Slate Daily Feed

Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens, discuss the new film Tully with Slate's Willa Paskin, who sticks around to talk about her new podcast Decoder Ring and the history of the laugh track, and finally: are you a brand? Should you be one?

On Tuesday’s Gist, the undoing of the Iran deal. Democrats are tense. 2018 is supposed to be a banner year for the left, but the party is struggling to balance an energized base and an unpredictable general electorate. As a result, there have been a lot of bigfoot sightings in primaries across the country, as Democratic Party honchos step in to pick preferred candidates. Who’s wiser, the party or the voters? Alex Roarty, who covers the Democrats for McClatchy newspapers, says it’s not so simple. In the Spiel, the gall of Don Blankenship. After the Spiel, keep listening for a trailer of Slate’s upcoming podcast, Upon Further Review. It’s based on Mike Pesca’s book, Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs in Sports History.

Jacob Weisberg talks to Slate's War Stories correspondent, Fred Kaplan, about President Trump pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal. Plus, grifting vs. grafting and more Trump tweets.

Prudence is joined this week by Jessie Lane, a social worker, mother, excellent cook, and holder of many opinions (and in this episode, holder of a baby). They tackle questions about how to deal with a coworker who tells the boss about their seemingly private suggestions for workplace improvement, how to tell your family about your sister’s boyfriend’s predatory behavior, what to do when your kid doesn’t fit in well with your family’s childcare, how to deal with a queer friend offended by a straight partner’s bigoted remarks, and how to deal with a male friend who feels too distracted by female friends to continue the friendship. In the full-length, ad-free version of the show, Slate Plus members can hear Prudie and Jessie Lane tackle additional an additional voicemail about what do when your parent decides to marry their high school girlfriend (whom they haven’t seen in 50 years) just a few months after being widowed. Not yet a member? Sign up at Slate.com/PrudiePod.Email: prudencepodcast@gmail.comProduction by Max Jacobs

Lend Me Your Ears is a six-part podcast miniseries exploring how Shakespeare’s works have shaped our modern views on politics. Each month, host Isaac Butler will dig into a different Shakespeare play to explore how Shakespeare was responding to his current events, and how they map onto our own.In this first episode, Lend Me Your Ears is looking at one of Shakespeare’s most accessible works: Julius Caesar. Why was the Bard so fascinated with the fall of the Roman Republic? Why do we tend to turn to this play when we worry about society’s future? How have contemporary theater makers reinvented Shakespeare’s version of the story for their audiences, especially in troubled political times?Slate Plus members get a bonus episode of Lend Me Your Ears every month. Learn more at slate.com/shakespeare

Jayson De Leon has two things to track on Tuesday from Trump's announcement on the Iran deal to NY Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, resigning.

On today’s Gist, there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t want Gina Haspel to run the CIA. Jake Tapper’s latest book is The Hellfire Club. It’s a work of historical fiction; a political thriller set in the 1950s, when Washington was gripped by McCarthyism. Tapper says he saw echoes of President Donald Trump as he read about Sen. Joe McCarthy’s attacks on his political enemies. “The people who survived the ’50s with their reputations intact were the ones who stood up to McCarthy,” said Tapper. “Either decency and truth are important to you, or they’re not.” Tapper is the host of CNN’s The Lead and State of the Union. In the Spiel, the armed and fabulous women of the NRA.

Stefan Fatsis is joined by ESPN’s Dave McMenamin to break down the epic buzzer-beater by LeBron James in Game 3 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference playoffs and by hockey writer Sean McIndoe to discuss the Stanley Cup playoffs. Slate’s Christina Cauterucci and Juliet Macur of the New York Times talk about the exploitative treatment of NFL cheerleaders. And ESPN’s Sam Miller explains how there were more strikeouts than hits in the major leagues in a month for the first time ever.LeBron (3:15): Stefan and ESPN’s Dave McMenamin conduct a forensic breakdown of LeBron James’s seemingly impossible game-winning shot against the Toronto Raptors.NHL playoffs (21:39): Stefan and hockey writer Sean McIndoe discuss the Vegas Golden Knights, the Winnipeg Jets, a rare playoff suspension, and Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins licking his opponents.Cheerleaders (43:50): Slate’s Christina Cauterucci and Juliet Macur of the New York Times talk with Stefan about Juliet’s reporting on the treatment of cheerleaders for Washington’s NFL teamBaseballs (1:01:32):  ESPN’s Sam Miller talks with Stefan about the decade-long rise in strikeouts and whether Major League Baseball needs to do something about it.

Leigh Clayton takes care of the health of 1,500 animals in Baltimore's National Aquarium. She explains how you can tell when a fish is sick, and everything that goes into keeping them healthy. She also tells us about how the National Aquarium connects to and educates about local species, and shares some tips for home aquarium care.In a Slate Plus Extra, she talks about caring for Jacob Brogan's favorite animals: octopuses. If you’re a member, enjoy bonus segments and interview transcripts from Working, plus other great podcast exclusives. Start your two-week free trial at slate.com/workingplus.Email: working@slate.comTwitter: @Jacob_BroganProduction: Mickey Capper @FMcapper

Jayson De Leon has three things to kickoff your Cinco de Mayo – from being perhaps not-so-tough on Russia to Qatar's latest addition to the Trump World Tower building.

The Sprint–T-Mobile merger, remittances, and Apple buybacks on this week's show with Felix Salmon, Anna Szymanski, and Yinka Adegoke.Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder.

On The Gist, a movie pitch: Kushner family racket. Returning champion Chris Molanphy takes us back to 1991 and its chart toppers: Mariah Carey's explosive debut, the Swedish group that topped the charts for a fourth time (it wasn't ABBA!), and the Michael Jackson and Madonna music videos that had censors flustered. Molanphy is the host of Slate’s Hit Parade.In the Spiel, the best movie lines of all time. 

Virginia Heffernan is joined by her co-host, Jacob Weisberg, to chat about pornstars, hush money, sex, and lies as enhanced by Rudy Giuliani this week.Join us at our live show in Brooklyn, NY on Wednesday May 30th!

Michelle Dean is the author of Sharp: The Women Who Made an Art of Having an Opinion. She sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss how a group of 20th century intellectuals—including Susan Sontag, Pauline Kael, Hannah Arendt, and Nora Ephron—changed the way we think about women in public life, and what they can tell us about today’s debates over feminism.Email: ask@slate.comTwitter: @IHaveToAskPod 

On today’s Gist, what’s this about a Tony Award–winning dry cleaner?Presidential inexperience does not always lead to failed presidencies. Some traits can temper inexperience—like the depressive realism of Abraham Lincoln or Lyndon B. Johnson. Other traits magnify inexperience—like narcissism. Gautam Mukunda takes a close look at presidential inexperience in his 2012 book, Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter. In the Spiel, Rudy Giuliani had a strategy.