TBD | Why Trump Keeps Pardoning Crypto Criminals

TikTok now has over 1.5 billion downloads, putting it in the company of social media giants like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. While all of these companies have faced scrutiny from lawmakers in one form or another, TikTok is getting attention for its Chinese ownership as some fear that Beijing could use data uploaded to the platform for counterintelligence purposes. Is there a real reason to be concerned? Or is this just fearmongering about a geopolitical rival?   Guest: Drew Harwell, technology reporter for the Washington Post.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

22 Nov 201922min

The Federal Election Commission was designed to prevent the parties from going rogue with overly punitive campaign finance regulations. But what’s paralyzed FEC is something less partisan, and more principled: Democrats think the government should enforce campaign spending laws. Republicans don’t. Guest: Ellen Weintraub, Federal Election Commission chair. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. This episode originally aired in October 2019. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

21 Nov 201920min

Pete Buttigieg will take the stage at the fifth presidential democratic debate as the front-runner in the Iowa polls. His rise, while surprising for some, can’t simply be explained as luck. So, how did Buttigieg go from being the mayor of South Bend with a name nobody could pronounce to the Democratic front-runner for president in Iowa? Plus, how might competitors try to knock Mayor Pete off his game at the debate? Guest: Adam Wren, contributing editor at Politico Magazine and Indianapolis Monthly. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

20 Nov 201925min

Bolivia’s first indigenous president, Evo Morales, was pushed out of office this month after attempting to secure an unprecedented fourth term. Now, the country is consumed by a power vacuum and the economy is facing challenges. How did Bolivia get here, and how can it rebound? Guest: Brian Winter, editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

19 Nov 201922min

Rep. Devin Nunes has been in Congress for over a decade. In those years he built up a lot of political capital in the Republican party–Nunes is currently a member of the Gang of Eight, a bi-partisan set of eight leaders in Congress who are briefed on classified intelligence matters by the executive branch. How has the congressman from California and former Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee changed over the years? And, why has Nunes’ approach to defend the president in the impeachment inquiry irked those in his own party? Guest: Shane Harris, covers intelligence and national security for the Washington Post. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

18 Nov 201923min

Testimony of a phone call between President Donald Trump and EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland has set the stage for a dramatic Week 2 in the inquiry. What does the revelation of that call tell us about how House Republicans are mounting a defense of the president? Plus, what should you be looking for in Gordon Sondland’s testimony next week? Guest: Jim Newell, senior politics writer at Slate. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

15 Nov 201924min

Recently, Facebook filed a lawsuit against a little-known Israeli spyware firm called NSO Group. Facebook is accusing NSO of supplying technology that enabled a hack of 1,400 WhatsApp accounts.    But NSO’s reach goes far beyond a few thousand phones. Governments around the world purchase its powerful technology. Some use it to “lawfully hack” the devices of criminals and terrorists. But others use it more broadly, tracking the communications of activists, journalists, lawyers, and dissidents.   What does the WhatsApp lawsuit mean for the spyware industry? And why are governments lining up to buy these products? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

15 Nov 201921min

The latest round of elections in Virginia brought in a new Democratic majority to the state Legislature. It’s the first time Virginia’s government has been fully Democratic in 26 years. The question now is: What will the Democrats do with all that power? Entrench their newfound majority through partisan gerrymanders or seek a bipartisan solution to redistricting? Guest: David Daley, authort of Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn’t Count and the forthcoming Unrigged: How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy. This episode is a part of Slate’s Who Counts? initiative. In the run-up to the 2020 election, Slate will be investigating who counts in the voting booth, who counts as an American, whose money counts in the democratic process, and whose doesn’t. And we need your help. Your support will let us assign more stories, travel to overlooked places, commission special podcast projects, and pay for reporting we otherwise would not be able to do. To learn more about this project and how to support our work, please go to slate.com/whocounts. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

14 Nov 201921min