Best Andrew Laff Podcasts (2026)

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A New Year’s Message from Willa 2:08

Play Pause

1d ago2:08

2:08

We can’t make this show without you, our listeners. Today, you can help support Decoder Ring – and get a really good deal. To join Slate Plus for just $59/year, visit slate.com/decoderplus on December 31st and type in the promo code DECODER50 at checkout. Slate Plus members get to listen to episodes of Decoder Ring (and all your favorite Slate podc…

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MAGA Minaj 1:06:58

5h ago1:06:58

1:06:58

#EpsteinClientList #CasualPolitics #NickiMinaj #JDVance #PoliticalCommentary The Epstein files are finally out, but why does it feel like a distraction? We’re breaking down the bad redactions, the "fake" letters, and why Nicki Minaj suddenly loves JD Vance. Detailed Summary: In Episode 12 of the Casual Politics Podcast, we cut through the noise sur…

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Mailbag: Yo-Yos, Sandboxes, and Encores 1:06:41

15d ago1:06:41

1:06:41

Decoder Ring listeners write in with some excellent mysteries, and for our last episode of the year we’re solving three of them. Why do children play in boxes full of sand? Why do rock bands pretend like the show is over when everybody knows they’re coming back for an encore? And what was up with those school assemblies where you’d get to skip clas…

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Erica Kirk Speaks Out, Trump Derangement Syndrome, Trump’s Response to Rob Reiner's Death & More 2:22:49

9d ago2:22:49

2:22:49

#CasualPolitics #Trump #MediHasan #PoliticalCommentary #ericakirk Trump calls Rob Reiner "tortured" after his tragic death, and we’re breaking down the rise of alleged left-wing terror plots. Is the "Turtle Island" group a real threat or an FBI psyop? Welcome to Casual Politics Episode 10. In this episode, we pull no punches discussing the tragic m…

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Episode 9 | Casual Politics Podcast | Nick Fuentes vs. Piers Morgan: It Got Weird 1:59:19

16d ago1:59:19

1:59:19

#Politics #NickFuentes #Trump #SCOTUS #Reaction Video Marjorie Taylor Greene goes rogue on 60 Minutes, and we react to the most unhinged Nick Fuentes interview yet. Plus, is the 14th Amendment actually on the chopping block? In Casual Politics Episode 9, we’re breaking down a chaotic week in news. We start by analyzing the fallout from the MTG 60 M…

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“Videomate: Men” (Encore) 39:03

29d ago39:03

39:03

Videomate: Men was a VHS tape released in 1987 featuring 60 single men pitching themselves as dates to women on the other side of the TV screen: “The love of your life could be on your TV tonight!” the box reads. In retrospect, Videomate: Men is a bizarre and hilarious time capsule, but at the time it was one of many manifestations of what was know…

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Episode 8 | Casual Politics Podcast | Trump Met a "Jihadist" in the White House? 2:24:24

1M ago2:24:24

2:24:24

#CasualPolitics #Trump2024 #RFKJr #PoliticalCommentary #IsraelPalestine In this episode of Casual Politics, we cut through the noise of the current election cycle. We start by dissecting the failure of the "Trump Mobile" and the MAGA movement's obsession with loyalty over logic. We dive deep into the Ukraine peace plan proposed by Kushner and why l…

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How Protein Muscled Its Way to the Top 44:50

1M ago44:50

44:50

Americans are currently besotted with protein. It’s touted as being good for muscle growth, weight loss, skincare, mental acuity, longevity, and much else besides. It’s sold to men, women, children, the elderly— you can even buy protein for your pets. The protein supplement market alone is worth $21 billion and growing—and extra protein is being ad…

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Episode 007 | Casual Politics Podcast | The MAGA Civil War, Epstein Files & The Death of Hip-Hop? 1:58:01

1M ago1:58:01

1:58:01

In Episode 7 of the Casual Politics Podcast, we are diving into the deep end. We start off with the massive energy demands of AI data centers and whether our power grid can actually handle the future. Then, we get into the heavy hitters: The "MAGA Civil War," the rebranding of Marjorie Taylor Greene, and a raw, unfiltered discussion on why the Epst…

