Death, Sex & Money

Death, Sex & Money

Anna Sale explores the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation. 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.

Episodes

July 29, 2025 57 mins
N.D. Austin is not an event planner. He designs experiences, which he says are supposed to leave you feeling transformed. He’s designed hundreds over the years, from secret sewer speakeasies to coming-of-age rituals on deserted islands, to funeral board games that guide people through decades of memories. In this episode, Anna talks to skateboarding legend Tony Hawk about an experience N.D. designed for Tony’s office that mended f...
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Actor-writer-director Seth Rogen discusses Hollywood's perpetual existential crisis, where art and commerce constantly battle for dominance. On the heels of the Emmy nominated Apple TV+ series The Studio, Rogen talks about finding humor in the industry's dysfunction, and how his lifelong friendships shaped him as an artist. This interview comes from the podcast Talk Easy hosted by Sam Fragoso.  Death, Sex & Money is now produced ...
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Brendan Paul co-owns the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, which claims to be the site of the world's first Elvis-themed wedding. Dressed in sparkly jumpsuits, Brendan marries sometimes as many as 75 people a day—in back to back 15-minute appointments. But while his portrayal of Elvis is generally a jovialone, his view on The King's life isn't entirely one of reverence. "That loneliness, that despair, that unsatisfied inside,"...
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Silvia Camila Muñoz and Bradley Bartell had been married for less than a year when ICE stopped them at the airport on the way back from their honeymoon in Puerto Rico. Silvia Camila came to the United States in 2019 to work at a Wisconsin waterpark for one season. The pandemic caused her to overstay her visa and continue to work without authorization. That’s when she met Bradley, a local factory worker, and a Trump supporter.  In ...
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Ray Christian joined the U.S. Army in 1978, as a way to get his life started. He became a paratrooper, an infantryman, and a drill sergeant. He also endured trauma and found that getting out of the service was more challenging than he expected.  This week, Ray discusses why he signed up in the first place, what it was like serving in-between major conflicts, and how he eventually transitioned into a life of academia and storytelli...
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Alexandra Paul always loved connecting with fans. She had many, from her breakout role in the 1983 horror film Christine to her years playing a lifeguard on Baywatch. In 2011, Paul's career was slowing down, but it was also the year that she met her biggest fan: a woman who would come to stalk her for over a decade, costing Paul tens of thousands of dollars in legal bills, strain on her family, and forcing her to move across state ...
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On June 11th, actress Allison Williams joined Anna live onstage at the Tribeca Festival in New York City for a conversation that was equal parts introspective and hilarious. Allison talked about everything from botox and how it impacts her work (and the faces she’s able to make to her young son) to her very complicated and controversial film and TV characters, like the famously maligned Marnie from Girls. Allison and Anna also wel...
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In 2018, we followed eight listeners as they dated over the course of the summer. We heard about having sex for the first time, being ghosted, downloading and deleting dating apps, and grieving one partner while falling in love with someone new. In this episode, you’ll hear the final check-in with our eight daters (you can listen to the first and second episode here).  Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and...
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June 10, 2025 73 mins
At a time when inflation, tariffs, and stock market fluctuations are creating confusion and financial strain, we’ve assembled an unlikely panel of experts to answer your money questions, big and small.  Our panel includes: Bethel Habte, a financial coach and author of the Deconstructing Money newsletter; Mark Blythe, economics professor at Brown University and author of Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers; and Rebecca Auman, D...
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Long before Celine Song was nominated for an Academy Award for her directorial debut, Past Lives, she was a struggling playwright in New York City with a side hustle: matchmaking. In this episode, Celine talks about how that experience inspired the plot of her new A24 movie, Materialists, starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal. This podcast was produced by Zoe Azulay.  Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! ...
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When blogger AJ Daulerio broke the Brett Favre sexting scandal in 2010, it became one of the biggest stories of his career. But it came at a cost: he had betrayed Jenn Sterger, the woman at the center of the story, who had confided in him as a friend and explicitly asked him not to name her. The fallout was immediate and lasting. Jenn became the target of relentless online harassment and scrutiny that has followed her for 15 years...
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José Andrés is at the helm of more than a dozen restaurants and is famous for the humanitarian work that his organization World Central Kitchen does everywhere from Haiti to Gaza. But when it comes to parenting, José says he’s often felt less than confident. In this episode, he discusses his somewhat rocky upbringing in Spain, his successes and struggles as a chef and restauranteur, and his frustration that parenthood doesn’t come ...
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May 13, 2025 54 mins
A man delivers an unforgettable pickup line. A woman asks her Uber driver out on a date. A rancher swears off men and then, years later, suddenly develops feelings for the guy down the road. This week, listeners share offline dating stories for the ages, including charming meet-cutes, frustrating missed connections, and happily ever afters.  We also hear from Maxine Simone Williams, founder of WeMetIRL, a company that hosts in-per...
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Isabel Allende didn’t publish her first book until she was 39, after losing nearly everything in the wake of the Chilean military coup. More than four decades later, she’s become one of the most beloved Spanish-language authors, with over 80 million copies of her books sold worldwide. After political exile, writing books became Allende’s way of making sense of the world. She wrote through divorce, affairs, and moving across contin...
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In West Virginia, Republicans hold one of the largest supermajorities in the country, and it’s growing. Just 11 Democrats — down from 14 last year — are in the 134-member Legislature. It's a political reality that isn't necessarily conducive to advancing LGBTQ rights. But that's Andrew Schneider's job. As head of Fairness West Virginia, Andrew has spent a decade as the only full-time lobbyist at the state capitol working on LGBTQ ...
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To fly a plane, pilots must prove to the Federal Aviation Administration that they’re physically and mentally fit. But when it comes to mental health, the rules are complicated and, some say, outdated. Pilots who need antidepressants are limited to a short list of approved medications and must take a mandatory six-month leave. Even common diagnoses like anxiety or depression can trigger reviews that could ground them. The F.A.A.’s ...
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Kareem Rahma, host of the viral web series Subway Takes, says he’s been working since he was 14 and hasn’t really taken a break. In high school, he worked service jobs. In college, he bought and re-sold motorcycles, jeans, and whatever else he thought he could flip.  This week on the show, Kareem explains why he’s had so many jobs, including posts at Vice and the New York Times, and he discusses the financial maneuvering that allow...
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At a time when skepticism about conventional medicine has become even more mainstream, we’re revisiting a story about the causes and effects of that mistrust. Archie Matlow’s mother refused to get a surgery that could have saved her life, which led to her and Archie trying to love each other while bitterly at odds. You can listen to the full audio piece Archie made here, and you can order their memoir, Dead Mom Walking, here. Also ...
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April 1, 2025 71 mins
Alongside life's darkest moments there often are moments of absurdity that make us laugh.  In this episode, from a live San Francisco comedy festival in January, Anna and guests talk about the special kind of comedy born of something sad. Comedians Guy Branum and Carl Tart share stories of writing a sitcom about Zoom-era social relationships. Chanel Miller, author of Know My Name, talks about coping with the trauma of being a victi...
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When Joe Gow was fired from his position as chancellor and professor at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse, his superiors said it was due to “abhorrent” behavior. Joe had made porn videos with his wife Carmen and uploaded them onto the internet under the name “Sexy Happy Couple.”  This week, Joe and Carmen tell their side of the story and explain how making porn spiced up their marriage. They also defend themselves against th...
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