Why Isn’t It a Bigger Deal That Trump Is Being Advised by Sadistic Pervert Roger Ailes?

Hacking Mr. Robot, Week 8

Slate and Future Tense are discussing Mr. Robot and the technological world it portrays throughout the show’s second season. You can follow this conversation on Future Tense, and Slate Plus members can also listen to Hacking Mr. Robot, a members-only podcast series featuring Lily Newman and Fred Kaplan.

How Trump Sucks Up to Minorities

Donald Trump says he loves minorities. “Nothing means more to me than working to make our party the home of the African-American vote,” he told a white crowd in Iowa over the weekend. As evidence, he cited “what’s been happening over the last two weeks and three weeks with me”—a series of speeches in which Trump, according to himself, has been reaching out to blacks and Hispanics.

The Other Side of Silence

Sometimes in film, there are moments when we don’t hear what the characters are saying. But that doesn’t mean the moment isn’t important: the silence is placed there on purpose as a cinematic device. The director doesn’t want the audience to know what’s said.

No Justice, No Peach

This week, Merrick Garland—who has been waiting for a hearing and a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee for a record-busting 169 days—briefly had his name in the news not for being an outstanding jurist, or the world’s most patient human, but because Slate wants to commemorate his ongoing plight by naming a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor in his honor.

The Angle: Wall-Building Edition

Donald Trump’s immigration speech, given on Wednesday night after his subdued visit to Mexico, was a return to form for the candidate, complete with yelling, gesticulation, and fearmongering. “Trump,” Isaac Chotiner writes, “proved once again that he is most comfortable when he gets to behave in the most blatantly authoritarian manner.”

How Trump Made a Fool out of Mexico

It was a theatrical work with two simultaneous performances. One was staged against the scenery of the American campaign for president; the other unfolded within the Mexican political arena. There were two actors: candidate Donald Trump and President Enrique Peña Nieto. Trump was trying to soften his image with undecided American voters and perhaps persuade some Latino Americans to support him, to see him as presidential and friendly toward Mexicans, all without alienating his committed followers and all while not yielding an inch on his wall and deportation agenda. Peña Nieto, more unpopular in his country than Trump is in his, was trying to “protect” Mexicans in Mexico itself and in the United States. There was only one winner, Donald Trump, and one loser, Peña Nieto. Or, more precisely, Peña Nieto and the people of Mexico.

How Knitting Saved Me from Digital Overload

I first learned to knit as a child, but about five years ago, I took up the hobby seriously. When I say seriously, I don’t mean that most of what I make is any good but that I spend serious amounts of time on it. When I returned to the hobby, I was looking for a distraction from work. What I found was the solution to my digital distraction problems.

The Light Between Oceans

Blue Valentine, writer-director Derek Cianfrance’s second feature film, struck me on its release in 2010 as one of the most exciting breakthroughs from a young American filmmaker in years. Cianfrance used an unusual method in preparing for the shoot: For a month before cameras rolled, the film’s co-stars, Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling, lived—along with the young actress who played their daughter—in the rural Pennsylvania house where most of the movie was filmed. They survived on an allowance of no more than what their characters, a nurse and a housepainter, would make in that time. After those weeks of cohabitation-as-rehearsal, the shoot itself was completed very quickly, with lots of room for improvisation on set and many shots captured in a single, hand-held take. The result was a raw, rough, and intimate love story of the kind that’s too seldom seen on screen—a portrait of a crumbling marriage in which neither spouse is the villain, and whose dissolution is framed neither as a tragedy nor a triumph but simply as one of those awful but necessary things that sometimes happens.

The Most Impressive State for Clean Energy

In the highly public race among states trying to get the most electricity from clean and renewable sources, it’s not surprising who’s making the most noise. Hawaii—environmentally sensitive islands without access to fossil fuels—has been the most aggressive, passing a law last year that will require its utilities to get 100 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2045. Liberal coastal bastions led by charismatic governors aren’t far behind. In 2015 California passed a law requiring 50 percent renewables by 2030. And New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo has pushed hard for green initiatives, said last month that it would aim to get to 50 percent by 2030.

What Does It Mean to Have Your Mind Blown?

For Wednesday’s edition of the Culture Gabfest Slate Plus bonus segment, hosts Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner answer a listener question on the first and best movies that have blown their minds.

Donald Trump Left His Bluster on This Side of the Border

Donald Trump’s brand is bluster. It’s aggression. It’s an outsized show of dominance. And his pitch to voters depends on that brand. Vote for me, he argues, and I’ll bring my skills to the table for you. I’ll take the rigged game of corrupt elites and make it work for you. I’ll get deals, for you.

Is Hillary Clinton More Liberal Than Barack Obama?

Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize–winning economist, has served as the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Clinton and as the World Bank’s chief economist. In 2010, he acted as an adviser to the Greek government and became one of the most prominent critics of the European austerity policies instituted after the financial crash. Out of that experience comes his new book, The Euro: How a Common Currency Threatens the Future of Europe. His solution for the European crisis is what he calls a “flexible euro,” which would “create a system in which different countries (or groups of countries) could each have their own euro.” This would allow, he hopes, for countries with different types of economies to be grouped together within Europe, thus making future problems less likely.

What Should We Read Next?

This article is part of a Year of Great Books, a Slate Academy. To learn more, visit Slate.com/GreatBooks.

Is the Defeat of America’s “Cruelest Prosecutor” in Florida Really a Victory for Criminal Justice Reform?

The defeat of an infamously bloodthirsty prosecutor in Florida in an election Tuesday has been hailed as a victory for criminal justice reform, with academics, defense attorneys, andeven the entertainer John Legend testifying to its significance in the fight for a more humane legal system. Indeed, voters in the state’s 4^th Judicial Circuit, which includes Jacksonville, were unequivocal in their rejection of State Attorney Angela Corey, who was blown out of the Republican primary race by her challenger, Melissa Nelson, by a whopping 38 percentage points.

North of Everywhere

In this video by Greg Dennis, we visit a place on Earth about as far removed from 9-to-5 jobs and the hustle and bustle of big cities as one can get. Tromsø—located in northern Norway, above the Arctic Circle— is a location that’s cold, dramatic, and nearly primal in its pristine beauty. This is especially the case during winter—the time of year the nativeSami people describe as the “blue time.”

Paranoids in the Age of Digital Surveillance

Do you ever get paranoid about a creep hacking your computer webcam? Or being monitored by some government agency, foreign or domestic? Having someone take a surreptitious photo of you in the locker room? Face it, there are a host of things that many of us are paranoid about these days.

The Blurred Blue Line

The debate over law enforcement that’s been raging in America for the past two years has naturally focused on the decisions police officers make when they’re working—not what they do after they punch out for the day. But a new paper by law professor Seth Stoughton, posted online this week in draft form, makes the argument that we’ve been ignoring an important aspect of policing—namely, the massive amount of moonlighting that cops do for private companies when they’re off duty.

Donald Trump Is the Spokesman for Restricting Immigration

Since the start of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign a little more than a year ago, I’ve argued to anyone who’ll listen that his noxious anti-immigration rhetoric would ultimately hurt the cause of immigration restriction. Now that Trump has delivered his long-awaited address clarifying his stance on immigration, I’m even more convinced that his candidacy will be the downfall of the cause he claims to champion.

One of the Most Important Crosswords in New York Times History

Crossword puzzles are fleeting things. Sure, some get anthologized in books, but most are solved or abandoned in frustration, then piled up with the rest of the morning’s paper, tossed into the recycling bin, and forgotten.