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Episode 006 | Casual Politics Podcast | "We're Cooked": The American Government Is Officially Broken 1:44:15

1M ago1:44:15

1:44:15

Drew and Hugh are back for Casual Politics (Episode 6), and the gloves are off. The Democrats officially folded on the government shutdown, getting nothing in return and proving the party is fractured. Meanwhile, the Trump administration's "revenge tour" is in full swing, with pardons for Giuliani and the "Kraken" lady, and a weaponized DOJ. Is the…

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The Slate Culture Gift Guide 49:44

2M ago49:44

49:44

Hark, the holiday season is upon us—and with it the most solemn of festive traditions: a gift guide! In this video and podcast special, Slate hosts Dana Stevens, Chris Molanphy, and Willa Paskin beam-in from their collective hearths to deliver unto the internet their favorite gifts for culture lovers this holiday. In addition to sharing gifts, they…

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Cozy Autumn Mysteries 55:01

2M ago55:01

55:01

Autumn may have more cozy signifiers than any other season—though we all have our own favorites. Maybe for you it’s sweater weather, football games, spooky season, apple picking, leaf peeping, or mainlining candy corn. Whatever it is, in today’s episode we’re looking closely at three of these autumnal staples. First, we get to the bottom of a recur…

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Episode 5 | Casual Politics Podcast | "My Safe Space" Website, Shutdown Explained & Blackface Again 2:42:53

2M ago2:42:53

2:42:53

#CasualPolitics The government is shut down, the White House is posting bizarre MySpace parodies, and Halloween blackface is all over the timeline. Drew and Hugh are back to break down the REAL reason behind the government shutdown (hint: it's all about the ACA subsidies, not what they're telling you). Later, they dive into the offensive White Hous…

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Episode 4 | Casual Politics Podcast | Trump's 3rd Term, "Rich White Neighborhoods" & $7.25 Min Wage 1:51:50

2M ago1:51:50

1:51:50

Trump's "Third Term" Exposed? Government Shutdown & The Truth About Welfare Stats | Casual Politics Ep 4 Is a third term for Donald Trump actually on the table? In Episode 4 of Casual Politics, we're not holding back. We dive into the government shutdown and the reality of air traffic controllers and other federal workers being forced to work witho…

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The Red String Board Conspiracy 51:21

2M ago51:21

51:21

There’s a ubiquitous prop in just about every police procedural and conspiracy thriller: a cork board pinned with documents, newspaper clippings, and Polaroid photos, all connected by a web of red string. They go by many names, including pin boards, string boards, evidence boards, investigation walls, conspiracy walls, and walls of crazy. These boa…

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Episode 003 | Casual Politics Podcast | A Grand Ballroom To Replace A Symbol Of Democracy 2:54:15

2M ago2:54:15

2:54:15

Drew and Hugh are back for Casual Politics Ep. 3, and they're diving into one of the most controversial topics today: Black Conservatives. The conversation kicks off with a viral video of a black conservative cop breaking down in tears over Charlie Kirk's death... after previously saying he'd "stay strong" and not cry if his own child died. This le…

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Episode 002 | Casual Politics Podcast |Trump's Peace Deal EXPOSED & Marjorie Taylor Greene Flips 1:45:17

2M ago1:45:17

1:45:17

#casualpolitics Is Katie Porter's political career over after her disastrous interview? In episode two of the Casual Politics Podcast, we break down her on-air meltdown and the shocking reason she's being attacked harder than Trump ever was. This week, we're diving deep into the biggest stories the mainstream media is afraid to touch. Trump brokers…

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Episode 001 | Casual Politics Podcast | The Divide: Why Liberals & Conservatives Can't Talk Anymore 2:17:27

3M ago2:17:27

2:17:27

#CasualPolitics Welcome to the very first episode of Casual Politics with Hugh & Drew! In a world of screaming pundits and political echo chambers, we're cutting through the noise. Join us for a raw, unfiltered conversation where we tackle the most divisive issues of our time without the usual talking points. In this episode, we break down everythi…

