Author: Slate Podcasts

How many times a day do you hear the word “inflation” now? Many items are getting more expensive, but what’s actually driving those price increases? And are we heading towards a repeat of the 1970s wage-price spiral, or is this a temporary blip? 

Guest: Jordan Weissmann, senior editor at Slate. 

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Over the weekend, Russia tested a new weapon​​—a type of missile that can fly into space and destroy a satellite in orbit. 

The test created thousands of pieces of debris, which will hurtle around the Earth’s orbit for years to come. What’s the real risk of the rapid increase in space junk? And is there anything to be done about it?

Guest:

Laura Grego, Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at MIT

Host: Seth Stevenson

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Beto O’Rourke is running to replace Greg Abbott as governor of Texas. Though it’s his first time in this particular race, you’d be forgiven for thinking, “again?” 

Where does this habitually-losing smooth-talking Irish-guy-with-a-bordertown-nickname fit into a state with changing demographics and an incumbent governor under assault from both the right and left? Is Beto building a coalition, or heading for a third and final defeat?

Guest: Patrick Svitek, political correspondent for the Texas Tribune.

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After dragging its feet on reopening schools this winter, the San Francisco Unified School District school board is under fire. Their every decision is being scrutinized by angry parents and three of its members are facing recall elections. What happens when the school board debate comes to the Bay? 

Guest: Jill Tucker, education writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. 

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Members of an Orange County mosque noticed a new convert was asking some strange questions. He turned out to be an FBI informant. Will the Supreme Court allow the bureau to be held accountable? 

Guest: Rowaida Abdelaziz, national reporter covering Islamophobia & immigration for HuffPost.

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You’ve likely heard about the great resignation -- this moment when millions of workers across the country have handed in their notice. Sometimes, people left because they were overworked. Sometimes, it’s because they wanted to change paths, or make more money elsewhere. But for every employee quitting, there’s an employer being quit on. These are stories from the great resignation: Who’s quitting, who’s hiring, and how long this moment is likely to last. 

Guests:

Betsey Stevenson, professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan.

Rachel, a recently resigned employee from Massachusetts.

Julia James, co-owner of Radish and Rye Food Hub in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 

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A recent poll showed that about a third of parents of younger children would get their kids vaccinated, a third would not, and the final third said they wanted to wait and see how the vaccines worked.

Public health officials are asking: what will it take to convince that third group that now is the time to vaccinate? 

Guests:

Julie Hamill

Dr. Aaron Carroll, pediatrician and professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Last Friday, a surging crowd killed at least eight people and left hundreds injured at Travis Scott’s music festival Astroworld in Houston. Public uproar over the needless deaths has placed responsibility at the rapper’s feet - and at those of police officers who failed to intervene and shut the show down.

How did Scott’s signature “raging” spill over into a mass casualty event? And how do we tease out blame between Scott himself, and the way music festivals are run? 

Guest: Tom Breihan, senior editor at Stereogum. 

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The Los Angeles City Council has passed a new policy giving Council members the power to target specific encampments for cleanup. While the effort might eventually result in less visible homelessness in some parts of the city, critics say it might be more in service of political gain than anything else.

Guest: Benjamin Oreskes, reporter at the LA Times.

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