Author: Slate Podcasts

Country music’s Jason Aldean has been around for years. But he didn’t crack the Billboard Top 5 until he released “Try That in a Small Town” – a controversial hit that portrays American city living as a gauntlet of violence and crime. CMT pulled down the song’s video, which featured Aldean singing at a former lynching site. But “Try That” is more popular than ever. Why? And what does its ubiquity say about modern country music? 

Guest: Jason Lipshutz, senior director of music at Billboard

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

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This week, Israel’s far-right coalition government voted to strip the Supreme Court of the power to overturn “unreasonable” government actions and appointments. Protesters and experts alike worry it's the first step in a broader push towards gutting the judiciary altogether. Is Israel on the brink of authoritarianism? 

Guest: Yair Rosenberg, staff writer at The Atlantic, author of its “Deep Shtetl” newsletter

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

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The Justice Department just sued the state of Texas over a floating barrier in the Rio Grande. It’s also investigating accusations from a state trooper that agents were told to push a group of migrants - including children - back into the water. What is happening at the southern border? And how did it get so dire?  

Guest: Ben Wermund, Washington correspondent for the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News

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

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Around the United States and around the world, people are suing their governments and governments are suing fossil fuel companies over the changing climate—revealing what they knew and when they knew it. But even if these lawsuits succeed, what difference can they make for a problem with a literal global scale?

Guest: Dharna Noor, fossil fuels and climate reporter at The Guardian.

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When the tech industry started rounds of layoffs this year, almost half of the people let go were women—even though they make up a much smaller percentage of the workforce. What does this say about women in tech, and efforts to diversify the industry overall?

Guest: Emma Goldberg, a reporter who covers the future of work for the New York Times.

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To keep places like Phoenix habitable, we need to have air-conditioning. But to have air-conditioning, we need a functional, modern electrical grid. With America’s grid already aging—and more demand coming in the form of electric cars and more A/C for hotter weather—what will it take to keep it going as the weather gets more extreme? 

Guest: Dr. Joshua Rhodes, research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin studying energy systems and how they interact with our environment, climate, and life.

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The Senate Judiciary Committee is considering a code of ethics for the Supreme Court—but Chief Justice John Roberts doesn’t believe they have the right to impose one.

But with the Court’s legitimacy in question - and its popularity down the tubes - who should hold the Justices accountable? 

Guest: Judge Jeremy Fogel, executive director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute.

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