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What the Cuck?! 56:13

3M ago56:13

56:13

Earlier this year, a tweet went out from the official account of the Democratic Party, tagging the Trump advisor Stephen Miller. It was an image of what appeared to be a simple hotel room chair. But for those in the know, it was much more than that: It was a “cuck chair,” an online meme straight out of a popular genre of hardcore pornography in whi…

1
Why Do Actors Act Like They Can Sing? 1:01:32

3M ago1:01:32

1:01:32

When an actor opens their mouth to sing in a movie, chances are high that the voice you hear will be their own. Even in music biopics, movie stars without much singing experience regularly go to great lengths to impersonate the most beloved vocalists of our time. Why not simply play Johnny Cash or Bruce Springsteen’s actual recordings, the reasons …

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Jane Fonda’s Workout, Part 2: Hanoi Jane’s VHS Revolution (Encore) 52:59

4M ago52:59

52:59

In part two of our special two-part episode, we return to the 1982 VHS tape that created the at-home video industry: Jane Fonda’s Workout. On this episode, originally released in 2020, we deconstruct the tape itself, how it was made, and why anyone thought it was a good idea in the first place. Then we’ll explore how it was possible for an extremel…

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Jane Fonda’s Workout, Part 1: Jane and Leni (Encore) 58:31

4M ago58:31

58:31

In 1982, the Jane Fonda Workout became the best-selling home video of all time. Over decades, it and its 22 follow ups would spawn a fitness empire, sell more than 17 million copies, and transform Fonda into a leg-warmer-clad exercise guru. And 40 years after its initial release, when the COVID pandemic hit, the workout had a moment yet again. Peop…

1
How to Hunt a Mammoth, and Other Experiments in Archaeology 57:03

5M ago57:03

57:03

Experimental archeology is, simply put, archeology that involves running experiments. Where traditional archaeologists may study, research, analyze, and theorize about how artifacts were made or used, experimental archaeologists actually try to recreate, test, and use them to see what they can learn. In doing so, they have given the field a whole n…

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The Bad-Mouthing of British Teeth 51:01

5M ago51:01

51:01

From The Simpsons’ Big Book of British Smiles to Austin Powers’ ochre-tinged grin, American culture can’t stop bad-mouthing English teeth. But why? Are they worse than any other nation’s? June Thomas drills down into the origins of the stereotype, and discovers that the different approaches to dentistry on each side of the Atlantic have a lot to sa…

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Mailbag: Drug Names, Cow Abductions, and the “Ass-Intensifier” 48:01

6M ago48:01

48:01

In this episode we’re opening our mailbag to answer three fascinating questions from our listeners. How did “ass,” a word for donkeys and butts, become what linguists call an “intensifier” for just about everything? How do pharmaceuticals get their wacky names? And why do we all seem to think that aliens from outer space would travel to Earth just …

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Introducing The Sporkful | Is Your Recipe Lying To You? 29:04

6M ago29:04

29:04

If you look at any list of best-selling cookbooks, certain words come up over and over again: quick, easy, fast, effortless. But is it actually possible to deliver deliciousness in no time? Or are these recipes too good to be true? This week, The Sporkful talks with intrepid journalist Tom Scocca, who exposed the dirty secret about caramelized onio…

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The White Noise Boom 52:58

6M ago52:58

52:58

White noise has a very precise technical definition, but people use the term loosely, to describe all sorts of washes of sound—synthetic hums, or natural sounds like a rainstorm or crashing waves—that can be used to mask other sounds. Twenty years ago, if you’d told someone white noise was a regular part of your life, they would have found that unu…

1
The Boston Cinematic Universe 47:37

7M ago47:37

47:37

This episode is a first for Decoder Ring: a live show, recorded at the WBUR Festival in Boston, Massachusetts. Given the setting, we decided to take on a Boston-based cultural mystery: namely, the “Boston movie.” Beginning in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Hollywood has churned out a whole cycle of films drenched in Beantown’s particularities, cri…

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The Laff Box (Encore) 36:17

7M ago36:17

36:17

Decoder Ring is marking its 100th episode this year. To celebrate, we’re revisiting our very first episode from 2018, which asks: What happened to the laugh track? For nearly five decades, the laugh track was ubiquitous, but beginning in the early 2000s, it fell out of sitcom fashion. What happened? How did we get from The Beverly Hillbillies to 30…

