Author: Slate Podcasts

Belief in democracy was, until quite recently, taken for granted in America. But what if democracy is less a static noun, and more of a dynamic ideal we (could be) working towards?

Guest:  

Osita Nwanevu, contributing editor at The New Republic, columnist at The Guardian, author of “The Right of the People: Democracy and the Case for a New American Founding.”

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

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OpenAI’s Sam Altman, flanked by President Trump and Softbank’s Masayoshi Son, announced a hugely ambitious investment in data centers across America to support all the artificial intelligence we’re going to be using. Months in, the project has been scaled back to a single, power-hungry data center in Ohio.

Guest: Berber Jin, reporter covering A.I. for the Wall Street Journal

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Some disputes resist an easy “good vs. evil” dynamic, but when one side calls their plans “Operation Satanique,” it’s not too hard to figure who “the baddies” are.

Guest: Dan Kois, Slate writer.

Articles mentioned in this piece:

• The Last Days of the Rainbow Warrior

• Why We Keep Putting Up With Martin Short

• Who Killed the Segway 

• This Is the Correct Way to Divide Public Bathrooms

• Who Won the World Cup of Arm Folding?

 

Also mentioned: What Next: The Lawsuit Scaring Protesters. 

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Podcast production by Madeline Ducharme.

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A shadow app for the dating world had its data hacked and exposed, and it laid bare the perils of creating safe spaces for women online — and of relying on tech companies.

Guest: Kate Lindsay, host of Slate’s ICYMI

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How an Obama-era decision to invest in space capitalism handed Elon Musk a monopoly on space. 

Guest:  Franklin Foer, staff writer at the Atlantic, author of “The Last Politician” and “World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech.”

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

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As Trump came back to the presidency, one of the first warnings liberals began repeating was “Do not obey in advance.” But from government-agency heads to university presidents to news organizations, people are opting to simply leave their jobs, rather than do the uncomfortable work of standing up to authoritarianism. 

Guest:  Jonathan Last, editor of The Bulwark.

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

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Trans rights and access to health care have been under attack on the state level for years, but the second Trump administration and the Supreme Court have accelerated a chilling effect at clinics across the country.

Guest: Grace Byron, author of “The Grim State of Trans Health Care” and “The Bureaucratic Nightmares of Being Trans Under Trump” for the New Yorker. 

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

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In May, after Trump announced a thorough regime of tariffs, supply chain experts warned that Americans would be looking at empty shelves by the end of June. But here we are in late July and the stores still seem fully stocked. So what happened?

Guest:  Justin Wolfers, professor of economics at the University of Michigan

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

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There’s an entire economy devoted to seeing what products are trending—clothing, skin care, even Greek Islands—and delivering you a cheaper knock-off to buy. 

Guest: Mia Sato, reporter for The Verge

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