This week, host June Thomas talks to Katherine Howe, a writer of both historical fiction and nonfiction books. In the interview, Katherine starts by discussing her upcoming novel A True Account, which tells a fictional story about the very real Golden Age of Piracy. Then she talks about her work collaborating with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper on historical nonfiction books. Their latest is called Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune. After the interview, June and co-host Kristen Meinzer...
Oct 29, 2023•45 min
In this episode, Maeve Higgins (author of Maeve in America: Essays by a Girl From Somewhere Else) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about how to respond when everyone thinks your toxic ex is brave and amazing, where to turn when your absentee dad has done psychedelics and forgiven himself a little too enthusiastically, and what to do when you can’t stop making nasty comments to your dog. If you want more Dear Prudence, join Slate Plus, Slate’s membership program....
Oct 27, 2023•39 min
David Plotz talks with author and 12-year Amazon senior employee, Kristi Coulter about her new memoir, Exit Interview: The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career. They discuss the good, the bad, and the confusing parts of Coulter’s career at Amazon, starting in 2006. They talk about the culture of Amazon, the frustrating gender dynamics, and why she was constantly “a year away” from a promotion. Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages could be quoted by n...
Oct 21, 2023•31 min
In this episode, Roxane Gay (best-selling author of Bad Feminist and Opinions) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about how to decline a colleague’s invitation to dinner, when it’s okay to ghost a friend for good reasons, and whether it’s possible to say positive about love when you’re burned out on dating apps. If you want more Dear Prudence, join Slate Plus, Slate’s membership program. Jenée answers an extra question every week, just for members. Go to Slate.com...
Oct 20, 2023•40 min
On this episode: Jamilah Lemieux is joined by Dr. Cara Natterson and Vanessa Kroll Bennett, authors of This Is So Awkward: Modern Puberty Explained. They explain how puberty has changed over the last few decades, what these shifts mean for today’s kids, and how caregivers can guide these young adults through this transition. If you want to check out more of Cara and Vanessa’s wonderful advice, they also host The Puberty Podcast. Recommendations: Elizabeth: Clubhouse Games (Nintendo Switch) Zak: ...
Oct 16, 2023•34 min
On this week’s episode of The Waves: the case for taking a sabbatical. Host TK Dutes speaks with author and former television writer Patty Lin on her latest book End Credits: How I Broke Up With Hollywood. Lin worked in some of the most notable writers' rooms like Friends, Freaks and Geeks, Desperate Housewives and Breaking Bad. But when she hit a breaking point, she made a big change and stopped working for an entire year. After that? Her relationship with work–and everything else–transformed. ...
Oct 12, 2023•40 min
On today’s episode, Rachelle Hampton and Candice Lim talk to writer Cyrena Touros about Dracula Daily, a newsletter that emails bite-sized passages from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel to more than 235,000 readers. As an epistolary novel, Dracula is broken into letters written between May and November. Dracula Daily emails those letters to readers, who have now created a book club-like fandom rife with memes and sidebars about a guy stuck in a vampire’s castle. This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragl...
Oct 11, 2023•35 min
Many of the gains of the Civil Rights movement were built by African Americans who turned grief—often over the violent deaths of loved ones—into activism. At the same time, grief over anticipated or theoretical losses within the white community is frequently harnessed into political power. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by political science professor Juliet Hooker, author of Black Grief/White Grievance, about why anger and even violence has often been framed as a justified...
Oct 06, 2023•27 min
In this episode, Ashley C. Ford (author of the bestselling memoir Somebody’s Daughter) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about whether conflicting ideas about children should end a relationship between two twenty-somethings, what to do when a friend is obsessed with her husband’s band, and if it’s acceptable to leave your partner behind and vacation without them if they’re running late and miss the flight. If you want more Dear Prudence, join Slate Plus, Slate’s ...
Oct 06, 2023•44 min
On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate Senior Supervising Producer of Audio, Daisy Rosario can’t get toxic female bosses out of her head. She’s joined by Noelle Crooks, author of the new book, Under the Influence and former employee of one Rachel Hollis, so she knows a lot about bad workplaces. They discuss the insidious nature of saying your workplace is “like a family,” why an office dance party is a BAD thing, and how some powerful women leverage their minority status for ill. In Slate Pl...
