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Slate Conversations

by Slate Podcasts

A feed of the up close and the personal, drawn from Working and across the Slate podcast network. Let’s talk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Publisher-supplied feed metadata · PodParley refreshed Apr 14, 2026 · Source feed

Episodes

  1. Nate Cohn

    Nate Cohn covers polls and elections at the Upshot at The New York Times. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss the meaning of Tuesday’s election results, whether Democrats should feel hopeful about the Midwest, and what the numbers tell us about Trump’s odds of being re-elected in 2020....

  2. Zeynep Tufekci

    Zeynep Tufekci is an author and an expert on social media and fake news. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss why the business model of the different social media giants is so dangerous, what Mark Zuckerberg refuses to do to fix the fake news problem, and why rightwing news is…

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  3. Lynsey Addario

    Lynsey Addario is a Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer whose work is collected in the new book Of Love And War. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss life in Afghanistan before 9/11, her abduction in Libya, and why journalists rely on the American government to speak up for press freedom....

  4. Coral Davenport

    Coral Davenport covers energy and the environment for The New York Times. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss how we should read the U.N.’s terrifying new report on global warming, what other countries are doing to prevent the impending crisis, and the changing rhetoric of those opposed…

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  5. Nate Silver

    Nate Silver is the editor-in-chief of FiveThirtyEight.com. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss what effect the Kavanaugh controversy has had on the 2018 elections, the odds that Trump gets re-elected in 2020, and the political choices facing the Democratic Party. Email:...

  6. Jason Zengerle

    Jason Zengerle is a political correspondent for GQ Magazine and a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, where last month he published a piece entitled “How the Trump Administration is Remaking the Courts.” Jordan Weissmann, Slate’s senior economics correspondent, sits in for Isaac...

  7. Jonathan Haidt

    Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist whose new book is The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss whether young people are losing faith in the First Amendment, why he thinks identity...

  8. Shane Bauer

    Shane Bauer is a senior reporter for Mother Jones whose new book is American Prison: A Reporter’s Undercover Journey Into the Business of Punishment. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss his four months as a guard at a private prison in Louisiana, and what he learned about the American...

  9. Dara Lind

    Dara Lind covers immigration for Vox. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss why it remains so difficult to unite certain children with their parents, the possible fate of the DACA program if Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed, and how the Democrats plan to challenge Trump on immigration in 2020....

  10. Re-Air: Maggie Haberman

    This Interview originally aired on May 1th, 2018. Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent for The New York Times and an analyst at CNN. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss why Trump fears the Michael Cohen investigation, reporting in the age of Twitter, and whether the White House...

  11. Anand Giridharadas

    Anand Giridharadas is the author of the new book Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss how the titans of Wall Street and Silicon Valley use their charitable contributions and political activism to entrench their own wealth, and...

  12. Michelle Goldberg

    Michelle Goldberg is an op-ed columnist at the New York Times. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss whether liberals are too optimistic about the possibility of Trump being removed from office, what recent primaries tell us about the future of the Democratic Party, and whether her…

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  13. David Kirkpatrick

    David D. Kirkpatrick is an international correspondent for the New York Times and the author of the new book Into the Hands of the Soldiers. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss how Egypt’s uprising against dictatorship went awry, the Obama administration’s role in undermining the Arab...

  14. Martha Nussbaum

    Martha Nussbaum is a moral philosopher and the author of The Monarchy of Fear. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss how anger took over American politics, whether we underestimate the value of getting mad, and why she thinks civility and bipartisanship can still save us. Email:...

  15. Ottessa Moshfegh

    Ottessa Moshfegh is a writer whose new novel is ‘My Year of Rest and Relaxation.’ She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss why she doesn’t like New York City, why writing about the female body makes people uncomfortable, and why she has had it with the politicization of art. Email:...

  16. Annie Lowrey

    Annie Lowrey is the author of ‘Give People Money’ and a contributing editor at The Atlantic. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss how a universal basic income could help American workers, whether we should be skeptical of an idea loved by Silicon Valley titans, and how to create a welfare...

  17. Chris Hayes

    Chris Hayes is the host of ‘All In with Chris Hayes’ on MSNBC and the podcast ‘Why is This Happening?’ He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss Trump’s crucial insight into GOP voters, how the Trump presidency is changing the left, and what the civility debate tells us about the media. Email:...

