Blockers: Rebels in the Deep State | A Preview of Michael Lewis's New Audiobook

Here's a preview of a new audiobook we think you'll enjoy, Blockers: an inside look at the early days of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, as told by the public servants it targeted and Michael Lewis, one of America’s best storytellers. Blockers. It wasn’t a compliment. In the new Washi…

The Staten Island Problem - Part 5: Revenge of the Forgotten Borough

Election night 1993 meets election night 2016. The fate of the island and the country converge in the figure of one man: Rudy Giuliani.

The Staten Island Problem - Part 4: Wu-Tang vs. Shaolin

At the height of the secession movement, the Wu-Tang Clan forms on Staten Island. We take a tour of early 1990s hip-hop and reveal the hidden history of the group.

The Staten Island Problem - Part 3: The Tuvalu Effect

A group on Staten Island tries to stop secession, squaring off against the secessionists in a heated set of debates and meetings recorded on never-before-seen archival tapes. A set of debates best understood via a detour into the history of a remote Polynesian island.

The Staten Island Problem - Part 2: A New Map

After the Supreme Court takes a close look at New York City government, Staten Island comes out the loser. A local artist begins organizing for secession. We take a deep dive into the psychology of the island, which has a lot to do with the largest garbage dump in the world.

The Staten Island Problem | New Series from Ben

Ben Naddaff-Hafrey has a new show out! On the 250th anniversary of the United States, he investigates the story of what was, at the time, the biggest secession movement in the U.S. since the Civil War. From Revisionist History, The Staten Island Problem reconstructs the battle for New York City ami…

The Terminator from X Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story

Elon Musk has claimed that AI is humanity’s “biggest existential threat.” Paradoxically, Musk is also working to create artificial intelligence. Why? Jill Lepore tours through a century of imagined robot rebellions, and argues that these stories are never only about robots. So what’s Elon Musk real…

Body Snatchers from X Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story

In 2022, Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion, and renamed it X. When asked why he wanted to own the social media network, Musk talked a lot about something he called the “woke mind virus.” Where does the idea of a mind virus come from? Jill Lepore looks to Cold War science fiction and the rece…

Baby X from X Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story

The science fiction that Silicon Valley techno-billionaires like Elon Musk adore concerns gleaming futures in which fantastically powerful, immensely rich men colonize other planets. In this episode, Jill Lepore looks at some of the science fiction that’s usually left out of this vision — science f…

The Dogefather from X Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story

In 2021, Elon Musk started calling himself The Dogefather to signal his support for Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency based on a joke meme about a dog. That dog is now wagging the tail of the world’s economy. In this episode, Jill Lepore looks at Silicon Valley's cryptocurrency craze through the lens of s…