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Technology coverage from across the Slate Podcast network
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It’s hard to imagine music fans mourning a break-up of Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation, as a Department of Justice lawsuit requests. But even with this monopolistic middleman out of the way, touring musicians still seem destined to...
On today’s show, we’re joined by Nicky Woolf, the host Fur and Loathing, a new investigative podcast which attempts to solve the decade-old cold case of a chemical attack at the 2014 Midwest Furfest convention. From their show description, “It’s a journey...
How well is the Biden administration coaxing semiconductor companies to build their chips in the United States? Compared to Taiwan, South Korea, Japan…or even mainland China, things are just okay. Guest: Asa Fitch, reporter for the Wall Street Journal, covering...
On today’s episode, Rachelle is joined by Slate staff writer and friend of the show, Nadira Goffe. The two revisit last year’s episode breaking down the Tarte brand trip that took over TikTok now that one of the main stars of that...
“Fecal microbial transplants” treat someone’s unhealthy gut with poop from someone else’s healthy gut, and proponents of FMT claim it can help treat everything from IBS to autism. But if your doctor isn’t ready to fill you up with someone...
This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers are joined by Alex Kantrowitz of the Big Technology podcast. They discuss why the Nvidia juggernaut isn’t going to slow down any time soon, the man, myth, and legend of OpenAI...
Rachelle Hampton and Candice Lim are joined by Anna Sale, the host of Death, Sex & Money, to dive into her internet diary. After her podcast jumped to Slate, Sale took a month off and plugged into her surroundings, starting with...
His law firm won a $73 million dollar settlement against Remington on behalf of nine Sandy Hook families. Now he’s filing a lawsuit against the gunmaker Daniel Defense, the video game company Activision, and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, on behalf...
Today, we’re revisiting one of our favorite episodes from September 2022 about TikTok Shop. In the episode, Rachelle and Candice are joined by sustainable stylist and fashion educator Lakyn Carlton to discuss TikTok Shop — a new feature that lets users purchase...
Last year saw a record number of healthcare hacks with more than 700 separate incidents. And with a subsidiary of United Healthcare forking over a $22 billion ransom this year, the problem isn’t going away. With so much sensitive personal...
When OpenAI showed a demo for the latest version of ChatGPT —the one that you can chat with, you know, with your voice—one of the voices sounded eerily familiar. And instead of a victory lap, it was a reminder of...
Youth mental health has hit a crisis point. Just last year, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released an advisory connecting young people’s use of social media with adverse mental health outcomes. But Murthy and other public health leaders are fighting...
In theory, crowdfunding sites offer an opportunity for anyone to give to any cause, including, say, strangers facing huge medical bills. In practice, crowdfunding suffers from many of the same inequities that led to someone needing to crowdfund to begin...
On today’s show, Rachelle is joined by Aisha Harris, co-host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour and author of Wannabe: Reckonings With the Pop Culture That Shaped Me. The two discuss Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show, the latest venture from the comedian behind the...
This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the motivations and impacts of new tariffs plus the cultural forces behind China’s economic policy. Also: Congress is trying to figure out what to do with AI, and Melinda French...
The 2021 subreddit-coordinated effort to raise the price of Gamestop stock was, in some ways, a proof of concept: the little guy can get into the market and make some noise. Because even though that “meme stock” rose and fell,...
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...
The ability to choose the sex of your child through IVF is banned in most of the world. In America, however, parents can—and do—for a price. Guest: Emi Nietfeld, writer and software engineer, author of “The Parents Who Want...
The second and final installment of our two part collab with Never Post! Mike talks with mis- and disinformation researcher Joan Donovan about the line between gossip and conspiracy; then Candice and Rachelle join Mike to talk about what it feels...
You might not know Brad Parscale by name, but you know his work: he was the digital campaign operative behind Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential victory. This election cycle, he’s back—and advising conservatives on how to utilize A.I. in their campaigns. ...
This week, ICYMI and the Never Post podcast are collaborating on two episodes surrounding 2024’s biggest internet monocultural moment: Kate Middleton’s disappearance. It’s been more than a month since Kate announced she’d started preventative chemotherapy treatments following a cancer diagnosis. Which means it’s also...
The California Journalism Preservation Act would make companies like Google and Meta pay publishers for the news content appearing in their feeds and search results—and force news organizations to spend that money on their journalists. How have similar laws worked...
On today’s show, Rachelle and Candice join the rest of the internet in yapping about Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers which features Zendaya as tennis prodigy Tashi Duncan and her paramours, Art (Mike Faist) and Patrick (Josh O’Connor). In a spoiler-filled discussion, they dive...
Bird flu isn’t new, you may even remember past outbreaks. But showing up in milk? Is America ready if it leaps to spreading among humans? Guest: Katelyn Jetelina, epidemiologist, senior advisor to the CDC Want more What...
It’s not that we aren’t making progress slowing our carbon and greenhouse gas emissions; it’s just that we still may not be doing enough—fast enough—to avert catastrophe. Guest: Umair Irfan, correspondent at Vox writing about climate change, Covid-19, and...
Rachelle Hampton and Candice Lim walk through the drama surrounding Foxtrot, an upscale cafe and mini market that abruptly closed all of its locations on April 23. Despite its popularity and over $100 million raised, Foxtrot’s sudden shutdown shocked employees...
