Slate News – Details, episodes & analysis

On this week’s show, the hosts discuss Max’s new medical drama The Pitt – a show that we legally can’t call an ER reboot but does have Noah Wyle donning scrubs and handling the next bodily emergency yet again. Our regular hosts also discuss an article from the Intelligencer, The Cruel Kids’ Table about how young Republicans now feel empowered to bring cruelty back into public discourse. Finally, we welcome LA Film Critic Amy Nicholson to discuss the Oscar-nominated film September 5 about the hostage crisis during the 1972 Munich Olympics. Also, we’re looking for a new Production Assistant! To apply, send us an email introducing yourself and give two ideas for segments to culturegabfestassistant@gmail.com.  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel tackles the biggest luminary question of the year: Do you use ‘The Big Light’?  Email us at culturefest@slate.com.  Endorsements: Dana: Just sort of a beautiful moment: Live wolf howls in Manitoba, Canada  Julia: Branded in Memory | Signs.com / Draw Logos From Memory – Test your recall and see if you can recreate popular brand logos Steve: The Wired Starter Pack on bsky and Subscribe to Wired Podcast production and research by Vic Whitley-Berry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Using Github, you can watch as government websites are brought into compliance with Donald Trump’s executive orders. Out goes the word “equity;” in comes “fair.” And health and science data, once publicly available, disappears. Guest: Jason Koebler, cofounder of 404 Media. Jeremy Prokop, data science advisor in the Midwest Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why did the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which gives money to humanitarian causes around the world and accounts for roughly half of one percent of the federal budget, end up in DOGE’s crosshairs? And is its abrupt closure legal?   Guests: Franco Ordoñez, White House Correspondent for NPR. Fred Kaplan, Slate’s war stories correspondent. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week’s killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO prompted an outpouring of glee online. A look into UnitedHealthcare’s business practices—and the American healthcare system as a whole—can help explain why. Guest: Dan Diamond, national health reporter for The Washington Post. 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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pedestrian deaths in America have been rising for the last decade, while dropping in Europe and Japan. What makes the U.S. so dangerous for pedestrians? Guest: Jessie Singer, author of There Are No Accidents: The Deadly Rise of Injury and Disaster―Who Profits and Who Pays the Price.  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the first of Amicus’ summer series of conversations about books and podcasts that have helped us look at the Supreme Court from a different angle, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Joel Anderson, host of Season 8 of Slate’s Slow Burn podcast: Becoming Justice Thomas. They talk about the experiences and people who helped shape Justice Thomas’ worldview and how deeply his jurisprudence is rooted in a kind of “cruel to be kind” ethos from his childhood. And why he was so blind to the challenges and suffering of so many Black women in his life.  Next, Dahlia talks to Heather McGhee, Author The Sum of Us: WHAT RACISM COSTS EVERYONE AND HOW WE CAN PROSPER TOGETHER, about her books and podcast, and what they can teach us about a Supreme Court that is inclined to frame the world as zero-sum. Sign up for Slate Plus now to support our show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers talk about Disney’s challenges especially now that writers and actors are both on strike. They discuss the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on student loans. And finally, what to do if your bank suddenly closes your account.  In the Plus segment: Giant cruise ship!  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and an additional segment of our show every week. You’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Slate Money. Sign up now at slate.com/moneyplus to help support our work. Podcast production by Patrick Fort. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Waves, we’re talking about the Women’s World Cup and why you should be watching it (even if sometimes it’s a little tricky to find). Slate senior supervising producer Daisy Rosario is joined by investigative sports journalist Jessica Luther with a Waves guide to the cup. They discuss what players to look for, why nationalism can sometimes trump misogyny, Megan Rapinoe’s retirement, and why the US women’s soccer team is so good. In Slate Plus: Episode 5 of our And Just Like That…recap. If you liked this episode, check out: Is the Wedding Dress Dead? Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery. Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on How To!. Sign up now at slate.com/thewavesplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, John Dickerson and David Plotz are joined by Vox’s Marin Cogan @marincogan to discuss the extreme weather, heat, and floods that are wreaking havoc across the United States and around the world; the social media phenomenon of Threads; and the American love-hate relationship with cars.    Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Cara Buckley for The New York Times: “To Help Cool a Hot Planet, the Whitest of White Coats” Jonathan Erdman for The Weather Channel: “America’s Top Weather Killer Is Not Tornadoes, Flooding, Lightning Or Hurricanes – It’s Heat” Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar  Antonio Pequeño IV for Forbes: “Zuckerberg Vs. Musk: Everything We Know About The Possible Cage Fight”  These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore  Insider Intelligence: “US Social Network Ad Revenue Growth, 2021-2023”  Marin Cogan for Vox: “The impossible paradox of car ownership”; “The deadliest road in America”; and “Cars transformed America. They also made people more vulnerable to the police.”  Tracy Chapman: “Fast Car”; Luke Combs: “Fast Car”; and Emily Yahr for The Washington Post: “Tracy Chapman, Luke Combs and the complicated response to ‘Fast Car’”  Henry Grabar for Slate: “Why More Americans Are Using Fake License Plates and Getting Away With It” Gersh Kuntzman for Streetsblog NYC: “Paris Mayor Enters Fray Between E-Bikes and Pedestrians – By Fighting Drivers”   Here are this week’s chatters: John: Hannah Hartig, Andrew Daniller, Scott Keeter, and Ted Van Green for Pew Research Center: “Republican Gains in 2022 Midterms Driven Mostly by Turnout Advantage”  Marin and David: Tour de France on NBC Sports; Tour de France: Unchained on Netflix  Listener chatter from Dan Kirkwood: Claire Stremple for The Alaska Beacon: “Angoon students name, launch first dugout canoe since 1882 Bombardment”  For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David, John, and Marin discuss traffic enforcement, the need for it, and the harms it causes.  In the latest edition of Gabfest Reads, Emily talks with Monica Potts @MonicaBPotts about her book, The Forgotten Girls: A Memoir of Friendship and Lost Promise in Rural America.    Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com or Tweet us @SlateGabfest. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)   Podcast production by Cheyna Roth Research by Julie Huygen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Contract negotiations between the Teamsters and UPS broke down last week and now a strike looms. With time running out, can both sides reach a deal?  Guest: Noam Scheiber, labor reporter for the New York Times. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices