Cut Through the Noise

Slate Podcasts

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Channel • 48 Shows

Documentary

Documentary

Every two weeks
Philosophy

Philosophy

Updated 16/05/2023
History

History

Twice-a-month series
Investing

Investing

Updated 14 hr ago
Daily News

Daily News

Updated 5 Jan
Parenting

Parenting

Updated twice weekly
Relationships

Relationships

Updated weekly

27/12/2025

What We Got Wrong About SCOTUS in 2025

Over the past calendar year, the Supreme Court’s center has shifted to the right and then more to the right, and the justices’ decisions have time and again facilitated Trump’s agenda. But the Roberts majority is not simply focused on what the current president wants; it has its sights set on a larger project: voting. Suppressing and constraining and problematizing the core function of democratic rule. In this episode, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern reflect on the significant developments at the Supreme Court over the past year with an eye toward the implications of the court's decisions on democracy, voting rights, and the erosion of checks and balances. Looking back at the past year at One First Street, Dahlia and Mark trace the cases that reveal the court’s long game, with elections coming quickly, and discuss the forces for and against democracy being exerted within and without the high court. Then, they turn to the urgent matter of what you and I can do about it. If you want to access that special 50% discount for Slate Plus membership, go to slate.com/amicusplus and enter promo code AMICUS 50. This offer expires on Dec 31st 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27/12/2025

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1h 9m
16/05/2023

Rise of the Music Machines

On this show we explore three different AI and machine-generated music technologies; vocal emulators that allow you to deep fake a singer or rapper’s voice, AI-generated compositions and text-to-music generators like Google Music LM and Open AI’s Jukebox, and musical improvisation technologies. We listen to the variety of music these technologies generate, and two guitarists face off against an AI in improvised guitar solos. Along the way, we talk to philosophers of music Robin James and Theodore Gracyk about what musical creativity is and whether machines are more or less creative than human musicians, and Barry gives his take on each of the technologies and what they mean for the future of musical creativity. Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to Hi-Phi Nation and the rest of your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hi-Phi Nation show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hiphiplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

16/05/2023

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53 min
3 DAYS AGO

ENCORE! Managing Screen Time Without Losing Your Mind

The hosts are on vacation this week! So we're taking you back in time with one of our favorite episodes of the year. Elizabeth and Zak talk with Ash Brandin, author of Power On, about managing screen time without guilt or panic. They discuss realistic strategies and why screen time doesn’t define parenting quality. Then, a listener’s question about school tech mandates gets some thoughtful answers. Plus, Slate Plus offers kid-friendly tech picks. If you’re not part of the Slate Plus community, we hope you’ll consider joining! Keep reading to learn how. Join us on Facebook and email us at careandfeedingpod@slate.com to ask questions, share feedback, and suggest future topics. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an extra weekly grab-bag of content on the Plus Playground, an ad-free experience across the network, and support the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus — or try it out on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 days ago

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32 min
26/07/2022

The Mall is Dead (Long Live the Mall)

What do we lose if we lose the mall? 70 years into their existence, these hulking temples to commerce are surprisingly resilient and filled with contradictions. In this episode, Alexandra Lange, the author of the new book Meet Me at the Fountain: an Inside History of the Mall walks us through the atriums, escalators, and food courts of this singular suburban space. We also hear from mall-goers whose personal experiences help us make sense of this disdained yet beloved, disappearing yet surviving place. This episode of Decoder Ring was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Willa Paskin and Katie Shepherd. Derek John is Sr. Supervising Producer of Narrative Podcasts. Merritt Jacob is our Technical Director. If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com If you love the show and want to support us, consider joining Slate Plus. With Slate Plus you get ad-free podcasts, bonus episodes, and total access to all of Slate’s journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

26/07/2022

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43 min
27/12/2025

2025 Hot Takes

This week: We’re celebrating a year full of hot takes! Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck, debate and rate the hottest takes they’ve heard this year — like Elon Musk’s claim that there will be no poverty in the future, the idea that Trump’s tariffs didn’t matter – and the collection of fire takes Felix gathered from around the Bloomberg news room. In the Slate Plus episode: The hot take that started it all: the $140,000 poverty line. Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27/12/2025

