Hormones influence everything from mood and energy levels to fertility and long-term health.  Yet for many, hormonal health remains shrouded in mystery. When women do seek guidance from their OBGYNs, they’re often told birth control is the only option for treating hormone-related issues like PCOS and endometriosis. But that wasn’t going to cut it for Alisa Vitti. On this week’s episode of Well, Now Kavita and Maya tackle hormonal health with the FLO Living CEO and see what other options are...

Nearly half of states – 24 and Washington, D.C – have legalized recreational marijuana. As more people report regularly using it, physicians are seeing patients with alarming side effects related to their cannabis use. On this week’s episode of Well, Now Kavita and Maya sit down with internist and pediatrician Dr. Brittany Tayler to better understand these conditions and who could most likely get them. If you liked this episode, check out: Psychedelics’ Long Strange Trip to the Doctor’s...

We live in a weight-obsessed world, and children are not immune. From the moment a child is born, their weight and height are tracked and recorded. Then throughout their development, these metrics are used as one of the main factors to determine their health. But as the Health at Every Size (HAES) philosophy continues to gain traction for some adults, is there use for it as a part of growing children’s well-being, too? On this week’s episode of Well, Now Maya and Kavita speak with pediatric...

GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, WeGovy, Mounjaro and others revolutionized weight loss and chronic weight management. But what does it feel like for the patients who take them? On this week’s episode of Well, Now Kavita and Maya talk with journalist and author Johann Hari. Over the course of a year, Johann dived into the research and history behind GLP-1 drugs and how they became the latest and most effective way to lose weight. All the while, he was also taking Ozempic himself.  His latest book...

On this episode: Elizabeth, Lucy and Zak help a member of the Slate Parenting Facebook group who’s struggling with wrangling her new baby… and the baby’s very clingy new grandma. Grandma’s struggled with loneliness and is-over-the-moon about the baby. But is it time to set some boundaries? And how many photos is too many? We also check in on what’s happening in the hosts’ lives right now. And then, if you’re joining us for the Plus Playground — out now in your podcast feed — we’re sharing...

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: a fond farewell. This is the last episode of Hear Me Out. And it comes at a volatile, strange time in the world of podcasting. Networks’ priorities have shifted, the money has shifted, and “success” means different things to different people.  Nick Hilton of Podot and Future Proof joins us for a discussion about the future of podcasting… whether we’re in it or not. The Hear Me Out team is grateful, endlessly, to every single listener who’s sent us a note....

After the school shooting in Georgia last week, charges were brought against the 14-year-old alleged gunman—and also against his father. Who’s really responsible? Guest: Josie Duffy Rice, journalist focused on prosecutors, prisons, and other criminal justice issues and host of What A Day. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free”...

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: pardon interruption. What’s the purpose of the presidential pardon? Well, depends on who you ask — hypothetically, it’s meant for course-correction and honoring restorative justice. But presidents on both ends of the spectrum have used it for purposes that are distinctly not that. So do we need the pardon or do we need to get rid of it… and either way, what’s next? Kim Wehle joins us once again to talk about her new book, Pardon Power. Hear Me Out ends...

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: PSL (not the drink). Claudia de la Cruz cannot, mathematically, win the presidency. But she’s running anyway… because the two-party system doesn’t lend itself to real representation or the public interest. Claudia joins us to make the case for voting socialist, because the parties with all the power aren’t as different as they want you to think. We’ll also share an important update about the future of Hear Me Out at the end of the episode. After that,...

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: sharpen up. Public schooling in this country has had a lot of champions — including some that you might not expect. But did we ever actually agree on what we wanted schools to do for society? Elizabeth Newcamp of Slate’s Care & Feeding joins us to argue for a reappraisal of the whole system… and what it means to educate. If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show:...

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: pants on fire. The fact-check is a critical tool in the journalist’s toolbox – and now more than ever, it’s a key part of the job. The problem is that it’s already hard to make the case that definitive “true and false” designations exist anymore… and, it turns out, audiences might be made more suspicious of journalists who fact check, not less. Randy Stein of Cal Poly Pomona joins Hear Me Out to discuss his new research about debunkings and public...

Research going back decades shows adding more fruits, vegetables, and non-animal sources of protein helps us live longer, healthier lives.  A study featured in the Netflix docuseries You Are What You Eat: A Twin Study took that to the next level.  Stanford researchers asked 22 sets of identical twins to go 8 weeks eating a healthy, varied diet and regularly exercising. One twin ate an omnivore diet, the other vegan. On this week’s episode of Well, Now we talk to the lead researcher of the...

