Hear Me Out

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Hear Me Out is Slate's destination for tough, topical discussions with integrity, and without cliches. Join host Celeste Headlee and a guest each week for a smart, fair debate on issues that matter.

10 SEPT

Podcasting Is Dead

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: a fond farewell. This is the last episode of Hear Me Out. And it comes at a volatile, strange time in the world of podcasting. Networks’ priorities have shifted, the money has shifted, and “success” means different things to different people. Nick Hilton of Podot and Future Proof joins us for a discussion about the future of podcasting… whether we’re in it or not. The Hear Me Out team is grateful, endlessly, to every single listener who’s sent us a note. We’re not sure how long the address will work, but if the show mattered to you, we’d love to read your emails: hearmeout@slate.com Podcast production by Maura Currie, who owes many more things than this podcast to Celeste Headlee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

46 min
3 SEPT

Presidential Pardons Need Reform

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: pardon interruption. What’s the purpose of the presidential pardon? Well, depends on who you ask — hypothetically, it’s meant for course-correction and honoring restorative justice. But presidents on both ends of the spectrum have used it for purposes that are distinctly not that. So do we need the pardon or do we need to get rid of it… and either way, what’s next? Kim Wehle joins us once again to talk about her new book, Pardon Power. Hear Me Out ends next week. So, before then, please feel free to email the show: hearmeout@slate.com Podcast production by Maura Currie. Want more Hear Me Out? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hearmeoutplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

39 min
27 AUG

There’s No Lesser-Evil Candidate

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: PSL (not the drink). Claudia de la Cruz cannot, mathematically, win the presidency. But she’s running anyway… because the two-party system doesn’t lend itself to real representation or the public interest. Claudia joins us to make the case for voting socialist, because the parties with all the power aren’t as different as they want you to think. We’ll also share an important update about the future of Hear Me Out at the end of the episode. After that, please feel free to email the show: hearmeout@slate.com Podcast production by Maura Currie. Want more Hear Me Out? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hearmeoutplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

54 min
20 AUG

Schools Do Too Much (Often Badly)

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: sharpen up. Public schooling in this country has had a lot of champions — including some that you might not expect. But did we ever actually agree on what we wanted schools to do for society? Elizabeth Newcamp of Slate’s Care & Feeding joins us to argue for a reappraisal of the whole system… and what it means to educate. If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: hearmeout@slate.com Podcast production by Maura Currie. Want more Hear Me Out? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hearmeoutplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

46 min
13 AUG

Fact-Checks Make Audiences Suspicious

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: pants on fire. The fact-check is a critical tool in the journalist’s toolbox – and now more than ever, it’s a key part of the job. The problem is that it’s already hard to make the case that definitive “true and false” designations exist anymore… and, it turns out, audiences might be made more suspicious of journalists who fact check, not less. Randy Stein of Cal Poly Pomona joins Hear Me Out to discuss his new research about debunkings and public trust. If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: hearmeout@slate.com Podcast production by Maura Currie. Want more Hear Me Out? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hearmeoutplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

36 min
6 AUG

The Olympics Are a Tool of Oppression

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: opening ceremonies (and a can of worms). We come to you midway through the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. But amid the patriotism, athletic prowess, and sheer spectacle of these games — the most watched and streamed to date, by some measures — there’s also concerns about geopolitical power, human rights abuses, and the facilitation of facism. MacIntosh Ross of Windsor University joins us to talk about the uglier facets of the Olympic Games. If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: hearmeout@slate.com Podcast production by Maura Currie. Want more Hear Me Out? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hearmeoutplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

43 min
30 JUL

Pop Stars Run Politics Now

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: who runs the world? Kamala Harris is having a brat summer, which means that you’re likely seeing lots of questions about what brat summer is and why anyone cares. But the meme being co-opted by the Harris campaign is just a small piece of the bigger puzzle. Writer and podcast host H. Alan Scott joins Hear Me Out to argue that pop stars have a huge amount of political influence — that, coupled with “cool factor,” could swing the election. If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: hearmeout@slate.com Podcast production by Maura Currie. Want more Hear Me Out? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hearmeoutplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