Oct 05, 2023•35 min
This week, Isaac talks to author and returning guest Jonathan Lethem! In the interview, Jonathan discusses his brand new book, Brooklyn Crime Novel, which revisits themes and settings that Jonathan engaged with in his previous works, Fortress of Solitude and Motherless Brooklyn. This time, Jonathan uses unusual storytelling tactics–like characters without names and chapters that vary wildly in length–to rediscover the Brooklyn of his youth. After the interview, Isaac and co-host June Thomas talk...
Oct 01, 2023•46 min
**Today’s episode discusses sensitive language, including the n-word, and may not be appropriate for all listeners.** For decades, words and phrases that originate in Black homes, churches, and entertainment have been pulled into the national conversation…where their meanings are often changed or widely misunderstood. And social media has accelerated the process, taking Black vernacular from a group chat, to Twitter, to national headlines in record time. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johns...
Sep 29, 2023•35 min
On today’s episode of Hear Me Out… what? Oh my god, who told you? Adoption is a complicated thing. Raising a child who’s not related to you is challenging — and being that child, in many ways, is even harder. And it’s all too easy for adoption, particularly a white family adopting a black or brown child, to be framed as a heroic act. The truth, as adoptees will tell you, is a lot messier. Angela Tucker, a writer and transracial adoptee, joins us to argue that adoption is traumatic… and with the ...
Sep 26, 2023•41 min
This week, host Nate Chinen talks with Dave Chisholm, a jazz trumpeter who writes graphic novels about jazz musicians. His previous publications include Chasin' the Bird: A Charlie Parker Graphic Novel and Enter the Blue. His next book, Miles Davis and the Search for the Sound, will be released in November. In the interview, Chisholm talks about how he uses the visual language of comics to explore the musical language of jazz and about the challenges of writing a book about a figure of the signi...
Sep 24, 2023•49 min
Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers are joined by Kashmir Hill to talk about her new book, Your Face Belongs to Us. They dig into the way facial recognition technology is used in unexpected (and sometimes creepy) ways. They also talk about the A.I. revolution and Rupert Murdoch’s “exit” from the Fox empire. In the Plus segment: Kashmir talks about tracking her husband. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience acros...
Sep 23, 2023•56 min
Emily Bazelon talks with author Zadie Smith about her new book, The Fraud. They discuss what happens when justice comes through an unjust symbol, how much Zadie does and doesn’t know about her characters, and more. Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (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
Sep 23, 2023•29 min
On this episode: Zak Rosen, Jamilah Lemieux, and Elizabeth Newcamp talk about toxic achievement culture. The three of them talk with Jennifer Breheny Wallace, journalist and author of Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic – And What We Can Do About It — about how we push our kids, and ourselves, even when we don’t need to. We also go over our week in parenting. And then, for Slate Plus, we’ll debrief on our conversation with Jennifer, and the hosts will discuss how they, and their...
Sep 21, 2023•34 min
It’s September. Are you ready to warm up your muscles as the temperatures dip and get your apartment all cozy for the cuffing season to come? If so, Outward has you covered. First, listeners Elizabeth and Peter respond to last month’s discussion of Amazon’s film adaptation of Red, White & Royal Blue. Then the hosts talk with sports journalist Katie Barnes about their new book Fair Play: How Sports Shape the Gender Debates, which tells the remarkable story of how sports have been gendered long be...
Sep 20, 2023•1 hr 7 min
On today’s episode, Rachelle Hampton and Candice Lim are joined by Jane Friedman, author of The Business of Being a Writer and the publisher of Hot Sheet, a newsletter about the publishing industry. The three discuss Friedman’s recent battle with AI-generated books that were being published and sold under her name on Amazon. Friedman published a blog about the saga titled “I Would Rather See My Books Get Pirated Than This (Or: Why Goodreads and Amazon are Becoming Dumpster Fires)” detailing the ...
Sep 16, 2023•50 min
The teaching of Black history has been under increasing political attack in recent years. But the version of African American history taught –even to Black people– has always been incomplete. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by columnist Michael Harriot to discuss his new book, Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America. They discuss the inspiration for the book, the most persistent myths of race and racism, and fighting the backlash against Black history. Guest: ...
