I Have To Ask

One of the many things laid bare by COVID-19 was the importance of public health messaging—and the many ways it can fail. So when monkeypox began spreading in the U.S., the White House found someone who understands just how important it is to know your audience.  Guest: Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, White House National Monkeypox Response Deputy Coordinator and former director of the CDC Division of HIV Prevention. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Amicus—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Waves, Slate senior editor Shannon Palus sits down with writer and political scientist Virginia Eubanks. They talk about Virginia’s New York Times magazine essay , “His PTSD, and My Struggle to Live With It,” and how the condition is more widespread than most people realize, even as terms like “trauma” and “triggered” are tossed around cavalierly. Later in the show, they talk about why you shouldn’t give unsolicited advice to people living with PTSD—and what kind of support caregivers of people with PTSD really need.    In Slate Plus: Why Virginia wanted to write her New York Times essay, and whether the COVID-19 pandemic is, technically speaking, a traumatic event.  Further Recommended Reading: What to Say When Someone Tells You They’re Chronically Ill by Rachel Meeks Irritable Hearts: A PTSD Love Story by Gabriel Mac Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Shannon Palus, Daisy Rosario and Alicia Montgomery. Send your comments and recommendations on what

Despite its fraught history of botched executions, the state of Oklahoma is preparing to begin a 29 month execution spree this week. 25 dates have been set for men with severe mental illness, personal histories of childhood abuse, inadequate legal representation, or claims of innocence. Though these inmates have been deemed "the worst of the worst," activist nun Sister Helen Prejean implores the world to look at fuller pictures of their lives, and seek out an alternative to the death penalty. Guest: Sister Helen Prejean, anti-death penalty activist and author of Dead Man Walking, The Death of Innocents, and River of Fire. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s episode of The Waves, the streaming wars have come for us all. The Daily Beast’s Allegra Frank sits down with Inkoo Kang of The Washington Post to talk about what happened at HBO and where gender fits into it all. HBO Max recently canceled the nearly done Batgirl, and has been quietly removing content from its streaming service as it prepares to merge with Discovery+. Allegra and Inkoo talk about how streaming services reducing their content offering likely spells trouble for non-white, non-male voices.  In Slate Plus, is Batman feminist?  Recommendations: Allegra: Never Have I Ever on Netflix Inkoo: The Harley Quinn series on HBO Max   Podcast production by Cheyna Roth with editorial oversight by Shannon Palus, Alicia Montgomery and Daisy Rosario. Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Swiss Ambassador Jacques Pitteloud moved to Washington DC, his residence was perfect. Too perfect. The Swiss ambassador’s residence sits on six acres on a hill with an awesome view of the Washington Monument. “I was amazed by the beauty of the whole setting…It looked like a golf course and I don't like golf courses… they are ecological disasters,” Ambassador Pitteloud reflected. Together with his gardening team, the Ambassador has transformed the residence into a native oasis. On this episode of How To!, we’re taking a field trip to the Swiss Ambassador’s residence. Ambassador Pitteloud reveals how he brought back his beloved birds and even gave diplomatic immunity to local colonies of bees.  We talked last week with Doug Tallamy, who gave some wonderfully concrete advice on how you can revitalize your local ecosystem with just your yard. Ambassador Pitteloud is a living testament that you can have a meaningful impact with just your yard and he’s impoloring others to follow suit. “Environmental protectio

The quality of dignity is not strained. Judge Victoria Pratt presided for years over Municipal Court in Newark, New Jersey. Her experiences form the foundation of her book, The Power of Dignity: How Transforming Justice Can Heal Our Communities. In the third of Amicus’ summer season of big-picture conversations, Dahlia Lithwick and Judge Pratt explore what everyone, up to and including Supreme Court Justices, can learn from procedural justice, also known as procedural fairness. You can watch Judge Pratt’s viral Ted Talk here. Sign up for Slate Plus now to support our show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all know the country is deeply fractured right now, and that’s especially true in our politics. There is vitriol, bitter partisanship and an expectation that in order to succeed you need to beat up on your opponent. So is it possible to fight for your beliefs, remain civil and still win elections? On this episode of How To!, we brought together two politicians from either side of the aisle who are living proof that we can practice politics with humanity. Utah Governor Spencer Cox and Vermont State Senator Becca Balint share how they resist negativity, meaningfully work with the other side, and stick to their values even when they are forced to stand up to their own party.  If you liked this episode, check out “How To Get Things Done in a Divided Nation with Samantha Power” Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at howto@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now at slate.

