2021: SLATE (354)

JANUARY

The Most Popular Slate Stories of 2020

The Year the City Splintered

How I Gained Some Control Amid the Chaos of the Pandemic

Where the President Got His Lies About Georgia

Trump Will Get Away With It and Leave Us With the Mess

This Is Trump’s America

What D.C. Residents Continue to Endure

They Were Out for Blood

It’s Almost Over. That’s the Problem.

D.C. Put Up With Strict Security for 20 Years. It Did Nothing.

The Capitol Riot Was Just the Beginning

How Republicans Could Actually Unify the Country

Trump Impeached Again: McConnell Defends Delaying Historic Second Trial

Republicans Still Don’t Get It

Mike Pompeo Was the Worst Secretary of State in U.S. History

Democrats Have Their First Online Meltdown of the Biden Era

Fox News Can Barely Admit the Capitol Riot is a Story

Phil Spector Transformed Pop Music and Destroyed Lives

Trump’s “1776 Report” Would Be Funny if It Weren’t So Dangerous

The Inauguration Brought Back the Idea That Words Matter

Why Congress Gave Lloyd Austin a Pass

Biden Gave Trump’s Union Busters a Taste of Their Own Medicine

The GOP’s Insincere Gripes That Biden Is Being “Divisive”

The Enemy Isn’t Republicans. It’s Liars.

What Six Trump Voters Learned From the Past Four Years

Senate Republicans Are Ready to Let Trump Off the Hook

For Republicans, It’s Never Constitutional to Impeach a Republican President

Capitol Police Can Sue the Mob, Giuliani, and Trump

Why Even a 66 Percent Effective Vaccine Is Such Good News

How Many House Republicans Believe the Jews Attacked California With a Space Laser?

The Best (and Worst) Presidential Pets in U.S. History, Ranked

FEBRUARY

The Consequences of the Unfinished Border Wall

AOC’s Sexual Assault Revelation Isn’t the Story

Trump People Were the Worst Restaurant Guests, Too

What Democrats Have to Do Next on Judges

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s New Twist on a Trump Staple

Kagan Warns the Court’s New Decision May Kill People

Behind the Small Screen Success of ‘Yellowstone’

No One Expects a Conviction This Impeachment. That’s the Problem.

“If That’s Not an Impeachable Offense, Then There Is No Such Thing”

It Sure Looks Like Trump Will Face Criminal Charges for Election Fraud

How Close Did the Capitol Rioters Get to the Nuclear “Football”?

Honestly, Double Masking Sucks

Did Dems Blow It by Not Calling Impeachment Witnesses?

The Mob Is Still Occupying the Capitol

The #MeToo Memoir That Ensnares the Abuser in His Own Trap

What if Nikki Haley Doesn’t Really Believe in Anything?

Rush Limbaugh Was Trapped in the ’80s. He Kept Us There, Too.

Why Are COVID-19 Cases Really Falling?

What the Week Looked Like at One Texas Warming Center

America Is Now in a Constant State of Emergency Unpreparedness

The Last City of the 20th Century

Clarence Thomas Promotes Trump’s Voter Fraud Lies in an Alarming Dissent

How Screwed Is the Trump Hotel D.C.?

The Texas Freeze Proved Our Representatives Feel No Obligation to Their Constituents

Biden Has Found a Way to Unite the Senate. It’s Probably Not What He Had in Mind.

Why Republicans Are Still Holding Onto the Big Lie

A Utah Man Let Homeless People Sleep in His Yard. It Ended in Tragedy.

