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On this week’s episode of the Waves, June, Hanna, and Noreen are joined by the Atlantic’s Kate Julian to discuss her new cover story for the magazine, “The Sex Recession.” On average, young Americans are having sex later and less frequently than ever. How did we get here, who’s being impacted, and is it necessarily a bad thing? Then, claims that CNN’s Jim Acosta “placed his hands on a young woman”—a White House intern who forcibly took back the microphone as he was questioning Donald Trump—are being used to justify rescinding his press pass. What does the unapologetic use of doctored footage tell us about the right’s view of #MeToo, and tactics more broadly? Finally, midterms exit polls show that the majority of white women consistently vote Republican. The hosts debate why it happens, what the numbers can really tell us, and whether it’s useful to think of them as a monolithic voting bloc at all.
In Slate Plus: Is the tampon tax sexist?
Other items discussed on the show:
• “Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex?“ by Kate Julian in the Atlantic
• “Americans Are Having Less Sex. And That’s Just Fine,” by Debby Herbenick in the Washington Post
• “How Donald Trump Uses the Female Body as a Weapon,” by Rhonda Garelick in the Cut
• “The Right-Wingers Behind the Mueller Smear Campaign Are Guilty of Everything They Accuse Democrats of Doing” by Christina Cauterucci in Slate
• “Exit Polls Don’t Tell the Full Story. White Women Are Becoming Less Reliably Republican.” by Christina Cauterucci in Slate
• “The Betrayal of White Women Voters: In Pivotal State Races, They Still Backed the GOP” by Treva B. Lindsey in Vox
Recommendations:
• Noreen: “The Watcher” by Reeves Wiedeman in the Cut and Dorie Greenspan’s Everyday Dorie
• June: Bodyguard on Netflix
• Hanna: Leikeli47’s “Girl Blunt“
This podcast was produced by Danielle Hewitt. Our production assistant is Alex Barasch.
The Waves plugs: Please remember to like our Facebook page. Send your emails to thewaves@slate.com. Tell us what we should cover in the next episode. And come to our live show in Miami on Saturday!