On today’s episode, Rachelle and Candice answer a listener's question about “Dr.” Natalya Toryanski, an influencer with almost a quarter of million of followers on TikTok who tune into her satirical videos mimicking a prototypical “bland influencer.” Our listener writes,...
The TikTok ban that has been floating around Washington since the last administration has been signed into law. What does that mean for users, creators and the court battles ahead? Guest: Louise Matsakis, reporter covering tech and China. Dillon...
On today’s episode, Steffi Cao explains Roblox to Rachelle. Cao, a culture writer with bylines at The Atlantic, Fast Company, Forbes, BuzzFeed and more, recently wrote about Roblox’s new attempt to venture outside of kids’ gaming. This podcast is produced by Se’era...
From the Wayback Machine to the mass-digitization of the history of Aruba, the Internet Archive is a non-profit doing valuable work. But some of its other projects—a pandemic-era lending library and the ongoing digitalization of 78 rpm records—have led to...
This week: Elon Musk wants his colossal, court-blocked pay package, and Tesla’s board wants to give it to him. Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers also chat with Alicia Montgomery, current Slate audio VP and veteran of NPR, to...
On today’s episode, Rachelle and Candice answer listener questions about the rapid rise of Donghua Jinlong, a Chinese company that manufactures glycine. Over the past few weeks, paradoxically deadpan and impassioned videos about the high quality of Donghua Jinlong’s products have taken over TikTok. Are teens actually consuming...
Tesla’s market cap has dropped. The company had its biggest round of layoffs ever. The Cybertruck doesn’t seem to be taking off. And Elon’s posting through it. Is Tesla in serious trouble? Guest: Dana Hull, Bloomberg reporter and contributor...
Candice Lim is joined by We Signed An NDA co-host Ann Maddox, who you may know as Tom Sandoval’s former personal assistant. In March 2023, Maddox was teaching improv to a middle school in Japan when she found out Sandoval and his...
Five years ago, tech investor Ben Horowitz of Andreessen Horowitz bet our own Felix Salmon a 100-year-old bottle of wine that 10% of Americans would be using Bitcoin to pay for something by now. Ben lost, of course, but he’s...
How the semi-legalization of marijuana has drawn a road map for legalizing psychedelics—and also provided a list of pitfalls to be avoided. Guest: Jane C. Hu, science journalist and author of the newsletter The Microdose. Want more What...
This week, Slate Money hacks the mainframe! Washington Post tech writer Shira Ovide joins Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers to discuss what’s wrong with America’s internet industry, how YouTube became the media empire no one talks about, and...
Why lately our search engines just don’t seem to deliver results. Guest: Jason Koebler, cofounder of 404 Media and co-host of the 404 Media Podcast. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening...
Why scam obituaries are edging out earnest ones, with the help of artificial intelligence and an adept Google game. Guest: Mia Sato, reporter for The Verge. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the...
How did an attempt to simplify a tedious student-aid form turn into a full-on debacle that has some high school seniors wondering if they will have to delay starting college? Guest: Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, national higher education reporter for the...
The demand for electricity is surging in the U.S. With increasing amounts of power going towards artificial intelligence, manufacturing and electric vehicles, can the grid keep up? Guest: Evan Halper, business reporter covering the energy transition for the Washington...
This week: Americans are less revved up about EVs. Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss if Elon Musk’s mischief has played a role in slowing sales. Also: the crisis in the wine industry, and how a combination investigative...
Donald Trump got a huge financial boost when Truth Social went public last week—or did he? Guest: Nitish Pahwa, associate writer on business and tech for Slate. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access...
On today’s Internet Diary, Rachelle is joined by Rebecca Jennings, Vox’s senior correspondent covering social platforms and the creator economy. The two discuss Jennings’ recent pieces on why everyone loves NYT Connections and how self-promotion became the internet’s lingua franca. This podcast is...
For this edition of Money Talks: Are you feeling trapped in Zoom/Teams/Slack purgatory? Author Cal Newport’s book Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout has a way forward. Host Emily Peck speaks with him about how the digital...
From science fiction writers to American presidents to Elon Musk, everyone’s eager to send people to Mars. But, even if you could nail the physical aspects, are Earthlings cut out for life on Mars mentally? Guest: Nathaniel Rich, contributing...
Rachelle Hampton and Candice Lim ask their most pressing questions about the bipartisan bill that would require TikTok’s parent company to sell the app or face a ban on all devices in the U.S. While the bill is not expected...
How supply chains, the pandemic, and a steady stream of Wall Street money led to a crisis at Boeing. Guest: Jon Ostrower, editor-in-chief of the website the Air Current. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus...
On today’s show, Rachelle is joined by writer and reporter Gaby Del Valle to discuss the rapid, contested rise of model-turned-influencer Nara Smith. Described by Rolling Stone as the “hot, young tradwife making everyone on the internet mad”, Nara’s elaborate homemade meals, hot husband...
After organized-labor victories at Amazon, with automakers, and in Hollywood, big corporations are striking back by, among other things, suing the National Labor Relations Board. Guest: Noam Scheiber, reporter for the New York Times covering working and workers. ...