MARCH

“A Crisis Within a Crisis Within a Crisis”

No One Has Ever Had It Coming More Than Andrew Cuomo

Democrats Have Decided to Send Checks to Fewer People for No Actual Good Reason

Sometimes “Yes” Isn’t Enough

Eight Senate Democrats Join GOP Against $15 Minimum Wage

Why Meghan and Harry’s Oprah Interview Has Spawned a Major Royal Meltdown

What I Saw During a Disturbing Weekend Before the Chauvin Trial

Biden’s COVID Bill Avoids the Key Mistake of the Obama Era

What Passing the Big COVID Relief Bill Proved to Democrats

“I Realized, ‘I Need to Shut My Pie Hole'”

What Calls for More COVID Caution Keep Missing

You Are Not Allowed to Be Annoyed by Vaccine Selfies

Washington State Shows How a Truly Progressive Court Changes Everything

“Please Come to the Michael Kors Cafeteria”

An Appalling Double Standard About the Atlanta Shooting Suspect’s Gun

After a Year of Hate and Fear, a New Tragedy Hit Georgia’s Asian Community

Who Were the Atlanta Shooting Victims?

Coverage of Bay Area Anti-Asian Violence Is Missing a Key Element

We Are So Close! Don’t Give Up on Pandemic Safety Yet.

The Orthodox Jews Trying to Make Marjorie Taylor Greene Kosher

What Christian Men Really Mean When They Say They Have a “Sex Addiction”

How a Stephen Miller Fox News Appearance Launched the “Border Crisis”

The Weirdest “Side Effect” of the Coronavirus Vaccine

I Don’t Know How to Feel About the Way I Was Vaccinated

You Get an Appointment! You Get an Appointment! But Will You Get a Shot?

Biden’s Foreign Policy Crises Are Multiplying Fast

DeSantis’ “Open-for-business” Policy Is Backfiring in Miami

Biden Borrowed the Federalist Society’s Tactics. Good.

The Bogus Rap on Deborah Birx

APRIL

Why Everyone Is So Mad at Delta Air Lines Over Voting Rights

In Defense of Shaming People for Breaking COVID Restrictions

Joe Biden Picked a Good Time to Become President

Death Is the Capital of Uruguay

The Weird Florida Roots of the Matt Gaetz Scandal

Biden’s Huge New Bill Leaves Reaganomics on the Ash Heap of History

How Joe Biden Gets Away With It

Why Physicists Are Losing Their Minds Over a Strange New Discovery

Should I Take Tylenol After My COVID Shot? Can I Drink a Beer?

The Nicest Thing I Can Say About Greg Gutfeld’s Late-Night Show on Fox News

“Good Design” Is Ruining American Cities

I Got the J&J Vaccine Eight Days Ago. Here’s What I’m Actually Worried About.

The Taser Was Already Too Much

Conservative Judges’ Manipulative New Tactic for Overturning Roe

The Myth of the Dangerous Traffic Stop Is Killing Black Men in America

It’s About Time for Us to Stop Wearing Masks Outside

How People Who Got the Pfizer Vaccine Anointed Themselves “the Ruling Class”

What Are Police Thinking?

Derek Chauvin’s Trial Isn’t Over Yet

Why Conservative Media Is Celebrating the Chauvin Verdict

How Amy Coney Barrett Is Backfiring for the Right

The Worst Member of Congress Has Been Flying Under the Radar

Is This Viral Band Really Who They Say They Are?

The Good News About the Insane Real Estate Market

Stop Playing Violent Videos of Black People’s Deaths

Netflix’s Latest Hit Continues an Argument Sci-Fi Fans Have Been Having for Decades

What if the United States Didn’t Treat Parents Like Dirt?

Blake Bailey’s Students Worshipped Him. When They Grew Up, He Preyed On Them.

Every Scandal of Joe Biden’s First 100 Days

MAY

The Bride Who Just Realized Her Wedding Will Have Some Unexpected Guests

Every Scandal of Joe Biden’s First 100 Days

Fear of the Rapture Consumed Everyone I Knew as an Evangelical Kid. I Finally See Why.

The Constitution Requires the U.S. to Offer Vaccine Passports

Trump Is Still Working to Undermine America

Joe Biden Is Starting to Sound Hawkish About the Deficit

The Reason Wood Prices Are Completely Out of Control

The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” Is So Popular It’s Actually Become a Problem for Him

We Need a Leader to Show Us What Vaccinated Life Can Be. I Know Just the Guy.