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The Glaring Problem with Headlights 43:17

8M ago43:17

43:17

Something seems to have happened to car headlights. In the last few years, many people have become convinced that they are much brighter than they used to be—and it’s driving them to the point of rage. Headlight glare is now Americans’ number one complaint on the road. The story of how and why we got here is illuminating and confounding. It’s what …

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Off-the-Wall Stories of Off-Label Use 52:01

8M ago52:01

52:01

Products often tell you exactly how they’re intended to be used. But why leave it at that? As a culture, we have long had a knack for finding ingenious, off-label uses for things. In this episode, we take a close look at a few examples of products that are ostensibly meant for one thing, but are better known for something else entirely. We explore …

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How “Chicken Soup” Sold Its Soul 48:49

8M ago48:49

48:49

Chicken Soup for the Soul was the brainchild of two motivational speakers who preach the New Thought belief system known as the Law of Attraction. For more than 30 years, the self-help series has compiled reader-submitted stories about kindness, courage, and perseverance into easily digestible books aimed at almost every conceivable demographic: Ch…

1
Spring Break Forever 48:08

9M ago48:08

48:08

The infamous annual ritual of spring break—where thousands of college students head to the same warm location and go crazy—can seem like it’s always been here. But it hasn’t. The spring break phenomenon is a holdover from midcentury teen culture that has endured by changing, just enough, to be passed from one generation to the next. In this episode…

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How Books About Things That Changed the World… Changed the World 56:24

9M ago56:24

56:24

Look in the nonfiction section of any bookstore and you’ll find dozens of history books making the same bold claim: that their narrow, unexpected subject somehow changed the world. Potatoes, kudzu, soccer, coffee, Iceland, bees, oak trees, sand, chickens—there are books about all of them, and many more besides, with the phrase “changed the world” o…

1
Truck Nutz (Encore) 39:29

10M ago39:29

39:29

Truck Nutz is a brand name for the dangling plastic testicles some people affix to the bumpers or hitches of their vehicles. Also sold as Bulls Balls, Your Nutz, and other brand names, these plastic novelties have a powerful symbolic charge and are often associated with a crass, macho, red state audience. But truck nuts are a surprisingly complicat…

1
Jerry Lewis’ Lost Holocaust Clown Movie 56:52

10M ago56:52

56:52

In 1972, Jerry Lewis—the actor and filmmaker known for slapstick comedies like The Nutty Professor—took the biggest risk of his career when he decided to make a drama called The Day The Clown Cried, about a circus clown who ends up in Auschwitz. This could have been a landmark as one of the first portrayals of the Holocaust in American cinema. Inst…

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The Scratch-Off Ticket’s Instant Win 37:18

11M ago37:18

37:18

You may never have thought very hard about scratch-off tickets, but that’s part of their power. They’re a form of gambling that’s simply a pedestrian part of American life. But not so long ago, they were risky and innovative, the killer app of their time and the must-play game of the state lottery. In this episode, Ian Coss, host of the new podcast…

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Jump, Jive and Fail: The ’90s Swing Craze 1:04:01

11M ago1:04:01

1:04:01

When we got multiple listener emails asking about the swing revival of the late 1990s, host Willa Paskin’s first, knee jerk reaction was just: no. She lived through it, and remembers it as being so incredibly corny and uncool. Insofar as the swing revival persists in the cultural memory, it’s usually as a punchline or as head-scratcher, a particula…

1
I am Tupperware, I Contain Multitudes 43:09

12M ago43:09

43:09

The storage container is a stealthy star of the modern home. It’s something we use to organize more of our stuff than ever before, and also something other people use to organize their stuff for our viewing pleasure. Its role as a source of soothing, satisfying, potentially viral clicks is new, but storage container innovations are not – something …

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Introducing Planet Money: Can Money Buy Happiness? 30:02

1y ago30:02

30:02

People often say that money can't buy you happiness. Sometimes, if you ask them to tell you more about it, they'll mention a famous 2010 study by Nobel Prize winners Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton. That study found that higher household income correlates with greater emotional well-being, but only up to around $75,000 a year. After that, more mon…