Nate Cohn covers polls and elections at the Upshot at The New York Times. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss the meaning of Tuesday’s election results, whether Democrats should feel hopeful about the Midwest, and what the numbers tell us about Trump’s odds of being re-elected in 2020. Email: ask@slate.comTwitter: @IHaveToAskPod Podcast production by Max Jacobs. Listen to I Have to Ask via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Leon Nayfakh and Andrew Parsons, the men behind Slate’s Slow Burn podcast, sit down with Isaac Chotiner to explain why they decided to take a deep dive into the Clinton scandals, the mechanics of creating a narrative podcast, and what it was like to interview Juanita Broaddrick. Email: ask@slate.comTwitter: @IHaveToAskPod Podcast production by Max Jacobs. Listen to I Have to Ask via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zeynep Tufekci is an author and an expert on social media and fake news. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss why the business model of the different social media giants is so dangerous, what Mark Zuckerberg refuses to do to fix the fake news problem, and why rightwing news is proliferating on Facebook. Email: ask@slate.comTwitter: @IHaveToAskPod Podcast production by Max Jacobs. Listen to I Have to Ask via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lynsey Addario is a Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer whose work is collected in the new book Of Love And War. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss life in Afghanistan before 9/11, her abduction in Libya, and why journalists rely on the American government to speak up for press freedom. Email: ask@slate.comTwitter: @IHaveToAskPod Podcast production by Max Jacobs. Listen to I Have to Ask via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coral Davenport covers energy and the environment for The New York Times. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss how we should read the U.N.’s terrifying new report on global warming, what other countries are doing to prevent the impending crisis, and the changing rhetoric of those opposed to taking action against climate change. Email: ask@slate.comTwitter: @IHaveToAskPod Podcast production by Max Jacobs. Listen to I Have to Ask via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nate Silver is the editor-in-chief of FiveThirtyEight.com. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss what effect the Kavanaugh controversy has had on the 2018 elections, the odds that Trump gets re-elected in 2020, and the political choices facing the Democratic Party. Email: ask@slate.comTwitter: @IHaveToAskPod Podcast production by Max Jacobs.Listen to I Have to Ask via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jason Zengerle is a political correspondent for GQ Magazine and a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, where last month he published a piece entitled “How the Trump Administration is Remaking the Courts.” Jordan Weissmann, Slate’s senior economics correspondent, sits in for Isaac Chotiner this week. Email: ask@slate.comTwitter: @IHaveToAskPod Podcast production by Max Jacobs. Listen to I Have to Ask via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist whose new book is The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss whether young people are losing faith in the First Amendment, why he thinks identity politics is polluting our political conversation, and the best way to understand the rise of Trump. Email: ask@slate.comTwitter: @IHaveToAskPod Podcast production by Max Jacobs. Listen to I Have to Ask via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shane Bauer is a senior reporter for Mother Jones whose new book is  American Prison: A Reporter’s Undercover Journey Into the Business of Punishment. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss his four months as a guard at a private prison in Louisiana, and what he learned about the American system of justice. Email: ask@slate.comTwitter: @IHaveToAskPod Podcast production by Max Jacobs. Listen to I Have to Ask via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dara Lind covers immigration for Vox. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss why it remains so difficult to unite certain children with their parents, the possible fate of the DACA program if Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed, and how the Democrats plan to challenge Trump on immigration in 2020.  Email: ask@slate.comTwitter: @IHaveToAskPod Podcast production by Max Jacobs. Listen to I Have to Ask via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This Interview originally aired on May 1th, 2018. Maggie Haberman is a White House correspondent for The New York Times and an analyst at CNN. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss why Trump fears the Michael Cohen investigation, reporting in the age of Twitter, and whether the White House beat is changing Trump—or the people covering him. Email: ask@slate.comTwitter: @IHaveToAskPod  Podcast production by Max Jacobs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anand Giridharadas is the author of the new book Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss how the titans of Wall Street and Silicon Valley use their charitable contributions and political activism to entrench their own wealth, and exacerbate inequality.  Email: ask@slate.comTwitter: @IHaveToAskPod Podcast production by Max Jacobs. Listen to I Have to Ask via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michelle Goldberg is an op-ed columnist at the New York Times. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss whether liberals are too optimistic about the possibility of Trump being removed from office, what recent primaries tell us about the future of the Democratic Party, and whether her newspaper should hire pro-Trump columnists.  Email: ask@slate.comTwitter: @IHaveToAskPod Podcast production by Max Jacobs. Listen to I Have to Ask via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices