Fertility doctors and their patients trying to conceive via in vitro fertilization (IVF) were stopped in their tracks this week, as the Alabama Supreme Court declared that embryos have the same rights as people. The decision has left doctors wondering if they can be sued for carrying out standard IVF procedures, and experts worry the ruling could have ramifications for IVF around the country. Guest: Dr. Elizabeth Constance, reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialist in Omaha, Nebraska...
Feb 25, 2024•28 min
Stress is all around us, but that doesn’t mean it needs to run our entire lives. According to Dr. Romie Mushtaq – a neurologist turned corporate wellness consultant – the main culprit behind our culture of stress is what she calls a “busy brain.” This week on Well, Now Dr. Kavita Patel and Maya Feller, RDN talk with Dr. Mushtaq about curing our busy brains and her latest book The Busy Brain Cure: The Eight-Week Plan to Find Focus, Tame Anxiety and Sleep Again . If you liked this episode, check o...
Feb 21, 2024•37 min
The promise of artificial intelligence in medicine is that it can reduce the influence of human error and bias in health care. But there’s growing concern that A.I. in medicine –as in other fields– can reflect the biases and lack of diversity among its creators. And that can have life threatening consequences for African American patients. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by Margo Snipe, a health reporter for CapitalB News. They discuss how A.I. can sometimes fuel medical ra...
Feb 16, 2024•27 min
On this week’s episode of Well, Now’s ditching the flowers and grand romantic gestures we often see on Valentine’s Day. There’s tons of research about how loving relationships contribute to wellness, as well as how lacking those relationships can play a part in adverse health outcomes. But what if our entire understanding of love is misguided? Kavita and Maya talk with relationship expert Dr. Sara Nasserzadeh about what she says are the six components for creating real, long-lasting intimate rel...
Feb 14, 2024•35 min
On this episode: Elizabeth Newcamp, Zak Rosen, and Jamilah Lemieux talk about the birds and the bees. Parents don’t often get to talk about their sex lives out in the open… So this Valentine’s week, we thought we’d open the door to all things romance. First up: we answer a listener question about managing different sex drives and all the normal parenting stuff. Then you’ll hear from resident single mom Jamilah about the logistics of swiping and dating with a kid in the house. We’ll also share a ...
Feb 12, 2024•31 min
On today’s show, Rachelle makes her triumphant return. She’s joined by A.W. Ohlheiser, a senior technology reporter and editor at Vox, who recently wrote about the complicated lives and deaths of TikTok’s illness influencers . As Ohlheiser wrote, “These stories — whether held in an archive of personal letters, a widely discussed lecture, or on the For You pages of millions — are all shaped by the expectations of the ‘well.’ Turning sickness into content can get views. And just like any content, ...
Feb 10, 2024•40 min
Super Bowl LVIII is this Sunday, amid decades of controversy surrounding football’s impact on traumatic brain injuries. But for many athletes, these long-term effects can be felt well before making it to the pros: on high school and college teams. On Well, Now this week: Maya and Kavita talk with physical therapist and concussion specialist John Doherty about the science surrounding youth contact sports and what we know about their relationship with brain injuries down the road. Podcast producti...
Feb 07, 2024•33 min
Dry January has come and gone, but the conversation about alcohol—and rethinking our relationship with it—is still very much with us. This week’s listener, Natalie, wants to move past the abundance vs. abstinence debate and talk about a third option: thoughtful moderation. In this episode, Courtney Martin brings on journalist Rosamund Dean , author of Mindful Drinking: How Cutting Down Can Change Your Life and Well, Well, Well , a Substack about living better, for longer. She shares how she foun...
Feb 06, 2024•41 min
Pediatrician Dr. Seema Jilani’s work has taken her from Sudan to Afghanistan. Last month, she was in Gaza for two weeks, where she worked tending to the wounded in the besieged Al-Aqsa Hospital. Guest: Dr. Seema Jilani, senior technical adviser at the International Rescue Committee 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 ...
Feb 06, 2024•28 min
A generation of activists –and well-meaning citizens– was pulled into intense social justice work by the murder of George Floyd in 2020. And the horrific crime, the fight for progess, and the backlash has taken a toll on their mental health. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by writer and activist Ijeoma Oluo about her new book, Be a Revolution: How Everyday People Are Fighting Oppression and Changing the World--And How You Can, Too. It’s the collected wisdom of activists acr...
