On this episode: Jamilah sits down with author Ruby Russell to talk about her new book, Doing It All: The Social Power of Single Motherhood. They talk about the ways that single mothers upend the patriarchy — and why that’s a good thing.

Lucy, Elizabeth, and Zak also circle up for a round of triumphs and fails — including an epic saga involving a hospital in the Philippines.

Join us on Facebook and email us at careandfeedingpod@slate.com to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus to help support our work.

Podcast produced by Maura Currie.

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When Miss USA abdicated her throne, people noticed that the first letters of each sentence of her resignation letter spell out “I am silenced.” Shortly thereafter, Miss Teen USA stepped down with a letter that opens with a quote from Nietzsche. 

What’s going on at the Miss USA organization? Has the idea of a national pageant outlived its usefulness?

Guest: Constance Grady, senior Culture correspondent for Vox. 

Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

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For this week’s episode of Working Overtime, hosts June Thomas and Isaac Butler are joined by author Justin Taylor, to discuss the process behind his new novel, Reboot. Taylor published numerous short pieces, as well as a memoir, during the years he spent writing this novel, yet it took multiple iterations before this book felt right. Later they share tips for persevering through long creative processes and discuss how to find the finish line.

Do you have questions or advice of your own about the creative process? Reach out at (304) 933-9675 or email us at working@slate.com.  

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis and Cameron Drews.

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This week Bryan and Jules are joined by new contributor Mathew Rodriguez for a round of advice. They tackle who gets to use ‘they’, raising polite and inclusive kids, and help one listener navigate the aggressive gender politics of straight weddings.

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Rachelle and Candice dive into their mutual obsession: the Selling Sunset subreddit. Across seven seasons, the Netflix reality show has taken viewers into a glamorous and over-the-top real estate agency in Los Angeles. Aside from selling mansions, the show’s most successful endeavor has been its online community, built on social media platforms like Reddit. r/SellingSunset has more than 250,000 followers with eagle-eyed fans posting daily about episode plotlines and off-season social media activity. Following the release of Selling the OC’s third season, ICYMI is rounding up the subreddit’s favorite moments from the original series and throwing in a few of their own.

This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim and Rachelle Hampton.

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For many Americans, wellness is about mitigating and navigating disease. They’re looking for reliable ways to live healthier, longer lives.

But some are thinking even bigger than that and looking beyond what doctors view as the standard lifespan: 10, 20, 30, even 40 years beyond it. These people are often called “biohackers.”

On this week’s episode of Well, Now we talk to someone who’s considered the “Father of Biohacking” Dave Asprey on what exactly this movement is, and whether is it feasible for people who aren’t ridiculously rich.

If you liked this episode, check out: We Don’t Need to Cure Autism

Well, Now is hosted by Kavita Patel and Maya Feller.

Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel and Vic Whitley-Berry with editorial oversight by Alicia Montgomery.

Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to wellnow@slate.com 

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On this week’s show, the hosts begin by dissecting The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the fourth chapter in the Apes franchise. Set “many generations” in the future, the latest installment (directed by Wes Ball and starring Owen Teague) is an undeniably well-crafted summer blockbuster – but does it achieve the level of complexity and thought its predecessors did? (Read Dana’s planet-of-the-apes-movie-new-2024-review.html">review for Slate for further analysis.) Then, it’s onto John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA, a six-part live Netflix special that aired during the streaming giant’s comedy festival. The conceit is thus: Netflix is a Joke attracts the best comedians in the world to LA, John Mulaney interviews them. But the final product is much stranger than that description, both a rejection and reinvention of the tired late-night talk show format, in which Mulaney interviews celebrities and non-celebrities, airs sketches, and delivers long monologues on the character of LA. Is Everybody’s in LA chaotic and sloppy, or a ragged delight? Our panel discusses. Finally, the trio is joined by Slate’s music critic, Carl Wilson, to eulogize the legendary musician and “producing engineer” (his preferred title) Steve Albini. Known for recording albums with Joanna Newsom, Nirvana, and the Pixies, among others, Albini considered himself a documentarian of sound and a technical expert, and brought his punk-rock ethic to everything he did. Read Steve Albini’s essay, “The Problem with Music” and his letter to Nirvana.

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel discusses cultural arbitrage with Slate’s music critic, Carl Wilson, inspired by W. David Marx’s essay for The Atlantic, “The Diminishing Returns of Having Good Taste.” 

Email us at culturefest@slate.com. 

Endorsements:

Dana: “Who’s Afraid of Judith Butler?” – a profile of the philosopher and gender theorist by Parul Sehgal for The New Yorker.

Julia: “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter.

Stephen: The delightful, catchy, and exuberant (with a tincture of melancholy) music of New Zealand band, Yumi Zuma. (Check out Steve’s playlist here.) 

Podcast production by Jared Downing. Production assistance by Kat Hong. 

Hosts

Dana Stephens, Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf

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Vivian’s eating disorder started in college. She meticulously tracked calories and the number on the scale. Once she graduated she became less rigid with food, but her fixation with numbers took a new form: budgeting and saving money. In this episode, Anna talks to Vivian about her long and complicated relationship to mental math, how tracking calories and paychecks has helped distract her from painful loss, and how she’s managing with her money anxieties now as she plans a wedding and prenup.

Want to hear more about relationships and money? Check out an episode we made all about wedding costs last summer. And if you heard last week’s episode about a mobile health care clinic in rural Virginia, we have an important update from local reporting on the high levels of executive pay at the Health Wagon, which just prompted the Virginia legislature to cancel $800,000 of line item funding for the nonprofit. It's a developing story we'll be following.

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, 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 at slate.com/dsmplus.

And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is deathsexmoney@slate.com.

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Leigh is a stellar employee by all accounts. She deeply cares about the company’s mission. She gets along with her coworkers. She delivers great work. So why does every critique cut deep and leave her questioning her worth? On this episode of How To!: Courtney Martin consults the columnist Alison Green, who answers tricky workplace questions at the advice site, Ask a Manager. Alison helps Leigh figure out what to do with criticism, forge better relationships with higher-ups, and even give better feedback. 

If you liked this episode check out: How To Make Imposter Syndrome Your Superpower and How To Build Trust With Co-Workers

Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at howto@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen.

How To’s executive producer is Derek John. Joel Meyer is our senior editor/producer. The show is produced by Rosemary Belson and Kevin Bendis. 

Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now at slate.com/howtoplus.

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On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: live from Seattle.

Hear Me Out had its first-ever live show on May 4, 2024 — and it was such a great conversation that we wanted to make sure our podcast listeners heard it, too. 

The Cascade PBS Ideas Festival was full of smart, unconventional thinkers on the biggest issues facing this country… so what better place to have a conversation about Donald Trump, and the future of this country? 

It’s tempting to think of the MAGA ideology as an unprecedented threat to democracy. But is it? Or are the authoritarian, anti-democratic ideas percolating into our mainstream politics a feature, rather than a bug?

Historian and author Heather Cox Richardson joined us in Seattle.

If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: hearmeout@slate.com

Podcast production by Maura Currie.

Want more Hear Me Out? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hearmeoutplus to get access wherever you listen.

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