Slate Money

This week: Trump isn’t happy with Fed chair Jay Powell’s take on his tariffs. Felix Salmon [https://www.axios.com/authors/fsalmon], Elizabeth Spiers [https://www.elizabethspiers.com/] and guest host Cardiff Garcia [https://eig.org/about-us/executive-team-staff/cardiff-garcia/] discuss the economic reasoning for why Powell is resisting the president’s demands to lower rates and what would happen if Trump finds a legal way to fire him. Then, the Trump administration is both gutting the IRS and potentially weaponizing it against Harvard. The hosts discuss the consequences of politicizing the agency. Finally, Trump’s trade war keeps escalating as China refuses to back down. Is there any chance for a good outcome? In the Slate Plus episode: Elon Musk’s Baby Brood Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/slate-money/id876523888] and Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/2AgxNbNcUOckZSww9mk8mX]. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Money&utm_source=episode_summary] to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

In this Money Talks: The federal student loan program was meant to help students seeking a route to a better life – so why is it putting so many of them into crippling debt instead? Journalist Jillian Berman [https://jillianberman.com/], author of Sunk Cost: Who’s to Blame for the Nation’s Broken Student Loan System and How to Fix [https://www.amazon.com/Sunk-Cost-Nations-Broken-Student/dp/0226821153], joins Emily Peck to unpack the fraught history of the national student debt system and discuss where it stands now.  Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/slate-money/id876523888] and Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/2AgxNbNcUOckZSww9mk8mX]. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Money&utm_source=episode_summary] to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

This week: Trump’s erratic tariff policies are creating a lot of volatility in the markets. Felix Salmon [https://www.axios.com/authors/fsalmon], Emily Peck [https://www.axios.com/authors/epeck], and Elizabeth Spiers [https://www.elizabethspiers.com/] are joined by investments expert Barry Ritholtz [https://ritholtz.com/] to unpack the week’s wild tariff news and this uniquely unpredictable situation where one person’s decisions are having a huge effect on the markets. Then, Barry helps the hosts understand investing in this environment with lessons from his new book ‘How Not To Invest [https://www.hownottoinvestbook.com/]’. In the Slate Plus episode: The trouble with leaf blowers.  Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/slate-money/id876523888] and Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/2AgxNbNcUOckZSww9mk8mX]. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Money&utm_source=episode_summary] to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

This week: Trump unveiled his extensive list of tariffs. Felix Salmon [https://www.axios.com/authors/fsalmon], Emily Peck [https://www.axios.com/authors/epeck], and Elizabeth Spiers [https://www.elizabethspiers.com/] discuss the questionable math that went into calculating these hefty tariffs and the stock market’s extremely negative reaction to the announcement. Then, Trump has picked a fight with the country's biggest law firms, threatening the integrity of the US legal system. Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern [https://slate.com/author/mark-joseph-stern] joins to break down the situation. And finally, the US dollar is down after Trump’s tariff announcement which was a big surprise. (Listen to our episode with Paul Krugman [https://slate.com/podcasts/slate-money/2024/12/economy-why-donald-trumps-tariff-plan-is-really-just-a-tax-on-americans] to understand why.) The hosts examine the factors that led to its weakening.  In the Slate Plus episode: Broadway plays [https://www.axios.com/2025/03/26/broadway-plays-records-george-clooney-denzel-washington] have gone Hollywood.  Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/slate-money/id876523888Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/slate-money/id876523888] and https://open.spotify.com/show/2AgxNbNcUOckZSww9mk8mXSpotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/2AgxNbNcUOckZSww9mk8mX]. Or, visit https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Money&utm_source=episode_summaryslate.com/moneyplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Money&utm_source=episode_summary] to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

In this Money Talks: Amidst the Trump administration’s continued attacks on the press, David Enrich [https://www.nytimes.com/by/david-enrich]’s new book, Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful [https://www.harpercollins.com/products/murder-the-truth-david-enrich?variant=42734343421986], feels incredibly timely. He joins Elizabeth Spiers [https://www.elizabethspiers.com/] to discuss his reporting on increasing efforts to exploit the legal system to protect the rich and powerful from being held accountable, creating an incredibly fraught landscape for journalists and news outlets. Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/slate-money/id876523888] and Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/2AgxNbNcUOckZSww9mk8mX]. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Money&utm_source=episode_summary] to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]