Too often digital media and digital journalism are as incompatible as trying to plug in RCA cables into an HDMI port on a TV. Slate -- much like Vox - has managed to avoid the conflagration that can ignite when the written word conflicts with the video image and spoken word.
Slate has consistently invested in a carefully curated journalism while simultaneously constructing a vibrant podcast network. The two communications networks often work in concert. That's unusual and refreshing.
Slate podcasts conspicuously avoid the embrace of the TV celebrity and social-media influencer invasion into audio in favor of a more nuanced, thoughtful, and ultimately more satisfying audio experience. It's like the difference between a balanced diet and one in which fast food and checkout counter candy dominate.
One of Slate's signature podcasts is The Waves.
The show, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, is back from a brief hiatus with a new format: Each week, a rotating cast of Slate staffers and guests will talk through one news story they can’t stop thinking about and unpack what gender has to do with it.
On the first episode, Slate news director Susan Matthews, reporter Molly Olmstead, and national editor Josh Levin talked about their in-depth investigation into biographer Blake Bailey, which uncovered new details about sexual assault allegations against him, and about his unsettling tenure as an eighth grade English teacher in New Orleans.
Then, Matthews spoke to one of Bailey’s former students, Eve Crawford Peyton, who wrote a deeply personal and heartbreaking essay for Slate about her own experiences with Bailey.
Released for the Memorial Day weekend is its second episode—about how to survive a post-Roe America. Hosted by Christina Cauterucci, who has covered the fight over abortion rights extensively for Slate, the episode features author Robin Marty, who quite literally wrote the handbook for a post-Roe world. With anti-abortion bills on the rise in many states—including Texas—and the looming Supreme Court case, this topic could not be more urgent.
If you're searching for a podcast that avoids the screaming and finger pointing on numerous current events shows, try The Waves. It's a podcast that does not search for easy answers, assess blame, heap scorn or take the soundbite approach to complex issues.
To enjoy it, you'll need your mind -- as well as your ears -- open.
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