Cato Daily Podcast - Best of Cato Daily Podcast: Women Are More Than Their Interactions with the State

Caleb O. Brown hosted the Cato Daily Podcast for nearly 18 years, producing well over 4000 episodes. He has gone on to head Kentucky’s Bluegrass Institute. This is one among the best episodes produced in his tenure, selected by the host and listeners.


As many voters are licking their wounds after failing to elect the first female U.S. President, Anthony Comegna talks about how the important historical role of women on behalf of liberty is more than mere interactions with the state.


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What A Day - Why Some Migrants Say They’ll Self-Deport

The Trump administration's relentless assault on immigrants keeps marching on. Over the weekend, federal officials said they arrested nearly 800 people in Florida during a four-day immigration enforcement operation. ICE also deported three children who are U.S. citizens on Friday, including one who’d been diagnosed with cancer. As the White House widens its brutal crackdown on migrants, some say they’ll do what Trump wants them to do: leave the country and the lives they built here behind. Rebecca Plevin, who covers equity for The Los Angeles Times, tells us why.

And in headlines: Pope Francis was laid to rest in Rome, President Trump admits Russian President Vladimir Putin may not want to stop attacking Ukraine, and the White House restored visa registrations for thousands of international students.

Show Notes:

What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Are Public Schools the Supreme Court’s Next Target?

The Supreme Court is hearing two cases this month regarding religion in public schools that seem to contradict each other—a public school in Maryland where parents claim books with LGBTQ characters or themes are indoctrination, and a Catholic charter school in Oklahoma arguing it has the right to state funding. Can the court’s religion-friendly majority give them both what they want without falling afoul of the First Amendment?

Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, senior writer for Slate.

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

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | Death of the Weather Forecast?

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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Cato Daily Podcast - Best of Cato Daily Podcast: Hannah’s Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth

Caleb O. Brown hosted the Cato Daily Podcast for nearly 18 years, producing well over 4000 episodes. He has gone on to head Kentucky’s Bluegrass Institute. This is one among the best episodes produced in his tenure, selected by the host and listeners.


Why have five or more children? Hannah’s Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth by Catherine Pakaluk details the stories and reasoning of dozens of women who have gone well beyond replacement-level fertility.


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What A Day - Job Cuts Come For the State Department

Secretary of State Marco Rubio spent part of his Thursday gilding President Donald Trump's lily, saying during an Oval Office Q&A with reporters that ‘no leader is working harder to prevent wars or end them.’ Rubio’s confident air, however, runs contrary to reports of fear and chaos reigning at the State Department under his leadership. Earlier this week, the agency released plans for a pretty sizable reorganization. They call for the elimination of hundreds of domestic positions and the axing of offices that focus on things like war crimes and global conflict. Nahal Toosi, senior foreign affairs correspondent for Politico, explains what the State Department reorganization will mean for American foreign diplomacy, and what it says about the Trump administration’s worldview.

And in headlines: Trump begged Russian President Vladimir Putin to “STOP” bombing Ukraine amid ongoing peace talks, Trump asked the Supreme Court to let his administration enforce its ban on trans troops in the military after a lower court judge put it on hold, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly had Signal installed on a desktop computer at the Pentagon.

Show Notes:

What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | The Immigration Data Dragnet

One of DOGE’s goals is to get government data out of “silos” and make it more easily shared across departments. But there are good reasons for some data to be kept apart. 


Guest: Vittoria Elliot, WIRED reporter covering platforms and power.


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Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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What A Day - Will Trump Abandon Ukraine?

The Trump administration is putting pressure on Ukraine to accept a U.S.-backed peace plan with Russia that closely aligns with Moscow's goals in the three-year war. The deal calls for freezing the battle lines that exist today — essentially forcing Ukraine to cede a vast swath of its eastern territory to Russian control. The U.S. also wants Ukraine to recognize the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, as Russian territory, and give up its goal of joining NATO. Vice President J.D. Vance said Wednesday that the U.S. would 'walk away' from negotiations if the two countries refused to accept the administration's terms. Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy and a former adviser to Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, breaks down why the Trump administration wants to strong-arm Ukraine over Russia and what it says about President Trump's views on power.

And in headlines: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tried to ease fears over the administration's trade war with China, Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin announced plans to retire at the end of his term, and more Democratic members of Congress traveled to El Salvador to highlight Trump's threats to due process.

Show Notes:

What Next | Daily News and Analysis - The Flight Attendant Who Wants You to Go on Strike

The Trump administration’s actions on immigration and firing the federal workforce have drawn condemnation from all sorts of unions—from building trades to graduate students. What happens when labor speaks as one?


Guest: Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL–CIO.


Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your  other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.


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

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