Slate Articles

The Audio Book Club on Tenth of December

Dan Kois — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:01:00 GMT

To listen to the Audio Book Club discussion of Tenth of December, click the arrow on the player below.

The Culture Gabfest “Hurry Up With My Damn Croissants” Edition

Stephen Metcalf — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:49:34 GMT

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 248 with Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and June Thomas with the audio player below.

My Kind of Town, Stink Onions

Chris Kirk — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:30:00 GMT

It’s easy to think of words such as California or Texas or New York as just the places on the map, but those words actually meant something, once, and those meanings offer a little glimpse into history. The above map, designed by cartographers Stephan Hormes and Silke Peust, labels states, cities, and landmarks with the literal meanings of their official names.

They Deactivate Droids, Don’t They?

Erik Sofge — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:00:00 GMT

The war crime plays out like so.

The Pain Threshold

William Saletan — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:46:00 GMT

You can also listen to William Saletan read this piece.

Skyjacker of the Day

Brendan I. Koerner — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:20:00 GMT

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the United States suffered through a skyjacking epidemic that has now been largely forgotten. In his new book, The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking, Brendan I. Koerner tells the story of the chaotic age when jets were routinely commandeered by the desperate and disillusioned. In the run-up to his book’s publication on June 18, Koerner has been writing a daily series of skyjacker profiles. Slate is running the final dozen of these “Skyjacker of the Day” entries.

Seven Seconds in Heaven

Josh Levin — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:07:00 GMT

For a few moments, on a few nights each year, a fact that often seems fuzzy becomes absolutely clear: Watching sports is totally, unquestionably worth our time. Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals was tense, baffling, infuriating, and cathartic. The Heat eventually beat the Spurs in overtime, 103-100, ensuring there will be a winner-take-all Game 7. But no matter what happens next, I’ll think back to the end of regulation on Tuesday night, and the seven seconds that revealed why we watch all these games and what we gain by watching.

The Messiah Will Be Tweeted

Rebecca Finkel — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:00:00 GMT

On a Sunday evening in early June, thousands of Hasidic men in long coats and black hats braved the heat to attend two outdoor anti-Internet asifas (or gatherings in Yiddish) organized by leaders of the ultra-Orthodox Satmar community of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, N.Y. Women were forbidden, but the real temptation for the men was already in their laps, where they covertly thumbed their smartphones.

Approaching Death

Kimberly A. Condon — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 09:30:00 GMT

This essay originally appeared in I Wasn’t Strong Like This When I Started Out: True Stories of Becoming a Nurse, a collection edited by Lee Gutkind, out now from In Fact Books.

Trent Franks Feels Your Pain

David Weigel — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:17:08 GMT

It’s the day of the vote for one of the biggest bills of his career, and Arizona Rep. Trent Franks has been sidelined. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (no easy acronym), which had been a pipe dream in the last Congress, was coming to the floor and expected to pass. The trial of Philadelphia’s illegal-late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell, and the attendant gross-out media attention, powered the bill out of committee. So, typically, the bill’s author would lead the debate on his product.