Sep 15, 2023•34 min
In this episode, Tia Williams (bestselling author of The Perfect Find) joins Prudie (Jenée Desmond-Harris) to answer letters from readers about how to cope with excessive Facebook photos of your partner’s ex, how to mourn a racist in-law’s death, and how to have a cute summer romance in Italy. If you want more Dear Prudence, join Slate Plus, Slate’s membership program. Jenée answers an extra question every week, just for members. Go to Slate.com/prudieplus to sign up. It’s just $15 for your firs...
Sep 15, 2023•37 min
On this episode: Zak Rosen, Jamilah Lemieux, and Elizabeth Newcamp talk about parenting digital citizens. Elizabeth sits down with author and speaker Dr. Devorah Heitner about her latest book, Growing Up in Public. The book helps guide parents through navigating social media and phone usage for their kids — and the privacy, freedom, and surveillance issues that come along with phones. We also go over our week in parenting. And then, for Slate Plus, we’ll debrief on our conversation with Devorah ...
Sep 14, 2023•40 min
This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers are joined by Coco Krumme to discuss her book Optimal Illusions: The False Promise of Optimization. In the Plus segment: The story in Felix’s newsletter today on why the city of Birmingham in the UK has gone bankrupt. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 09, 2023•41 min
This week, Emily Bazelon and David Plotz are joined by The Atlantic’s Franklin Foer to discuss Joe Biden’s White House and The Last Politician; the war in Ukraine and the possible meeting of Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin; and Americans’ views on the value of higher education. Join us for Political Gabfest Live in Madison, Wisconsin on October 25! Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future by...
Sep 07, 2023•56 min
On this episode: Zak interviews Jake Gyllenhaal, Greta Caruso, and Dan Santat about their new book, The Secret Society of Aunts & Uncles. They dive into what makes that particular relationship so special, why it’s overlooked in children’s literature, and even what goes into crafting a kids book. We also go over our week in triumphs and fails. Then, if you’re sticking around for Slate Plus, we share some Instagram accounts that are actually making our lives better. Zak recommends: @owen.han @dail...
Sep 07, 2023•33 min
On this month’s episode of Future Tense Fiction, host Maddie Stone talks to Janelle Shane about her short story “The Skeleton Crew.” The House of A.I. is a next-level haunted house: In it, a suite of advanced A.I.s read visitors’ facial expressions to generate perfectly tailored scares. Or at least, that’s what the marketing materials want you to believe. It turns out, the house is actually operated by a group of underpaid gig workers, tasked with posing as spooky A.I.s as they guide visitors th...
Sep 02, 2023•1 hr 5 min
On this episode: Award-winning journalist Dashka Slater joins to talk about her new book, Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed. It’s a story of a teen sharing extremely racist memes and photos of classmates on a private instagram and what happened when the account was discovered. It led to even more hurt, protests, botched mediation, and a community-wide conversation about justice and what it means to be complicit. Besides the inte...
Aug 31, 2023•41 min
As an end of summer treat, Rachelle Hampton and Candice Lim dive deep into the drama that engulfed BookTok earlier this August. Over the spring and early summer, hockey-themed romance novels enjoyed a rise in the BookTok charts, a rise that led to an influx of new fans into the hockey community. One team in particular, the Seattle Krakens, became the unofficial team of BookTok, with Swedish player Alex Wennberg receiving special attention. Sexualized commentary by content creators like Kierra Le...
Aug 30, 2023•37 min
Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers speak with author and academic Bjorn Lomborg about his latest book, “Best Things First”. How does Bjorn’s advice differ from effective altruism? And where should you donate your own money? 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....
Aug 26, 2023•50 min
In Amicus’ summer series of conversations about books that expanded our thinking about justice and the courts, beyond the churn of headlines, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Judge Margaret M McKeown of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CIrcuit, to discuss her book Citizen Justice: The Environmental Legacy of William O. Douglas―Public Advocate and Conservation Champion Sign up for Slate Plus now to support our show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 26, 2023•57 min