How Close Are We to Criminal Charges for Donald Trump?

It’s On Brooklyn House, Shaun Donovan. What Could It Cost?

Ivanka. Betsy DeVos. Stephen Miller. Where Has Trump World Landed?

The GOP War on “Cancel Culture” Is a Cover

“You Don’t Have to Scratch Very Hard on a White Progressive to Get Them Quite Resentful”

How Black Lives Matter Changed the American Conversation About Israel and Palestine

The Latest Meltdown at Yale Law School

How Tina Fey Is Making Up for Her Past

The Academic Story of African American English Has Been Wrong All Along

With Charles Grodin’s Death, Hollywood’s Greatest Romance Comes to an End

Ousting Liz Cheney Could Backfire on the GOP

The 2021 Gaza War Was a Disaster for Everyone. Almost Everyone.

“I Did Have Some Trouble Reporting the Truth”

The Democrats Are Walking Right Into a Trap on Voting Rights

Minneapolis’ Plans for George Floyd Square Are Drawing Fury

How N.Y. Prosecutors Might Get a Key Witness to Flip on Trump

What the Conversations About Antisemitism and Israel-Palestine Get Wrong

Biden’s Justice Department Is Walking Into a Trap Set by Trump Appointees

Netflix’s History of Black American Food Serves Up the Shock of the Familiar

Hollywood Is Still Failing to Tell One of Black America’s Most Horrifying Stories

The Internet Saved My Life. Then It Took Over My Life.

JUNE

The Military Can’t Let Michael Flynn Just Get Away With Supporting a Coup

A Law Student Isn’t Allowed to Graduate Because He Made Fun of the Federalist Society

A Very Calm Guide to the Lab Leak Theory

Is Louis DeJoy Going to DeJail?

An Alt-Rock Queen Returns to Take Back Her Crown

Why Is Merrick Garland’s DOJ Covering for Trump?

The Big Problem With New York City’s Flashiest New Public Attraction

Democrats Have No Idea What to Do About Joe Manchin

Stephen Breyer’s Apparent Retirement Plan Will Backfire

Who Gets the Streets Now?

Merrick Garland’s Job Is To Root Out Trump-Era Corruption at DOJ. He’s Failing.

Understanding the Pain of Slavery Is Impossible. But a Cotton Sack Can Bring Us Closer.

Trust Mitch: The GOP Will Never Confirm Another Democratic SCOTUS Pick

Joe Biden’s Craven Death Penalty Reversal in the Boston Bomber Case

Democrats Should Leap at the Chance to Take Joe Manchin’s Deal

McConnell Has Just One Play Against Manchin’s Voting Rights Compromise

It’s Hard to Make America More Fun When There Are So Many Guns

How Past Moral Panics Set the Stage for the “Critical Race Theory” Freakout

The People Who Voice Audiobooks With Diverse Characters Are Squirming Right Now

The Evidence of Trump’s Pandemic Sabotage Keeps Piling Up

I’m a Luxury Travel Agent. My Clients Are Losing Their Minds Right Now.

Why You Shouldn’t Worry About the Delta Variant (if You’re Vaccinated)

The Miami Building Collapse Is a Warning

The Supreme Court’s Conservatives Issued a Decision Too Extreme for Clarence Thomas

How Kamala Harris Has Been Set Up to Fail

This Teen Would Be in Line for a Kidney – if He Were Deemed White Enough 

The Temperatures Aren’t Even the Worst Part of the Pacific Northwest Heat Wave

The Dream of Florida Is Dead

JULY

How Unprecedented Is the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act Ruling?

Wait, Why Is Cannabis Banned at the Olympics?

Black Widow Is a Thrilling Remedy for the Sexism of Marvel Movies Past

The Charges Against the Trump Organization Are a Master Class in Tax Evasion

America’s Condos Are Hitting a Tipping Point

Manchin and Sinema Have Trapped Us All in a Horror Film

Democrats Have a Huge, Flashing Opportunity to Win the Crime Debate

I’ve Always Suspected “Cat Person” Was Based on My Life. Now I Know it Was.

