Slate Articles

Before They Were Movies

Max Linsky — Sat, 25 May 2013 11:20:00 GMT

Every weekend, Longform shares a collection of great stories from its archive with Slate. For daily picks of new and classic nonfiction, check out Longform or follow @longform on Twitter. Have an iPad? Download Longform’s app to read the latest picks, plus features from 70 of the world’s best magazines, including Slate.

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Rob Ford, Spam, and the Quintessential Summer Cocktail

Byron Boneparth — Sat, 25 May 2013 11:00:00 GMT

“Obama’s Post-9/11 World: While the president said nothing new about drone strikes, he appears ready to take real risks to close Gitmo,” by Fred Kaplan. Kaplan analyzes President Obama’s counterterrorism speech on Thursday, writing that although the president’s renewed attention to closing the Guantánamo detention center is encouraging, his defense of drone strikes merely echoes a Justice Department white paper released in February. Elsewhere on Slate, Eric Posner writes that Obama’s speech underlines how similar the pesident’s national security policies are to those of George W. Bush.

The Cruz Missile

John Dickerson — Fri, 24 May 2013 23:43:06 GMT

Sen. Ted Cruz doesn’t have as many friends as he says he does. In the latest round of Cruz’s simmering debate with Sen. John McCain (who labeled Cruz a "wacko bird"), Cruz spoke of "my friend, the senior senator from Arizona" while painting him as out of touch with his party and country. It usually takes a while for senators to learn how to weaponize compliments and imprecations of friendship, but Cruz is a quick study. After a patient attack on McCain's understanding of history, Cruz said: "I know my friend from Arizona is well aware of that because he is such an esteemed historian of this body." Like use of the word "frankly," which in Washington means just the opposite, Cruz’s sentence is best read in reverse: McCain is neither a friend, esteemed, nor a historian. (He is still, however, from Arizona.)

Behind the Candelabra

Dana Stevens — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:44:16 GMT

After you've seen Behind the Candelabra, come back and listen to our Spoiler Special.

Before Midnight Isn’t About Us, but It Sure Feels That Way

David Haglund — Fri, 24 May 2013 20:23:12 GMT

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Before Midnight.

Immigration Lessons From the NBA

Matthew Yglesias — Fri, 24 May 2013 18:33:34 GMT

Saturday night, I’ll be watching the San Antonio Spurs attempt to go up 3–0 against the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA’s Western Conference Finals. Leading the charge will be the Spurs’ Belgian-born point guard Tony Parker, Brazilian power forward Tiago Splitter, and Argentine sixth man Manu Ginobili.* Boris Diaw, also from France, should get major minutes off the bench as well. The Grizzlies have a much more heavily American roster, but their stifling defense is anchored by Spanish center Marc Gasol.

The an Apple a Day Keeps the Taxes Away Gabfest

Emily Bazelon — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:30:12 GMT

Become a fan of the Political Gabfest on Facebook. We post to the Facebook page throughout the week, so keep the conversation going by joining us there. Or follow us @SlateGabfest!

Scout’s Dishonor

Nathaniel Frank — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:18:54 GMT

In a clear effort to appease a divided membership, the Boy Scouts of America has voted to change its national policy on homosexuality: It will now allow gay youth to become and remain scouts, but it will still ban adult leaders “who are open or avowed homosexuals or who engage in behavior that would become a distraction to the mission of the BSA.” A spokesman told me the focus is on youth so as to ensure that the Scouts can “provide kids a place to belong while they learn and grow.”

Scalia vs. Roberts

Tom Donnelly — Fri, 24 May 2013 15:24:41 GMT

Last June, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia went at each other over Obamacare. Roberts famously joined with the court’s liberals to uphold most of the health care law, handing the president a victory, while Scalia voted with the court’s conservative bloc to kill the law. In the process, Roberts celebrated judicial restraint, which counsels against striking down acts of Congress, and Scalia mouthed Tea Party talking points, which promote going after federal laws and regulation by any means necessary. Now the two conservative justices are dueling again—only they’ve switched sides.

Before Midnight

Dana Stevens — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:50:59 GMT

Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy—Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and now Before Midnight—occupies a particular place in the heart of its fans, many of whom share a roughly defined demographic berth with the movie’s stars, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke. I know more than one couple who feel that their own romantic destiny is tied in some way to that of Céline and Jesse, the characters Delpy and Hawke have been embodying (both in the flesh and on paper; they’re credited as co-writers on the second two movies, and collaborated without credit on a rewrite of the first) for going on 20 years now. In the first film, they played a French student and an American slacker in their early 20s who fell in love over the course of an all-night train layover in Vienna. In the second, they were the same people meeting up again nine years later in Paris for one rushed, geographically impossible, and ultimately life-changing afternoon.