Slate Culture Feed

The internet is never not nostalgic for the past, but something about the 90s is different. While previous trends like Y2K and “millennial optimism” have been mostly about the hair and clothes, 90s nostalgia is all about the tech. Or rather, lack of tech. Host Kate Lindsay and showrunner Daisy Rosario talk about what social media gets right about the decade, and what’s just “nostalgia slop” trying to sell us something. Plus, Slate favorite Dan Kois has a challenge for listeners: Party Like It’s 1996!This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Caroline started going to therapy as a teenager because of depression. After a couple of years working together, she expressed a fantasy. “I had a vision of us dancing to Pachelbel's Canon” she told him. Caroline's therapist was 45-years-old and married, but they soon started a romantic relationship. In this episode, Anna hears from Caroline and other listeners about when romantic feelings come up in therapy and unpacks it all with Sally Openshaw, a psychologist and expert who studies erotic transference.Podcast production by Zoe AzulayDeath, 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 [email protected].  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Women’s health is being yassified online, from ill-advised marketing campaigns by companies trying to go viral to creators pushing anti-abortion agendas under the guise of “natural” birth control. It feels like there’s no one to trust when it comes to sexual health, and it’s playing right into conservatives’ hands. Writer Noelle Perdue experienced this first-hand, and joined host Kate Lindsay on today’s episode to talk about the real-world harm of this online rhetoric. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a matter of days, Jimothy the raccoon went from a neighborhood mascot to a viral sensation. But unlike the internet animals who came before him, Jimothy has no owners, and isn’t protected by a zoo. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Garbage Day researcher and editor Adam Bumas to talk about how Jimothy stole the hearts of the internet (except for Kate) and what that could mean for his future. Not only has he had to adapt to his disability in the wild, but now anyone hoping to catch a glimpse could find him, and potentially harm him in pursuit of their own viral moment. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The sun has always been a hot topic. For centuries, we’ve flip-flopped over whether our health depends on soaking up its rays—or shielding ourselves from them. The current conventional wisdom is clear: Avoid sunburns at all costs, using shade, hats, long sleeves, and the highest SPF sunscreen your drugstore has to offer.But in a historical sense, that advice is pretty new. Not long ago, doctors told parents to slather babies in oil and let them roast in the afternoon sun. Tanning was once medically prescribed. Though we’ve lived under it for all of human history, we’ve never quite figured out how much sun is actually good for us. So where has the pendulum landed today? And why does it keep swinging in the first place?In this episode of Decoder Ring, Willa talks to Rowan Jacobsen, author of the new book In Defense of Sunlight: The Surprising Science of Sun Exposure, who argues that our current guidelines have gone too far in emphasizing the risks of the sun. She also speaks with Catherine Cocks, the director of the Syracuse University Press and author of Tropical Whites: The Rise of the Tourist South in the Americas, about how race drove our cultural obsession with suntanning.This episode was written by Willa Paskin and our supervising producer, Evan Chung, who also produced this episode. Decoder Ring is also produced by Max Freedman. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Our intern is Phoebe Mulder.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at [email protected] or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jay-Z recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of his debut Reasonable Doubt with a three-night residency at Yankee Stadium featuring superstar guests like Pharrell, Nas, Alicia Keys and, of course, Beyoncé. The marathon event was a tribute to one of rap’s most influential and successful icons—but it was also a reminder that many of Jay-Z's biggest hits were collaborations that showcased the talents of other—often women—artists.Join Chris Molanphy as he traces the decades-long history of Hova’s hitmaking, and how he deftly sought the assistance of female collaborators to push his biggest songs to No. 1.Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The app-ification of dating has made meeting people even more difficult. But no one ever talks about what comes after: when you are in a relationship with someone, and have brand new digital etiquette to decipher. When do you hard launch? How much should you post each other? And is it really that bad if they’re still liking other people’s thirst traps? On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Slate senior editor Tony Ho Tran, whose long-term relationship took place mainly online before the pair could live in the same place. While there are still plenty of digital minefields out there, could the thing that ruined dating actually be responsible for making relationships…better?This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay, with production assistance from Kevin Bendis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the mid-1970’s, a small college radio station created an evening program catering to a new socioeconomic group referred to as the “new Black middle class.” The show was called “The Quiet Storm” and it grew so popular that an entire genre of music would spring up alongside it.  Artists like Anita Baker, Luther Vandross, and many more would find massive success in the genre, performing smooth and sexy songs you could turn on after a long day.  Audio producer Christopher Johnson made a piece about The Quiet Storm for the legendary podcast about design 99% Invisible and he joins Anna to talk about why Quiet Storm music will always feel like home to him.You can listen to The Quiet Storm playlist from 99% Invisible here and check out the seasons of Slow Burn that Christopher worked on here:  Season 3 - Biggie and Tupac and Season 4 - David Duke.  This episode was produced for DSM by Andrew Dunn. 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 [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket have expanded from letting people bet on just sports to everything from political events to reality TV, and even the weather. But by injecting financial incentives into things like disease outbreaks, we’re even more susceptible to bad actors and manipulation. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by creator Austin Evans to talk about the spread of prediction markets, and how a tool once believed to help us make sense of society ended up making everything even more chaotic.  ***GET TICKETS TO OUR LIVE SHOW HERE!!!!***This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Most of us use GPS—the Global Positioning System—on a daily basis: to find our location when we’re driving, running, shopping, dating, and so much more. But GPS is even more important, and more vulnerable, than you think.In the last few years, GPS interference has been reported all over the world, from war zones to shipping routes to public squares. What was once the fanciful plot of a Bond movie—bad guy manipulates GPS to start World War III—is increasingly plausible. How did the world come to rely so heavily on such an unreliable system?In this episode of Decoder Ring, host Willa Paskin talks to journalist Katherine Dunn, author of the new book Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World. You’ll learn how GPS works, why it was created, how it became so ubiquitous, and why it’s now under attack. You’ll also hear from Dr. Todd Humphreys, an aerospace engineer who manipulated GPS to trick an $85 million superyacht into following his direction—for science, of course.This episode was written and produced by Max Freedman. It was edited by Willa Paskin and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Our intern is Phoebe Mulder.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at [email protected] or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.Sources for This Episode Burgess, Matt. “When a tanker vanishes, all the evidence points to Russia,” WIRED, Sep. 21, 2017.Dunn, Katherine. Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2026.Dunn, Katherine. “How to Hack a Superyacht,” The Walrus, Jun. 13, 2026.Hopper, Nate. “The Thorny Problem of Keeping the Internet’s Time,” The New Yorker, Sep. 30, 2022.Hopper, Nate. “The Timekeeper of Ukraine,” The Atlantic, Sep. 21, 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jim Tierney, pet tracker, has worked on more than 250 lost pet cases around New York City. Jim says once a dog is lost, their behavior changes. “They become less like your pet, and more like a wild animal.” In this episode Jim talks with Zoe Azulay about his tracking method, what it’s like to work with distressed pet owners, and why he didn’t become an animal lover until after his divorce.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 [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kylie Jenner and Mark Zuckerberg are trying to rebrand Meta Glasses as some kind of girlboss fashion accessory, even though women are the ones most likely to be the victims of their invasive technology. While Meta plows forward with this new collaboration, the glasses continue to be abused by users taking advantage of its covert filming capabilities, often by filming women without their knowledge and posting it online. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by A Bit Fruity host Matt Bernstein to discuss why sinister companies keep giving themselves girlboss makeovers—but also why it’s not working. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.Get tickets to our live show here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As sex becomes more online, not only does it become more solitary, but also more surveilled. For instance: Back in December, OpenAI announced that they’d allow adult users to have erotic conversations with ChatGPT. On today’s encore episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by porn historian Noelle Perdue, author of the Porn World newsletter. While advances in AI and sex surveillance are intended to divide us, Noelle is confident that AI’s attempted sex-takeover will fail. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay, with help today from Kevin Bendis. Get tickets to our live show here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Bridget Read, a features writer at New York Magazine whose recent piece “What If It All Came Out?” reports on the hackers who are weaponizing our extensive digital footprints against us. While public figures have long dealt with embarrassing leaks and exposed group chats, regular people have started grappling with the same problems thanks to the trove of information our devices have amassed without our knowledge. As scams get more sophisticated, and the risk of exposure grows, we’ll have to change everything about how we behave online. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve, Dana, and Julia gather once more—for almost the last time—to unpack the week’s culture. This week, conversation has to include the cultural, cinematic juggernaut Steven Spielberg and his new film Disclosure Day. Starring Josh O’Connor and Emily Blunt, it’s a sci-fi, action thriller about the longheld Spielbergian obsession: extraterrestrial life. Does it deliver that trademark Spielberg sense of wonder or tired cliches… or both?Next, they welcome longtime friend of the program Isaac Butler to discuss his new book The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art, and the Birth of America's Culture Wars and threats to free expression past, present, and future. Finally, and for the final time, beloved chartologist Chris Molanphy joins the show to remember Summer Struts past and curate the ultimate shortlist of shortlists. The panel shares their most adored songs from previous years and the tracks that never made the list but should have.Listen to the final, ultimate, best of Summer Strut shortlist here. And for even more struttin’, you can listen to ten years of Summer Strut shortlists in one playlist here.For Slate Plus subscribers, our bonus episode includes even more propulsive, groovy tracks and reflective conversation about what was Summer Strut.EndorsementsDana: Slate’s Spielberg Week and the 2023 conversation between the three philosophers John Vervaeke, Iain McGilchrist, and Daniel Schmachtenberger on "The Psychological Drivers of the Metacrisis."Chris: The 2025 music video, directed by Mike Mills and starring Saoirse Ronan, of the Talking Heads classic Psycho Killer.Julia:  L.A. Material's upcoming Culinary Cup, a tournament of Los Angeles restaurants from the national diasporas represented in World Cup teams. Steve: Sports. (Latecomers and bandwagon fans welcome! Go Knicks!)And don’t forget to preorder Isaac Butler’s book The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art, and the Birth of America's Culture Wars.--Email us your thoughts at [email protected]. Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You know the Tootsie Shot. It’s that image that pops up all the time in movies set in a dense city: a really busy midtown street, everyone going somewhere—and smack in the middle of it all is the protagonist. You can find it in Working Girl, Midnight Cowboy, Wall Street, Heartburn, Elf, Bridget Jones’s Diary, The Devil Wears Prada, The Wolf of Wall Street, and so many more. But while it’s one of the most recognizable camera shots in all of film, it only amounts to a short, transitional moment, often in the middle of a montage, and sometimes lasting for a couple seconds. It is, after all, just someone walking down a crowded street. So why is it so sticky?Some of the voices you’ll hear in this episode include James Sanders, author of Celluloid Skyline: New York and the Movies; cinematographer Adam Holender; producer Anna Wenger; assistant director Joe Reidy, author Christopher Bonanos, media and entertainment lawyer Sam Bayard, and