Black Widow Is Too Late to Be the Movie She Deserved

After Trump, Is Cruelty Still the Point for Republicans?

There’s Only One Explanation for Why Republicans Are Against Early Voting

Amy Coney Barrett Is Following in John Roberts’ Footsteps

The Anthony Bourdain Doc Is No Hagiography

God Help Me, I Savored Every World of Michael Wolff’s Trashy Book on Trump’s Final Year

What Climate Scientists Are Saying About This Catastrophic Summer

We Now Know Exactly What the Trump-Backed Arizona “Audit” Is Going to Do

Master’s Degrees Are the Second Biggest Scam in Higher Education

Tennessee Is Doing Exactly the Wrong Thing to Stop COVID

Hollywood’s History of Conservatorship Abuse Goes Way Beyond Britney Spears

Vaccine-Skeptical Tennesseans on Why They’re Finally Getting the Shot

What Vaccinated People Should Really Know About the Delta Variant’s Threat to Them

Every Single Olympic Event – All 330 of Them – Ranked From Worst to Best

The Strange Case of America’s Missing Sofas

Black Women on Team USA Have to Play Two Games

The Heartbreak of Gymnastics’ Superman Flopping Out of the Olympics

Team USA Is on Its Way to Olympic Glory – in Rugby?

The U.S. Women’s Simone-Less Silver Medal Was a Triumph

Trump Won’t Let the GOP Move On

Why Did a Republican Senator Ask a Biden Nominee if He Believes in God?

Simone Biles Opens Up About the “Twisties” That Sidelined Her

Just How Concerning Is That Leaked CDC COVID Study, Really?

AUGUST

The Gymnastics Events Are Unsatisfying and Unsafe

“This Is Going to Change the World”

What Does It Mean to “Blame” the Unvaccinated Who Get COVID?

How Condo Buildings End

Where Have All the Track Stars Gone?

What Far-Right Groups Are Really Doing Now

What Traumatized, Burned Out Doctors and Nurses Are Telling Me

The Cheapo Olympics Are Coming

There’s a Silver Lining in the Extremely Bleak New Climate Report

Did the War on Terror Create Trump?

Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and the MyPillow Guy Are in Huge Trouble

Trump’s New Big Lie: Afghanistan

Why Parents Shouldn’t Hunker Down and Wait for a “Return to Normal”

Taliban Enters Kabul, Afghan President Flees

“A Boondoggle of a Counterinsurgency That Had No Endgame”

The One Big Thing Biden Got Right About Afghanistan

CNN’s Clarissa Ward on What She’s Seeing in Afghanistan Now

Just How Big a Mess the California Recall Is

Mike Pompeo Is Lying About Afghanistan

“Frankly, I Couldn’t Design a Worse System”

House Democrats Just Got Serious About Reigning In the Supreme Court

What It Takes to Stop a Bully

Our Never-Ending Empathy for Everything Is Backfiring

Spike Lee Has Fallen Down the 9/11 Truther Rabbit Hole

A Tennis Star’s Ex Accused Him of Domestic Abuse. Why Hasn’t the Tour Addressed It?

Why I Finally Had to Quit Working in a COVID Ward

We Need More Airplanes to Fight Wildfires. There’s Just One Problem.

How Did This Humble Weed Take on Such Grand Significance?

The Supreme Court Has Just Two Days To Decide the Fate of Roe v. Wade

Sunday’s Drone Strike Disaster Shows the Risks of Biden’s Afghanistan Strategy

SEPTEMBER

Of Course This Supreme Court Ended Roe v. Wade by Doing Nothing

It Was the Plan All Along

A Shocking New Speech Has Plunged Mormons Into Another Battle Over Gay Rights

How Will Texas’ Abortion Ban Be Enforced?