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Mailbag: Fruit Snacks, Waterbeds, and Lobster Tanks 49:38

1y ago49:38

49:38

It’s our annual mailbag episode! We get a lot of wonderful reader emails suggesting topics for the show — and at the end of the year we try to answer some of them. This year, we’re tackling four fascinating questions. Why do grocery stores keep live lobsters in tanks, unlike any other animal? How did candy get rebranded as “fruit snacks” when fruit…

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Mystery of the Mullet (Encore) 51:18

1y ago51:18

51:18

The mullet, the love-to-hate-it hairstyle, is as associated with the 1980’s as Ronald Reagan, junk bonds, and breakdancing. But in at least one major way, we are suffering from a collective case of false memory syndrome. In this episode we track the rise and fall of the mullet, and also the lexical quandary at its heart: Who named the mullet? We le…

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Reconsidering One of the “Worst” TV Shows of All Time 1:01:20

1y ago1:01:20

1:01:20

In 1980, a variety show debuted on NBC called Pink Lady and Jeff. Its stars were a pair of Japanese pop idols known for catchy, choreographed dance numbers. Pink Lady was inescapable in Japan: selling millions of records, appearing on TV daily, and filling arenas. But their American TV show left audiences completely bewildered. Pink Lady and Jeff a…

1
A Feel-Good Story About the End of the World 40:36

1y ago40:36

40:36

The fear that the Earth could be destroyed by a killer asteroid is an anxiety that pops up all the time in fiction and is grounded in fact. But funnily enough—actually being pancaked by a giant space rock? Not something you need to spend a whole lot of time worrying about! And that’s because a bunch of NASA scientists and engineers are already worr…

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The Wrongest Bird in Movie History 48:41

1y ago48:41

48:41

There is a prominent bird in the 2000 film Charlie’s Angels that makes absolutely no sense. This so-called Pygmy Nuthatch doesn’t look or sound like it should, or live where the characters say it does. The bird is so elaborately wrong that it has haunted the birding community, including Slate’s very own Forrest Wickman, for almost a quarter of a ce…

1
Selling Out (Encore) 51:19

1y ago51:19

51:19

Whatever happened to selling out? The defining concern of Generation X has become a relic from another era. How that happened is best illustrated by one of the idea’s last gasps, when in 2001, Oprah Winfrey invited author Jonathan Franzen to come on her show to discuss his new novel The Corrections. A month later, she withdrew the invitation, kicki…

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Calling Dick Tracy! It’s Warren Beatty Again 46:58

1+ y ago46:58

46:58

Oscar-winner Warren Beatty first secured the rights to the comic book character Dick Tracy in the lead up to his 1990 movie adaptation. Decades later, Beatty kept playing Tracy in bizarre late-night specials airing on cable TV, that confounded nearly everyone. Why is one of the most famous movie stars of the 20th century, spending the twilight of h…

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If You Give a Mouse a Cookie… Will He Want a Welfare Check? 37:03

1+ y ago37:03

37:03

Adults have a long history of trying to find morals and lessons in children’s literature. But what happens when a seemingly innocent book about a boy and a hungry mouse becomes fodder for the culture wars? Over the last decade, Laura Joffe Numeroff’s If You Give a Mouse a Cookie has been adopted by some on the right as a cautionary tale about gover…

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Chuck E. Cheese Pizza War (Encore) 48:12

1+ y ago48:12

48:12

In the late 1970s, a new and unusual concept for a restaurant chain emerged in California—video games plus bad pizza plus animatronic characters. The result was Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theatre, an immensely popular chain with a pizza rat for a mascot. But the strangeness only starts there. Decoder Ring dives into the formation of Chuck E. Chee…

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The Hysteria Over Mass Hysteria 37:42

1+ y ago37:42

37:42

“Hysteria” is an ancient word carrying thousands of years of baggage. Though the terminology has changed, hysteria has not gone away, and in its most baffling instances it can even be contagious. The idea of a mass psychogenic illness can be hard to wrap your head around. A group of people begins experiencing physical symptoms, because of something…