Author: Slate Podcasts

Built in just eight days, Donald Trump and Kristi Noem toured “Alligator Alcatraz,” a migrant detention facility built on a disused airstrip in the Florida Everglades. Even before Trump touched down in South Florida, branded merchandise was being sold. Soon after he headed back to Washington, the first detainees were brought in.

Guest:  Sommer Brugal, Miami reporter for Axios.

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

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As the One Big Beautiful Bill bounced around Congress, one provision—the 10-year moratorium on states making laws to regulate artificial intelligence—fell out. But AI-fans don’t need to worry, there’s still plenty of industry support in the bill. 

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

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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Is anyone having fun on the internet anymore? Let’s all go touch grass.

Guest: Scaachi Koul, Slate senior writer and author of “It’s Time to Log Off.”

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

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This episode was originally published on April 27, 2025. 

The Trump administration has already begun cutting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which includes the U.S. National Weather Service. What’s the advantage to understanding the weather less?

Guest: Daniel Swain, weather and climate scientist with the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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Trump wants his “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed by July 4. But the bill is so large and expensive—with deep tax cuts only partially offset by huge cuts to Medicaid and SNAP—there’s something in there for almost every member of Congress to hate.

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

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

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The Trump administration’s plans to strip funding from PBS and NPR is the latest in a long line of Republican fights against public broadcasting. The House has already voted to take back over a billion dollars it had previously agreed to pay. Will the Senate sign off on it next?

Guest:  Brian Stelter, chief media analyst at CNN.

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

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Last week’s big Supreme Court decisions walked back rights for individuals and the powers of the lower courts—and in aggregate made it ever more difficult to believe the court is anything other than another vehicle for delivering the outcomes favorable to Republicans and the conservative project. 

Guest:  Mark Joseph Stern, Slate senior writer covering courts and the law.

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

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ICE agents have begun concealing their identities in masks and plainclothes while making arrests. Experts—including a former ICE official—say that endangers those agents, and violates the trust between law enforcement and the citizenry.

Guests:

Philip Bump, columnist for the Washington Post

Scott Shuchart, ICE’s Assistant Director for Regulatory Affairs and Policy Counselor to the Director, 2022–2025.

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

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