Workplace Wellness Programs Are a Sham

One wintry Thursday morning, I drank my coffee black. I prefer my morning joe with a lot of milk in it, but I didn’t want to mess with my glucose reading. Arriving at work, I headed to a conference room where I met a nurse from my company’s wellness vendor. She weighed me, took my height and blood pressure, and calculated my body-mass index. She pricked one of my fingers and inserted my blood sample into a small machine that measured my blood sugar, LDL cholesterol (the bad one), and HDL cholesterol (the good one). She wrote down each, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I had passed. I wouldn’t have to take a multi-week online health-improvement course to avoid paying an extra $600 on my health insurance next year.

Surprise Ending

As a member of Slate Plus, you’re reading this Slate story before anyone else can! This story is exclusive to Slate Plus members until Thursday morning.

This Is the World’s Largest Rodent

When you hear the phrase “world’s largest rodent,” you might picture something gross. But the capybara, the animal that holds this title, is actually pretty cute. Capybaras resemble guinea pigs in their shape and coat of short hair. The size of a small (or in some cases, large) dog, they can can weigh up to 175 pounds.

The Angle: In-Flight Danger Edition

Nora Caplan-Bricker investigates airlines’ readiness to deal with incidents of sexual assault on airplanes—which are more common, and more terrifying, than you might think—and finds protocols sorely lacking. (Warning: A reading of this article paired with David Wallace-Wells’ eyewitness account of the recent panic in JFK Airport may leave you wanting to abandon air travel forever.)

Mamaleh’s Redemption

The Jewish mother—that nervous, guilt-inducing, overbearing creature exaggerated and popularized by Philip Roth and Woody Allen—no longer poses a threat to Jewish women. Time, along with feminism and assimilation, has defanged the stereotype, morphing her from tragicomic to anachronistic. Women continue to identify as Jews and continue to have children, but no longer do many of us consider ourselves Jewish mothers. We’re just mothers who are Jewish.

The Biggest Political Lie of 2016

We are in very dangerous times, of mobs and meaninglessness. People aren’t swayed by facts anymore; they’re indifferent to reality and openly scornful of experts. All they want is to feel good, even if it’s only for an instant, even if it’s at the cost of an entire future. Vast crowds of the pleasure-hungry are being pulled along into increasingly destructive politics by cheap sound bites and tawdry emotion. We’re teetering over the edge, and people hardly even notice—it’s all become theater; society rips itself apart in real time before our eyes, but we approach it like an entertainment product. The question is no longer one of which politician actually has the best judgment and the best plans for the future, but which character is the most relatable, which post we want to hitch our self-identity against. This is madness, but it’s also what’s come to rule our world. You’ve probably heard the name for all this. We are in post-truth politics.

Genetically Modified Bugs Are Great, but GMO Food Still Scares Us. Here’s Why.

This story has been republished with permission as part of our collaboration with Climate Desk.

Meet Hudson the Muskox

You’ve probably heard of a muskox, but do you really know what it is? A muskox is a shaggy mammal that is part of the Bovidae family—along with domestic cattle, buffalo, and bison. Here’s where the “musk” part comes in: The male muskox emits a musky odor used to attract females during mating season.

Grad Students Need Unions

This article originally appeared in Inside Higher Ed.

The Culture Gabfest “Smart Brick” Edition

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 415 with Julia Turner, Stephen Metcalf, and Dana Stevens with the audio player below.

“They Said We Would Pay With Our Lives”

This story was produced through a partnership between Slate and the Global Migration Project at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

The Politics of Fake Documentaries

This piece originally appeared on Zócalo Public Square.

Trump-Clinton Won’t Be a Landslide. The Economy Says So.

While Hillary Clinton is the consensus of most Democrats, from activists on up to the establishment, Donald Trump is the Republican candidate whom many Republicans want to avoid. His feuding with the Bush family and the pointed nonendorsements from Ted Cruz and Mitt Romney brought about a contentious convention that sent Trump into a general election campaign without the full support of his party.

Flight Risk

Dana T. had never felt more excited about her life. In April, she’d landed what she calls her “dream job,” working in sales at a global travel company. Like every other employee, she would need to attend training at the company’s headquarters in Cologne, Germany. So on May 7 she arrived at the Newark, New Jersey, airport for her first-ever international flight. “I felt like the luckiest person in the world,” she told me.

Dear Prudence: The “Time Is Not an Apology” Edition

Prudie and her guest, Lisa McIntire, talk about when you should rock the boat, why people feel entitled to be rude to their friends, and how time passing does not equal an apology. Mallory offers more thoughts on human resources departments and the hellscape that is capitalism, with apologies to the robber barons among her listeners.

This Cheetah and Hog Are Amazing at Soccer

Nia the cheetah and Sir Francis Bacon, the red river hog, love to play soccer. Seriously. In this video from The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, we see them get in some play time with their trainers. Each has different skills: Nia is a fast runner, and Sir Francis is great at scoring goals. They’d make excellent teammates.

Everything You Need to Know About Tuesday’s Down-Ballot Primaries

Finally, some action. After a summer of mostly uneventful primaries, several of the country’s most-watched intraparty races conclude Tuesday with down-ballot primaries in Arizona and Florida. On the ballots: Sens. John McCain and Marco Rubio, former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida Senate candidate Rep. Patrick Murphy, former Republican Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and all of our other friends! Each of the aforementioned names is expected to prevail against his or her challengers (or, in Crist’s case, against no one) (though if anyone’s going to somehow lose a race with no challenger, it’s Charlie Crist). Primary polling has been sparse, though, so one must never rule out an Eric Cantor–like shockwave to the political system that terrifies all incumbents across the country for years to come. Here are the returns to watch tonight, at least during commercial breaks of Bachelor in Paradise.

When Malcolm X Met Fidel Castro

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who has recently decided not to stand during the national anthem, wore a Malcolm X hat and a T-shirt featuring images of the leader meeting with Fidel Castro at a press conference where he explained his protest. The T-shirt has, perhaps predictably, drawn criticism from conservative quarters; the Weekly Standard called Kaepernick’s wardrobe choice a “startling display of ignorance,” pointing to what writer Mark Hemingway called Cuba’s human rights abuses and “legacy of racism.” Setting aside an assessment of Castro’s later record on race, and whether it strengthens or undermines Kaepernick’s stance, what’s the story behind those photos, taken a year after the Cuban leader came to power, and five years before Malcolm’s death? Why did the two men meet, and what did they discuss?

The Angle: Same Old Condescension Edition

Jim Newell guides us through Tuesday night’s down-ballot primaries in Arizona and Florida, featuring people like John McCain, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Office-holders are largely expected to keep their seats, but, Newell writes, “primary polling has been sparse, so one must never rule out an Eric Cantor–like shockwave to the political system that terrifies all incumbents across the country for years to come.”

De La Soul Is Alive

De La Soul’s Kelvin Mercer, better known as Posdnuos, is only a year older than Jay Z. I always find this fact surprising, as De La Soul and Jay Z seem to represent different epochs of hip-hop—De La’s fourth album, the scathing genre critique Stakes Is High, was released a week after Reasonable Doubt, Jay’s 1996 debut—and certainly vastly different approaches to the music as both art and commerce. Jay Z has spent the past decade or so pioneering what a hip-hop star can do once rounding into middle age. Twenty years after his debut—a landmark of the very Mafioso rap genre that Stakes Is High was railing against—he remains one of the biggest names in music, a man who can still pack arenas, play the hits, and get paid handsomely. Like Jay, the three members of De La Soul—Pos, Dave, and Maseo—are closer to 50 than 40 and in 2016 are still doggedly setting their own terms of how to get older in a genre that stays young and doing it in the way they’ve always done it: by being smarter, quirkier, and more fiercely independent than just about anyone else.

Should Olympians Be Held to a Higher Standard?