How much can we truly know about the inner lives of others? Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Miles Leeson and Karen Leeder to reflect on the challenge of interpreting the minds and motivations of poets, both past and present.
Editor Miles Leeson presents Poems from an Attic, a newly published collection of Iris Murdoch’s previously unseen poetry. Found in a box long after her death, these intimate verses offer fresh insight into the desires of a writer better known for her novels and philosophy.
Professor Karen Leeder has spent much of her career studying the poetry of East Germany. Her recent translation of Durs Grünbein, Psyche Running: Selected Poems 2005-2022 won this year's Griffin Poetry Prize 2025. Grünbein has written about the wartime bombing of his birth city Dresden and as a translator of classical authors, including Aeschylus and Seneca, his work features reflections on the relevance of the past and of antiquity in the present.
Nick Makoha's latest volume of poetry The New Carthaginians draws on an eclectic range of artistic, historic and cultural sources from the politics of 1970s Uganda to the myth of Icarus and the exploded collages of the neo-expressionist art movement. He writes employing symbols and traditions in startling ways to transform what we might think we know into something completely new.
What do the economics of decolonisation mean for the future of Aotearoa? This question drives the work of Dr. Matthew Scobie and Dr. Anna Sturman as they explore the complex relationship between tangata whenua and capitalism in The Economic Possibilities of Decolonisation (Bridget Williams Books, 2024). By weaving together historical insights and contemporary analysis, this book reveals the enduring influence of Māori economies and illuminates how these perspectives could radically transform Aotearoa’s political economy for the better.
This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.
It’s that time of year when Leah, Melissa, and Kate put on their influencer hats and recommend the things that made their days a little brighter in 2025. This year, they’re joined by two special guests: rockstar Strict Scrutiny intern Jordan Thomas to share some of his picks, and former Chair of the Federal Election Commission Ellen Weintraub to discuss two of democracy’s favorite things—independent agencies and the regulation of money in politics.
Yetis, the 3 biggest forces in business in 2025? Trump, AI, & Affordability. For more on that? Look at every other newsletter, podcast, and social media post of every day this year.
But instead, we found the 3 biggest “pop-biz” themes of 2025: Maxxing, robots, & kale collar workers.
1. “Everything Maxxing”… From Protein Maxxing to Tariff Maxxing to the Casino Economy.
2. “Robots got Promoted”… Waymos, Blue Collar Bots, and laundry-folding humanoids.
Want more business storytelling from us? Check our weekly deepdive show, The Best Idea Yet: The untold origin story of the products you're obsessed with. Listen for free to The Best Idea Yet: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/
About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, The Best One Yet is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell.
Leonard Peltier’s release after nearly 50 years in federal prison tops our list for the most momentous events of 2025. We’ll explore what the unrepentant elder activist’s relative freedom (he remains under house arrest) means nearly a year after President Joe Biden commuted his sentence. We’ll also revisit some of the other top news events including how President Donald Trump’s first year touched everything from Native health care to federal contracts, and federal recognition for the Lumbee Nation.
With an unprecedented decades-long run of success, Warren Buffett is retiring on December 31, 2025. Buffett’s turning point began with the acquisition of a failing textile mill called Berkshire Hathaway. What began as a “terrible mistake” became the foundation for his empire. Today on the show, how did Buffett become this legendary figure?
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HEADS UP: We are taking next week off, happy holiday everyone.
Agentic coding tools are collapsing “implementation time,” so the cost curve of shipping software may be shifting sharply
Recent programming advancements haven’t been that great of a true benefit: Cloud, TDD, microservices, complex frontends, Kubernetes, etc.
Agentic AI’s big savings are not just code generation, but coordination overhead reduction (fewer handoffs, fewer meetings, fewer blocks).
Thinking, product clarity, and domain decisions stay hard, while typing and scaffolding get cheap.
Is it the end of software dev? Not really, see Jevons paradox: when production gets cheaper, total demand can rise rather than spending simply falling. (Historically: the efficiency of coal use led to the increased consumption of coal)
Pushes back on “only good for greenfield” by arguing agents also help with legacy code comprehension and bug-fixing. I 100% agree. #Legacy code for the win.
Brian #2: More on Deprecation Warnings
How are people ignoring them?
yep, it’s right in the Python docs: -W ignore::DeprecationWarning
Don’t do that!
Perhaps the docs should give the example of emitting them only once
Companies are not cheap, companies optimize cost control. They do this by making purchasing slow and painful.
FOSS is/was a major unlock hack to skip procurement, legal, etc.
Example is months to start using a paid “Add to calendar” widget!
It “works both ways”: the same bypass lowers the barrier for maintainers too, no need for a legal entity, lawyers, liability insurance, or sales motion.
Proposals that “fix FOSS” by reintroducing supply-chain style controls (he name-checks SBOMs and mandated processes) risk being rejected or gamed, because they restore the very friction FOSS sidesteps.
Brian #4: Should I be looking for a GitHub alternative?
All this week, What Next and What Next: TBD are re-airing some of our favorite conversations from throughout the year and checking back with the people in those conversations to see how things have – or haven’t – changed. This episode is from April.
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.
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We’re on a mission to get 100 people to join Slate Plus before the new year—and we’re even offering a 50-percent-off deal to folks who join us right now. VisitSlate.com/whatnextplus and use the code WHATNEXT50 to get a year of Slate Plus for $59.
Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Ethan Oberman, Isabel Angell, and Rob Gunther.
Mahmood Mamdani — a professor of government at Columbia University and the father of Zohran Mamdani, NYC’s next mayor — has spent decades researching colonialism and its effects on the African continent. His work is both political and personal, influenced by his own experience in Uganda as an exiled citizen deemed nonindigenous by colonial structures. In today’s episode, Mamdani talks to NPR’s Leila Fadel about his newest book, Slow Poison, an account of colonial legacy in Uganda, the rise of the country’s modern autocrats, and the politics of belonging that surround it all.
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