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41 min
15/11/2022

The Truth About #TheDress

In the history of viral images, #TheDress has got to be in the top 10. This unassuming photo of a party dress kicked off a global debate when people realized they were seeing it completely differently. Is it black and blue, or white and gold? In today’s episode, we’ll talk to someone who was there when the photo was first taken, and the BuzzFeed writer whose post briefly broke the internet. Then we go down the optical rabbit hole with a neuroscientist who’s been studying the The Dress for years. What does it reveal about the nature of truth? This podcast was written by Willa Paskin, who produces Decoder Ring with Katie Shepherd. This episode was edited by Andrew Adam Newman. Derek John is Slate’s senior supervising producer of narrative podcasts. Merritt Jacob is senior technical director. We’ll hear from Paul Jinks, Cates Holderness, Pascal Wallisch, and David McRaney author of the book How Minds Change. Here’s the optical illusion of the strawberries mentioned in the episode and created by Professor Akiyoshi Kitaoka. If you haven’t please yet, subscribe and rate our feed in Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends. If you’re a fan of the show, I’d love for you to sign up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to listen to Decoder Ring — and every other Slate podcast — ad-free. Their support is also crucial to our work. So please go to Slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. Check out Remote Works here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

15/11/2022

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36 min
26/10/2020

Jane Fonda's Workout, Part 2: Hanoi Jane's VHS Revolution

How did Hanoi Jane become Exercise Jane? This is the second part of our two-parter on Jane Fonda's Workout. If you haven't yet, listen to the previous episode "Jane and Leni" first, it will give you the full context for this episode. This time around we explore how an academy award winning actor and controversial political activist managed to transform herself into a category defining fitness icon. It's a story involving a persistent VHS entrepreneur, dozens of bizarre celebrity workout tapes, and Tricky Dick, himself. Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Dear Prudence and Slow Burn. Sign up now to listen and support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

26/10/2020

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50 min
15/04/2025

Money Talks: The Student Loan Paradox

In this Money Talks: The federal student loan program was meant to help students seeking a route to a better life – so why is it putting so many of them into crippling debt instead? Journalist Jillian Berman, author of Sunk Cost: Who’s to Blame for the Nation’s Broken Student Loan System and How to Fix, joins Emily Peck to unpack the fraught history of the national student debt system and discuss where it stands now. Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

15/04/2025

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36 min
31/01/2019

The Grifter

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Dear Prudence and Slow Burn. Sign up now to listen and support our work. Brett Johnson was a career criminal: a fraudster, a con man, a cyber criminal, but now he’s a legal person operating on the right side of the law, helping companies stop people like he used to be. His story is the stuff of a movie like Catch Me iI You Can, it involves wild scams, narrow escapes, redemption, and even a trip to Disney World. Throughout his criminal career he defrauded people on the street, on eBay, on criminal web forums, within the justice system, and even inside the United States Secret Service. There’s great entertainment value in Brett’s story, but there’s also a great deal of complication to it, too. Real life isn’t as neat and tidy as a movie, and the ending is yet to be written. Today we explore Brett’s story, first by letting you enjoy it, and then we deconstruct it, to decide if we should. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

31/01/2019

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54 min
10/06/2020

The Metrosexual

In 2003, the word "metrosexual", meaning a well-groomed heterosexual man, exploded all over the English lexicon. It invaded the news, TV, and even American politics. On this episode of Decoder Ring we explore the origins of the metrosexual, and how trend forecasters, marketers, David Beckham, Sex and the City, and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy helped make the metrosexual possible. Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Dear Prudence and Slow Burn. Sign up now to listen and support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10/06/2020

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38 min

Cut through the noise with Slate Podcasts. You'll get thought-provoking analysis, storytelling, and commentary on everything from news and politics to culture, technology, and entertainment. Catch up with old favorites and discover new shows you never knew you were missing, from the voices of Slate.