Feb 02, 2024•33 min
It’s award season in Hollywood, and it’s got the Well, Now team thinking about wellness and the entertainment industry. Can a medical drama really teach us accurate health information? Or is it all just high-stakes surgeries with beautiful actors? Maya and Kavita talk this out with physician, showrunner and Harvard lecturer Neal Baer . He brought powerful, data-supported stories on HIV, emergency contraception, cervical cancer and more to hit cable shows like ER and Law and Order: SVU. If you li...
Jan 31, 2024•29 min
We’re constantly getting bombarded with messages about our bodies: They’re too big. They’re too small. They’re not muscular enough, not curvy enough, and so on and so on. Rebecca has lived in a bigger body all her life and she wants the messaging to stop. She’s done all the things—followed plus-size influencers, deemphasized weight from her health goals, tried to rewire how she thinks about weight. But it’s just not working. In this episode, Carvell Wallace brings in Ronald Young Jr. , host of W...
Jan 30, 2024•48 min
On this episode Elizabeth Newcamp, Zak Rosen, and Lucy Lopez help a listener whose toddler has suddenly developed what looks a lot like panic attacks at preschool. Nothing seems wrong at school… but the girl’s dad has been deployed for a while. What’s happening here, and how can you soothe someone so little about such big stuff? Elizabeth wants to share these resources: Military One Source Sesame Street for Military Families Maggie the Military Rat The Invisible String We’ll also share a round o...
Jan 29, 2024•29 min
Are we still paying off our pandemic-induced “immunity debt,” or is there another reason that it feels like we’re all sniffling and coughing and just feeling sick? Guest: Keren Landman , senior health reporter at Vox 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/wha...
Jan 28, 2024•23 min
On this episode: Elizabeth, Zak and Lucy help a listener who’s pretty sure they smelled marijuana when their young teen and a friend got in the car. The parent is wondering if they should have said something… but if so, what? And when is really too young? We’ll also go over our week in parenting triumphs and fails — including an update on Henry’s solo trip in Tokyo — and share some listener mail we got about teenage tattoos . Join us on Facebook and email us at careandfeedingpod@slate.com to ask...
Jan 25, 2024•40 min
Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade , Democrats have found wins after standing up for abortion. But can they ride this issue to a second Biden term, when the administration isn’t offering a clear plan for reproductive rights—and Joe Biden has a history of ambivalence about the issue? Guest: Grace Panetta , political reporter at The 19th News . 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 sho...
Jan 25, 2024•28 min
On this week’s episode of Well, Now, Maya and Kavita talk about practical ways to break up with diet culture with fitness instructor, speaker and educator Chrissy King . She’s the author of The Body Liberation Project: How Understanding Racism and Diet Culture Helps Cultivate Joy and Build Collective Freedom. Chrissy also ties in how breaking up with diet culture is a piece of a larger conversation about diversity, equity and inclusion in the wellness industry. If you liked this episode, check o...
Jan 24, 2024•33 min
Andrew snores so badly that his cats won’t sleep in the same room as him. He’s desperate to sleep better at night, and breathe more easily during the day. On this episode of How To!, we bring on James Nestor, author of Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art , to share the history of why we breathe the way we do. Turns out being a “mouth-breather” is more than just an insult, it’s harmful to our health. James gives Andrew some nasal breathing exercises to improve his snoring, anxiety, and overall ...
Jan 23, 2024•31 min
On this week’s episode of Well, Now we get to the heart of what “wellness” actually means. Depending on who you ask, you get a lot of different answers. So Maya and Kavita sit down with veteran journalist Isabel Burton to define the term. Burton was the executive editor of renowned health-and-wellness magazines Shape and Self. If you liked this episode, check out: A Toast to Dry January Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry with editorial oversight by Alicia Montgomery. Send your comments and ...
Jan 17, 2024•30 min
Small talk has a bad reputation. It’s boring, shallow, and awkward. Who really wants to talk about the weather, again ? But, when done right, it can be a cornerstone of connection. In this episode, Carvell Wallace is joined by Susan McPherson , the author of The Lost Art of Connecting . Susan is going to help our listener, Bee, navigate the uncomfortable small talk that she endures everyday at school pickup. Along the way, we’ll learn what questions to have in our back pocket, how to turn small ...
