Author: Slate Podcasts

Congress is supposed to have a legal right to tour ICE detention centers and provide oversight on these facilities, where 32 people died in 2025. But this representative’s attempt to tour a facility in her New Jersey district led to her being charged with assaulting a federal officer and facing a 17-year prison sentence.  

Guest:  LaMonica McIver is the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 10th congressional district.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

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The Iranian government cut off nearly all internet access on January 8 as part of a crackdown on protestors, an example of why authoritarians attempt internet blackouts—and why they don’t always work the way authoritarians want them to.

Guest: Steve Feldstein, political scientist and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program.

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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In the wake of the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti during Trump’s immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, the closest thing to “accountability” we’ve seen is Border Patrol’s Gregory Bovino being sent back to California. It’s not enough but it’s something.

Guest: Rob Gunther, What Next senior producer.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

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In the immediate aftermath of the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota, federal authorities presented very different accounts of what happened from what videos from witnesses showed. Did having footage from multiple angles of each shooting make the truth clear?

Guests: 

Jake Godin, researcher for Bellingcat.

Julia Angwin, investigative journalist, founder of Proof News and contributing opinion writer for New York Times.

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Just as public sentiment is turning on ICE and Border Patrol’s action in Minnesota, another spending bill is due in the U.S. Senate. Can the Democrats use the opportunity to put some restraints on Trump’s DHS? 

Guest: David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

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When the US won a bid to co-host the World Cup, Trump was midway through his first term. Eight years later, he’s back in office, and giving soccer fans eager to watch the tournament this summer good reasons to squirm.

Guest: Jon Arnold, sports journalist and author of the Getting CONCACAFed substack.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

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How ICE and Border Patrol’s mission became harassing the president’s personal enemies.

Guest: Radley Balko, journalist and the author of Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces and a Substack called The Watch. 

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

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Once again, federal agents have shot and killed a legal observer in Minneapolis. Once again, the shooting is on video. And once again, the Trump Administration has closed ranks around the officers. But could the fallout from Alex Pretti’s death be different? And Minnesotans want to know – when will the feds finally leave? 

Guest: Will Stancil, lawyer and observer in Minneapolis

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther. 

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Having already taken over Paramount, David Ellison was vying to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his portfolio. Are his dad’s politics behind his drive to run Hollywood or is there something else going on?

Guest: Reeves Widemann, features writer at New York Magazine.

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