Author: Slate Podcasts

You might think of noncompete agreements as mostly limited to highly skilled, highly paid tech workers to protect trade secrets. But one-third of workers bound by noncompetes make $13/hour or less: fast-food workers, security guards, and the like.

Noncompete clauses not only give employers leverage over their employees—both during and after their employment—but studies have shown the agreements are a weight on the economy, which is why the FTC is angling for a federal ban. 

Guest: Elizabeth Wilkins, director of the Office of Policy Planning, Federal Trade Commission

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Ovidio Guzmán, the son of Sinaloa cartel head Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, was arrested last week in a huge sting by the Mexican government. Who is Ovidio and how does his arrest affect the cartel? 

Guest: Luis Chaparro, journalist and producer who moves between Texas and Mexico covering narcos, drugs and immigration.

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New York’s new Adult Survivor’s Act has opened a “lookback window”—a year-long suspension of the civil statute of limitations—to allow people who may have been assaulted a long time ago the chance to go to court and demand compensation. For those who choose to pursue legal action, what can they expect?

Guest: Carrie Goldberg, victim rights lawyer specializing in sex crimes and author of Nobody’s Victim: Fighting Psychos, Stalkers, Pervs, and Trolls.

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How far can you go on a lie? Looking at the career of George Santos, United States Representative, it can take you at least to the congressional floor. But now, firmly in the public eye, his resume unraveling, is Santos’ political career about to be derailed before it starts? And how did it get this far in the first place? 

Guest: Azi Paybarah, national reporter covering campaigns and breaking politics news at the Washington Post.

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On Friday night, Representative Kevin McCarthy was elected Speaker of the House—but not before a far-right revolt kept Congress in a weeklong deadlock. As he begins his tenure as Speaker, will these sorts of standoffs be the rule, not the exception? 

Guest: Jim Newell, Slate’s senior politics writer.

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Roughly 95 percent of advanced semiconductor chip manufacturing happens in Taiwan, leaving the U.S. vulnerable to supply chain shocks and national security threats. Is the Biden administration’s $280 billion bill, signed in August last year, enough to boost domestic chip manufacturing?

Guest: Don Clark, freelance reporter specializing on chips and enterprise tech.

Host: Emily Peck

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Over the holidays, thousands of passengers were left stranded or delayed when Southwest Airline’s outdated re-booking software broke down. Who can be held accountable, and why don’t airlines invest more in their own infrastructure? 

Guest: Heather Tal Murphy, business and technology reporter for Slate.

Host: Mary C. Curtis

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Enacted at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Title 42 allows border patrol to expel migrants from the U.S. before they have a chance to apply for asylum. Denied the opportunity to apply for asylum, and unable to travel, migrants are left to fend for themselves on the streets of El Paso in winter.

Guest: Bob Moore, founder and CEO of El Paso Matters

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