Two sure signs of spring in the Chicago area are end-of-year band concerts at schools, and plants beginning to grow. This week we revisit a couple of stories from the archives on that theme. First, tenacious weeds like buckthorn, milkweed and goldenrod grow everywhere in Chicago from railroad tracks to sidewalk cracks. We find out how they survive city life. Plus reporter Monica Eng gets an answer to the question: why do so many kids learn to play the recorder in school?
Two sure signs of spring in the Chicago area are end-of-year band concerts at schools, and plants beginning to grow. This week we revisit a couple of stories from the archives on that theme. First, tenacious weeds like buckthorn, milkweed and goldenrod grow everywhere in Chicago from railroad tracks to sidewalk cracks. We find out how they survive city life. Plus reporter Monica Eng gets an answer to the question: why do so many kids learn to play the recorder in school?
What to know about the first Russian soldier to plead guilty to a war crime.
We're also talking about why social media companies might face consequences for a racist attack in Buffalo and a new announcement about the controversial government disinformation board.
Plus, another big step to help fix the baby formula shortage, a huge win for women's soccer in their fight for equal pay, and tools are coming to TikTok to credit the original creators of popular trends.
Following Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primary elections, Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. And State Senator Doug Mastriano, one of the leading proponents to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state, was nominated as the GOP’s gubernatorial candidate. Amanda Litman, co-founder of Run for Something, joins us to discuss various primary races from earlier this week.
And in headlines: a Russian soldier pleaded guilty in Ukraine’s first war crimes trial, top White House officials recommended taking precautions amid rising COVID cases, and professional soccer players on both the U.S. women's and men's national teams will finally earn the same pay.
Companies like Disney and Nike have become more woke and frequently make the news for their radical political positions. Employees of these companies frequently push the larger business to move even further left, and take even more woke positions.
But what happens if someone is an employee of a woke company and isn't woke themselves?
Terry Pell, president of the Center for Individual Rights, says the consequences can be dire.
"HR departments have become increasingly woke, and corporate leaders are afraid of Twitter mobs attacking and destroying the reputation of the company," explains Pell.
"The employers now are highly sensitive to outside criticism and outside activists know this," he adds. "So they prey on these companies and they basically threaten to expose them for being racist if they don't go along with whatever the activists want."
Pell joins the show to discuss how the woke took over business, and how we can counter them.
We also cover these stories:
The Department of Homeland Security "pauses" its controversial Disinformation Governance Board.
The homeland security agency also prepares for violence following a Supreme Court ruling in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
The S&P 500 ESG Index removes Elon Musk's Tesla from the list.
All 50 states have an average price per gallon of gas that is higher than $4.
When China first instituted its zero-COVID policy, it was a success: as other countries struggled with soaring infection rates and overburdened hospitals, life for many Chinese citizens began to look normal again within months—so long as they weren’t infected. But the omicron variant changed the game. Now, people are speaking out against draconian lockdown measures they say are inappropriate to face the current level of threat.
How did zero-COVID evolve from being the most effective virus prevention strategy in the world to a disproportionate and punitive system? And how has that evolution expanded state control?
Guest: Dake Kang, journalist in the Beijing bureau of the Associated Press.
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.
Paris Marx is joined by Bennett Tomlin to discuss last week’s crash of Terra and Luna, the problems with stablecoins, and whether this collapse will finally force regulators to take action on cryptocurrency.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
On this week’s episode of The Waves, historian and original Waves host, Marcia Chatelain is joined by sociologist Danielle Lindemann to talk all things reality TV. They discuss Danielle’s new book, True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us and why we don’t take reality television as seriously as we should. Later in the show they talk about why women are more successful at monetizing their reality TV brand and how the genre takes us on a tour of the class system.
When China first instituted its zero-COVID policy, it was a success: as other countries struggled with soaring infection rates and overburdened hospitals, life for many Chinese citizens began to look normal again within months—so long as they weren’t infected. But the omicron variant changed the game. Now, people are speaking out against draconian lockdown measures they say are inappropriate to face the current level of threat.
How did zero-COVID evolve from being the most effective virus prevention strategy in the world to a disproportionate and punitive system? And how has that evolution expanded state control?
Guest: Dake Kang, journalist in the Beijing bureau of the Associated Press.
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.
By popular request, Lindsey will be taking us through this fascinating science-thingy! Certain kinds of meditation can reduce feelings like guilt, sadness, etc. But is that good? Does it make people less likely to help others in different ways? Find out!
