Slate Magazine - Politics, Business, Technology, and the Arts

How the Lab-Leak Theory Went From Fringe to Mainstream—and Why It’s a Warning

John Ehrenreich

In 1982, Playboy’s Advice Columnist Asked Me to Go to the Era’s Notorious Sex Clubs With Him. They Could Teach Us a Lesson Now.

Janet Lever

Why Young Depressives Are Suddenly Obsessed With a Cheesy ’00s Singer

Ian Lecklitner

A Standout Episode of The Last of Us Does Something the Games Couldn’t

Victoria Ritvo

Music

Why Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” Is Her First No. 1 Song in a Decade

Chris Molanphy

Future Tense Fiction

What if Someone Invented a Real Bigfoot?

Torie Bosch

Inside the Human Urge to Tinker With Other Species

Challie Facemire

Good Fit

An Extremely Common Feature of Gyms Could Be Threatening the Benefits of Your Workout

Kiley Price

Screen Time

It’s Only January, but We Already Have One of the Best Movies of 2023

Sam Adams

The Banshees of Inisherin’s Writer-Director Has Made a Career of “Irishness.” It’s All a Load of Blarney.

Mark O’Connell

Marjorie Taylor Greene Is Thinking Much Bigger Than a Few Measly Committee Assignments

Jim Newell

Echidnas Blow Snot Bubbles to Cool Down. Could We?

Meg Duff

advice

We Have No Idea What to Do With the Absurd Amount of Money We Got at Our Wedding

Pay Dirt

Uh, My Son’s 7-Year-Old Friend Is Trying to Convert Him

Care and Feeding

The Way My Husband Is Coping With Our Month of No Sex Is Infuriating

How To Do It

It is so absurd that I'd be laughing if it wasn't so, so serious!

Help! I Took a DNA Test and Discovered My Grandma’s Secret.

Help! I Was My Wife’s First Sexual Partner. I Told Her I’ve Had Better.

Help! I Wrote to Prudie for Advice and Paul Feig Answered.

Help! My Father Pushed Me Into Sports to Cover Up an Affair With My Coach.

Pay Dirt

My Adult Daughter and Her Boyfriend Are Mooching off My Pension

13m ago

Kiley Bense

The Eerie Climate Warnings Hidden in 1970s Biology Textbooks

3h ago

Ian Lecklitner

Why Young Depressives Are Suddenly Obsessed With a Cheesy ’00s Singer

4h ago

John Ehrenreich

How the Lab-Leak Theory Went From Fringe to Mainstream—and Why It’s a Warning

9h ago

Good Herb, in This Week’s Open Thread

11h ago

Victoria Ritvo

A Standout Episode of The Last of Us Does Something the Games Couldn’t

14h ago

Janet Lever

In 1982, Playboy’s Advice Columnist Asked Me to Go to the Era’s Notorious Sex Clubs With Him. They Could Teach Us a Lesson Now.

Janet Lever

A Standout Episode of The Last of Us Does Something the Games Couldn’t

Victoria Ritvo

Slate News Quiz

Think you’re pretty smart? Prove it with this week’s quiz.

Ray Hamel

The Lab-Leak Theory Still Can’t Be Disproved. Should We Care?

The idea has been part of the public discourse for three years. It isn’t really about preventing future pandemics.

John Ehrenreich

Culture

What it all means

View all Culture

Columbo and Chill

Cameron Gorman

How the internet turned a boomer TV cop into a sex symbol and queer icon.

Tech & Business

Where we’re headed

View all Tech & Business

The “Menswear Guy” Who’s Gone Viral on Twitter Is Confused About the Whole Thing, Too

Nitish Pahwa

Of all the new Main Characters on Elon Musk’s Twitter, Derek Guy is the best dressed.

How the Lab-Leak Theory Went From Fringe to Mainstream—and Why It’s a Warning

John Ehrenreich

Meta’s Laid-Back Approach to User Hacking

Lizzie O’Leary

Echidnas Blow Snot Bubbles to Cool Down. Could We?

Meg Duff

Advertisers Wanted to Spend Money at Twitter, but “Our Emails Have Been Falling Into the Abyss”

Alex Kantrowitz

We Have No Idea What to Do With the Absurd Amount of Money We Got at Our Wedding

Athena Valentine

Inside the Human Urge to Tinker With Other Species

Challie Facemire

The Eerie Climate Warnings Hidden in 1970s Biology Textbooks

Kiley Bense

Human Interest

An honest guide to modern life

View all Human Interest

My Dad’s Death Improved My Sex Life

Sophia Laurenzi

Believe me, I was just as surprised as you are.

I Don’t Want My Teen’s First Heartbreak to Be His Villain Origin Story

Mom and Dad Are Fighting

In 1982, Playboy’s Advice Columnist Asked Me to Go to the Era’s Notorious Sex Clubs With Him. They Could Teach Us a Lesson Now.

Janet Lever

Sarah Ruhl On Rewriting the Story Of Your Face

Carvell Wallace

Help! I Took a DNA Test and Discovered My Grandma’s Secret.

Slate Staff

The Way My Husband Is Coping With Our Month of No Sex Is Infuriating

Michelle Herman

Help! I Was My Wife’s First Sexual Partner. I Told Her I’ve Had Better.

Slate Staff

News & Politics

What really matters

View all News & Politics

The New Kavanaugh Documentary Changes Nothing

Dahlia Lithwick

It will do one thing, and it will not be pleasant.

Think You’re Pretty Smart? Prove It With This Week’s Quiz.

