While political conservatives slammed it as wasteful, President Biden’s student debt plan was greeted with relief by many borrowers. But questions remain about whether it goes far enough to help most of the Black students burdened by student loans. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson discusses the issue with Professor Fenaba Addo, co-author of A Dream Defaulted: The Student Loan Crisis Among Black Borrowers. Guest: UNC Professor Fenaba Addo, co-author of A Dream Defaulted: The Student Lo...
Sep 02, 2022•21 min
Banning books in schools is on the rise. Around the country, parents are lobbying to banish from libraries and curriculums any work they deem to be “graphic” or “offensive,” often sweeping up books centered on queer or POC experiences in the process. Some authors say that’s no coincidence - nor is it surprising that this is happening just as the publishing industry is remaking itself to tell more diverse stories. The question is, what’s the best way to respond to the outrage? This week as we win...
Aug 31, 2022•32 min
Are you ready for some football! After decades of being kept out of the quarterback position, more Black quarterbacks are creating success and finding stardom in the NFL. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by ESPN’s Jason Reid, author of “Rise of the Black Quarterback: What It Means for America.” They discuss how the business and politics of race have changed for football’s most sought after players, and what challenges remain for Black quarterbacks. Guest: Sports writer Jason...
Aug 26, 2022•32 min
On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior producer Cheyna Roth is joined by culture writer Anna Nordberg to talk all about Jane Austen. The romance novelist may have written her seven books well over a century ago, but as Cheyna and Anna discuss, her work still endures in popular culture. They talk about why Austen’s characters are even more modern than the men and women we see on screen today and why some of the men are kind of meh. Later in the show, they talk about what makes an endea...
Aug 25, 2022•35 min
The realm of fan fiction is a wild, magical place to be, especially if that fan fiction is set at Hogwarts. On today’s episode, Rachelle and Madison talk about All the Young Dudes, an extensive Harry Potter fan fiction that has inspired a fandom all its own, and just how that fandom came to be. But first, they chat about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and spend time listening to the first line of some listeners’ NaNoWriMo novels. Podcast production by Jasmine Ellis, Daniel Schroeder, a...
Aug 24, 2022•31 min
David Plotz talks with author Mat Johnson about his new novel Invisible Things. Johnson’s novel tells the story of a group of astronauts that land in a bubble colony on Jupiter's biggest moon. They talk about the challenges of writing satire when reality feels fake, how mediocre people rise up by sucking up, and why we need to look at the invisible things in our daily lives. Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at [email protected]. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the write...
Aug 21, 2022•30 min
This month, host Christina Cauterucci, Jules Gill-Peterson, and Bryan Lowder start the show with a Thots & Queries segment in which a listener asks about orgy etiquette. In a completely different party setting, they try to figure out what on earth is going on in the U.S. Congress, where legislators are debating marriage equality in the form of the Respect for Marriage Act. Then Northwestern University professor and journalist Steven Thrasher joins them to discuss his new book The Viral Underclas...
Aug 17, 2022•2 hr 31 min
The quality of dignity is not strained. Judge Victoria Pratt presided for years over Municipal Court in Newark, New Jersey. Her experiences form the foundation of her book, The Power of Dignity: How Transforming Justice Can Heal Our Communities. In the third of Amicus’ summer season of big-picture conversations, Dahlia Lithwick and Judge Pratt explore what everyone, up to and including Supreme Court Justices, can learn from procedural justice, also known as procedural fairness. You can watch Jud...
Aug 13, 2022•1 hr 1 min
In the last 24 years, Judy has moved approximately 16 times for her husband’s military career. But her family has finally settled down in a lovely house with a yard near Annapolis, Maryland. Now Judy is hoping to transform her outdoor space into something that’s beautiful and environmentally friendly. On this episode of How To!, Doug Tallamy explains why, now more than ever, we need people like Judy to plant native species in order to revive our ecosystem. He has some surprisingly easy tips for ...
Aug 09, 2022•36 min
Rod McKuen sold multiple millions of poetry books in the 60s and 70s. He released dozens of albums, was a regular on late night, and was even nominated for an Oscar. So, how did the most salable poet in American history simply disappear? On today’s episode, Slate writer Dan Kois went searching for Rod McKuen, a famous poet who isn’t so famous anymore. We’ll hear from Stephanie Burt, Mike Chasar and Barry Alfonso, author of Rod’s biography A Voice of the Warm. Along the way, Dan meets Andy Zax, a...
