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This month, the New York City Council approved a plan to close Rikers Island in 2026. The jail has become a potent symbol for those fighting to reform the criminal justice system. Where do reformers go from here?
Guest: Aaron Morrison, senior reporter for The Appeal
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Kentucky’s Republican Gov, Matt Bevin won a decisive victory in 2015 and has tethered himself to President Donald Trump ever since. But now, he’s up for reelection and his popularity has taken a nosedive—it doesn’t help that thousands of public school teachers have been aggressively protesting against his plan for pension reform. Can the Republican Party boost him through to a second term?
Guest: Ryland Barton, statehouse reporter at Kentucky Public Radio.
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Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Stuart Gerson of the conservative legal group Checks and Balances to talk about developments in the border-wall case he helped bring in El Paso, Texas; the view of impeachment from concerned conservatives; and the latest escalation in the Department of Justice’s investigation into the origins of the Russia investigation. Then Cyrus Habib, lieutenant governor of Washington state (and owner of the most impressive résumé of any guest ever on the show) shares a refreshingly optimistic take on the law and politics.
Podcast production by Sara Burningham.
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We survey this week’s developments: the testimony from Ambassador Bill Taylor, a stunt at the SCIF, and what the founding fathers might have thought of our reticence to impeach.
Guests: Dahlia Lithwick and Jim Newell.
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Over the last week, Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg have been under fire for declining to fact-check political ads. But a former insider says this is the wrong debate to be having—and it misses a more fundamental problem: Facebook’s business model itself.
Guests: Yael Eisenstat, former head of global elections integrity operations at Facebook and Charlie Warzel, an opinion writer at the New York Times.
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Syria is in the midst of a civil war, a refugee crisis, a war on terror, and a massive demographic shift. Why does Russia want a piece of it?
Guest: Deb Amos, international correspondent for NPR.
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Gabriel Zucman and his co-authors have become known for releasing these charts that go megaviral. In a new book, Zucman claims to have found that the 400 richest Americans now pay a lower tax rate than the bottom 50 percent of the country. This finding sparked outrage among the public, disagreement within the economics community, and debate among the democratic candidates for president last week.
What do you need to know about Gabriel Zucman? And how does he envision fixing taxes in America?
Guest: Jordan Weissmann is Slate’s senior business and economics correspondent.
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Last Thursday, in the city of Culiacán, a massive gun battle between Mexican government forces and the Sinaloa cartel erupted in broad daylight. It was captured on cameras by residents across the city. For hours, residents took shelter as the Mexican forces detained the son of El Chapo, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, and tried to hold off the cartel. When it ended, El Chapo’s son was released. So why did the Mexican government give into the Sinaloa cartel’s demands? And what can be done on both sides of the border to stop such brutal violence?
Guest: León Krauze, journalist at Univision and Slate columnist
Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, Danielle Hewitt, and Mara Silvers.
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Guest: Alex Thompson, covers the Elizabeth Warren campaign for Politico.
Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, Danielle Hewitt, and Mara Silvers.
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One week ago, the White House released a letter effectively stating to House Democrats: no more witnesses, no more documents. This week, witnesses in the impeachment inquiry lined up to testify on Capitol Hill, and a cascade of revelations ensued. How much damage did they do to the president? And how will the White House counterpunch?
Guest: Jeremy Stahl, senior editor at Slate
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