Author: Slate Podcasts

The “Respect for Marriage Act” protects same-sex marriages nationwide and already has bipartisan support. If put to a vote in the Senate, it seems likely to pass. So why aren’t Democrats making it a priority?

Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, senior writer at Slate.

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The American southwest is in a megadrought. Water levels in lakes are dropping, threatening the local environment as well as agriculture, hydroelectric power, and the people living there. As global temperatures rise, it could be a preview of worse things to come. 

Guest: Dr. Jason Smerdon, ocean and climate physicist, and Lamont research professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and co-director at the Earth Institute Faculty. 

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Liz Cheney rose through Republican leadership based on her conservative bona fides, but thanks to her prominent role in the Jan 6th committee, she’s gained donors and admirers from across the aisle. Her constituents back in Wyoming aren’t so enthusiastic though, throwing her future in Congress into doubt.  

Guest: Bob Beck, news director of Wyoming Public Radio.

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Toronto’s Quayside project is a telling example of how smart cities have failed. Could it also show how to make them better?

Guest: Ben Green, Jennifer Keesmaat

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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The continent's deadly heat wave is only the tip of the melting iceberg.

Guest: Henry Grabar

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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Is there any climate-saving legislation that could win the vote of U.S. Senator Joe Manchin? 

Guest: Jim Newell, senior politics writer at Slate.

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Animals navigate the world using echolocation, ultraviolet vision, and a sensitivity to sounds and scents that humans can only imagine. That means things like light pollution or the noise of a highway can impact them in ways we might not readily consider. But with an empathic ear—and eye, and nose—we can make small changes to be much better neighbors to our fellow species.

Guest: Ed Yong, science writer at the Atlantic and author of An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us.

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Abortion is now illegal in eight states, and more trigger laws banning the procedure are expected. The new state policies usher in an era of criminalized abortion. In Missouri, one liberal prosecutor is still struggling to predict how strictly these laws will be enforced.

Guest: Jean Peters Baker, elected prosecutor of Jackson County, Missouri.

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Joe Biden broke through the Democratic primaries as the safe choice, the one to beat Trump and get stuff done by reaching across the aisle. But two years into his presidency, his approval rating has plunged, his own party has stymied most of his agenda, and the most effective political body in Washington is the conservative-majority Supreme Court. What’s Biden’s plan here?

Guest: Perry Bacon Jr., columnist for the Washington Post.

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