Jan 16, 2024•39 min
On the first episode of Well, Now – Slate’s new podcast on health and wellness – hosts Dr. Kavita Patel and Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Maya Feller tackle resolutions. A popular one? Sobriety. Or at least Dry January. With more people becoming “sober curious” Kavita and Maya visit a sober speakeasy in Brooklyn, hosted by the zero-proof cocktail maker Curious Elixirs . They sit down with the company’s founder and CEO JW Wiseman over some drinks and talk about the rise of the “sober curious”...
Jan 10, 2024•32 min
Sometimes reading our news feeds can feel like getting hit by a semi-truck of devastating information, without really knowing how to respond. We can’t always tune the world out, which means we need to figure out how to be an empathetic person within the chaos. In this episode, Courtney Martin is joined by public theologian and best-selling author , Nadia Bolz-Weber , as well as artist and activist, Jen Bloomer. Together they explore what it means to actually respond to tragedy and injustice. LIN...
Jan 09, 2024•40 min
We all want wellness, but what does that mean exactly? Is it achieving diet and exercise goals, or finally reaching a place where you’re happy with your body as it is? Is wellness the thing that will keep you out of the doctor’s office, or give you information you need to advocate for yourself when you get there? No matter what you define as living a life of wellness, our expert hosts want to help you get there. Every week, Dr. Kavita Patel and Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Maya Feller talk ...
Jan 04, 2024•2 min
On today’s episode of Hear Me Out… new year, new you? If you’ve resolved to make 2024 your happiest, healthiest, most organized, most peaceful, etc. year yet? You’re not alone. And if you’re pretty sure the people who have made resolutions are doomed to abandon ship before January is over… you’re not alone, either. Nor are you wrong, exactly. In the season of giving, getting, and evaluating self-improvement advice, there’s a line between over-optimism and self-limiting skepticism. And our guest ...
Jan 02, 2024•48 min
When he’s not working on How To! or coaching his daughter’s basketball team, our producer Derek John loves to play in pickup games with friends. But a serious on-court injury has kept him on the sidelines for months. Now, as he prepares to return to the sport he loves, Derek is seeking tips on how to prolong his playing days while avoiding another injury. In this episode, author Jeff Bercovici joins Carvell Wallace and Derek to share insights from his book, Play On: The New Science of Elite Perf...
Jan 02, 2024•42 min
Before 1990, there had never been a documented case of a patient getting HIV from a health care worker. Kimberly Bergalis changed that. Her claim that she’d been infected by her dentist would captivate and terrify the country. And the dentist, David Acer, would be made into a villain without America ever knowing who he really was. This episode was written by Kelly Jones and Josh Levin, One Year’s editorial director. One Year’s senior producer is Evan Chung. This episode was produced by Kelly Jon...
Dec 21, 2023•56 min•Season 6Ep. 5
In September, Brittany Watts had a miscarriage at her home in Ohio. Prosecutors are now charging her with “abuse of a corpse,” a felony that could result in up to a year in prison. When does a miscarriage become a felony? And could the anti-abortion movement be using this case as a step towards achieving “fetal personhood”? Guest: Mary Ziegler , law professor at UC Davis and author of Roe: The History of a National Obsession . If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Sl...
Dec 20, 2023•24 min
This week, host Isaac Butler is joined by actor, writer, director Erik Jensen for a frank conversation about his recent cancer diagnosis and the challenges artists face holding on to health-care coverage, especially in the age of streaming. They go on to discuss Jensen’s continued creative activity, including a new film project he co-directed with his wife and acted in with his daughter. Later, Jensen explains some of the intricacies of the recent writers’ and actors’ strikes. After the intervie...
Dec 17, 2023•55 min
Earlier this week, the Texas Supreme Court said Kate Cox couldn’t have an abortion.Cox’s doctors had diagnosed the fetus with Trisomy 18, an almost certainly fatal genetic condition. On top of that, there were concerns about whether or not Cox would be able to have children again in the future if she continued with this pregnancy. None of this was enough for nine judges in Texas to allow Cox to have an abortion. Cox’s story isn’t unique. Amanda Zurawski almost died after a Texas court said she c...
Dec 16, 2023•1 hr 1 min
In recent years, several states and localities have passed “crown” laws, statutes that keep employers from discriminating against African Amercans for wearing their hair in natural styles. That’s because, historically, having straight hair has often been a requirement for professional advancement for Black women in particular. But there is more science emerging that connects chemical relaxers with cancer. In today’s episode of A Word, reporter and cancer survivor Victoria St. Martin speaks with ...
Dec 15, 2023•29 min