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: opening ceremonies (and a can of worms). We come to you midway through the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. But amid the patriotism, athletic prowess, and sheer spectacle of these games — the most watched and streamed to date, by some measures — there’s also concerns about geopolitical power, human rights abuses, and the facilitation of facism.   MacIntosh Ross of Windsor University joins us to talk about the uglier facets of the Olympic Games. If you have...

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: who runs the world? Kamala Harris is having a brat summer, which means that you’re likely seeing lots of questions about what brat summer is and why anyone cares. But the meme being co-opted by the Harris campaign is just a small piece of the bigger puzzle. Writer and podcast host H. Alan Scott joins Hear Me Out to argue that pop stars have a huge amount of political influence — that, coupled with “cool factor,” could swing the election.   If you have...

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: make the friendship bracelets. Or don’t.  Like all relationships, friendships can grow, change… and, yes, end. Sometimes for good reason. But we romanticize the BFF as the goal – to find your person – and that might not be realistic.  Author and podcast host Kristen Meinzer joins us to make the case for not needing a best friend forever. If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can email the show:...

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: tried and Turing tested. Coming into the 2024 election cycle, generative AI was one of the main concerns for democracy watchdogs; its power to create deceptive text, images and sounds at a rapid, unfettered pace seems ripe to spread misinformation. But of all the controversies and current events that have shaped the election thus far… AI, somehow, might not be one of them.  Writer and social strategist Rachel Greenspan joins us to share what she’s hearing...

Few drugs in the last century have changed the landscape of healthcare and weight management like GLP-1 agonist drugs — drugs like Ozempic and WeGovy. On this week’s episode of Well, Now we talk with Harvard professor and clinician Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford.  Her research revolutionized obesity medicine and helped pave the way to get a diabetes drug approved for treating a condition millions have in the U.S. If you liked this episode, check out – Doctors Agree: Obesity is a Disease. The Public...

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: Bezos vs. the British invasion. The Washington Post, like most legacy media outlets, can’t seem to catch a break. Right now, the newsroom is reeling under leadership changeups — and an editor who’s part of what appears to be a British invasion into American media leadership.  It’s hard to imagine Jeff Bezos, a soon-to-be trillionaire, as anyone’s folk hero. When he bought the Post in 2013, many assumed his involvement would put the paper’s editorial...

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: get back to work. When your job becomes obsolete, is it the government’s job to teach you to do something else?  That’s the theory behind federal workforce training programs – which have existed, in various forms, for a long time. The problem is that studies are starting to show that these programs don’t provide much of an edge to workers… and that the jobs they place for might not be good jobs. Kevin Carey of New America joins us to argue for a retooling...

For years, psychiatrists have been researching new methods to help people with treatment-resistant mental illness. These include severe cases of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other debilitating diagnoses. One type of drug has seen some positive results in clinical trials: psychedelics like psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine, and LSD. In professional medical settings, they’re used as a part of a multifaceted approach to mental health treatment, including supervised therapy sessions...

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: aprons off. Has there ever been a better time to be a woman in America? Probably not… but that’s a low bar. Modern feminism is having trouble making a case for itself, in the face of a challenging economy and backslides in reproductive rights. So when women on social media present themselves as traditional wives and homemakers, achieving the self-actualization of heteronormativity, have they given up? Or are they showing us what feminist thought might be...

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: all aren’t welcome. Pride Month festivities have a complicated legacy. On the one hand, being out, proud and supportive in public has been a game-changing force for the LGBTQ+ community; on the other hand, pride began as a protest, and the movement has been, and is, at odds with the status quo and acceptability politics. So, should uniformed cops be welcome at Pride? Should politicians like Jill Biden be invited, or encouraged, to make Pride a campaign...

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: base instincts. Democratic strategists are reportedly freaking out about Joe Biden. Despite his opponent’s felony convictions, Biden remains unpopular and isn’t polling well in swing states. Young voters are mad about his handling of the war in Gaza; many Americans remain convinced that the economy is bad and the president is to blame for it. So if strategists’ worst fears come to pass… how much of this wound is self-inflicted? Hayes Brown of MSNBC joins...

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out: placing bets. Betting on the results of elections is illegal in the United States – though that hasn’t stopped sportsbooks overseas from cashing in. And that doesn’t mean that Americans haven’t placed bets on election results in the U.S., either; that’s a tradition that dates back centuries. There’s a push now to make elections betting legal on American soil — and for American companies to run online casinos. Futures markets are complicated, and it might...