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Episodes
November 1, 2025 • 43 mins
On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by producer Vic Whitley-Berry, whose favorite animated shows like Hazbin Hotel have been funded by the internet—not big studios. In fact, as major studios consolidate and cut resources for animation, platforms like Patreon and YouTube are keeping the genre afloat. If we don’t continue to support independent artists, then crude animated musicals about religious trauma and pegging won’t...
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October 31, 2025 • 55 mins
Walk into any store or flip on a radio, and you’ll probably hear the Police’s “Every Breath You Take” sooner or later. Thanks to that ubiquity, the swooning, menacing megahit’s songwriter—Sting—is a very wealthy man.
Now his former bandmates, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers, are suing Sting over who deserves to profit from “Breath” and other Police songs. No matter how that dispute turns out, it’s a reminder of Sting’s uncanny s...
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October 31, 2025 • 29 mins
One legacy of the internet is the millions of subcultures that it helps flourish. Another is pornography—and lots of it. At a “gooner meet-up,” the two collide.
Guest: Daniel Kolitz, author of “The Goon Squad” for Harper’s Magazine.
Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try...
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October 30, 2025 • 40 mins
On this episode: Lucy Lopez, Elizabeth Newcamp, and Zak Rosen have a tough listener question about what to do when a relative is an alcoholic and don’t think the environment is safe for the relative’s kid. To answer this question, they’re joined by Lisa Smith from Parallel Recovery. They unpack how to set real boundaries with family members without shaming them; acceptable ultimatums; how to “pre-game” for tough situations; and mor...
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October 29, 2025 • 45 mins
On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Jonquilyn Hill, host of Vox’s Explain It To Me podcast. The pair chat about how the internet used to celebrate Halloween, from spooky Twitter display names to Snapchat filters, and why no one wants to be earnest online anymore. However, today’s internet is still filled with plenty of scary stuff, with r/nosleep still going strong, ghost sightings going viral on TikTok, and LinkedIn...
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October 29, 2025 • 63 mins
On this week’s show, Dana is joined by fellow movie critics Amy Nicholson of The Los Angeles Times and Slate’s Sam Adams for an all-film edition of the Gabfest. First up, they enter A House of Dynamite, Kathryn Bigelow’s tense procedural about a nuclear catastrophe. Whether or not this grim thriller has any spark is up for debate.
Next, they step into the raucous party of Hedda Gabler in Nia DaCosta’s Henrik Ibsen adaptation Hedda...
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October 28, 2025 • 29 mins
Last week, the FBI indicted more than 30 people in a series of NBA gambling scandals. The sports leagues are promising drastic action – but with everyone from the states to the owners getting rich off legal sports gambling, is the game rigged?
Guest: Jay Willis, editor-in-chief of Balls and Strikes.
Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite...
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October 28, 2025 • 29 mins
Andrew Zaleski couldn’t stop snoring. Fed up, he did what any good journalist would do: He started digging. On this episode of How To!, Andrew tells Courtney Martin about his investigation into sawing logs, his experiments with anti-snoring devices, and what he learned from sleep experts while reporting his recent story for Slate.
Episodes Mentioned:
How To Stop Snoring (and Breathe Easier)
How To Sleep Apart to Save Your Relat...
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October 28, 2025 • 53 mins
In the early-morning hours of October 2, 2023, progressive activist and organizer Ryan Carson was stabbed and killed by a stranger on a Brooklyn sidewalk. His girlfriend Claudia Morales—who witnessed the crime, attempted CPR, and dialed 911—quickly became the target of sensationalist online posting. Internet trolls falsely claimed that she didn’t cooperate with law enforcement and suggested that she and Ryan were, first and foremos...
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October 27, 2025 • 58 mins
Hosts Alex Kirshner, Lindsay Gibbs, and Ben Lindbergh discuss the federal indictments of NBA players and coaches for gambling incidents and how the ubiquity of online betting plays a role.. Then the panel is joined by the host of the Ringer’s F1 podcast, Megan Schuster, to discuss the excitement and drama heading into the final stretch of the Formula 1 season. Finally, they finish with a mid-season NFL check-in.
On the bonus episo...
