Author: Slate Podcasts

Donald Trump was, if nothing else, a boon for the news business. But this election cycle, even the “Trump bump” isn’t slowing the shrinking of the audience.

Guest: Max Tani, media reporter at Semafor.

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The number of TV streaming services is going up—and so is the cost and so are the number of ads. Cordcutters are finding themselves back to cable prices and inconveniences. And these changes don’t just impact the TV viewing experience - they impact the types of shows that get made in the first place. 

Guest: Alex Cranz, managing editor at the Verge. 

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For all the promise of the technology, one use-case for artificial intelligence reared its ugly head last week: non-consensual pornographic images. As millions of users saw abusive A.I. generated images of Taylor Swift proliferate across X, the pitfalls of this technology became clear. 

Guest: Emanuel Maiberg, journalist and co-founder of 404 Media

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Vince McMahon is walking away from professional wrestling, again. The WWE looks to continue without the man that built it into an institution—and shrouded it in scandal. 

Guest: Dave Scherer, founder of the pro-wrestling news site, PWinsider.com.

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One of Donald Trump’s codefendants in the Georgia election subversion and racketeering case has filed a motion to dismiss his case due to an improper relationship between Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and a prosecutor she has hired to work on the case. How can Willis address the allegations and what does it mean for the case? 

Guest: Ankush Khardori, attorney and former federal prosecutor in the U.S. Justice Department.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Madeline Ducharme, Anna Phillips, Paige Osburn, and Rob Gunther with help from Kathryn Fink.

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With the execution of Kenneth Smith, Alabama became the first state to carry out the death penalty with nitrogen gas. According to Smith’s spiritual advisor, who witnessed the execution, this is not a “humane” future for capital punishment 

Guest: Rev. Jeff Hood, pastor, theologian and activist living and working in Little Rock, Arkansas, and the Convener of Clergy United Against the Death Penalty

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Madeline Ducharme, Anna Phillips, Paige Osburn, and Rob Gunther with help from Kathryn Fink.

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Support for a “two-state solution” has been declining among both Israelis and Palestinians for years. If it’s time to give up on that plan, what’s the alternative? 

Guest: Dov Waxman, professor of political science and the director of the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies.

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Are we still paying off our pandemic-induced “immunity debt,” or is there another reason that it feels like we’re all sniffling and coughing and just feeling sick?

Guest: Keren Landman, senior health reporter at Vox

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