Author: Slate Podcasts

Last week, California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued Tesla. It accuses the electric vehicle maker of fostering a workplace rife with racism and discrimination.

What's happening inside Tesla's Fremont plant?

Guest: Dana Hull, reporter for Bloomberg

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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Olympic athletes and commentators were stunned this week to learn that 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva will be allowed to compete in Beijing’s Winter Games, despite testing positive in December for a banned substance. The controversy has kicked up raw feelings about Russia’s history of doping and the fecklessness of Olympics officials to apply rules evenly across countries.   

Guest: Justin Peters, Slate correspondent and the author of The Idealist: Aaron Swartz and the Rise of Free Culture on the Internet.

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Florida governor, Ron DeSantis has been on a tear promoting hyper-conservative policies – from his “Stop Woke Act” to gerrymandering, he’s shocking even fellow Republicans. Is this his way of preparing for a 2024 presidential run?

Guest: Mary Ellen Klas is the Miami Herald Capitol Bureau Chief.

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For decades, the press has enjoyed a wide latitude when writing about public figures. But the high legal standard for defamation may be coming in for some scrutiny in the libel suit of Sarah Palin versus the New York Times. 

Guest: Slate contributor Seth Stevenson. Read his latest coverage of the trial of Sarah Palin v. New York Times. 

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Old wounds are open again in Minneapolis. The city is struggling to investigate a police shooting from earlier this month, when officers carried out a “no-knock” search warrant and fatally shot a 22-year-old Black man in bed. The victim, Amir Locke, was not a suspect in the crime police were investigating. The shooting comes months after city voters rejected a plan to defund the police, and some city officials are struggling to figure out a path forward with a police force that’s been difficult to reform and an electorate that has little appetite for radical change. 

Guest: Jeremiah Ellison, member of the Minneapolis City Council. 

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In just a few short years, the Chinese fast fashion company Shein upended the way countless young women shop online. It’s approach could soon shape the way everyone else shops, too. 

Guest: Louise Matsakis, freelance technology reporter

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Facebook’s first crack at the metaverse has a problem: kids. Underage users seem to be flooding Horizon Worlds, potentially putting themselves at risk. 

Is Meta doomed to repeat Facebook’s mistakes?

Guest: Will Oremus, technology news analysis writer for the Washington Post. 

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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As the Winter Olympics unfold in Beijing, a darker reality remains: China’s abuses against the Uyghurs, an ethnic minority in the country’s Xinjiang region. While much of the world remains glued to the sports coverage, Uyghurs in the diaspora are calling on people to pay attention to China's treatment of their family members back home.

Guest: Gulchehra Hoja, a Uyghur journalist with Radio Free Asia. 

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The Ottawa truckers protest is neither exclusive to Ottawa nor strictly composed of truckers. And its supporters are hoping to head to a city near you. 

Guest: Jesse Brown, editor-in-chief of Canadaland.

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