The Discourse | TikTok Ban: The Final Loop?

Last week, President Biden rolled out an ambitious infrastructure plan that relies on increased taxes on corporations to fund big changes to America’s infrastructure. His plan goes beyond putting pavement on the ground, and lays out a different vision for what "infrastructure" really means. Guest: Jordan Weissmann, Slate’s senior business and economics correspondent.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

6 Apr 202124min

Last week, The New York Times reported that Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz was under investigation by the Justice Department over his relationships with women recruited online for sex, and whether he had sex with a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz gained national attention for his trollish, Trumpian antics and fiery loyalty to the then-president. What happens if the Trump playbook doesn’t work for the 38-year-old congressman?  Guest: Jeff Weiner, Criminal Justice and Public Safety Editor for the Orlando Sentinel  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

5 Apr 202127min

There are at least 17 different “vaccine passport” initiatives underway in the United States. And leaked documents reveal that the Biden administration fears that “a chaotic and ineffective vaccine credential approach could hamper our pandemic response by undercutting health safety measures, slowing economic recovery, and undermining public trust and confidence.”  Without coordination, a chaotic and ineffective approach seems likely. So, what can, and what should, the Biden administration do to avoid this outcome? And what are the risks and rewards of coordinating an effort that divides Americans along the lines of vaccination status? Guest:    Dan Diamond, health policy and politics reporter for the Washington Post Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 Apr 202125min

Los Angeles’s Echo Park Lake is home to swan boats, running trails and space for members of it’s rapidly gentrifying community to gather during the pandemic. Up until last week, it was also home to over 100 people living in tents on the west side of the park. The encampment became the focal point of LA’s housing affordability crisis when the housed members of the Echo Park neighborhood called for it to be cleared.  Guest: Benjamin Oreskes, metro report for the Los Angeles Times.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1 Apr 202124min

Most kids in the country aren’t back to school in any way we’d recognize as normal. Republicans have noticed. Now, they’re launching a few trial balloons this year to see if “reopen the schools” can become their next winning campaign slogan. Guest: Edward-Isaac Dovere, staff writer at the Atlantic. Read his story, “Democrats Are Failing the Schools Test.” Dovere is the author of the forthcoming book, Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats’ Campaigns to Defeat Trump.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

31 Mars 202123min

Houston residents and elected officials are trying to stop the largest urban highway project of their lifetimes -- one that would clear out more than 1,000 homes in primarily Black and Latin neighborhoods and, they say, introduce additional flooding and health risks. Now, residents have a powerful new ally in Washington: the Biden administration. The fate of I-45 may tell us something about what 21st-century infrastructure will look like.  Guests: Tomaro Bell, Houston resident and community leader, and Oni Blair, executive director of LINK Houston.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

30 Mars 202122min

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has become a Republican celebrity for his notably lax coronavirus policies, keeping the state mostly open during the pandemic. But in Miami Beach, tourists are using the lack of restrictions to their advantage, exposing the difficulty of managing a world that isn’t quite done with COVID-19, but desperately wants to be.   Guest: Verónica Zaragovia, healthcare reporter at WLRN.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

29 Mars 202120min

Back in April 2020, AstraZeneca was hailed as a frontrunner in the race to get an effective vaccine to market. A year later, after a series of trial pauses, communication blunders, and PR problems, the vaccine is on the cusp of FDA approval.  By all accounts, the company succeeded in making a safe, effective vaccine. So why has there been so much confusion about its rollout? Guest:    Peter Aldhous, science reporter at Buzzfeed News Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

26 Mars 202125min