A Shocking New Speech Has Plunged Mormons Into Another Battle Over Gay Rights

Why Color-Blind Casting Can’t Save the Classic Musical

What We Didn’t Know on 9/11

John Mulaney Doesn’t Owe You Squat

The Hardest Thing to Accept About COVID Right Now

Did Backlash Over the Shadow Docket Spook the Court?

What Bush and One of America’s Most Prominent Muslim Leaders Said to Each Other After 9/11

Colson Whitehead Is Still Just doing His Weird Thing

A Teen Magazine Icon Is Shattering Her Legend, One Jaw-Dropping Confession at a Time. Why?

The Most Popular Show in the World Is Like Game of Thrones in Reverse

“Men’s Rights Asians” Think This Is Their Moment

Why Is Nicki Minaj Doing This? There Are Some Dark Theories.

Gavin Newsom’s Super Easy Advice for Winning an Election

Woodward’s Latest Book Seems to Misunderstand Trump’s Central Motivation

Unvaccinated People Are Not Criminals

The Emmys Underlined the Paradox of Too Much TV

The Most Confounding Part of Woodward’s New Trump Book Is What It Doesn’t Say

Star Wars Has Figured Out Something Marvel Hasn’t

Dan Savage Revolutionized Sex. Then the Revolution Came for Him.

Hollywood’s Big #MeToo Movement Collapsed Under Its Own Hypocrisy

Netflix’s No. 2 Show Will Make You Feel Gross, but You Should Watch It Anyway

Japanese Breakfast Thinks This Is the Best Song She’s Ever Written

“We Get to Hear Them Training to Kill Us”

Impossible Pork Is Testing My Faith

We Now Know Why Biden Was in a Hurry to Exit Afghanistan

The Cost of the Chicago Bears Fleeing to the Suburbs

OCTOBER

The South’s Resistance to Vaccination Is Not As Incomprehensible As It Seems

Wait, Why Did Anyone Ever Think Manchin Would Be OK With a Giant Progressive Bill?

It’s Been Quite a Week for Bozo Behavior in Trump’s Extended Circle of Bozos

Online Ordering Is Ruining Lunch for the Rest of Us

Is the German Catholic Church Going Rogue or Saving Itself?

The Decision Blocking Texas’ Abortion Ban Is a Meticulous Rebuke to the Supreme Court

Vaccination Has Become a Culture War, and Joe Biden Is Winning It

Is Mitch MicConnell Losing a Step?

I’ve Read Nearly every Trump Tell-All. This Is the Dishiest.

Social Media Can Be Unsafe for Kids. The Next Digital Frontier Is Even Riskier.

Millions of People Left Behind by the Vaccine Are Facing a Stark Future

I Found ClickHole’s “Worst Person You Know”

A Mom Who Hasn’t Gotten Vaxxed–and Might not Vaccinate Her Kids–Explains Herself

Dave Chappelle Accomplished Exactly What He Wanted To

Biden’s Supreme Court Commission Walked Straight Into a Trap

What Americans Who Can’t Find a New Couch Are Resorting To

The Moment When Colin Powell Squandered His Spectacular Career

Ending Roe Could Send More Women to Prison for Miscarrying

The 20-Lane Highway Texas Wants to Force Through Austin

Dune Is a Ponderous Striptease With a Very Impressive Sandworm

I Was Wrong About Joe Manchin

Joe Biden Is Making Decisions, and It Isn’t Pretty

The Century-Old Sci-Fi Trope That Just Won’t Die

Were Democrats Wrong to Support Redistricting Reform in Virginia?

Who Gets to Ask to “Move On” From Jan. 6

I Live in the Best-Run State in America. Really!

