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A welfare caseworker first told Ms. Pat she had a knack for turning painful stories into comedy. She was 20, fresh out of prison for selling drugs, and already in charge of six kids–some hers, some the children of family members who needed a safe place to stay. It would take 10 more years for Ms. Pat to get on stage at an open mic, but once she started, she didn’t stop. She now sells out shows and has starred in a BET+ sitcom based on her life for five seasons. In this episode, Ms. Pat talks about moving between economic classes and the lies she told to blend in, learning to manage money from her husband, and building the big, full house she never had growing up. Ms. Pat’s latest memoir is called Ms. American Dream: A Memoir of Making It, No Matter What. Podcast production by Zoe Azulay Death, Sex & Money is produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus. And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our new email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On one of the biggest political nights of the year, audiences weren’t turning into traditional networks for their news. Instead, they were on YouTube and Twitch, where streamers like Hasan Piker dominated with up to over 200,000 concurrent viewers at once. While broadcasters like NBC, CBS, and CNN were also streaming their coverage online, they were fighting for attention amongst new media livestreamers—a shift that’s been happening for some time. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Semafor Media editor and Mixed Signals co-host Max Tani to talk about how livestreaming is beginning to eclipse cable news, and how both are having to adapt. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A major vulnerability is threatening the entire internet as we know it. Should we let it? As talk of an internet apocalypse looms, some users can’t help but feel it’s high time to turn the whole thing off and on again. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by senior tech editor Tony Ho Tran to talk about what is actually happening to the internet, how nervous we should be, and why the nightmare scenario of the entire internet shutting down actually sounds like…a dream? This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In New Jersey, the tomato is king. Almost a century ago, a scientist at Rutgers University developed a variety that became the tomato that lined grocery store shelves for decades. Now, Rutgers scientists are at it again—they’ve invented a new grape tomato called Scarlet Sunrise. Will it become the next hot item in the produce aisle? How do you even invent a new tomato? And why are new varieties of fruits and veggies becoming more popular than ever? This week, we’re presenting an episode from The Sporkful in collaboration with Planet Money that aims to find out. In it, Dan Pashman and Kenny Malone investigate these grocery store mysteries, and see if this hot new tomato can win over a longtime grape tomato skeptic. From Planet Money, this episode was produced by James Sneed, edited by Keith Romer, fact checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Cena Loffredo and Jimmy Keely. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2002, when Elizabeth Smart was taken from her bed by a stranger, the media covered it day and night. When Elizabeth returned home nine months later, she slowly began to learn to tell her own story, in her own words. This week on the show, she explains what it’s been like to revisit those traumatic details in her 2013 memoir, in a Netflix documentary, and in her new podcast The Survivor Files, where she and other victims walk through their experiences slowly and carefully. She also talks about her new bodybuilding hobby and how she talks to her kids about safety and risk-taking. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Get more with Death, Sex & Money Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen. If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Conversations about screen addition are almost always about kids. Entire governments have mobilized in pursuit of offsetting the negative effects of being too plugged in, but there’s one demographic we never talk about. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by writer Jessica Lucas, who wrote a piece for New York Magazine about “The 75-year-old Screenagers,” and the ways adult children are struggling with and trying to mitigate their own senior parents' digital habits. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Four decades ago, Paul Simon broke out of a middle-age slump with a collaborative project few saw coming. Join Chris Molanphy as he explores the musical brilliance, polarizing legacy—and of course, the chart history—of 1986’s Graceland. Captivated by a borrowed mixtape of South African music, Simon defied a UN cultural boycott and traveled to apartheid-era South Africa to collaborate and record with Ladysmith Black Mambazo and other musicians. The result was polarizing, critically beloved and, eventually, a chart smash. Graceland also set a new precedent for aging pop stars. For an even deeper dive on the controversies behind the album, check out Ashley Kahn’s new book Days of Miracle and Wonder: Paul Simon and the Trials and Triumphs of Graceland. And for more on the anti-apartheid movement in pop, listen to Hit Parade’s episode on the rise and fall of the charity megasingle. Get more Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for bonus episodes of "The Bridge" and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since Bram Stoker’s Dracula was first published in 1897 it has inspired hundreds, if not thousands, of other fictional vampires. But none are quite as strange as that found in the frigid climes of Iceland. There, just a few years after Dracula was first printed, emerged a so-called translation that diverged so radically from Stoker’s that it introduced new characters, new scenes, and new themes—and yet seemed to have been published with Stoker’s blessing. People have since spent years trying to figure out how exactly this Nordic Dracula came to be—and who its true author is. It all makes for a seasonally appropriate literary mystery—one full of doppelgängers, supervillains, plot twists, and vampires who just refuse to die. In this episode, you’ll hear from Ásgeir Jónsson, literary enthusiast and Governor of the Central Bank of Iceland; Helen Zaltzman, host of The Allusionist podcast; Icelandic publishing scholar Kristján B. Jónasson; publisher Rickard Berghorn; and Benjamin Mier-Cruz, Assistant Professor of Scandinavian Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Thank you to Birna Anna Björnsdóttir, Hans Corneel de Roos, Ingmar Söhrman, Bjarni Bjarnason, and Benjamin Frisch. This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Max Freedman. Our show is also produced by Alesandra Tejeda and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at [email protected] or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281. Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You may have thought we knew everything there was to know about Elizabeth Holmes. The Theranos founder who was found guilty of defrauding investors sparked books, documentaries, and even a TV show—but nothing like this. Nathan Fielder’s You Can See Everything is ostensibly another exploration of Holmes, but ends up being about so much more. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay and joined by Slate senior writer Scaachi Koul to discuss the internet’s divided reaction to the project, and how Fielder’s own internet history contributes to the overwhelming response. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode, we asked for your stories about medication side effects. You told us about the weird, from sleep-eating to compulsive spending. You told us about making trade-off calculations: Is an improved mood worth a decreased sex drive? And we heard about the loneliness of living with side effects that alter your quality of life when you have a condition that depends on lifelong treatment. Podcast production by Zoe Azulay Death, Sex & Money is produced by Slate! To support us and our colleagues, please sign up for our membership program, Slate Plus! Members get ad-free podcasts, bonus content on lots of Slate shows, and full access to all the articles on Slate.com. Sign up today at slate.com/dsmplus. And if you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos and pitches is, [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The “tradwives” are retreating. Nara Smith went on Call Her Daddy to renounce any association with the term, and has been in the middle of a full-on rebrand as the promotes her new cookbook. Other figureheads, like Hannah Neeleman aka Ballerina Farm, are taking a step back to put their business first. Meanwhile, the actual former tradwives are suffering. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by author and Culture Study host Anne Helen Petersen to talk about why these women are making such public shifts, and what happens when the word “tradwife” loses all meaning. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Clowns have existed in various forms for thousands of years. From the big top to Bozo’s TV show, they used to be beloved figures of amusement and delight. What changed and made so many people suspect and fear them? In this episode, originally aired in 2018, Decoder Ring traces the history of clowns and clowning and finds that both the scary clown and the happy clown are over-simplifications that have more in common than it might first appear. This episode was produced and edited by Benjamin Frisch. Decoder Ring is produced by Max Freedman, Alesandra Tejeda, and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Thank you to Benjamin Radford, Isaac Butler, Jim Bredesen, Andrew Kahn, Aisha Harris, and June Thomas. And special thanks to Daniel Royer for recommending this subject. If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at [email protected] or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281. Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The latest internet “trend,” apparently, is adult children cutting off their parents. And while there are plenty of spaces on the internet where both children and parents can seek advice and community about their estrangement, the reality is much more complicated, and these digital support groups may be doing more harm than good. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by author Christina Wyman to talk about coming across her own mothers posts in a Facebook group for estranged parents, which she wrote about for Slate. But in a social media world, is there ever such a thing as “no contact”? And how can we stop algorithms and echo chambers from making it even worse? This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Now famous as a New York City nightlife fixture and for his role on Somebody Somewhere, comedian Murray Hill used to keep his personal history private. In fact, the persona of “Murray Hill” started as a drag king character modeled after old-timey comedians. Over time, though, the gap between the character and the man has shrunk. This week on the show, Murray opens up about everything: his upbringing in Connecticut with a family who could be cruel and abusive, teachers who looked out for him, and friends who helped the real Murray emerge. His new memoir is called Showbiz!: My Life as a Middle-Aged Man. The interview with Norman Lear that Anna mentions can be found here. Get more with Death, Sex & Money Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of DSM and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Death, Sex & Money show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/dsmplus to get access wherever you listen. If you’re new to the show, welcome. We’re so glad you’re here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and you can find Anna’s newsletter at annasale.substack.com. Our email address, where you can reach us with voice memos, pep talks, questions, critiques, is [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The new AI agents from Meta and OpenAI have one thing in common: they look like children’s cartoons. At the same time these companies are warning that AI will kill us all, they’re trying to convince users to try even more products by making them look as cuddly and innocent as possible. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by writer and Slate columnist Steffi Cao to talk about just how much access these AI agents want in our lives, and what they’re hiding behind their fuzzy facades. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.