location manager Mara Alcaly. Also thanks to Jason Bailey, Sam Levy, Glenn Kenny, Carlo Mirabella-Davis, J.D. Amato, David Sims, Bill Parker, Doug Brody, Sean Fennessey, and Jody Rosen.This episode was produced by Willa Paskin and Benjamin Frisch. Decoder Ring is also produced by Max Freedman and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at [email protected] or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Slate staff writer Nitish Pawha to discuss his piece “Your TV Is Not Safe.” Apps like Instagram, Substack, and Spotify are making the leap from smart phones to smart TVs, as TVs attempt to compete against scrolling, and the nature of entertainment is changing. But giving over our TVs to these companies even further changes our relationships with technology, and even more, how we spend time with each other. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay, with help from A.C. Valdez. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by writer Stephanie McNeal to discuss the internet phenomenon of “boy moms.” As an internet culture expert, and recent mother of a boy herself, Stephanie helps break down the reaction to a recent viral post from actress Jenny Mollen, who has publicly compared her sons to “toxic exes” and is already mourning losing them to their eventual marriages. But she is far from the only example of this trope on social media, and the more mothers fall into this trap, the more they legitimize a problematic dynamic.This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Steve, Dana, and Julia convene once again—this time with some big news. Also, they make a classic Gabfest episode. First up, it's the alienating fluorescent buzz, infinite carpeted sprawl, and liminal horror of Backrooms. The new release from A24 is directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons based on his YouTube series which itself was inspired by deep internet lore and a viral piece of creepypasta. Does the uncanny maze of Backrooms go anywhere? They step into the labyrinth to find out. Next, they’re joined by Gabfest fave Leon Neyfakh to get into another parallel dimension: the world of OnlyFans. They discuss Leon’s new podcast about the ubiquitous platform OnlyFantasy—produced with comedian and OF creator Gracie Canaan.Finally, it’s a conversation that’s as lively as… well, that’s the question. They take up a recent piece of data journalism in The Pudding analyzing the most common similes.In a bonus episode, Carl Wilson joins the call (as well as a special endorsement segment) to talk taste. Specifically, they get into how discussions of taste have changed since Carl wrote authoritatively on it 18 years ago in his book Let’s Talk About Love: Why Other People Have Bad Taste.EndorsementsDana: The recent Zadie Smith essay in The New York Review of Books "Art for Our Sakes." Carl: The live album Happy Today by Jeff Parker and ETA IVtet as well as the anthology of poetry On Occasion: Poems for the People, with a special Canadian shoutout to the poem "Oh Americans" by Gary Barwin.Julia: The tranquil, koi fish-rich, and very SoCal Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine. Also, L.A. listeners should join the folks of L.A Material, Punch List, and New York Review of Architecture on June 7 for the event LACMA Therapy Session to process all their complicated feelings about the new David Geffen Galleries.Steve: The band The Durutti Column as sampled in the Blood Orange song "The Field." Plus, Steve would love to know what listeners make of the author J.M. Coetzee, particularly his novel Disgrace.(Also, make sure to subscribe to Carl's fantastic newsletter Crritic!)--Email us your thoughts at [email protected]. Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Australia, no wedding or school dance is complete without the Nutbush, Australia’s unofficial national dance. The Nutbush – a simple line dance to the song “Nutbush City Limits,” by Ike and Tina Turner – has become as stereotypically Australian as kangaroos, boomerangs, and Vegemite.And yet, hardly anyone outside of Australia even knows the Nutbush exists. Here at Decoder Ring, we certainly didn’t – until we started getting emails from Australians asking us to investigate its origins. How did an American song become the soundtrack for an Australian national tradition? Who invented the iconic steps, and why does every Australian know them?Our producer Max Freedman put on his dancing shoes to get some answers. The global, century-spanning story of the Nutbush involves Australia, Tennessee, Denmark, primary schools, gay discos, and demonstrates that even the goofiest cultural touchstones can go surprisingly deep.In this episode you’ll hear from culture journalists David Mack and Angus Kidman; Nutbush researchers Panizza Allmark and Jon Stratton; dance historians Erica Okamura and Richard Powers; Dr. Fiona Chatteur, Jeremy Santolin, and Brian Kerr.This episode was written and produced by Max Freedman and edited by Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at [email protected] or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.Further ViewingHow to do ‘The Nutbush’ - Australian Line Dance Dancin’ the Madison on “The Buddy Deane Show” (1960)Alley Cat Tutorial — Spark Physical EducationThe Nutbush on Countdown (December 5, 1976)Tina Turner — Nutbush City Limits, The Midnight Special (1973)Tina Turner — Are You Breaking My Heart, Countdown (1980)Tina Turner: How “The Best” Became Rugby League’s Anthem | ABC NewsTina Turner’s Electrifying 1993 NRL Grand Final PerformanceSources for This EpisodeAllmark, Panizza, and Jon Stratton. “Doing the Nutbush: How Australia Got Its Very Own Line Dance.” Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, vol. 39, no. 1, 2025, pp. 79–94.Allmark, Panizza, and Jon Stratton. “The Nutbush Dance Reframed: Further Analysis Related to ‘Doing the Nutbush.’” Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, vol. 39, no. 1, 2025, pp. 95–103.Andrews, Shirley. Take Your Partners: Traditional Dancing in Australia. 3rd ed., Hyland House, 1979.Bloomfield, Anne. “Health or Art? The Case for Dance in the Curriculum of British State Schools 1909–1919.” History of Education, vol. 36, no. 6, 2007, pp. 681–696.Bloomfield, Anne. “The Quickening of the National Spirit: Cecil Sharp and the Pioneers of the Folk-Dance Revival in English State Schools (1900–26).” History of Education, vol. 30, no. 1, 2001, pp. 59–75.Gbogbo, Mawunyo. “Tina Turner and Her Australian Connections: How The Best Became Rugby League’s Anthem and Why Is the Nutbush Mandatory at Gatherings?” ABC News, 24 May 2023.Jones, Benjamin T. “Australian Politics Explainer: The White Australia Policy.” The Conversation, 9 Apr. 2017.Kidman, Angus. “Tina Turner: How Australia Saved Her Career.” Angus Kidman, 13 Aug. 2023.Meiners, Jeff. So We Can Dance? In Pursuit of an Inclusive Dance Curriculum for the Primary School Years in Australia. 2017. University of South Australia, Doctor of Education thesis.Spencer, Eliza. “Australia and the Nutbush: The Quest for the Origin of a Cultural Phenomenon Goes On.” The Guardian, 5 May 2024.Ward, Mary. “The Mysterious Allure of the Nutbush and Why the Dance Is Uniquely Australian.” Sydney Morning Herald, 25 May 2023.Zhuang, Yan. “Australia Remembered Tina Turner with a Dance.” New York Times, 25 May 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Angelina Mazza whose recent piece in The New York Times details how publishers are “modernizing” previously published books like Pretty Little Liars and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by replacing outdated references to pop culture and technology with artists like Billie Eilish and apps like TikTok. While publishers claim this is to keep younger readers engaged, others argue it’s not just patronizing, but also disrespectful to the art of storytelling. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Romy Holland is a Berkeley mom whose meet-cute happened at a raucous sex party. That night she had sex with dozens of men, one of which would become her husband. In this episode, Romy talks about the party in question, from the sexy aspects to the much more awkward ones. Plus she talks about what new motherhood does to desire, and the unexpected emotional toll of an abortion that didn't go as planned.Read Romy’s essay “What Nobody Told Me About Abortion“And we first heard about Romy in the San Francisco Standard’s story “When A Gang Bang Becomes a Love Story“ Podcast production by Zoe AzulayDeath, 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 [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Ed Zitron, host of the podcast Better Offline and a certified hater of AI. After yet another AI writing scandal, this time involving the 2026 Commonwealth Short Story prize, Kate and Ed take a closer look at tools like Pangram that claim to detect AI writing with 99% accuracy. But if we can’t ever be sure, then no one knows what’s true at all—and that’s exactly how these institutions like it. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1979, Sister Sledge changed the sound of wedding receptions forever with “We Are Family.” Believe it or not, the Chic-penned banger never made it to No. 1. Steely Dan helped invent Yacht Rock with 1977’s jazzy bop “Peg.” (They would have loved it better if it had cracked the Top 10.) And in 1972, Elton John told a timeless tale of a blue-jean baby, “Tiny Dancer.” Casey Kasem never counted it down.Today on Hit Parade: Chris Molanphy celebrates “near misses”—now-ubiquitous hits that missed the mark on the pop charts, stalling out at No. 2, No. 11, or No. 41. In this episode, Chris zooms in on near-misses from the 1970s, including songs from Paul McCartney, the Spinners, Jackson Browne, Cat Stevens, Diana Ross, and Michael Jackson.Get more Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for bonus episodes of "The Bridge" and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, the OG three Steve, Dana, and Julia dig into the visually stuffed, Marxist smorgasbord that is Boots Riley’s latest film I Love Boosters. Starring Keke Palmer and Demi Moore, the candy-colored agitprop is about exploitation, the fashion world, shoplifting as class warfare, and— as they discuss—perhaps more than one movie can handle. Next they turn from Marx to Freud and analyze the critically adored reality TV phenomenon Couples Therapy, now entering its fifth season. Is the office of Dr. Orna Guralnik a site of transcendent psychological revelation or panoptic exploitation? They unpack.Finally, they talk lingvo itself by way of a recent article in Harpers by Katie Thornton about the unlikely resurgence of interest in the artificial language Esperanto. In a bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, they answer a listener question about what long-running pieces of culture they’ve stuck with over years.Ĝuu!EndorsementsDana: The book The Artificial Language Movement by Andrew Large about the centuries-long history of utopic language projects.Julia: Lena Dunham’s memoir Famesick and Dialed.gg, the internet’s latest color perception test.Steve: The music of the indie shoegaze band Slowdive—particularly the album Souvlaki—and the solo efforts of its frontman Neil Halstead—particularly the song “Witless or Wise” and the album Palindrome Hunches; check out Steve’s mega playlist for more.---Email us your thoughts at [email protected]. Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Earlier this year we debuted Decoder Rings Back, our new feature exclusively for Decoder Ring Plus subscribers. In each installment, Willa gets a listener on the phone and tries her best to answer their question about a cultural mystery. We have been having a blast making these episodes, and if you haven’t heard them, we think you’re missing out. So in the hopes of instilling some FOMO that motivates you to support the work we do here by becoming a Decoder Ring Plus subscriber, here’s a sneak peek at the latest installment.This time, we hear from Julia Latino in Massachusetts who’s been baffled for years by a strange sight: dozens of tiny rubber duckies riding on the dashboard of Jeeps. What started this craze, and why Jeeps of all cars?Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by New York Magazine features writer Lane Brown whose latest piece breaks down the “clipping economy,” which has become the backbone of the entire internet. Cheaper than traditional advertising, people and companies employ bots and users to generate fake hype for everything from music to TV shows to SNL performances. The internet has become so saturated with this content that now almost everyone has to do it to compete. But if you take away clipping, does any real internet remain? And if everything is marketing, is anything online real?This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anna talks to Alexis, a parent whose 8 year old son has an anxiety disorder, about what it was like attending a therapy program designed for parents of anxious children. Plus, Anna talks to the founder of the program, Dr. Eli Lebowitz, Director of the Program for Anxiety Disorders at the Yale Child Study Center, and author of Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD: A Scientifically Proven Program for Parents.Podcast production by Zoe AzulayDeath, 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 [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by writer Daysia Tolentino to discuss whether influencers serve us at all in 2026. James Charles faced backlash for publicly mocking a recently laid-off woman who DMed him for support. And in response, some users are questioning why they even support influencers. While some creators offer niche content or services, many in the A-list are now simply famous for being famous. Meanwhile, the average American is struggling with the rising cost of living. Which begs the question: can we any longer be entertained by watching privileged people doing privileged things? This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we’ve got an all-guest-host panel with Gabfest faves Isaac Butler, Sam Adams, and June Thomas guiding the discourse… straight to hell. In this case, hell is the romantic relationships depicted in the buzzy indie horror Obsession. This rom-com/horror mashup—marking Curry Barker’s impressive feature directorial debut—deals with questions of codependency and