Three Trials in America Are Demonstrating the Limits of Our Justice System

How a Corny Joke Became the Preferred Way to Challenge Christian Anti-Vaxxers

Katie Couric’s Extremely Juicy Memoir Delivers Two Different Types of Voyeurism

All Hail the Only Halloween Candy That’s Learned From Its Mistakes

NOVEMBER

Maybe the Santa Barbara Nightmare Dorm Is the Best We Can Do

The Second-Ever Female Solicitor General Couldn’t Get a Word in Edgewise at SCOTUS

The Democrats’ Loss in Virginia Is Merrick Garland’s Fault, Too

Men Need to Hear the Stories Women Whisper to One Another

The Embarrassment of NYC’s Next Mayor Taking His Paychecks in Bitcoin

The EPA’s New Rule Corrects a Mistake That’s Haunted Environmental Policy for Decades

The Odd, True History of the Villain in the Netflix’s No. 1 Movie

The Insidious Idea About “Safety” that Keeps Putting Us in Danger

Will China Really Invade Taiwan?

How the Supreme Court Unleashed a Brutal New Era of Gerrymandering

The People Who Should Be Panicking About Inflation

Josh Hawley Gets One Thing Right About the Plight of Men

You Can’t Understand Squid Game Without Understanding the Korean Idea Driving It

Climate Change Is Now Threatening One of Our Greatest Tools Against It

Actually, Trump Disappearing From the News Has Been Terrible for Democracy

Could a New Government Report Spell Felony Charges for Trump?

So, Does Beto Have a Shot?

How Justin Timberlake Came Undone

Kyle Rittenhouse Won by Redefining What “Active Shooter” Means

A Liberal Guns’ Rights Advocate Explains What Both Sides Got Wrong About Kyle Rittenhouse

Republicans Will Be Sorry if the Supreme Court Overturns Roe

Why Are the McMichaels So Scared

How the Far-Right Deep Web Is Talking About Kyle Rittenhouse Now – and What to Do About It

How the Berenstain Bears Thanksgiving Book Became the Bane of My Existence

Why the Democrats’ Agenda Is Popular but Democrats Are Not

Everything You Need to Know About the New COVID-19 Variant

The Exact Wrong Thing to Do About Omicron

How Will We Know When COVID Is Over?

The Alternative to Overturning Roe That Terrifies Anti-Abortion Advocates

DECEMBER

During Arguments Over Roe’s Fate, Kavanaugh and Barrett Finally Showed Their Cards

The Supreme Court Will Gaslight Until the End

Meet the Trump Fanatics Who Have Taken Over Elections in a Critical Swing State

The Battle for the Senate Is On, and It’s Already a Doozy

Yellowjackets Is Pulling Off a Feat No Other Show Is

Why Isn’t Anyone Listening to Joe Biden?

Every Single Way Trump World Is Lying About Its Latest COVID Scandal

The 10 Best Books of the Year

Why Did Biden’s Supreme Court Commission Fail So Completely?

John Roberts Has Lost Control

Why Our Fantasy of a Dark and Bloody Middle Ages Is So Hard to Shake

The People Who Are Very Understandably Vaccine Hesitant

What I Missed About Brett Kavanaugh and Abortion

How America Broke the Speed Limit

Why It Feels Like “Everyone” Has COVID Right Now

The End of the Afghanistan War Was Even Worse Than Anyone Realized

Don’t Cancel Your Holiday Plans (Yet). Do These Five Things Instead.

Joe Manchin’s “No” Might Be Just What Democrats Need

Why Don’t We Remember the Man Who Broke the NFL’s Color Barrier?

Trump’s COVID Response Was Even Worse Than We Thought

What Vaccinated People Need to Do About Omicron

Louis C.K.’s New Special Shows Exactly What He’s Lost

What’s Different About This Latest COVID Spike

It’s Time to Stop Giving Gifts to Adults

The Permanent Damage Joe Manchin Could Cause

The One Thing Biden Is Doing Exceptionally Well

“Meet a Jew,” Germany’s New Scheme to Convince the Country That Jews Are People

We Got Two Ridley Scott Movies This Year. One of Them Was Great.

The CDC’s Defense of Its New COVID Guidelines Is Complete Nonsense

Joe Biden Picked a Rough Year to Become President

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