Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Punished For Their Pregnancies

Women were prosecuted for experiencing miscarriage or stillbirth even before the Supreme Court swept away the protections of Roe v. Wade. But these prosecutions have ramped up since, in both red and blue states. The stakes are ramping up too, with legislators introducing bills that would treat abortion as homicide, potentially subjecting patients to the death penalty. This week, Mark Joseph Stern talks with Karen Thompson, the legal director of Pregnancy Justice. They discuss what happens when the state decides a fetus, or even an embryo, has equal or greater rights than pregnant people. As fetal personhood legislation moves ahead in more and more red states, this concept is also seeping into the law in blue states. Women have been jailed because their pregnancies ended in a way the state disliked. Grandmothers have been prosecuted decades after pregnancy loss thanks to investigators using forensic genetic genealogy to hunt them down. As Thompson explains, a frightening frontier in the battle for bodily autonomy and reproductive rights is here, and it demands our attention.   


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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | The CDC Under Fire

Two weeks ago, a gunman fired over 500 bullets at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention building in Atlanta. Between the anti-public health rhetoric coming from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the top, personnel cuts and firings, and now a literal shooting, many employees are reaching their breaking point.  

 

Guest: Lauren Weber, health science accountability reporter for the Washington Post.


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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - D.C’s Senator Knew This Would Happen

Donald Trump was able to take over the Metropolitan Police Department and send in National Guard troops and federal agents to patrol the streets due to Washington D.C.’s strange, not-a-state status. One of the district’s (non-voting) Congressional representatives believes D.C. statehood could come in the backlash. 

Guest: Ankit Jain, U.S. Senator for Washington, D.C. since 2024.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.


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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Can Trump Kill Mail-In Ballots?

Donald Trump returned from his meeting with Vladimir Putin convinced that mail-in voting is how he was cheated from winning the 2020 election. Though he’s come to this conclusion without evidence, how much damage can he do to American democracy?


Guest:  Rick Hasen, UCLA School of Law, Director, Safeguarding Democracy Project, Election Law blog

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Zelensky Brings a Posse to Washington

After visiting with Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky, and European leaders, where does Donald Trump stand on the Ukraine-Russia war—and where does that leave Ukraine?

Guest:  Tim Mak, editor of the Kyiv-based publication The Counteroffensive.

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Podcast production by Ethan Oberman, Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - How Trump Brought Home a Murderer

Characteristic of this administration’s over-the-top but never-thought-out immigration enforcement, Trump traded more than 250 Venezuelans who had been deported to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison for 10 Americans who were being held prisoner in Venezuela—including a man convicted of a triple homicide. 

Guest:  Jonathan Blitzer, staff writer at the New Yorker and author of Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis.

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Podcast production by Ethan Oberman, Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.


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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | Down the Text-Scam Rabbit Hole

The scam du jour arrives via a text message, offering you a job. What happens when you accept?


Guest: Alex Sammon, Slate features writer. 


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Slate Books - Gabfest Reads | The Four Years That Changed New York City Forever

Political Gabfest host Emily Bazelon talks with Jonathan Mahler about his new book, The Gods of New York. They discuss the unraveling of Mayor Ed Koch’s New York City; how the city’s current mayoral race is mirroring the past; and more.

 

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.

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Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - When Trump Hits New Jersey, This Lawyer Hits Back

Law firms, universities, and businesses are bending the knee to the Trump administration at the slightest threat. Amid this shocking cowardice, blue states have been a bastion of defiance against the president’s escalating power grabs—with attorneys general leading the way. Mark Joseph Stern talks with New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, who has been on the frontlines of this battle since Day One. 

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Bonus: Kill Tony, Alive and Thriving

A patron and perhaps foremost practitioner of “anti-woke comedy,” Tony Hinchcliffe sits atop his own thriving comedy kingdom in Austin. And when you’re on top, you’ve got nowhere to punch but down.

Guest: Luke Winkie, staff writer at Slate, author of “The Cult of Kill Tony

This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Ethan Oberman, and Rob Gunther.


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