A survey of people incarcerated in California found that 20 percent of women in for homicide had killed their abusive partners. How have self-defense laws failed women in abusive relationships—and how can they be reformed to save lives?

Guest: Rachel Louise Snyder, journalist, author of No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us, and professor at American University.

Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s show, we preview the Oscars and Trump’s demolition throughout renowned institutions of art.

Isaac Butler — author of The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act and host of the new Criterion Channel series, The Craft of Acting — sits in for Stephen Metcalf.

First, the hosts discuss I’m Still Here and the continued addition of non-English speaking films getting some of the biggest Oscar buzz. Then we tackle the latest Trump shakeups at the National Endowment for the Arts and The Kennedy Center. Finally, Dana and Julia sit down with the CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Bill Kramer.

Endorsements:

Dana: The documentary Pictures of Ghosts (2023)

Julia: Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein, also discussed on Culture Gabfest in September 2023

Isaac: The film Z (1969), available on streaming

Podcast production and research by Vic Whitley-Berry. Email us at [email protected].

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bryan Lowder sits down with journalist Nico Lang to discuss their recent article for Slate It Was Never About Protecting Kids on Trump’s Executive Order restricting gender-affirming care for minors. They examine how the administration is using “child protection” rhetoric as a cover for anti-trans policies, the real-world impact on trans youth and their families, and the history of this political strategy.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Bryan Lowder and Christina Cauterucci sit down with ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio to unpack the strategy behind the latest legal fights over trans healthcare, passports, and military service. They explore how the language of Trump’s executive orders are more overtly cruel than his last administration, what this progression signals policy-wise, and how we can think about the road ahead for caring and protecting each other. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Six and a half years ago, in the wake of the #MeToo movement, we asked our listeners how they think about manhood–how to be, what’s hard, where they feel lost. Fast forward to 2025, and the norms and trends around manhood are even more varied and complicated. So we thought it would be a good time to revisit the stories from 2018 and provide updates on some of the men we heard from.

If you are a man, or are raising a man, or love a man, and want to share more about what you’re noticing about mixed signals about manhood and masculinity today and where you get stuck, record a voice memo and send it to us at [email protected]. 

Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus.

And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is [email protected]. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A survey of people incarcerated in California found that 20 percent of women in for homicide had killed their abusive partners. How have self-defense laws failed women in abusive relationships—and how can they be reformed to save lives?

Guest: Rachel Louise Snyder, journalist, author of No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us, and professor at American University.

Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Christina Cauterucci speaks with Sasha Buchert, Counsel and Nonbinary and Transgender Rights Project Director at Lambda Legal, and Geirid Morgan, a trans Lieutenant Commander in the Navy, about the Trump administration’s ban on transgender people serving in the military. Sasha walks us through Lambda Legal’s case challenging the ban and the broader constitutional implications, while Geirid shares her personal experience navigating shifting policies, coming out while in service, and the uncertainty that trans service members continue to face.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s show, the hosts discuss Max’s new medical drama The Pitt – a show that we legally can’t call an ER reboot but does have Noah Wyle donning scrubs and handling the next bodily emergency yet again. Our regular hosts also discuss an article from the Intelligencer, The Cruel Kids’ Table about how young Republicans now feel empowered to bring cruelty back into public discourse. Finally, we welcome LA Film Critic Amy Nicholson to discuss the Oscar-nominated film September 5 about the hostage crisis during the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Also, we’re looking for a new Production Assistant! To apply, send us an email introducing yourself and give two ideas for segments to [email protected]. 

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel tackles the biggest luminary question of the year: Do you use ‘The Big Light’? 

Email us at [email protected]. 

Endorsements:

Dana: Just sort of a beautiful moment: Live wolf howls in Manitoba, Canada 

Julia: Branded in Memory | Signs.com / Draw Logos From Memory – Test your recall and see if you can recreate popular brand logos

Steve: The Wired Starter Pack on bsky and Subscribe to Wired

Podcast production and research by Vic Whitley-Berry.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Jules Gill-Peterson sits down with Owen Dempsey, the founder of Quest Healing House, a post-op recovery home providing safe, affordable lodging and wraparound support for transmasculine people. They discuss how Quest House, began, the urgent need for trans-led recovery spaces, and how the project has grown to meet community needs. Dempsey shares their vision for a future where no trans person has to heal alone—and why it’s so critical to talk about transition as an ongoing, years-long process.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump and his allies in the House’s flurry of anti-trans legislation and executive orders will soon run into both the law and the reality that our institutions like the military really rely on trans people.

Guests:

Major Alivia Stehlik, Director of Holistic Health and Fitness for the 101st Airborne Division.

Kate Sosin, LGBTQ+ reporter at The 19th.

Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s show, Dan Kois sits in for Dana Stevens. First, the hosts discuss One of Them Days, a new buddy comedy starring Keke Palmer and SZA that’s quickly becoming a critical darling — and a box office success. Then, they dive into Asura, Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Netflix show that’s about the dynamics between three sisters and is “totally uninterested in the rhythms of a TV show.” Finally, it’s time to explore the “manosphere.” The trio dissected a deftly reported package from Bloomberg, “The Second Trump Presidency, Brought to You by YouTubers.” 

Also, we’re looking for a new Production Assistant! Please send your resume and two ideas for segments to [email protected]. 

In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, the panel tackles modern TV title sequences and asks the age-old question: do you skip or play? This conversation was inspired by James Poniewozik’s article for The New York Times, “Why Do TV Title Sequences Have So Much… Stuff?” 

Email us at [email protected]. 

Endorsements:

Dan: Playworld by Adam Ross. 

Julia: A cookbook by Ben Mims, Crumbs: Cookies and Sweets from Around the World. 

Steve: (1) Bar Merenda, a restaurant located right outside of Melbourne. (2) “For the Love of the World” by Daegan Miller for Poetry Foundation. 

Kat: Calmly Writer Online, a distraction-free text editor. 

Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry. Production assistance by Kat Hong.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices