Author: Slate Podcasts

California recently passed a law that would classify rideshare drivers across the state as employees, rather than contractors. Among many other benefits, they’d be allowed to unionize, collect overtime pay, and take sick leave.

 

So why are so many drivers against it?

 

Guest: Harry Campbell, former Uber driver and founder of The Rideshare Guy

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The 8chan message board has become synonymous with hate speech. It’s been a go-to forum for mass shooters’ manifestos. It courts devotees of the cultish QAnon conspiracy theory. In August, 8chan was booted from the internet, but now the forum is making a comeback, in spite of the dogged group of activists and journalists trying to take it offline permanently.

Guest: Robert Evans, investigative journalist for Bellingcat and host of the podcast, Behind the Bastards. 

Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, Danielle Hewitt, and Mara Silvers. 

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Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat from Hawaii, has always had a maverick streak. But since launching a presidential campaign, her tactics have only become more perplexing. 

Guest: Lisa Lerer, political reporter for the New York Times.

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Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, Danielle Hewitt, and Mara Silvers.

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At the last Democratic primary debate, Elizabeth Warren refused to say that her plan for Medicare for All would require raising taxes on the middle class. Critics accused her of dishonesty. But on Friday, Warren released a plan pledging to do exactly what she promised. The problem is, the other sources of funding would require a fundamental shift of priorities in Washington. 

Guest: Jordan Weissmann, Slate’s senior business and economics correspondent.

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In California, thousands of people have evacuated their homes in yet another season of dangerous wildfires. Thousands of other residents have had their power shut off in an effort to help prevent incidents along power lines that could trigger yet more wildfires across the state. How has Gov. Gavin Newsom’s tone changed when it comes to talking about PG&E, the utility company responsible for many past fires and current power outages. Plus, how does California’s affordability problem factor into the state’s wildfire problem?

Guest: Taryn Luna, reporter at the Los Angeles Times

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This week, Alexander Vindman testified with firsthand knowledge of the Ukraine call and the House voted to formalize the impeachment inquiry. Plus, who’s the person you should be keeping your eye on heading into next week?

Guest: Dahlia Lithwick and Jim Newell.

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This week, Boeing’s CEO Dennis Muilenburg appeared in front of Congress. He was there to answer questions about what his company knew, and when, before two 737 Max airplanes crashed and claimed the lives of 346 people. 

But beyond the planes’ technological failures is another key issue: the way pilots react when automated systems go wrong. 

 

Guest: Jon Ostrower, Editor in Chief of The Air Current 

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State court rulings have ended partisan gerrymandering in North Carolina on both the state and congressional levels. The rulings could lead the way for progressive activists who’ve been shut out at the Supreme Court.

This episode is a part of Slate’s Who Counts? initiative. In the run-up to the 2020 election, Slate will be investigating who counts in the voting booth, who counts as an American, whose money counts in the democratic process, and whose doesn’t. And we need your help. Your support will let us assign more stories, travel to overlooked places, commission special podcast projects, and pay for reporting we otherwise would not be able to do. To learn more about this project and how to support our work, please go to slate.com/whocounts.

Guest: Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern  

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There’s a story unfolding in the courtroom of a small town in Kansas. It’s a story about runaway medical costs, aggressive debt collectors, and jail. 

Guest: Lizzie Presser, reporter for ProPublica

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