Aug 02, 2022•48 min
Emily Bazelon talks with author Vanessa Hua about her new historical fiction book, Forbidden City. The novel tells the story of sixteen-year-old revolutionary Mei who becomes a dancer in Chairman Mao’s inner circle. Emily and Vanessa talk about Vanessa’s inspiration for the novel, the complicated dynamics between Mei and Chairman Mao, and whether we’ll hear more from Mei. Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at [email protected]. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer s...
Jul 24, 2022•32 min
This week’s January 6th congressional hearings offered an in-depth look at the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and other violent extremist groups that organized the insurrection. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson discusses the issues with counter terrorism expert Malcolm Nance, who has spent years chronicling the rise of white supremacist and other American political extremist movements. His new book is “They Want to Kill Americans: The Militias, Terrorists, and Deranged Ideology of the ...
Jul 15, 2022•24 min
This week, David Plotz, John Dickerson, and Mark Leibovich discuss Biden’s 2024 plans, the establishment Republicans who stand by Trump, and Herschel Walker’s alarming Senate campaign. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Thank You for Your Servitude: Donald Trump's Washington and the Price of Submission, by Mark Leibovich Anne Applebaum for The Atlantic: “History Will Judge The Complicit” Mark Leibovich for the New York Times Magazine: “Donald Trump Is Not Going Anywhere” M...
Jul 14, 2022•55 min
On this episode: Zak talks to filmmaker, author, and actor Sarah Polley about her book Run Towards the Danger. They talk about how losing a parent early influences how she parents now. How to handle guilt and why finding your parenting community is so valuable. They also discuss her boundaryless childhood and why she won’t let her kids be child actors. Finally, Sarah talks about navigating parenting while healing from a years-long injury. Recommendations: Jamilah recommends Lemon Perfect Lemon W...
Jul 11, 2022•32 min
On this week’s episode of The Waves, Brigid Schulte, author of Overwhelmed: How to Work, Love and Play When No One Has the Time and director of the Better Life Lab, is joined by author Angela Garbes. They unpack the modern challenges of motherhood, further illustrated and then exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. They talk about Angela’s new book, Essential Labor, how caregiving is seen as sacred, yet we make it so hard in the United States, and why we pay caregivers—a key part of our society—p...
Jul 07, 2022•28 min
In 2019, Brenda took a year off from their PhD program to try to feel pleasure again…with anything. Brenda has come a long way since then but there’s one thing that’s still elusive—they’ve never experienced an orgasm. Whenever they try, anxiety kicks in and they’re left feeling frustrated and, in their words “broken.” On this episode of How To!, we bring in Ev’Yan Whitney, sex educator, author, and host of the podcast Sensual Self. Ev’Yan has some wonderful wisdom for learning about your body an...
Jul 05, 2022•41 min
Emily Bazelon talks with author Keri Blakinger about her new memoir, Corrections in Ink which recounts Blakinger’s path from Olympic ambitions, to heroin addiction, to prison, and ultimately a return to life on the outside. Blakinger launched a program to deliver her memoir to currently incarcerated readers. You can learn more here: https://800ceoread.com/coupons/redeem/donationcorrectionsinink Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at [email protected]. (Messages could be quoted by n...
Jun 26, 2022•39 min
On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate staff writer Heather Schwedel is joined by Slate books and culture columnist Laura Miller on the ten year anniversary of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. They talk about the initial reaction to Gone Girl, why the twists packed such a punch, and the enduring impact of the famous “cool girl” speech. Then they explore why, despite many books proclaiming to be so, there has never really been another Gone Girl. In Slate Plus, Laura takes Heather behind the scenes ...
Jun 23, 2022•29 min
On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate science writer and editor Shannon Palus is joined by Popular Science executive editor and author Rachel Feltman to talk about sex, baby. Rachel’s new book, “Been There, Done That” explores the quirky, wild, and often queer side of the history of sex. Shannon and Rachel talk about why animal sex is so relevant to human sex, the “loop-de-loop” of sexual evolution, and they ponder the age old question, “Why are even men?” In Slate Plus, Rachel talks about ...
Jun 16, 2022•28 min
Throughout the 2010s, the One Direction fandom was inescapable online. On today’s show, Atlantic writer Kaitlyn Tiffany is here to discuss her new book all about that subject, Everything I Need I Get From You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It. Rachelle and Madison talk to Kaitlyn about why she chose One Direction, how fan theories get out of hand, and why neither she nor Rachelle would ever want to meet Harry Styles. Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder, Rachelle Hampton, and Ma...