Ray Hamel

What It Was Like to Be a Target of Political Violence in New Mexico

Mary Harris

Marjorie Taylor Greene Is Thinking Much Bigger Than a Few Measly Committee Assignments

Jim Newell

Investigating The Dobbs Leak Investigation

Amicus

How Much Does Racial Diversity on a Police Force Actually Matter?

Jason Johnson

Officers From the SCORPION Unit Killed Tyre Nichols. What Is the SCORPION Unit?

Shirin Ali

Who Doesn’t Have Classified Documents?

What Next

How the Lab-Leak Theory Went From Fringe to Mainstream—and Why It’s a Warning

In 1982, Playboy’s Advice Columnist Asked Me to Go to the Era’s Notorious Sex Clubs With Him. They Could Teach Us a Lesson Now.

Why Young Depressives Are Suddenly Obsessed With a Cheesy ’00s Singer

A Standout Episode of The Last of Us Does Something the Games Couldn’t

Music

Why Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” Is Her First No. 1 Song in a Decade

Future Tense Fiction

What if Someone Invented a Real Bigfoot?

Inside the Human Urge to Tinker With Other Species

Good Fit

An Extremely Common Feature of Gyms Could Be Threatening the Benefits of Your Workout

Screen Time

It’s Only January, but We Already Have One of the Best Movies of 2023

The Banshees of Inisherin’s Writer-Director Has Made a Career of “Irishness.” It’s All a Load of Blarney.

Podcast

What Next: TBD

Tech, power, and the future with Lizzie O’Leary.

An Antivax Dog Whistle Goes Viral

A data scientist and epidemiologist is just answering questions.

Marjorie Taylor Greene Is Thinking Much Bigger Than a Few Measly Committee Assignments

Echidnas Blow Snot Bubbles to Cool Down. Could We?

advice

We Have No Idea What to Do With the Absurd Amount of Money We Got at Our Wedding

Uh, My Son’s 7-Year-Old Friend Is Trying to Convert Him

The Way My Husband Is Coping With Our Month of No Sex Is Infuriating

It is so absurd that I'd be laughing if it wasn't so, so serious!

Help! I Took a DNA Test and Discovered My Grandma’s Secret.

Help! I Was My Wife’s First Sexual Partner. I Told Her I’ve Had Better.

Help! I Wrote to Prudie for Advice and Paul Feig Answered.

Help! My Father Pushed Me Into Sports to Cover Up an Affair With My Coach.

My Adult Daughter and Her Boyfriend Are Mooching off My Pension

The Eerie Climate Warnings Hidden in 1970s Biology Textbooks

Why Young Depressives Are Suddenly Obsessed With a Cheesy ’00s Singer

How the Lab-Leak Theory Went From Fringe to Mainstream—and Why It’s a Warning

Good Herb, in This Week’s Open Thread

A Standout Episode of The Last of Us Does Something the Games Couldn’t

In 1982, Playboy’s Advice Columnist Asked Me to Go to the Era’s Notorious Sex Clubs With Him. They Could Teach Us a Lesson Now.

In 1982, Playboy’s Advice Columnist Asked Me to Go to the Era’s Notorious Sex Clubs With Him. They Could Teach Us a Lesson Now.

A Standout Episode of The Last of Us Does Something the Games Couldn’t

Slate News Quiz

The Lab-Leak Theory Still Can’t Be Disproved. Should We Care?

Columbo and Chill

Why Young Depressives Are Suddenly Obsessed With a Cheesy ’00s Singer

A Standout Episode of The Last of Us Does Something the Games Couldn’t

Christine McVie Wrote Personal Songs for Fleetwood Mac.

Why Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” Is Her First No. 1 Song in a Decade

TikTok Isn’t For Creators Anymore

It’s Only January, but We Already Have One of the Best Movies of 2023

The “Menswear Guy” Who’s Gone Viral on Twitter Is Confused About the Whole Thing, Too

How the Lab-Leak Theory Went From Fringe to Mainstream—and Why It’s a Warning

Meta’s Laid-Back Approach to User Hacking

Echidnas Blow Snot Bubbles to Cool Down. Could We?

Advertisers Wanted to Spend Money at Twitter, but “Our Emails Have Been Falling Into the Abyss”

We Have No Idea What to Do With the Absurd Amount of Money We Got at Our Wedding

Inside the Human Urge to Tinker With Other Species

The Eerie Climate Warnings Hidden in 1970s Biology Textbooks

My Dad’s Death Improved My Sex Life

I Don’t Want My Teen’s First Heartbreak to Be His Villain Origin Story

In 1982, Playboy’s Advice Columnist Asked Me to Go to the Era’s Notorious Sex Clubs With Him. They Could Teach Us a Lesson Now.

Sarah Ruhl On Rewriting the Story Of Your Face

Help! I Took a DNA Test and Discovered My Grandma’s Secret.

The Way My Husband Is Coping With Our Month of No Sex Is Infuriating

Help! I Was My Wife’s First Sexual Partner. I Told Her I’ve Had Better.

The New Kavanaugh Documentary Changes Nothing

Think You’re Pretty Smart? Prove It With This Week’s Quiz.

What It Was Like to Be a Target of Political Violence in New Mexico

Marjorie Taylor Greene Is Thinking Much Bigger Than a Few Measly Committee Assignments

Investigating The Dobbs Leak Investigation

How Much Does Racial Diversity on a Police Force Actually Matter?

Officers From the SCORPION Unit Killed Tyre Nichols. What Is the SCORPION Unit?

Who Doesn’t Have Classified Documents?