Podcast Episodes

Stage Managing Sex in Hollywood

In the wake of #MeToo, Hollywood productions began hiring “intimacy coordinators,” people who work to ensure sex scenes are safe and comfortable for performers. How are they working out so far? 

Gues…

Published on 5 months, 2 weeks ago

Was the Flash Flooding in Texas Preventable?

After one of the deadliest floods in American history in central Texas, people are looking at cuts to the National Weather Service and FEMA’s absence contributing to the devastation. But one looming …

Published on 5 months, 3 weeks ago

Is Trump Running the Fugitive Slave Act Playbook?

A federal force—often defying local governance—coming to take people away without due process has happened before. What lessons can be drawn from parallels between a law that led to the Civil War and…

Published on 5 months, 3 weeks ago

The Spectacle of “Alligator Alcatraz” Is the Point

Built in just eight days, Donald Trump and Kristi Noem toured “Alligator Alcatraz,” a migrant detention facility built on a disused airstrip in the Florida Everglades. Even before Trump touched down …

Published on 5 months, 3 weeks ago

TBD | How A.I. Lost (and Won) the Big Beautiful Debate

As the One Big Beautiful Bill bounced around Congress, one provision—the 10-year moratorium on states making laws to regulate artificial intelligence—fell out. But AI-fans don’t need to worry, there’…

Published on 5 months, 3 weeks ago

When the Internet Stopped Being Fun

Is anyone having fun on the internet anymore? Let’s all go touch grass.

Guest: Scaachi Koul, Slate senior writer and author of “It’s Time to Log Off.”

This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it n…

Published on 5 months, 3 weeks ago

TBD | Rerun: Death of the Weather Forecast?

This episode was originally published on April 27, 2025. 

The Trump administration has already begun cutting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which includes the U.S. National Weat…

Published on 5 months, 3 weeks ago

One Big Deeply Unpopular Bill

Trump wants his “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed by July 4. But the bill is so large and expensive—with deep tax cuts only partially offset by huge cuts to Medicaid and SNAP—there’s something in there…

Published on 5 months, 3 weeks ago

Is This the End of NPR and PBS?

The Trump administration’s plans to strip funding from PBS and NPR is the latest in a long line of Republican fights against public broadcasting. The House has already voted to take back over a billi…

Published on 5 months, 4 weeks ago

We Need to Talk About the Supreme Court

Last week’s big Supreme Court decisions walked back rights for individuals and the powers of the lower courts—and in aggregate made it ever more difficult to believe the court is anything other than …

Published on 5 months, 4 weeks ago