Hosts Alex Kirshner , Lindsay Gibbs , and Ben Lindbergh discuss the thrilling World Baseball Classic semifinal between Team USA and the Dominican Republic, as well as the missed calls, Navy SEAL visits, and other strange drama surrounding the tournament. Then the panel previews NCAA March Madness tournament before closing with a look at the expanding connections between Jeffrey Epstein and figures across the sports world. In this week’s bonus episode for Slate Plus members, the hosts chat about ...
Mar 16, 2026•58 min
On today’s episode, guest host Scaachi Koul is joined by journalist and content creator Melanie Hamlett to talk about the trend of wives who make content about the husbands who seem to hate them. Melanie has covered the toxic dynamics of some heterosexual relationships for years, including a viral 2019 article for Harper’s Bazaar . She was recently interviewed as part of an article for The Cut called I Love My Husband (Who Hates Me) . Get more of ICYMI with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus e...
Mar 14, 2026•32 min
On this week’s monster mash, Steve, Dana, and Julia gather around the proverbial reanimation laboratory to take on the nutty, goth, and unbridled The Bride! Maggie Gyllenhaal’s feminist—or not, it’s up for debate—retelling of Frankenstein features a truly committed performance from Jessie Buckley. Do the disjointed pieces add to a coherent whole? They discuss. Next, they take a look at Paul McCartney: Man on the Run , the Morgan Neville documentary about the moment when the legendary songwriter ...
Mar 11, 2026•1 hr
When Eyes Wide Shut opened in the summer of 1999, it was widely considered a disappointment. This final film from legendary director Stanley Kubrick had been sold as an erotic thriller, and potentially even a peek into the real sex lives of its then-married stars, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. But Eyes Wide Shut was stranger than that: a meditative art film whose much-hyped orgy scene is more creepy than sexy, run by a cabal of rich and powerful men who prey on young women. But Eyes Wide Shut ha...
Mar 11, 2026•46 min
On today’s encore episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by sociologist and content creator Josh Lora, who goes by @tellthebeees on TikTok and Substack . In his viral piece, “ The Mainstreaming of Loserdom ,” Lora explores how a generation of people is becoming proudly anti-social, often in favor of staying home on their phones. While less and less people may be partying, they’re not exactly happy about it. Are we doomed to doomscroll, or can we fight for our right to party again? This podcast is ...
Mar 11, 2026•41 min
This week and next, we’re talking to listeners about how chatbots are impacting their personal lives. Anna talks to a parent getting tips on how to raise a teenager, an American abroad who turned to ChatGPT for grief counseling, a therapist who says Claude is better than a lot of her peers, and a husband who says AI broke up their marriage. Podcast production by Zoe Azulay Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program...
Mar 10, 2026•45 min
Hosts Alex Kirshner , Lindsay Gibbs , and Ben Lindbergh discuss the unusually high number of NFL teams that are seeking new quarterbacks via trades and free agency amid a weak draft class. Later: Why the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks could be left out of March Madness despite an undefeated regular season. Finally, Lindsay breaks down some of the stranger aspects of the WNBA’s collective-bargaining process—and the behind-the-scenes contributions of Kelsey Plum and Breanna Stewart. In this week’s bonus ep...
Mar 09, 2026•59 min
On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Slate editor Tony Ho Tran to talk about everyone’s sudden obsession with Anthropic, the AI company that refused to allow the Trump administration to use it for potential domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons. Now, the right is branding them as “woke,” and the left is rushing to download Claude, Anthropic’s AI chatbot. Both sides, however, are wrong. An AI company will never be the leader of the #resistance, and stanning them for this choi...
Mar 07, 2026•36 min
On this week’s show, Steve is joined by June Thomas, author of A Place of Our Own , and Michael Schulman, author of Her Again and Oscar Wars , for some rollicking Gabfest discourse. First up, they get all shook up by EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert , the concert documentary directed by Baz Luhrmann from archival Elvis performance footage. Does the master of cinematic spectacle bring the King back to life? Next, they turn to The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins , the new sitcom from 30 Rock co-crea...
Mar 04, 2026•1 hr 3 min
On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by journalist Lorena O’Neil to talk about the rise in celebrities’ families using GoFundMe to fundraise after their deaths. In her piece for Rolling Stone , Lorena spoke to experts about why GoFundMes like Eric Dane’s and James Van Der Beek’s are becoming so common, but also why we feel so weird about it. If healthcare can financially devastate both celebrities and regular people alike, then who is really to blame? This podcast is produced by Daisy...
