Slate Culture Feed21 Touko 2025

Decoder Ring - The Glaring Problem with Headlights

Something seems to have happened to car headlights. In the last few years, many people have become convinced that they are much brighter than they used to be—and it’s driving them to the point of rage. Headlight glare is now Americans’ number one complaint on the road. The story of how and why we got here is illuminating and confounding. It’s what happens when an incredible technological breakthrough meets market forces, regulatory failure, and human foibles.

So if you feel like everyone’s driving around with their high beams on all the time, it’s not your imagination. What once seemed like an obscure technical concern has gone mainstream. But can the movement to reduce glare actually do something about the problem?

In this episode, you’ll hear from Nate Rogers, who wrote about the “headlight brightness wars” for The Ringer; Daniel Stern, automotive lighting expert and editor of Driving Vision News; and Paul Gatto, moderator of r/fuckyourheadlights.

This episode of Decoder Ring was written by Willa Paskin and Olivia Briley, and produced by Olivia Briley and Max Freedman. Our team also includes Katie Shepherd and supervising producer Evan Chung. Merritt Jacob is our Senior Technical Director.

If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, please email us at DecoderRing@slate.com, or leave a message on our hotline at 347-460-7281.

Want more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Decoder Ring show page. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus to get access wherever you listen.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(3086)

ICYMI - Surveillance Glasses For Girls!

Kylie Jenner and Mark Zuckerberg are trying to rebrand Meta Glasses as some kind of girlboss fashion accessory, even though women are the ones most likely to be the victims of their invasive technolog...

8 Heinä 37min

Death, Sex & Money - How Much Should You Spend on a Wedding?

This week, listeners share what it’s like to plan a dream wedding when money and family relationships lead to conflict and compromise. We hear from couples with vastly different ideas of what they wan...

7 Heinä 41min

ICYMI - AI Is Changing How We Have Sex

As sex becomes more online, not only does it become more solitary, but also more surveilled. For instance: Back in December, OpenAI announced that they’d allow adult users to have erotic conversations...

4 Heinä 46min

Culture Gabfest - So Long, and Thanks for All the Granola Edition

A eulogistic weepfest? A “valediction forbidding mourning”? A conscious unthroupling? All of the above?Believe it or not, the time has come for Steve, Dana, and Julia to convene the Culture Gabfest pa...

1 Heinä 1h 37min

Decoder Ring - We Are Monumentally Bad at Statues

It seems like the only time you hear about new statues these days is when something goes horribly wrong. Unfortunate bronze renditions of Lucille Ball, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dwayne Wade, and many others ...

1 Heinä 48min

ICYMI - Influencers Are Hitting Retirement

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick, creator of The Trend Report, to talk about how so many of our favorite influencers have started to retire. Glitter and Laze...

1 Heinä 37min

Death, Sex & Money - Emmy-Winner Jeff Hiller Returns! Talking Bodies and Money in a Changing Hollywood

A lot has happened in Jeff Hiller’s life since he was last on the show in 2024. Last year he won an Emmy for his role on the HBO show Somebody Somewhere and then went viral for his sincere and funny ...

30 Kesä 51min

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia - Don’t Fear the Repeat Edition

We’re all familiar with the concept of a one-hit wonder, but what about artists who hit it big a second time—and never again? This week on Hit Parade, Chris Molanphy lays out the ground rules for one ...

27 Kesä 52min