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October 27, 2025 • 43 mins
On this episode: Lucy Lopez, Elizabeth Newcamp, and Zak Rosen are joined by ICYMI host Kate Lindsay to discuss viral slang like “67” and “41” and what it all means. They unpack the difference between “bro” and “bruh” (it’s huge!), why the harmless bit of brain rot might actually be good for kids, and more!
Later, they discuss a listener's question: “how do I, a childless aunt, talk to my nieces and nephews without it feeling awkw...
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October 25, 2025 • 50 mins
On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by writer and streamer Laura Kate Dale to talk about what happened to Emiru at this year’s TwitchCon. The streamer was assaulted during a meet-and-greet, after a number of female streamers had already dropped out of the convention in fear for their safety. What is it about TwitchCon that makes creators feel unsafe, and why are female streamers, in particular, still paying the price?
...
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October 23, 2025 • 46 mins
On this episode: Lucy Lopez, Elizabeth Newcamp, and Zak Rosen have a triple…fail. Lucy clapped back to her teen, Elizabeth said the thing to her kids she promised she never would, and Zak is now dealing with injuries from a bike accident.
Then, they get a listener triumph with a game-ified way of doing chores and earning allowance. The ‘Rents dig into what they do in their homes for chores and debate whether Lucy should let her k...
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October 22, 2025 • 42 mins
On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Slate staff writer Luke Winkie to talk about Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who some viewers have accused of shocking his dog on his livestream. Winkie spent time with Piker and his dog, Kaya, for Slate earlier this year, and helps debunk the misinformation currently being spread by cloutchasers and right-wing media figures alike. He also answers the most important question of them a...
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October 22, 2025 • 51 mins
There’s a ubiquitous prop in just about every police procedural and conspiracy thriller: a cork board pinned with documents, newspaper clippings, and Polaroid photos, all connected by a web of red string. They go by many names, including pin boards, string boards, evidence boards, investigation walls, conspiracy walls, and walls of crazy. These boards can be vehicles of insight or manifestations of madness—and in many cases, both. ...
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October 22, 2025 • 6 mins
This is a special preview of this week's Slate Plus episode. To get the full episode, another one like it every single week, and unlimited reading on Slate.com, subscribe to slate plus at Slate.com/cultureplus and help us keep the lights on.
When you have Jad Abumrad in the studio, you don’t let him leave without squeezing as much quality audio from him as possible. So, inspired by Jad’s own natural curiosity, we dedicated our...
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October 22, 2025 • 71 mins
On this week’s show, Dana, Steve, and Julia step into the gothic, visually rich world of Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. It’s been years in the making, gorgeously rendered, and stars the always compelling Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi, but it’s up for debate if something like a soul emerges from del Toro’s mad machinations.
Next, author and journalist Stefan Fatsis joins the logophilic panel to talk about the uncertain fate of d...
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October 21, 2025 • 43 mins
If you recently lost your job—or think you might lose it soon—Laura Brown and Kristina O'Neill are here to help! On this episode of How To!, Carvell Wallace talks to the authors of All the Cool Girls Get Fired about what to do when you get the ax—and how to turn termination into a real opportunity.
If you liked this conversation, check out the Slate podcast Death, Sex & Money’s recent episode on “Why Job Hunting Feels So Grim Lat...
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October 21, 2025 • 61 mins
Christine Brown Woolley grew up in Utah with a dad and two moms, in a polygamist community called the Apostolic United Brethren. When she became an adult, she joined a polygamist marriage as a third wife, helped raise more than a dozen kids, and became co-star of the TLC reality show Sister Wives.
Fast forward to 2025, and she has left her marriage and her polygamist faith. This week, she talks to Anna about the pros and cons of ...
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October 20, 2025 • 86 mins
Hosts Alex Kirshner, Lindsay Gibbs, and Ben Lindbergh are joined by Nate Silver, founder of FiveThirtyEight and Silver Bulletin, to discuss his new NFL prediction model “ELWAY” and what it reveals about an unpredictable football league. Later in the show, OG Hang Up host Stefan Fatsis returns to talk about his new book on the dictionary, “Unabridged: The Thrill of and Threat to the Modern Dictionary,” and to share some of his favor...
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