44 min
23 JUL

You Don’t Need A BFF

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: make the friendship bracelets. Or don’t. Like all relationships, friendships can grow, change… and, yes, end. Sometimes for good reason. But we romanticize the BFF as the goal – to find your person – and that might not be realistic. Author and podcast host Kristen Meinzer joins us to make the case for not needing a best friend forever. If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show: hearmeout@slate.com Podcast production by Maura Currie. Want more Hear Me Out? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hearmeoutplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

41 min

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

5.0 (1)

RELATIONSHIPS
In Slow Burn’s 10th season, host Josh Levin takes you back to a crucial inflection point in American history: the moment between 2000 and 2004 when Fox News first surged to power and a whole bunch of people rose up to try and stop it.You’ll hear from the hosts, reporters, and producers who built Fox News, many who’ve never spoken publicly. You’ll also hear from Fox’s biggest antagonists—the political operatives, journalists, and comedians who attacked it, investigated it, and tried to mock it into submission. And you’ll hear from Fox’s victims, who are still coming to terms with how a cable news channel upended their lives. Want more Slow Burn? Join Slate Plus to immediately access all past seasons and episodes of Slow Burn (and your other favorite Slate podcasts) completely ad-free. Plus, you’ll unlock subscriber-exclusive bonus episodes that bring you behind-the-scenes on the making of the show. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Subscribe” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/slowburnplus to get access wherever you listen. Season 9: Gays Against Briggs A nationwide moral panic, a California legislator who rode the anti-gay wave, and the LGBTQ+ people who stepped up and came out to try and stop him. Season 8: Becoming Justice Thomas Where Clarence Thomas came from, how he rose to power, and how he’s brought the rest of us along with him, whether we like it or not. Winner of the Podcast of the Year at the 2024 Ambies Awards. Season 7: Roe v. Wade The women who fought for legal abortion, the activists who pushed back, and the justices who thought they could solve the issue for good. Winner of Apple Podcasts Show of the Year in 2022. Season 6: The L.A. Riots How decades of police brutality, a broken justice system, and a video tape set off six days of unrest in Los Angeles. Season 5: The Road to the Iraq War Eighteen months after 9/11, the United States invaded a country that had nothing to do with the attacks. Who’s to blame? And was there any way to stop it? Season 4: David Duke America’s most famous white supremacist came within a runoff of controlling Louisiana. How did David Duke rise to power? And what did it take to stop him? Season 3: Biggie and Tupac How is it that two of the most famous performers in the world were murdered within a year of each other—and their killings were never solved? Season 2: The Clinton Impeachment A reexamination of the scandals that nearly destroyed the 42nd president and forever changed the life of a former White House intern. Season 1: Watergate What did it feel like to live through the scandal that brought down President Nixon?

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HISTORY
What makes a song a smash? Talent? Luck? Timing? All that—and more. Chris Molanphy, pop-chart analyst and author of Slate’s “Why Is This Song No. 1?” series, tells tales from a half-century of chart history. Through storytelling, trivia and song snippets, Chris dissects how that song you love—or hate—dominated the airwaves, made its way to the top of the charts and shaped your memories forever. Want more Hit Parade? Join Slate Plus to unlock monthly early-access episodes. Plus, you’ll get ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen.

5.0 (1)

MUSIC HISTORY
A weekly roundup of the most important stories from the worlds of business and finance, hosted by Felix Salmon. Want more Slate Money? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit https://slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen.

5.0 (1)

INVESTING
A show about the law and the nine Supreme Court justices who interpret it for the rest of America. Want more Amicus? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Amicus show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/amicusplus to get access wherever you listen.

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NEWS COMMENTARY
Decoder Ring is the show about cracking cultural mysteries. In each episode, host Willa Paskin takes a cultural question, object, or habit; examines its history; and tries to figure out what it means and why it matters.

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DOCUMENTARY

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Hear Me Out is Slate's destination for tough, topical discussions with integrity, and without cliches. Join host Celeste Headlee and a guest each week for a smart, fair debate on issues that matter.