the world’s first nuclear power plant in Idaho. Check out Atlas Obscura’s website to find an Obscura Day event near you. In the Spiel, health care is supposed to be the one intimate area where a politician’s lie won’t work. So… what’s going on? Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus.
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Pod Save America - “The moment of truth for the resistance.”
House Republicans stake their careers on Trumpcare, and stopping the bill in the Senate becomes the biggest test yet for the resistance movement. Then, Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Perriello joins Jon and Dan to talk about the Democratic Party’s economic vision, and Ana Marie Cox joins to talk about health care.