consent. But the real question: is Obsession worth the online obsession? Next, they turn their gaze to the spooky titular island of Widow’s Bay and discuss the new series starring Matthew Rhys in another horror/comedy genre experiment. Finally, they debate whether most kids’ books are “crud?” Or really, is the recent online furor over comments in children’s book creator Mac Barnett’s new book Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children merited?In a bonus episode for Slate Plus subscribers, the gang gather over the topic of book clubs.EndorsementsJune: Get In: The Inside Story of Labor Under Starmer by Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund, a detailed and readable analysis of Keir Starmer's unlikely rise to power.Sam: The latest film of indie, animated short auteur Don Hertzfeldt "Paper Trail." Isaac: The novel The Oppermanns, a family saga by Lion Feuchtwanger written in real time during Hitler’s rise. (And, as a bonus peek into Feuchtwanger's post-war milieu, check out Salka Viertel’s autobiography The Kindness of Strangers.)--Email us your thoughts at [email protected]. Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Like the palm tree, the Everglades, Disney World, and the “Florida Man,” the orange is a classic symbol of the Sunshine State. But maybe not for much longer. Production has declined to catastrophic levels, a decrease of more than 95% in less than 25 years. It’s a produce murder mystery—and Decoder Ring is tagging along with reporter Alex Sammon to crack the case. The suspects include insects, hurricanes, mortgage-backed securities, and the American habit of not reckoning with enormous, load-bearing flaws until it’s way too late.In this episode, you’ll hear from Alex, a feature writer at Slate, who visited Florida to check on the orange and write about its demise. You’ll also hear from Gary Mormino, Florida lover, expert, and professor emeritus of Florida Studies at the University of South Florida.This episode was produced by Katie Shepherd and Evan Chung, Decoder Ring’s supervising producer. It was edited by Josh Levin. Decoder Ring is also produced by Willa Paskin and Max Freedman. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at [email protected] or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.Sources for This EpisodeHamilton, Alissa. Squeezed: What You Don't Know about Orange Juice, Yale University Press, 2010.Hussey, Scott D. “The Sunshine State's Golden Fruit: Florida And The Orange,1930-1960,” USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Apr. 2, 2010.McPhee, John. Oranges, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1967.Mormino, Gary. “The enduring but endangered symbol of Florida,” The Gainesville Sun, Apr. 3, 2016.Sammon, Alex. “Who Killed The Florida Orange?” Slate, Apr. 20, 2026.Walkey, Will and Amory Sivertson. “The fall of Florida citrus,” On Point, Aug. 19, 2025 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by writer and comedian Matt Buechele to talk about how the etiquette around phones is shifting, with previously phone-free spaces now welcoming them into the room. In almost all cases, this makes the experience worse for everyone else, but rather than rebelling, people are starting to accept this as a fact of life. Enough! Let Kate watch Hokum in peace!This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The actor and travel writer Andrew McCarthy used to be a member of one of pop culture’s most famous friend groups: The Brat Pack. He starred in movies like Pretty in Pink and St. Elmo’s Fire and palled around with actors like Rob Lowe and Emilio Estevez.Four decades later, in middle age, he found himself nearly friendless and set out on a cross-country road trip to reunite with the buddies he missed the most. This week on DSM, he tells Anna about the awkward conversations and tender moments that led to his new book Who Needs Friends: An Unscientific Examination of Male Friendship Across America. This episode was produced by Cameron Drews. Get more Death, Sex & Money with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen.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 email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by writer of Garbage Day and host of Panic World, Ryan Broderick. Ryan has been tracking the metrics of prominent right-wing creators like Ben Shapiro and Tim Pool over the past year or so, and noticed a surprising trend: once lauded as an unbeatable force of political influence, these creators are struggling with both their views and finances. Is this a sign of the tide turning, or was the right wing media ecosystem never as powerful as we thought it was?This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The opening riff of “White Wedding” is instantly recognizable—a skittering, syncopated guitar line quickly swallowed by pummeling drums. But the song itself is a bit of an enigma. Is it rock? Pop? New wave? Rockabilly punk? Like much of Billy Idol’s career, the song exists somewhere in between. Idol was a shape-shifter, blurring genre lines in pursuit of bigger hooks, bigger audiences and, eventually, pop stardom.Raised near London and running with the Sex Pistols’ inner circle, Idol arrived with genuine punk bona fides. But with the rise of MTV and the explosion of new wave, he refashioned himself as the bleach-blond, leather-clad rock crooner who sneered his way to the top of the charts.Join Chris Molanphy as he traces the rise, reinvention and Rock Hall canonization of an original MTV icon.Get more Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for bonus episodes of "The Bridge" and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the 11th season of Slow Burn, host Susan Matthews traces the rise of Neil Gorsuch, from his formative years as a young conservative through his nomination to a “stolen seat” on the U.S. Supreme Court. Through interviews, legal analysis, and archival research, this mild-mannered Westerner emerges as the court’s most unpredictable—and most important—sitting justice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens discuss Jim Carrey and Michel Gondry's new show Kidding, the CBC podcast Uncover: Escaping NXIVM, and the purpose and practice of dad jokes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Sam Anderson discuss Paul Feig's new film A Simple Favor, Sam's book Boom Town, and the delightful tradition of New York Post headlines inspired by "Beat the Meatles". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Stevens, Julia Turner, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the screen-based film Searching, Ariana Grande's album Sweetener, and the life and work of Burt Reynolds. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens discuss Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman, NBC's Making It, and the fire and incredible loss at the national museum in Brazil with Mauricio Santoro of the State University of Rio de Janeiro. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf, and Dana Stevens discuss the film Eighth Grade, the maligned TV series Insatiable with June Thomas, and Kelly Marie Tran's op ed about social media harassment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Inkoo Kang, and Isaac Butler discuss the film Crazy Rich Asians, the TV show Younger, and what, exactly, is up with Elon Musk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

June Thomas, Stephen Metcalf, and Dana Stevens discuss the TV BBC and Amazon show A Very English Scandal, the HBO film The Tale, and the work of Aretha Franklin with Jody Rosen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Stevens, Stephen Metcalf, and Laura Bennett discuss Boots Riley's film Sorry to Bother You, HBO's TV drama Succession, and the summer of grifters and our fascination with scam artists. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens discuss Mission Impossible: Fallout, the video game Fortnite, and a NYT Magazine profile of Gwyneth Paltrow and GOOP. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's our annual summer strut episode where we crowdsource the best songs for strutting around town from an exhaustive playlist curated by our listeners. In summer strut tradition, the panel is joined by pop chart-watcher and host of Slate's Hit Parade podcast Chris Molanphy to have a discussion about the song of the summer, followed by the formal summer strut list of picks: excavating a diverse crop of songs, from pop to acid jazz to hip-hop infused house, to lost disco classics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens discuss the film "Leave No Trace", Sacha Baron Coen's new show "Who is America?" and plastic straw bans as an agent of change and/or useless virtue signaling. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Turner, Dana Stevens, and Stephen Metcalf discuss the summer blockbuster Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the appeal of the Netflix cooking-failure show Nailed It, and Scarlett Johansson's casting as a trans man, with Slate's Evan Urquhart. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Stevens, Stephen Metcalf, and Julia Turner discuss the new documentary about Mr. Rogers: Won't You Be My Neighbor?, the Netflix comedy special Nanette, and the World Cup, with Mike Pesca. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dana Stevens, Stephen Metcalf, and Julia Turner Discuss Brad Bird's The Incredibles 2, the 30 For 30 podcast series about Bikram yoga, and the re-emergence of astrology with production assistant Daniel Schroeder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.