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“Politically incorrect since 1971.” That’s the unofficial motto of Liberty University, an evangelical college located in Lynchburg, Virginia headed by Jerry Falwell Jr. The school and its president take pride in bucking conventional wisdom, so when Jerry Falwell Jr. began to downplay concerns over COVID-19, echoing the rhetoric of the White House in early March, students and staff took notice. Ruth Graham says institutions like this one, institutions that take their cues from the president, have been a beat behind when it comes to responding to our current public health crisis.Guest: Ruth Graham, staff writer at Slate.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The CDC could soon be changing its guidelines on whether the American public should be wearing masks to combat the spread of COVID-19. What does the data say about mask usage? And how do we calculate the answer for ourselves?Guest: Aaron E. Carroll, professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine. He blogs at a website called The Incidental Economist. He’ll also answer your coronavirus questions on YouTube. His channel is Healthcare Triage.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As COVID-19 cases continue to mount across the country, many states are still preparing for the virus to hit their populations with full force. In Florida, state officials have voiced concerns about shutting down the economy, while local officials have noted surging hospitalizations in their cities. Now, some mayors are no longer waiting for the governor to order a lockdown. Guest: Jane Castor, Mayor of Tampa, Florida. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Just a few weeks ago, officials were saying the coronavirus outbreak posed a relatively low risk for people living in New York City. How did health experts and government officials misread the threat so completely? And what can the rest of the country learn from what’s happening in New York now?Guest: Elizabeth Kim, senior editor for Gothamist and WNYC. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work.The United States failed to roll out widespread testing in the early days of the pandemic. Now it faces critical shortages of supplies as it scrambles to track the disease around the country.Until testing is available at scale, Americans won’t be able to return to their normal lives. So: what will it take to solve the country’s testing shortage?Guest: Robert P. Baird, contributor to the New Yorker Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work.The United States failed to roll out widespread testing in the early days of the pandemic. Now it faces critical shortages of supplies as it scrambles to track the disease around the country.Until testing is available at scale, Americans won’t be able to return to their normal lives. So: what will it take to solve the country’s testing shortage?Guest: Robert P. Baird, contributor to the New Yorker Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when the people on the frontlines get sick? An ER doctor shares her experience with coronavirus as doctor and patient.Guest: Dara Kass, Emergency medicine physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical CenterSlate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s plenty to be learned from past pandemics. They tend to follow a dramatic arc: denial, blame, and mass mobilization. So far, the coronavirus tracks with some contagions of the past—but can history tell anything about where we’re headed?Guest: David S. Jones, professor of the culture of medicine at Harvard University.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the COVID-19 pandemic worsens, the United States might have to figure out how to hold an election in a time of social distancing. Will local, state and federal officials be able coordinate in time to transform our election infrastructure?Guest: Nate Persily, Stanford University Law ProfessorSlate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To understand where the country is right now in battling this pandemic you have to confront some pretty grim statistics. Roughly one in three Americans are under some kind of orders to stay at home. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases surpassed 33,000. And a nearly $2 trillion dollar coronavirus rescue package is hanging in the Senate’s balance. With many Americans and health care workers needing immediate assistance, will lawmakers respond?Guest: Jim Newell, Slate’s senior politics writer.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work.Google has spent the last decade trying to find a foothold in the health care industry. Now they’re partnering with the federal government to build a website that will seek to address the crisis.Can Google be trusted with our medical data?Guest: Mason Marks, law professor at Gonzaga University School of Law and an affiliated fellow at Yale Law School's Information Society Project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work.Google has spent the last decade trying to find a foothold in the health care industry. Now they’re partnering with the federal government to build a website that will seek to address the crisis.Can Google be trusted with our medical data?Guest: Mason Marks, law professor at Gonzaga University School of Law and an affiliated fellow at Yale Law School's Information Society Project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many Americans still can’t imagine how the coronavirus pandemic will upend their lives. In northern Italy, no imagination is needed. Coffins pile up in churches and cemeteries as funeral gatherings remain banned. Hospitals are overwhelmed. And those who die from COVID-19 die alone. Guest: Greta Privitera, an Italian journalist on her fourth week of lockdown in Milan. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the novel coronavirus spreads sickness and anxiety around the U.S., it’s tempting to point fingers at government agencies that seemed wholly unequipped for the crisis. And, to be clear, Washington was not prepared. But here’s what decision makers can be doing right now to figure out what comes next. Guest: Beth Cameron, vice president for global biological policy and programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Senator Elizabeth Warren announced the end of her presidential campaign, she was asked about the role of sexism in the race. Warren didn’t venture an answer, promising she’d have more to say later. In the meantime, we have some thoughts. Guest: Rebecca Traister, writer for New York Magazine and author of Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the face of the coronavirus outbreak, U.S. political leaders are moving faster than they have in years. But it still might not be fast enough.Guest: Jordan Weissmann, Slate’s senior business and economics correspondent. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Open or closed? Across the country, state governors and mayors are asking themselves that question: Are we safer staying open, or are we safer closing down? Over the weekend, more cities and states ordered shutdowns to temper the spread of COVID-19. But we’re dealing with a threat we haven’t seen before. How are we supposed to make decisions when we’re lacking basic information about how this coronavirus works? Guest: Jeremy Faust, an emergency medicine physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week, the superintendent of the Northshore school district near Seattle made a difficult decision. With the coronavirus spreading rapidly in the area, she closed all 34 schools in her district and moved all classes online. But for many schools, remote learning at this scale simply isn’t an option. With new cases appearing around the country, how will schools respond? And what happens when you send millions of students home for weeks on end? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work.Last week, the superintendent of the Northshore school district near Seattle made a difficult decision. With the coronavirus spreading rapidly in the area, she closed all 34 schools in her district and moved all classes online. But for many schools, remote learning at this scale simply isn’t an option. With new cases appearing around the country, how will schools respond? And what happens when you send millions of students home for weeks on end? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk about polls a lot on this podcast. State polls, national polls, polls that make you shrug and vote for the other guy. Today, we’re talking about one of the most unusual polls we’ve ever seen: Slate teamed up with The Marshall Project to conduct a survey of incarcerated people across the country. We received 8,000 responses about political awakenings, party affiliations, and the biggest problems facing the country. Guests: Nicole Lewis, a reporter at The Marshall Project, and Lawrence Bartley, director of “News Inside” for The Marshall Project. Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Even though Kareem Shaheen left Syria a few years back, the reminders of his time there are everywhere. For nine years a brutal conflict has left millions seeking refuge with millions more still stuck in limbo. This past December, the Assad regime launched its latest attempt to seize back control of the largest rebel-held territory in Syria, Idlib. Today on the show, Kareem tells us about Idlib, its importance in the war, his experience covering the region, and what the world turning their backs on this conflict tells us about the international order today.Guest: Kareem Shaheen, journalist and columnist covering Syria.Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Monday morning, the Dow saw its biggest one day drop since 2008. This time, the cause was a combination of a volatile oil market and heightened fears of a pandemic. The usual economic tools may not be enough to reassure markets. Guest: Jordan Weissmann,Slate’s Senior Business and Economics CorrespondentSlate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Trump 2016 campaign had unprecedented success on Facebook. Ever since, Trump's reelection campaign has been pumping out ads and collecting data on a massive scale. Democrats are only just beginning to catch up. Guest: Andrew Marantz, staff writer at the New Yorker and author of Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American ConversationSlate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work.For pregnant women in the U.S., there are plenty of reasons to mistrust the medical establishment. Mortality rates are high compared to other western countries, and one-third of women in the U.S. give birth by C-section. It’s no wonder that many women turn to the internet for alternatives.This week, the story of one woman who was drawn into a network of private Facebook groups dedicated to the idea of ‘freebirth,’ or unassisted birth. And what happens when the misinformation shared in these private groups has real-life consequences.Guest: Brandy Zadrozny, reporter for NBC News. You can read her reporting on ‘freebirth’ here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work.For pregnant women in the U.S., there are plenty of reasons to mistrust the medical establishment. Mortality rates are high compared to other western countries, and one-third of women in the U.S. give birth by C-section. It’s no wonder that many women turn to the internet for alternatives.This week, the story of one woman who was drawn into a network of private Facebook groups dedicated to the idea of ‘freebirth,’ or unassisted birth. And what happens when the misinformation shared in these private groups has real-life consequences.Guest: Brandy Zadrozny, reporter for NBC News. You can read her reporting on ‘freebirth’ here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work.Super Tuesday gave Joe Biden a blowout, in part because of a surge from black voters. While white voters tended to split their votes more evenly between Biden and Bernie Sanders, black voters overwhelmingly chose the former Vice President. So, what does Biden’s base see in him as a candidate? And what would they expect from him as president? Guest: Errin Haines, editor-at-large for The 19th, a news outlet launching this summer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, started in China as a bat virus that eventually made contact with humans. Researchers say this leap between species was highly predictable – so why were communities and governments caught flat-footed? And what does the virus’s transmission from animals to humans say about how we interact with the greater ecosystem?Guest: Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Democratic primary field has been dramatically re-shuffled since Saturday. After Joe Biden swept up votes and delegates in South Carolina, moderate candidates dropped out to strengthen his challenge against front-runner Bernie Sanders. So, with over a thousand delegates on the table across a slew of states, are Democrats inevitably headed for a contested convention? Guest: Jim Newell, Slate’s senior politics reporter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lower courts have consistently ruled against the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies. But at the Supreme Court, the conservative majority almost always reverses lower court opinions, even in the most shocking cases. Last week, justices ruled that a Customs and Border Protection agent cannot be sued for shooting and killing a Mexican teenager in 2010, presenting the grim prospect that federal agents are free to act with impunity. Guest: Mark Joseph Stern covers the courts and the law for Slate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

OpenAI was founded in 2015 with a billion dollars and an idealistic mission: Create artificial intelligence that could address humanity’s biggest problems, and do it out in the open. Then came the money problems.Guest: Karen Hao, senior A.I. reporter at MIT Tech Review HostLizzie O’Leary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

OpenAI was founded in 2015 with a billion dollars and an idealistic mission: Create artificial intelligence that could address humanity’s biggest problems, and do it out in the open. Then came the money problems.Guest: Karen Hao, senior A.I. reporter at MIT Tech Review HostLizzie O’Leary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Bernie Sanders becomes the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, pundits have started wringing their hands about Bernie’s chances of winning in a general election. Are any of these fears grounded in reality?Guest: Steve Kornacki, National Correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colorado has one of the highest rates of officer involved shootings in the country. After looking at the data, reporters from Colorado Public Radio found that the problem is exacerbated by a complex mix of meth addiction, illegal firearms, and car theft.Guest: Allison Sherry, Reporter for Colorado Public Radio Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Attorney General William Barr has lost the confidence of more than 2,600 former Department of Justice employees. We talked to one of them. Guest: Donald Ayer, who served in the Department of Justice under George H. W. Bush. Read his piece in the Atlantic, “Bill Barr Must Resign.”Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Republicans have relied on one organization in particular to help pass conservative laws in states across the country: The American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. The kicker is that ALEC learned its tricks from public-sector unions.Guest: Alex Hertel-Fernandez, Assistant Professor of Political Affairs at Columbia University. Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, Danielle Hewitt, and Mara Silvers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After years of controversial content moderation decisions, from deepfakes to deplatforming, Facebook is trying something new. In January, the social network announced that its new Oversight Board, which will act as a sort of supreme court for controversial content, will begin hearing cases this summer.Could this independent board change the way we govern speech online?Guest: Kate Klonick, assistant professor at St. John’s University School of Law, and fellow at the Information Society Project at Yale. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After years of controversial content moderation decisions, from deepfakes to deplatforming, Facebook is trying something new. In January, the social network announced that its new Oversight Board, which will act as a sort of supreme court for controversial content, will begin hearing cases this summer.Could this independent board change the way we govern speech online?Guest: Kate Klonick, assistant professor at St. John’s University School of Law, and fellow at the Information Society Project at Yale. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Culinary Workers Union Local 226 has dominated Nevada politics for years. Last week, leaders announced that the union would not endorse any of the Democratic primary candidates before the caucuses this Saturday. Did union leaders make that call because of the tricky politics of Medicare for All? Are they just trying to preserve the union’s reputation as a political kingmaker? Or is the non-endorsement an indication of a deeply divided left? Guest: Steven Greenhouse, author of “Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present & Future of American Labor.”Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, Danielle Hewitt, and Mara Silvers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unaccompanied minors at the border are required to speak to a therapist on a weekly basis. Now, officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement are able to use what was once confidential against these young migrants in court. Guest: Hannah Dreier, national reporter for the Washington Post Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since he launched his bid for the Democratic nomination, Michael Bloomberg has been trying to distance himself from the legacy of ‘stop and frisk.’ He says stops went down 95 percent by the end of his time as mayor. Darius Charney, one of the lawyers that helped bring down the policy, doesn’t buy it. As he tells it, there’s little evidence that Mayor Bloomberg means it when he says “I’m sorry.”Guest: Darius Charney, Senior Staff Attorney for the Center for Constitutional RightsSlate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every so often, the What Next team wants to share another great podcast with our listeners. This time, it's The United States of Anxiety from WNYC. In its fourth season, host Kai Wright is figuring out how the intense debates happening during the 2020 election can be traced back to a key point in American history.To listen to the rest of the episodes, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the last month, as coronavirus spread across China, Xi Jinping’s vast surveillance and censorship infrastructure went into high gear. But with outrage growing over the death of a beloved doctor, and surveillance technology under strain, the virus is exposing the limits of the Chinese Communist Party’s techno-authoritarian network.Guest: Josh Chin, Wall Street Journal reporter covering Chinese politics and tech Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the last month, as coronavirus spread across China, Xi Jinping’s vast surveillance and censorship infrastructure went into high gear. But with outrage growing over the death of a beloved doctor, and surveillance technology under strain, the virus is exposing the limits of the Chinese Communist Party’s techno-authoritarian network.Guest: Josh Chin, Wall Street Journal reporter covering Chinese politics and tech Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A few weeks back the Trump administration made an announcement. They rolled out a new health care policy called the Healthy Adult Opportunity. It’s a policy that would give states the option of reducing benefits for millions of Medicaid patients.This is only the latest in a line of attempts to scale back the Medicaid program by Seema Verma. Why is this such a priority for the Trump administration and Verma herself? And how are Republicans trying to square cuts to such a popular program in an election year?Guest: Dan Diamond, host of Pulse Check and writes the POLITICO Pulse — a morning briefing on health care politics and policy.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This past summer, while Ryan Thorpe was doing his day job as a reporter at the Winnipeg Free Press, some frightening posters started appearing around town. They were recruitment posters for a white nationalist organization known as The Base. Over the course of several weeks, Ryan went undercover. Joined the organization, met with a recruiter. What he didn’t know is that the person he met would become a target of law enforcement in two countries. Someone who prosecutors say was planning attacks here in the US. What does his story reveal about an international group of white supremacists obsessed with violence?Plus, producer Mary Wilson checks-in with Slate’s Senior Politics Writer, Jim Newell, about the results of the New Hampshire primary.Guest: Ryan Thorpe, reporter at the Winnipeg Free Press. Check out his story about infiltrating The Base, Homegrown Hate.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In border towns across the country, high school students are participating in an after school program run by the U.S. Border Patrol. When journalist Morley Musick first encountered the Border Patrol Explorers, he saw it as another example of the contradictions of life on the border. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Homelessness in Los Angeles isn’t a new problem. But it has become a bigger problem. And it’s gotten really easy to see. Guests: Theo Henderson, host of the We the Unhoused podcast. Emily Alpert Reyes, City Hall reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Monday, the Iowa caucuses went off the rails. As the hours stretched into days, and still the results remained unclear, a new piece of election technology was identified as a central cause of the delay.An app designed to make the election process speedier and more secure had the opposite effect. And its failure is symptomatic of deep-rooted issues in the way the Democratic Party develops and deploys election technology.So, what exactly went wrong on Monday? And what does it say about the party’s effort to regain its digital edge in 2020? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Monday, the Iowa caucuses went off the rails. As the hours stretched into days, and still the results remained unclear, a new piece of election technology was identified as a central cause of the delay. An app designed to make the election process speedier and more secure had the opposite effect. And its failure is symptomatic of deep-rooted issues in the way the Democratic Party develops and deploys election technology. So, what exactly went wrong on Monday? And what does it say about the party’s effort to regain its digital edge in 2020? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Bloomberg has toyed with running for president many times. He has the money and the political clout, but 2020 is the first time he’s thrown all his weight behind a White House bid. It might also be the only year where his abnormal approach to politics could actually pay off. Guest: Edward-Isaac Dovere, reporter for The Atlantic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.