One influencer working for Amazon sued another influencer who works for Amazon for creating content that looks too similar to theirs. But with how the algorithms work and reward, was this an inevitability? What does this mean for the economics of the influencer position?

Guest: Mia Sato, reporter covering platforms and communities for The Verge.

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This week: Elon Musk posted enough misinformation on social media to get a bill blocked and necessitate a government shutdown. Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Anna Szymanski discuss the multi-billionaire’s tweetstorm that convinced congress not to pass a bi-partisan spending bill and how he has been able to so blatantly buy that power. Then, Anna helps break down the economic crisis that is unfolding in Brazil and gets wonkish on the latest Fed rate cut and trade deficit. And finally, Amazon and Starbucks workers across the country have gone on strike. Emily explains the subtleties of the disputes.

In the Slate Plus episode: What’s your gift giving strategy?

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Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth.

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It wasn’t a great week for speaking truth to power. ABC’s decision to settle Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit to the tune of $16 million at the behest of parent company Disney sent shockwaves through newsrooms around the country. Coupled with Trump’s lawsuits pending against publishers, journalism prize organizations, CBS, and this week’s news that the President-elect is suing an Iowa pollster and the newspaper that published her poll for “election interference”, rising fears about the freedom of the press are pretty understandable. On this week’s Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by storied media columnist Margaret Sullivan and First Amendment scholar Sonja R West to understand the protections in place and the pinch points for a free press under Trump. 

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Reports of flocks of drones, flying overhead nightly, are coming in from New Jersey down to Maryland. Are they UFOs? Nefarious foreign powers? Something even more pernicious? Something even more banal?

Guest: Jon Ostrower, editor-in-chief of The Air Current.

Ben Mathis-Lilly, Slate senior writer

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This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the capitulation of American media and corporations to President-Elect Donald Trump; the government shutdown and surrender of House Republicans to Elon Musk; and the appeal of TikTok to the Supreme Court. 

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the drones over New Jersey.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily talks with Stephanie Gorton about her new book, The Icon & the Idealist: Margaret Sanger, Mary Ware Dennett, and the Rivalry That Brought Birth Control to America. 

Email your chatters, questions, and comments to [email protected]. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth

Research by Julie Huygen

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How do you keep a grocery store open in a small or low-income community? The answer might involve regulating big box stores like Walmart and Kroger.

Guest: Molly Parker, investigative reporter for Capitol News Illinois and a Local Reporting Network fellow at ProPublica.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.

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What ABC’s huge defamation settlement with Donald Trump says about the state of the media, heading into Trump’s second term. 

Guest: David Folkenflik, media correspondent for NPR.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.

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After a tepid embrace of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter and a back-and-forth over Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” country music fans are all in on Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” How has this hip-hop-inflected country hit perched atop the charts for a record-tying 19 weeks? 

Guest: Chris Molanphy, chart analyst, pop critic, host of the Hit Parade podcast, and author of Slate's “Why Is This Song No. 1?” series and the book Old Town Road.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.

Disclosure in Podcast Description: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond’s yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond’s YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more.

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The highest grossing documentary in 2024 was “Am I Racist?” from The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh, and it’s not the only avowedly right-wing movie that’s enjoyed success at the box office this year. Is Hollywood going the way of the White House?

Guest: Barry Hertz, Deputy Arts Editor and Film Editor for The Globe and Mail

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Rob Gunther and Ethan Oberman.

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For eons, humans have been trying to find ways to live longer. 

It’s a quest that’s inspired legends and myths across cultures and continues to fuel controversy in the health and wellness industry today. 

On this week’s episode of Well, Now we speak with Dr. Darshan Shah to better understand longevity science and hear about his journey from performing surgery to creating the longevity clinic Next Health.

Well, Now is hosted by registered dietitian nutritionist Maya Feller and Dr. Kavita Patel.

Editing and podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry with editorial oversight by Alicia Montgomery.

Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to [email protected].

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All good things must come to an end. For now. After close to four years at Slate, A Word will be moving on. For today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson highlights some of the memorable conversations on the show, on issues from politics, police brutality, Afro-Futurism and more. 

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