  18. Porochista Khakpour

    Porochista Khakpour is a novelist and the author of Sick: A Memoir. She talks with Isaac Chotiner about how she was diagnosed with Lyme disease, why people who suffer from Lyme are often ignored or disbelieved, and how Americans still don’t understand how to communicate with people suffering from...

  19. Quinta Jurecic

    Quinta Jurecic is the managing editor of the website Lawfare. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss what Anthony Kennedy’s retirement means for abortion rights, what John Roberts’s travel ban decision signaled about his views of the Trump administration, and the future of a Supreme Court...

  20. James Wood

    James Wood is The New Yorker’s chief literary critic, and the author of the new novel Upstate. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss the complicated legacies of Philip Roth and Tom Wolfe, whether a critical eye is helpful in fiction writing, and the complications involved in reading the...

  21. Anthony Bourdain: A Previously Unaired Conversation from 2017

    Anthony Bourdain—the late chef and author—talks about his mistakes, the #MeToo movement, and Harvey Weinstein. Email: [email protected]: @IHaveToAskPod Podcast production by Max Jacobs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  22. Judd Apatow (Re-Air)

    Judd Apatow is a comedian, writer, director, and producer. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss his new documentary on the life of Garry Shandling, which comedians are actually “normal” people, and having your friends accused of bad behavior in the age of #MeToo.Email…

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  23. Harry Enten

    Harry Enten is a polling expert and a political writer at CNN. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss California’s crucial importance to the 2018 election, where Trump is and isn’t politically vulnerable, and whether pollsters have corrected the mistakes they made in 2016. Email:...

  24. Re-Air: Ta-Nehisi Coates

    Ta-Nehisi Coates is the author of Between the World and Me, and now, We Were Eight Years In Power: An American Tragedy. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss the costs of writing off your fellow citizens as “deplorable,” why he chose writing over activism, and how Trump is both uniquely...

  25. Cecilia Muñoz

    Cecilia Muñoz was the director of the White House Policy Council Under Barack Obama, and an expert on immigration policy. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to talk about the mechanics of the Trump administration’s war on immigrants, the future of the Dreamers, and the campaign to abolish I.C.E....

  26. Maggie Haberman

    Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent for The New York Times and an analyst at CNN. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss why Trump fears the Michael Cohen investigation, reporting in the age of Twitter, and whether the White House beat is changing Trump—or the people covering…

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  27. Michelle Dean

    Michelle Dean is the author of Sharp: The Women Who Made an Art of Having an Opinion. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss how a group of 20th century intellectuals—including Susan Sontag, Pauline Kael, Hannah Arendt, and Nora Ephron—changed the way we think about women in public life…

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  28. Amy Chozick

    Amy Chozick is the author of Chasing Hillary, a memoir about her experience covering the Clinton campaign for the New York Times. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss how the press and the Clinton campaign exacerbated one another’s worst instincts, whether the media has learned from the...

  29. Adam Davidson

    Adam Davidson is a staff writer at The New Yorker who has been examining the president’s tangled business dealings. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss why people misunderstand Trump’s business skills, the real threat the Michael Cohen raid poses to Donald Trump, and whether we have…

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  30. Barbara Ehrenreich

    Barbara Ehrenreich is the author of Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss why Americans thinks “mindfulness” will make them happy, whether smoking bans are a form of condescension towards...

  31. Parul Sehgal

    Parul Sehgal is a book critic at the New York Times. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss the daily life of a book reviewer, looking hard at the novels of very bad men, and the current state of cultural criticism. Email: [email protected]: @IHaveToAskPod Podcast production by Max…

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  32. Ross Douthat

    Ross Douthat is an op-ed columnist at the New York Times, and the author of the new book To Change the Church: Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss what the pope and the president have in common, whether liberals are declaring too much commentary...

  33. Judd Apatow

    Judd Apatow is a comedian, writer, director, and producer. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss his new documentary on the life of Garry Shandling, which comedians are actually “normal” people, and having your friends accused of bad behavior in the age of #MeToo. Email…

    more
  34. David Corn and Michael Isikoff

    David Corn and Michael Isikoff are the authors of Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin’s War on America and the Election of Donald Trump. In a wide-ranging conversation with Isaac Chotiner, they discuss what new details of Trump's trip to a Vegas nightclub can tell us about the Steele...

  35. Josh Barro

    Josh Barro is a senior editor at Business Insider, as well as contributor to MSNBC, and the host of KCRW’s Left, Right, and Center podcast. In a wide-ranging conversation with Isaac Chotiner, they discuss how Trump uses comedy to sugarcoat his cruelty, how to think about the president’s...

  36. Benjamin Wittes

    Benjamin Wittes is a writer and national security expert, and the editor-in-chief of Lawfare. In a wide-ranging conversation with Isaac Chotiner, he discusses how to read the tea leaves of the Mueller investigation, why people are too critical of James Comey, and why even the Trump administration...

  37. Chuck Klosterman

    Chuck Klosterman is a writer and essayist. In a wide-ranging conversation with Isaac Chotiner, he discusses the costs of politicizing pop culture, the roots of Trump’s shamelessness, and why music is such a subjective art form. Email: [email protected]: @IHaveToAskPod Podcast production by Max...

  38. Steven Pinker

    Steven Pinker is the author of the new book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss why he thinks life is improving despite the worldwide rise of demagogues, what Trump tells us about America’s relationship to...

  39. Katie Roiphe

    Katie Roiphe is a writer and essayist. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss her controversial Harper’s essay on #MeToo, why she thinks the movement has gone too far, and whether people who speak out against feminism are really at risk of being “silenced.” Email: [email protected]:...

  40. Wesley Morris

    Wesley Morris is a critic-at-large at The New York Times. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss how social media is changing criticism, his complicated feelings about artists who behave deplorably, and why ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ is the most overrated movie of the year....

  41. Jia Tolentino

    Jia Tolentino is a staff writer at The New Yorker. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss the backlash to the #MeToo movement, generational differences between feminists, and the importance of viewing each woman’s story on its own terms. Email: [email protected]: @IHaveToAskPod Podcast...

  42. David Frum

    David Frum is a senior editor at The Atlantic, and the author of the new book Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss the state of democracy after a year of Trump, why the president’s buffoonery doesn’t make him less dangerous, and his own...

  43. Margaret Sullivan

    Margaret Sullivan is the Washington Post’s media critic. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss the problems with Michael Wolff’s new book on the Trump administration, the state of the Post and the New York Times, and how the media should cover the president’s mental health. Email:...

  44. A.O. Scott

    A.O. Scott is a film critic at The New York Times. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss the year in movies, being a film critic in the age of Rotten Tomatoes, and wrestling with Hollywood in a post-Harvey Weinstein world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  45. Mark Lilla (Re-air)

    Mark Lilla is the author of The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to debate why Democrats keep losing elections, whether America really used to be more united than it is today, and how much of the Republicans’ recent success is owed to racism.…

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  46. Bill Kristol

    Bill Kristol is the editor-at- large of The Weekly Standard. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss how and why Republicans have rationalized Donald Trump, how he has re-examined his own past in light of Trump’s rise, and just where the Republican Party went awry. Hosted on Acast. See...

  47. Stephen Kotkin

    Stephen Kotkin is a historian and the author of Stalin: Waiting For Hitler, 1929-1941. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss Stalin’s differences from the autocrats of today, what Stalin and Hitler did and didn’t share, and the secret to getting inside the head of a dictator. Hosted on…

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  48. Lawrence O'Donnell

    Lawrence O’Donnell is the host of ‘The Last Word’ on MSNBC, and the author of a new book, Playing With Fire: The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss whether JFK’s death really changed his brother, Bobby, how the Democratic Party…

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  49. Laura Kipnis

    Laura Kipnis is an author, essayist, and professor at Northwestern University who writes frequently about sexuality and feminism. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss the importance of training women to push back against creepy men, whether the current wave of sexual misconduct reckonings...

  50. Jelani Cobb

    Jelani Cobb is a staff writer at The New Yorker. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss how the media can prevent the normalization of white nationalism, what Obama did and didn’t get right about our current moment, and why Trumpism is guaranteed to survive Trump. Hosted on Acast. See...

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

A feed of the up close and the personal, drawn from Working and across the Slate podcast network. Let’s talk.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HOSTED BY

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Slate Conversations have?

Slate Conversations currently has 87 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is Slate Conversations about?

A feed of the up close and the personal, drawn from Working and across the Slate podcast network. Let’s talk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How often does Slate Conversations release new episodes?

Slate Conversations has 87 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.

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You can listen to Slate Conversations on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

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Slate Conversations is created and hosted by Slate Podcasts.
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