Whatever X is, it ain’t the Twitter so many users fell in love with. Since the election, Bluesky has been on the rise, but it’s still only a fraction of the number of users on Twitter—at its peak or even now—or even fellow upstart Threads.
Is Bluesky set to take over the role Twitter used to play, or is it just one of many networks in a Balkanized social media landscape?
Guest: Will Oremus, a technology writer for the Washington Post
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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.
The What A Day team is off this week, but we're excited to share an episode of Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams. In this episode, Stacey speaks with historian Heather Cox Richardson to see what history can teach us about moving forward after Trump’s reelection. They discuss strategies for countering disinformation, how Democratic leaders are preparing to use states’ rights to their advantage to challenge Trump’s federal overreach, and how the era following William McKinley’s presidency can be a guide for progressives. Then, Stacey answers questions from the audience on how to get involved in politics, and how to respond to the community in this post-election environment.
If you liked this episode, subscribe to Assembly Required wherever you get your podcasts: crooked.com/assemblyrequired
While the What Next team is having a holiday, take this journey with our colleagues over at Decoder Ring. What Next will be back in your feed on Monday.
Adults have a long history of trying to find morals and lessons in children’s literature. But what happens when a seemingly innocent book about a boy and a hungry mouse becomes fodder for the culture wars? Over the last decade, Laura Joffe Numeroff’s If You Give a Mouse a Cookie has been adopted by some on the right as a cautionary tale about government welfare. In this episode, we explore the origins of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, the history of adults extracting unintended meaning from children’s books, and try to figure out how this particular kid’s book became a Republican battle cry.
This episode was written by Cheyna Roth. It was edited by Katie Shepherd and Evan Chung. It was produced by Sofie Kodner. Decoder Ring is produced by Willa Paskin, Evan Chung, Katie Shepherd and Max Freedman. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.
In this episode, you’ll hear from author Laura Numeroff, book critic Bruce Handy, economist Rebecca Christie and former journalist Max Ehrenfreund.
If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com
If you haven’t please yet, subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends.
If you’re a fan of the show, we’d love for you to sign up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to listen to Decoder Ring and every other Slate podcast without any ads. You also get unlimited access to Slate’s website. Member support is crucial to our work. So please go to slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today.
While the What Next team is having a holiday, take this journey with our colleagues over at Decoder Ring. What Next will be back in your feed on Monday.
Adults have a long history of trying to find morals and lessons in children’s literature. But what happens when a seemingly innocent book about a boy and a hungry mouse becomes fodder for the culture wars? Over the last decade, Laura Joffe Numeroff’s If You Give a Mouse a Cookie has been adopted by some on the right as a cautionary tale about government welfare. In this episode, we explore the origins of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, the history of adults extracting unintended meaning from children’s books, and try to figure out how this particular kid’s book became a Republican battle cry.
This episode was written by Cheyna Roth. It was edited by Katie Shepherd and Evan Chung. It was produced by Sofie Kodner. Decoder Ring is produced by Willa Paskin, Evan Chung, Katie Shepherd and Max Freedman. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.
In this episode, you’ll hear from author Laura Numeroff, book critic Bruce Handy, economist Rebecca Christie and former journalist Max Ehrenfreund.
If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com
If you haven’t please yet, subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends.
If you’re a fan of the show, we’d love for you to sign up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to listen to Decoder Ring and every other Slate podcast without any ads. You also get unlimited access to Slate’s website. Member support is crucial to our work. So please go to slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, and many of us will celebrate with full tables. But for millions of Americans, food insecurity is a daily problem, year-round. According to government data from 2023, roughly 14% of American households didn’t know where their next meal was coming from, or whether they could afford to feed everyone in their home. Politician, voting rights activist, and ‘Assembly Required’ host Stacey Abrams has spent years talking about how food insecurity affects communities of all kinds. She joins us to talk about what she’s learned.
Later in the show, YouTube star Brian Tyler Cohen shares tips on how to talk politics with your family during the holidays.
And in headlines: President Biden announced a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, President-elect Donald Trump gets mixed reactions to his plan to immediately enact sweeping tariffs on the top three U.S. trading partners, and the Biden Administration says it wants Medicare and Medicaid to cover the cost of weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound.
As Thanksgiving approaches the price of eggs is spiking again. But it wasn’t just inflation this time – it was also the rising number of cases of avian flu. How can the USDA, FDA, and CDC contain an outbreak in a country that both hates taking preventative measures and won’t tolerate any disruption in their food supply chain?
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 and Rob Gunther.
In his failed 1896 presidential campaign, inflationist William Jennings Bryan declared that he would “not crucify mankind on a cross of gold.” But at least even Bryan favored silver money. Today‘s political candidates will crucify us on a cross of paper.
So-called economic moderates claim to support free-market capitalism, but then say that markets still need “some” government oversight. Free markets, however, don't need government-based rules because markets effectively regulate themselves.