Jun 15, 2022•32 min
This month, in honor of Pride, we’re going to be bringing you an Outward episode every week. Today, it’s a segment from a 2021 episode of Working, Slate's podcast about the creative process, in which June Thomas spoke with photographer Joan E. Biren, also known as JEB. In the interview, JEB discusses the creation, funding, and printing of her groundbreaking 1979 photobook Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians, which was reissued by Anthology Editions in 2021. The Working episode was produced by Came...
Jun 08, 2022•34 min
On this episode: Zak and Elizabeth are joined by Scott Hershovitz, author of the book Nasty, Brutish and Short: Adventures in Philosophy with My Kids and the director of the Law and Ethics Program and professor of law and philosophy at the University of Michigan. They discuss why you shouldn’t shy away from big questions, how to foster open mindedness in teens, and perhaps the biggest question of all—what’s a “floofer doofer.” On Slate Plus, they have a round of graduation-themed Triumphs and Fa...
Jun 02, 2022•28 min
John Dickerson talks with author Elif Batuman about coming of age as a college student in the 1990’s, and the similarities between herself and her main character in Either/Or, the sequel to The Idiot. Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at [email protected]. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna Roth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 29, 2022•37 min
This month Bryan, Christina, and Jules explore the intersection of queer life and incarceration. How has America’s prison-loving penal system shaped our history and present, and how does that experience get channeled—or not—into the culture we make and consume? The hosts are joined by Hugh Ryan, author of the new book The Women’s House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison, which uses one infamous mid-century institution in New York’s Greenwich Village to return the overlooked live...
May 24, 2022•1 hr 29 min
On this week’s episode of The Waves, historian and original Waves host, Marcia Chatelain is joined by sociologist Danielle Lindemann to talk all things reality TV. They discuss Danielle’s new book, True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us and why we don’t take reality television as seriously as we should. Later in the show they talk about why women are more successful at monetizing their reality TV brand and how the genre takes us on a tour of the class system. In Slate Plus: Is The Bachelorett...
May 19, 2022•30 min
On this episode: Elizabeth and Zak are joined by Amber O’Neal Johnston. She’s the author of A Place to Belong: Celebrating Diversity and Kinship in the Home and Beyond and has a blog called Heritage Mom. They talk about how families can celebrate their own identities while learning about and appreciating other people’s races and cultural differences. What does it mean to teach kids about “hard history,” but also celebrate cultural heritage? And, why do so many parents find it difficult to talk a...
May 16, 2022•36 min
When Samantha and her husband moved from a condo to a fairly large house, they knew they’d have a lot of updating and upkeep to do. But they had no idea how much time their new chores would gobble up. Or even what chores to do. (If only there was a guide to adulting!) Even when they weren’t holding themselves to picture-perfect standards, it still felt like they were barely keeping their heads above water. On this episode of How To!, we bring on Kendra Adachi, she’s a best-selling author, podcas...
May 10, 2022•36 min
On this episode: Jamilah, Elizabeth, and Zak talk about the wave of anti-trans legislation, the role of misinformation in this movement, and how to protect trans kids. They are joined by Jules Gill-Peterson. She is a trans historian and author of Histories of the Transgender Child, and co-host of Slate’s very own Outward podcast. Recommendations Jamilah recommends: NYT Spelling Bee Elizabeth recommends: PILOT FriXion Clicker Erasable, Refillable & Retractable Gel Ink Pens Zak recommends: This tw...
May 09, 2022•40 min
With one million dead from COVID, many Americans are suffering through profound grief. And for Black Americans, the pandemic combined with the racial reckoning has made the mourning feel endless. On this week’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson talks with writer Marisa Renee Lee about her new book Grief Is Love: Living With Loss, and about making space for joy in the midst of grief. Guest: Marisa Renee Lee, a writer, speaker, and entrepreneur. Her new book is Grief Is Love: Living With Loss. Podc...
May 06, 2022•34 min
This week, host June Thomas talks to Hannah Kirshner, author of Water, Wood, and Wild Things: Learning Craft and Cultivation in a Japanese Mountain Town. In the interview, Hannah explains how her original plan to write a cookbook turned into an immersive reporting experience, where she practiced and documented multiple artisanal disciplines, like sake brewing and wood turning. She also discusses what it was like to be an outsider navigating the norms of rural Japan. After the interview, June and...
May 01, 2022•52 min
