Slate Culture

How one of the largest video game companies was bought for $55 billion by a group that includes Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and Jared Kushner. Guest: Jason Schreier [https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/AUvqMRVAZCw/jason-schreier], Bloomberg reporter Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus [http://slate.com/whatnextplus] to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

On today’s episode, hosts Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay are joined by Slate senior editor Tony Ho Tran [https://slate.com/author/tony-ho-tran] to talk about why it matters that EA Games has been sold to Saudi Arabia and Jared Kushner. In addition to likely cost-cutting, this new ownership puts games like The Sims even more at risk of censorship, especially when it comes to LGBTQ+ characters [https://slate.com/technology/2025/10/the-sims-electronic-arts-games-jared-kushner-saudi-arabia.html]. If your Sim groom can’t end up making out with his new father-in-law at the end of his wedding, then what is The Sims even for? Get more of ICYMI with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of ICYMI and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the ICYMI show page on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/icymi/id1554115325] or Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/6bo1EK9sElQV8DqzO0HLac]. Or, visit slate.com/icymiplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=ICYMI&utm_source=show_notes] for access wherever you listen. This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

TikTok exploded to popularity not by giving users what they asked for—but by figuring out what users really were interested in, and serving that.  What happens to this algorithm if Bytedance cedes control of it to the U.S.?  Guest: Emily Baker White, senior writer at Forbes and the author of Every Screen on the Planet: The War Over TikTok [http://www.amazon.com/dp/1324086661/?tag=slatmaga-20] Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus [http://slate.com/whatnextplus] to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

On this episode: On this episode: Lucy Lopez [https://www.thelucylopez.com/], Elizabeth Newcamp [https://www.dutchdutchgoose.com/], and Zak Rosen [https://zakrosen.com/] get real about onesies. A Slate mom wants to know if she can buy her son onesies about her. He has a lot that celebrates his dad, like “daddy’s little xyz” but none about his mom! They dish on favorite onesies, whether these outfits are actually terrible, and more. But first, they share their latest triumphs and fails: what happens when a sitter soft cancels, how to deal with a missing lovie, and an incredible reunion between Zak and Elizabeth.  Mentioned in the Show: Martha of Miami [https://marthaofmiami.com/?srsltid=AfmBOooXE0Md83w4gnLeij3extrqrUeKITujdhQEG85w4w1-5sM4aFuw] Jia Collection [https://jiacollection.com/] Elephant & Co. [https://www.elephantand.com/] If you’re not part of the Slate Plus community, we hope you’ll consider joining! Keep reading to learn how. Join us on Facebook and email us at careandfeedingpod@slate.com to ask us new questions, tell us what you thought of today’s show, and give us ideas about what we should talk about in future episodes. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get to hang out with us on the Plus Playground every week for a whole additional grab-bag of content — and you’ll get an ad-free experience across the network. And you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus [https://slate.com/careplus] – or try it out on Apple Podcasts. Listen to Opportunity Gap wherever you get your podcasts: ⁠⁠https://lnk.to/opportunitygapPS!careandfeeding⁠ [https://lnk.to/opportunitygapPS!careandfeeding] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay pour one out for MTV’s Catfish, which was recently cancelled [https://slate.com/culture/2025/09/catfish-mtv-tv-show-canceled-documentary-nev-schulman.html] by MTV after 9 seasons and 12 years. Back in 2010, Nev Schulman was the subject of the Catfish documentary, which revealed the heartbreaking truth about a woman he fell in love with online. The documentary helped coin [https://slate.com/culture/2013/01/catfish-meaning-and-definition-term-for-online-hoaxes-has-a-surprisingly-long-history.html?pay=1759258161841&support_journalism=please] the internet phenomenon of people creating fake personas to manipulate, extort, or trick others online. However, instead of scamming for money, the protagonists of MTV’s Catfish were coerced into emotional relationships that turned their rom-coms into horror films. With Catfish leaving the airwaves, what has changed about the show (and the internet) since its inception? And why couldn’t the show keep up with a scam culture that is more advanced than ever before? Get more of ICYMI with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of ICYMI and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the ICYMI show page on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/icymi/id1554115325] or Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/6bo1EK9sElQV8DqzO0HLac]. Or, visit slate.com/icymiplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=ICYMI&utm_source=show_notes] for access wherever you listen. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]