logo
episode-header-image
May 2021
29m 1s

Mask Off?

Slate Podcasts
About this episode
On Thursday, the CDC announced that unvaccinated people can go unmasked in most situations. The decision was followed with many private companies dropping their mask requirements but not everyone is ready to go barefaced just yet.  Guest: Megan Ranney, ER Doctor at Brown Emergency Medicine If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. ... Show More
Up next
Yesterday
The Womanosphere Wants To Make America Hot Again
Katie Miller, whose husband Stephen Miller is Trump’s right-hand man, launched a new podcast to join the growing ranks of content made specifically for conservative women. But is there enough demand—in listeners and supplement sponsorship—to make the same impact that the conserva ... Show More
30m 33s
Aug 24
TBD | Trump Vs. Cancer Research
President Trump has proposed cutting $2.5 billion from the National Cancer Institute, which in addition to cuts to the National Institutes of Health and research universities almost makes you wonder: whose side is he on in the fight against cancer? Guest: Angus Chen, cancer repor ... Show More
30m 18s
Aug 22
TBD | The CDC Under Fire
Two weeks ago, a gunman fired over 500 bullets at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention building in Atlanta. Between the anti-public health rhetoric coming from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the top, personnel cuts and firings, and now a literal shooting, many employees are r ... Show More
24m 36s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2021
What Next: So... What Is COVID Now?
The delta variant is now the most-prevalent strain of COVID-19, causing a handful of so-called “breakthrough” infections in fully-vaccinated people. Unvaccinated people account for 97% of severe cases of the virus. How worried should you be about infections as the delta variant c ... Show More
32m 26s
Apr 2022
What Next: L.A.’s Alarming Latino Mortality Rate
People may want to throw their masks in the trash, but in communities with the highest COVID-19 mortality rates, the pandemic is not over. Guest: Dr. Don Garcia, medical director at Clínica Romero in Los Angeles.  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. ... Show More
25m 38s
Sep 2021
What Next: Why a Hollywood #MeToo Organization Imploded
Time’s Up was founded in 2018 in the wake of the #MeToo movement to fight sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace. How, then, was the organization felled by accusations of a toxic work environment and close associations with abusers? Guest: Lili Loofbourow, s ... Show More
26m 41s
Apr 2022
What Next: The Crisis in Special Education
Federal law guarantees that students with disabilities have access to special educators. But widespread teacher shortages mean that these students are often being taught by people without the mandated qualifications – or by no one at all. Guest: Dylan Peers McCoy is an investigat ... Show More
27m 5s
Jul 2020
A mask a day keeps the doctor away. Plus, my pants are tighter now. Is the virus to blame?
A new study finds masks also work to protect you from everyone else. Will this persuade more people to wear them?  The race is on for a vaccine and new treatments. We explore what looks promising.  A double economic shock is coming as extra unemployment benefits run out and the n ... Show More
27m 35s
May 2023
What Next: TBD | The Trouble With TikTok Songs
How the music streaming business opened the door to billions of dollars in fraud. Guest: Ashley Carman, Bloomberg News reporter covering the podcasting, music, and audio beat. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like ... Show More
21m 54s
Aug 2022
Monkeypox Declared Public Health Emergency. Now What?
This episode is available to everyone, though on some platforms there may be a short delay in availability between the version for subscribers (which is sponsor-free) and non-subscribers (which includes sponsor interruptions). Thank you for your patience! The Department of Health ... Show More
12m 45s
Jan 2024
What Next TBD: Have Algorithms Ruined Our Culture?
How much of our lives—our tastes, preferences and choices—have been fed to us through an interlocking, impersonal network of algorithms?  Guest: Kyle Chayka, staff writer at the New Yorker and author of Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture. If you enjoy this show, please ... Show More
36m 5s
Jan 2024
What Next TBD: Boeing’s Max Mess
Shortly after take off from Portland, OR, the plug exit on a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet blew out – causing an uncontrolled decompression of the plane. Now, accident investigators are hard at work, trying to determine what happened in what's the latest catastrophe for the respected comm ... Show More
35m 2s
Dec 2021
Is Pfizer's antiviral pill the game changer we've been waiting for? Plus, is it still accurate to call this a pandemic of the unvaccinated?
Promising data from Pfizer shows its antiviral Covid-19 pill reduces severe illness, hospitalizations, and death. And it appears to hold up against the Omicron variant.A healthcare professional who is fully vaccinated and boosted just came down with Covid-19 for a second time.Cal ... Show More
24m 20s