Mar 04, 2026•35 min
Graham Platner has never run for elected office before. He’s a war veteran, an oyster farmer, and now he’s running in a Democratic primary to eventually unseat Senator Susan Collins of Maine. He’s ahead in the polls, but he’s also been criticized for Reddit comments from his past and recently covered up a tattoo that looks suspiciously like a Nazi symbol (a connection he denies knowing about ). Last week, before the recent attacks on Iran, Anna sat down with Graham to discuss his unlikely outsid...
Mar 03, 2026•1 hr 28 min
Hosts Alex Kirshner , Lindsay Gibbs , and Ben Lindbergh revisit the whirlwind week for the U.S. men’s hockey team, after their gold medal win, and SOTU and White House visits. Then, the Ringer’s Megan Schuster joins to preview the new season of Formula 1 and its broadcasting move to Apple TV. To close, Ben breaks down what to look out for in the World Baseball Classic, which starts this week. On the bonus episode, available exclusively for Slate Plus members, the hosts share their highs and lows...
Mar 02, 2026•1 hr 3 min
On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay and Slate staff writer Luke Winkie debrief after Luke’s scene report from outside Nancy Guthrie’s Arizona home. The 84-year-old was reported missing on February 1, and ever since, true-crime creators have been livestreaming from her home, spreading theories, and profiting off her disappearance without any journalistic or investigative experience. Independent creators redefining news and media isn’t necessarily a bad thing, so why does this feel so sinister? ...
Feb 28, 2026•35 min
These days, country and pop acts regularly invade each other’s territory. But in Nashville during the 1970s, “crossover” was a dirty word. Then came two rising stars who offered up a new hybrid of Americana-style pop. John Denver infused his folk balladry with homespun lyrics about country roads and wide-open skies. Olivia Newton-John sang over twangy melodies that belied her British-Australian roots. Both faced backlash—especially when they started topping the country and pop charts simultaneou...
Feb 27, 2026•55 min•Ep. 267
The delicious, healthful prune has long had a cross to bear: It’s best known for making people poop. In the late 1990s, the California Prune Board set out on a quixotic mission to amend this sales-flattening reputation. It would attempt to rechristen this ancient fruit in the hopes the prune could one day be as unencumbered as an apricot, a raisin, or a fig. In a world where every product and person increasingly believes it’s one good rebrand away from changing how they are seen, the story of th...
Feb 25, 2026•45 min
The original trio Steve, Dana, and Julia convene for a right cracker of a Gabfest as they discuss How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, the new comedic mystery from Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee. In the Netflix series, three longtime Belfast friends must revisit their childhood trauma to unravel the mystery of a fourth friend’s disappearance— raucous Northern Irish hijinks ensue. Next, they step into the unhinged dystopian Los Angeles of Gore Verbinski’s new film Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die . I...
Feb 25, 2026•1 hr 1 min
On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay and senior supervising producer Daisy Rosario reflect on the 2026 Winter Olympics —but not just what happened out on the ice. There was a different Olympics unfolding on social media, with viral moments from the ceremony that deserve their own gold, silver, and bronze medals. Kate and Daisy rank them, and also finally break their silence on the internet’s other current fixation: Punch the monkey. This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, ...
Feb 25, 2026•34 min
When Helena de Groot got married she didn't want children, but her husband did. For eight years, love was enough to paper over their differences. Then an unplanned pregnancy forced them to finally choose. Listen to her terrific new podcast Creation Myth , out now from the CBC. This episode was produced by Andrew Dunn. Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus ! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus conte...
Feb 24, 2026•51 min
Hosts Alex Kirshner , Lindsay Gibbs , and Ben Lindbergh relive the dual wins for Team USA's women's and men’s hockey teams and examine how MAGA has co-opted the victory. Then, they’re joined by journalist Chris Dalby, author of the Sports and Crime newsletter, goes deep on why Trump seems to love pardoning athletes . Next, the hosts get into the alarming expansion of sports betting via prediction markets. And finally, Ben brings us an Afterball on the demise of the European Super League. On the ...
Feb 23, 2026•1 hr 2 min
On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by writer Charlie Sosnick to break down “looksmaxxing.” While the trend—which involves things like jaw surgery and “bone smashing” to achieve mathematically-determined levels of attractiveness—has existed for some time in incel forums, creators like Clavicular have brought it mainstream. Now, teenage boys are growing up with their own kind of beauty standard, one that insists their success in life is determined by arbitrary factors like the width o...
Feb 21, 2026•42 min
On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Jenna Ryu, a lifestyle writer at SELF whose piece, “ Meet the ‘Finger Princess’: The Annoying Friend Everyone Has ,” introduced the term for a persistent pet peeve. “Finger princess,” the English translation of the Korean phrase ping-peu , applies to those in the group chat who ask questions instead of Googling, and refuse to scroll up to see if their question has already been answered. But by calling out finger princesses, are we actually being...
Feb 18, 2026•34 min
This week, Dana is joined by Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times film critic and host of the podcast Unspooled , as well as Jamelle Bouie, New York Times columnist and host of the podcast Unclear and Present Danger . They discuss love affairs, lustful, glamorous, and interspecies. First up, it’s the lustful as they take up Emerald Fennell’s bodice-ripping adaptation of “ Wuthering Heights.” Starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as the doomed duo Cathy and Heathcliff, the adaptation promises an ov...
Feb 18, 2026•52 min
Hosts Alex Kirshner , Lindsay Gibbs , and Ben Lindbergh examine the NBA’s growing tanking problem and the league’s ongoing struggle to make the All-Star Game competitive. Then they’re joined by sportswriter, Neil Paine , to discuss the rise of Connor Zilisch, a young NASCAR driver drawing comparisons to Jeff Gordon. To close, Hang Up vet, Josh Levin , returns to talk all things Winter Olympics and what he’s looking forward to in its last week. Ben also has an Afterball on the Snoop Dogg-ificatio...
Feb 17, 2026•1 hr 15 min
Here at DSM, we’ve been enjoying Heated Rivalry , the HBO series about two pro hockey players who begin a secret love affair. The show is steamy, but it also highlights some persistent problems in male sports culture, namely, that same-sex relationships are still extremely taboo. But one TikTok account is trying to change that culture for the better. Sex Ed for Guys was started by athletes at Colby College in Maine, and their videos promote emotional vulnerability and openness, strong male frien...
Feb 17, 2026•50 min
On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by writer Sonia Weiser to discuss her piece, “ I Made My Dating Profile Weird on Purpose. It’s Surprisingly Effective .” People have been frustrated with dating apps for some time, but now the rise of AI has made profiles boring and inauthentic. When everyone looks and talks the same, it’s even harder to find a spark. Instead, Sonia and a number of other dating app users have decided to stop taking the apps so seriously, and use them to shitpost th...
Feb 14, 2026•33 min
These days, country and pop acts regularly invade each other’s territory. But in Nashville during the 1970s, “crossover” was a dirty word. Then came two rising stars who offered up a new hybrid of Americana-style pop. John Denver infused his folk balladry with homespun lyrics about country roads and wide-open skies. Olivia Newton-John sang over twangy melodies that belied her British-Australian roots. Both faced backlash—especially when they started topping the country and pop charts simultaneou...
Feb 14, 2026•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 266
The sugarcane fields! La casita! Piraguas! Lady Gaga! Ricky Martin! An actual wedding! Bad Bunny’s immense and boisterous Super Bowl Halftime show brought a whole Puerto Rican universe to Levi’s Stadium and into American viewers’ homes. Julia and guest hosts Nadira Goffe and Rebecca Onion revel in the joyful spectacle and are joined by Slate writer Joshua Rivera to decode the inclusive politics of this party . Next, the panel examines the bracing, anxiety-inducing film If I Had Legs I’d Kick You...
Feb 11, 2026•1 hr 4 min
Three weeks ago, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum shared an unusual tweet : a cartoon image of himself with his arm draped around a giant, anthropomorphized lump of coal. This piece of coal has big googly eyes and a smudge of a nose, and is wearing a safety vest and a hard hat. He is, frankly, adorable—and he has a name: Coalie. When Coalie first appeared on the internet, he went viral—ridiculed on social media, in newsletters, and even on late night talk shows . And that’s because thi...
Feb 11, 2026•43 min
On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Kat Tenbarge, who wrote “ There's nothing funny about the Epstein Files ,” to discuss how the internet has turned Jeffrey Epstein into a meme. While dark humor has long been a way to process tragic events, online shitposts about the sex offender and alleged sex trafficker risk minimizing his crimes. Instead of justice, the public is using the newly-released files to score internet points at the expense of victims. This podcast is produced by Dai...
Feb 11, 2026•38 min
On the air, Yesi Ortiz is a warm, flirty host for a popular L.A. hip hop station. Off the air, she’s a single mother of six adopted kids. Managing both roles, plus romance, is a challenge. This episode originally aired in 2015. Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus ! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today a...
Feb 10, 2026•32 min
