Cover Story

Happy Bad Choices Day!

Jennifer Traig

On the Dec. 25 holiday my family made up, we get to do whatever we want with no guilt.

Russia’s Pro-Trump Campaign Used Every Major Social Media Platform

Daniel Politi

What Friday’s Ridiculous Ruling on Obamacare Means for Its Survival

Jordan Weissmann

Watch the SNL Sketch That Enraged Trump

Matthew Dessem

Immigration

U.S. Joins the Civilizations in History That Sacrificed Children to Send a Message

Matthew Dessem

R.I.P.

HQ Trivia and Vine Co-Founder Colin Kroll Found Dead of Apparent Drug Overdose at 35

Daniel Politi

NFL

The Patriots Look Shaky. Is That Even Allowed?

Nick Greene

Bears Vanquish Packers, Catapult Aaron Rodgers Into Lake Michigan

Nick Greene

A Brilliant Plan to End Kickoffs Forever and Make Football Way More Fun

Nick Greene

The Conversation Starts Here

Think you know music? Test yourself here.

Music Trivia: The Christmas Music Edition

Listen Now

Cover Story

I Can Only Afford to Send One of My Kids to Private School

Care and Feeding

How do I explain it to her siblings?

In Roma, Each Object Tells a Tale

Inkoo Kang

The stories behind the movie’s props, from the dog heads to the planes and more.

TV Club

Has Peak TV Peaked?

Tara Ariano

Some great shows are gone. A bunch of marquee ones didn’t do it for me this year.

What Happened to HBO? The Reliable Producers of Well-Made Shows Are Slipping.

Sonia Saraiya

2018’s Best TV Shows Took a Radical Path: Actually Trying to Act Like TV Shows

Todd VanDerWerff

View all

She stripped her children of the gifts and tried to return them to the store for cash.

Dear Prudence Uncensored: The Childless Friend

Help! My Neighbor Is Ned Flanders Without the Good Faith.

Dear Prudence Podcast: I Don’t Know How to Help My Addict Friend Anymore

Help! My Co-Workers’ Perfume Makes Me Physically Ill.

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Includes

• Extended ad-free podcasts
• Slate Academies
• Slow Burn bonus episodes
• Bonus Dear Prudence

Culture

What’s worth your time

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Does It Matter How You Watch Roma?

Sam Adams

Are critics who say you have to see Alfonso Cuarón’s masterpiece in a movie theater being advocates or just snobs?

Superstore and Lodge 49 Ask What People Are Worth

Todd VanDerWerff

Succession Did What No Other 2018 TV Show Could

Willa Paskin

Orange Is the New Black’s Yael Stone Accuses Geoffrey Rush of Sexual Misconduct

Matthew Dessem

Ethics for 7-Year-Olds

Matthew Dessem

The Patriots Look Shaky. Is That Even Allowed?

Nick Greene

Bears Overcome Chronic Cuteness to Vanquish Packers, Catapult Aaron Rodgers Into Lake Michigan

Nick Greene

Technology

How it’s changing us

View all Technology

Social Media Isn’t Set Up for Grief. It’s Set Up for Profit.

Shannon Palus

Users are getting more comfortable sharing their whole lives, but the platforms are still designed to market around joy.

Court Says It’s Illegal to Resell Songs You Bought on iTunes

Cullen Seltzer

The Government Isn’t Regulating a Deadly Paint Stripper, so Retailers Are Instead

Jamie Smith Hopkins

Congress Is About to Blow Its Chance to Save Net Neutrality

April Glaser

Facebook Plied Me With Hot Chocolate and Platitudes at Its One-Day “Holiday Privacy Store”

Heather Schwedel

How to Watch the Year’s Best Meteor Shower

Aaron Mak

We Need More Academic Conferences About Robots, Love, and Sex

Marina Adshade

Congressman Says a “WallCoin” Could Fund Trump’s Border Wall

Aaron Mak

Human Interest

An honest guide to modern life

View all Human Interest

Our Kid’s Letter to Santa This Year Asks for a Sign of His Existence

Carvell Wallace

Is it an adorable attempt at belief or a trap to catch us in a lie?

Why Tumblr’s “Adult Content” Ban Threatens to Close a Crucial Space of Exploration for Trans Women

Elanor J. Broker

What to Gift the Harry Potter Fan in Your Life

Strategist Editors

The Expensive-Looking Things I Put in the DIY Gourmet Gift Basket I Send to Friends

Strategist Editors

Dear Care and Feeding: I Feel Guilty About Sending One Kid to Private School When I Can’t Afford to Send the Others

Nicole Cliffe

Forget Christmas and Hanukkah. Join Our Family in Celebrating Bad Choices Day!

Jennifer Traig

The Best Gifts for Skincare Obsessives, According to Redditors

Strategist Editors

Business

Where the money goes

View all Business

The Affordable Care Act Is Not Dead Yet

Jordan Weissmann

Even the World’s Most Famous Paintings Need to Get Touched Up Once in a While. Here’s How It’s Done at MoMA.

Jordan Weissmann

Jeffrey Wright Guarded “Hippy” Brett Kavanaugh in High School, and “Hippy” Brian Lehrer Claims You Can Be a Mets and Yankees Fan

Catie Lazarus

Why Is Harvard Investing in California Farmland?

Emily Peck, Felix Salmon, and Anna Szymanski

America’s Hottest Housing Debate Is Coming to Oregon

Henry Grabar

Why the Uber and Lyft IPOs Won’t Change Much

Henry Grabar

Carnival CEO Arnold Donald Says Cruises Are Getting More Personalized

Seth Stevenson

E.L.F. CEO Tarang Amin Says YouTubers Are Making Makeup Less Intimidating

Seth Stevenson

News & Politics

What really matters

View all News & Politics

Nancy Pelosi Will Be Speaker. That Doesn’t Mean Her Antagonists Lost.

Jim Newell

The real trade-offs of the deal that will make Pelosi speaker again.

Russia’s Pro-Trump Disinformation Campaign Used Every Major Social Media Platform

Daniel Politi

Colin Kroll, Co-Founder of HQ Trivia and Vine, Found Dead of Apparent Drug Overdose

Daniel Politi

Stephen Miller: Trump Will “Absolutely” Shut Down Government Over Wall

Daniel Politi

Giuliani Dismisses Possibility of Trump Sit-Down Mueller Interview: “Over My Dead Body”

Daniel Politi

After Zinke Resignation, Industry Lobbyists Will Lead Country’s Top Two Environmental Agencies

Daniel Politi

Trump Says SNL Sketches Are “Real Scandal” That “Should Be Tested in Courts”

Daniel Politi