If you’re anything like us, you’re a sucker for a good spy show: Homeland, Tehran, Fauda, The Bureau. We’re fascinated by the life of spies—the secret meetings in Beirut cafés, the wigs and false identities, the double and triple lives, always one step away from exposure, risking everything for their country.
Most of the time, those TV characters are pure fiction and the stories are the stuff of Hollywood. But our guest’s new book, The Sword of Freedom, reads just like one of those fantastical thrillers—except every word of it is true.
Yossi Cohen—the former director of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency—spent most of his 38-year spy career in the shadows. He was known only by a letter: Y, or sometimes “The Model,” apparently for his looks. He was, as he writes, “a ghost, never to be seen and unable to be heard. I was invisible, a breath of wind in human form.”
Cohen operated under dozens of different identities in some of the most dangerous places for an Israeli, and he personally orchestrated some of the most daring operations in Israel’s history: stealing half a ton of Iran’s most secret nuclear documents from a warehouse in Tehran; assassinating Iran’s top nuclear scientist using an AI-powered machine gun operated remotely via satellite; setting the stage for the pager attack that crippled Hezbollah last year; creating secret relationships with Arab leaders—relationships that changed the direction of the Middle East.
If you look online, you’ll hear that Mossad has been behind everything from tsunamis to floods to political assassinations of famous Americans.
So we could think of no one better to answer the question of what Mossad actually does—and to address the endless conspiracies that swirl around Israel’s version of the CIA—than Cohen.
Today, we talk about all of that. It’s a rare glimpse inside Mossad, inside the world of real espionage—and a conversation with a man who helped shape history from the shadows, and who clearly is considering a run for prime minister.
Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at howto@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
The show is produced by Rosemary Belson, with Kevin Bendis and Sophie Summergrad. Our technical director is Merritt Jacob and our supervising producer is Joel Meyer.
Get more of How To! with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of How To! and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the How To! show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/howtoplus for access wherever you listen.
Humanity's relationship with black holes began in 1783 in a small English village, when clergyman John Michell posed a startling question: What if there are objects in space that are so large and heavy that not even light can escape them? Almost 250 years later, in April 2019, scientists presented the first picture of a black hole. Profoundly inspired by that image, physicist Jonas Enander has traveled the world to investigate how our understanding of these elusive celestial objects has evolved since the days of Michell.
With the particular goal of discovering our human connection to black holes, Enander visits telescopes and observatories, delves deeply into archives, and interviews over 20 world-leading experts, including several Nobel laureates. With Facing Infinity: Black Holes and Our Place on Earth (The Experiment Press, 2025), he takes us on a spellbinding journey into the universe's greatest mystery, deciphers the most mind-bending science, and answers questions surrounding how black holes work, where they come from, and what role they play in the universe.
Along the way Enander discovers how our desire to understand black holes inadvertently paved the way for the invention of Wi-Fi and the calibration of our global navigation satellites, how astronomical discovery became entangled with colonial conflicts, and how our looking outward gave us critical evidence of the impact of climate change. Facing Infinity helps us appreciate and understand as never before these mysterious celestial objects and our surprising connections to them.
A couple years ago, Charlie Marsh lit a fire under Python tooling with Ruff and then uv. Today he’s back with something on the other side of that coin: pyx.
Pyx isn’t a PyPI replacement. Think server, not just index. It mirrors PyPI, plays fine with pip or uv, and aims to make installs fast and predictable by letting a smart client talk to a smart server. When the client and server understand each other, you get new fast paths, fewer edge cases, and the kind of reliability teams beg for. If Python packaging has felt like friction, this conversation is traction. Let’s get into it.
What to know about President Trump’s new message to pregnant women about preventing autism—and how scientists and doctors are responding.
Also, a Supreme Court case that could remake how independent government agencies operate.
And inside ABC’s decision to bring Jimmy Kimmel back on the air.
Plus: former Vice President Harris talks about some of her regrets, the story behind “rapture” posts on social media, and the first-of-its-kind partnership between Netflix and a beer company—that could change what you see on screen.
Those stories and even more news to know in about 10 minutes!
Join us every Mon-Fri for more daily news roundups!
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., noted anti-vaxxer and, apparently, part-time detective, announced back in April that he was on the hunt for the real cause of autism. A hunt that would take no prisoners, ask big questions, and find the one true answer to a medical question that's been researched for decades... by September. Well, on Monday, the Trump administration announced that the hunt was over. Sort of. In an upcoming report that already has raised way, way, way more questions than it could possibly answer, the government announced that it was looking to link rising autism rates to the use of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, by pregnant women. And blaming autism on Tylenol, with no evidence, is part and parcel of what the "Make America Healthy Again" movement actually looks like. To help us understand all of this, we spoke to Brandy Zadrozny, a journalist covering misinformation and extremism for MSNBC.
And in other news, the Supreme Court signals it will probably, maybe, overturn a nearly century-old law for President Donald Trump, the White House denies claims that Border Czar, Tom Homan, allegedly accepted a $50,000 bribe, and Disney announces "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" will return to late night.
Disney reverses course and announces, despite pressure from the FCC, Jimmy Kimmel will return to the air. President Trump, speaking at the White House, declares — without scientific evidence — that acetaminophen use during pregnancy causes autism. The DOJ shuts down an FBI investigation into border czar Tom Homan, who was caught, on tape, accepting a $50,000 bribe in a Cava bag. Favreau, Lovett, and Tommy react to it all and discuss Charlie Kirk's NFL stadium memorial service, Sen. Ted Cruz's departure from the MAGA-majority on free speech, and Trump's latest Watergate-level corruption scandal—the firing of a US Attorney who refused to charge Trump's enemies with crimes they did not commit. Then, Sen. Elizabeth Warren stops by the studio to talk to Lovett about the Democratic Party's impending government shutdown fight.
Trump jacked up the fee of H-1B visas to $100K… The economic lens? It’s a tariff on people.
Build-A-Bear’s stock is surging this year… because 92% of us still have a childhood teddy bear.
Beli is viral restaurant review site challenging Yelp… because stories are better than stars.
Plus, Saturday Night Live’s key to success?... The Snicker Bar Strategy
$BBW $YELP $NVDA
Want more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… Saturday Night Live 📺
Want more business storytelling from us? Check our weekly deepdive show, The Best Idea Yet: The untold origin story of the products you're obsessed with. Listen for free to The Best Idea Yet: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/
About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, The Best One Yet is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell.
When Duolingo’s CEO told staff he wanted the company to become an “AI-first” business, critics questioned if it was a euphemism for human layoffs. The WSJ Leadership Institute’s Belle Lin gets an update on how the pivot is working in practice. Also, workplace reporter Ray A. Smith explains how changes to the H-1B visa program sent the tech industry spiraling. Katie Deighton hosts.
