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Emily Bazelon talks with journalist Mark Oppenheimer about his new book
Judy Blume: A Life. Oppenheimer, who spent years with Blume’s papers at
Yale and conducted extensive interviews with the author herself, traces
how a restless housewife in New Jersey became one of the most
beloved—and most banned—writers in American history.

They discuss what made Blume’s frank, funny voice so revolutionary for
young readers in the 1970s, the surprisingly progressive household that
shaped her, and the genius of Forever, her landmark novel in which
teenage sex is depicted as pleasurable rather than catastrophic. They
also dig into the scandalous adult novel Wifey, Blume’s dogged
persistence through rejection, and her tireless championing of other
writers’ right to be read.

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Podcast production by Nina Porzucki.

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Hungary’s autocratic creep was turned back at the ballot box last weekend, in a stark rebuke to the forces of illiberalism and to the American conservatives who invested so heavily in former Hungarian leader Viktor Orban’s mission. It’s good news. But it’s not the end of the story. It behoves pro-democracy forces in the United States to move past the example of democratic resilience in Hungary to real, systemic change to the machinery of American democracy. On this week’s Amicus podcast, Norm Eisen, former ambassador and current democracy warrior (as founder of www.democracydefendersfund.org), tells Dahlia Lithwick that America’s response to Trumpism starts with protecting the rule of law, safeguarding elections, and strangling corruption—the three pillars of a genuine democratic recovery. The key isn’t just fixing courts or passing reforms—it's about building a democratic coalition based on simple, clear issues. As Democrats dare to dream of what may be possible in a post-Trump America, it’s time to start making concrete, workable plans. This week’s show highlights the roadmap out of autocracy, through coalitions, court reform, and corruption-busting.
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This week: Sneaker company Allbirds announced a pivot into A.I. infrastructure. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck explain why this absurd-sounding venture is actually a pretty clever piece of financial engineering. Then, the hosts get into the market surge that put the S&P 500 at a record high. And finally, the courts confirmed what we all knew: Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster are screwing everyone over. The hosts discuss what led to the federal jury ruling that the concert behemoth was acting as a monopoly.

In the Slate Plus episode: The con behind SantaCon.

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Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

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On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Yahoo senior entertainment reporter Kelsey Weekman to discuss influencers at Coachella. Kelsey herself attended Coachella Weekend One, and spoke to creators and regular attendees about what the music festival has become. While the experience itself has been enshittified by brands, even those watching from home are losing interest—especially when the influencers in attendance are betraying their followers and values to do so.

This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.
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Back in the depths of the pandemic, what was an actor to do? Ben McKenzie started looking into cryptocurrency—and his research yielded both a book and a new documentary. The works are both non-fiction, which is more than McKenzie can say for crypto.

Guest: Ben McKenzie, actor, director of the documentary Everyone Is Lying to You for Money, and co-author of Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud.
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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.
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