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On The Gist, if iHeart Media wants to do better, they really ought to change their name.   Did you watch the Oscars? Did you think they were a little lame? Writer Catie Lazarus provides a safe space for your Academy Awards–related shade. Lazarus is host of the Employee of the Month Show. Come see it live on March 15 in New York with guests Hannibal Buress, Emily Mortimer, Alex Lacamoire, and the Resistance Revival Chorus. In the Spiel, don’t let Ben Carson’s $31,000 fiasco distract you from the ongoing travesty that is the White House.

Guest hosts Daniel Engber and David Epstein talk with Carl Bialik about robot line judges in tennis, Mike Pesca joins for a review of NBA tanking, and Florentina Hettinga discusses the science of the Paralympics. Robot umpires (1:47): Carl Bialik discusses the latest innovation in line-calling technology and how it might affect tennis. Tanking (18:25): Hang Up host emeritus Mike Pesca chats about why there’s more tanking than ever in the NBA and what might be done about it. Paralympics (36:09): Sports scientist Florentina Hettinga sheds light on debates over classification in the world of disability sports. Afterballs (45:39):

Aisha Harris and Chris Lamberth, actor/comedian and host of host of the Mundane Festival podcast, recap everything that went down at the Oscars last night.For links on what we discuss check out our show page. And please fill out the Slate podcast survey at slate.com/podcastsurvey.Tell a friend to subscribe! Share this link: megaphone.link/representEmail: represent@slate.comFacebook: Slate RepresentTwitter: @SlateRepresent, @craftingmystyleProduction by Veralyn WilliamsSocial media: Marissa Martinelli

As part of our continuing series about animals with jobs, Jacob Brogan sits down with Georgia Ranney to discuss Sarge, Kinderhook Farm's maremma guard dog, responsible for help guarding a flock of sheep from predators including coyotes, fishers, and other predators. Please fill out the Slate podcast survey at slate.com/podcastsurvey

On this week’s show, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by UCLA Law Professor Adam Winkler to talk about his new book We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights. Together, they also examine what the constitutionalizing of corporate rights can tell us about the current gun debate. And Dahlia steps inside the chamber for oral arguments in the hugely significant public sector union case we previewed last show. She is joined by the Solicitor General of Illinois, David Franklin, who argued the case. There were explosive contributions from the justices on the bench, but notable silence from the court’s newest member, Justice Neil M Gorsuch. Please fill out the Slate podcast survey at slate.com/podcastsurveyPlease let us know what you think of Amicus. Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook. Our email is amicus@slate.com.Podcast production by Sara Burningham

Virginia Heffernan talks to BuzzFeed's Anthony Cormier about the FBI investigation that nearly had Paul Manafort before the Trump campaign, the result of that, and why Anthony doesn't think Paul Manafort will flip. Plus, the two try to make sense of the Nastya Rybka story which may entangle both Manafort and Trump.

Tariffs, Seychelles, and expert networks on this week's episode with Felix Salmon, Anna Szymanski, and Jordan Weissmann. Production by Daniel Schroeder Please fill out the Slate podcast survey at slate.com/podcastsurvey

Pierre Bienaimé has three things to know—from the post-Weinstein Oscars, to the Korean peninsula, to H.R. McMaster.

Well, what do you know? In 2016, Trump tweeted that he wasn’t trying to get a top security clearance for his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. A year later, he’s finally right. On The Gist, what’s so special about an octopus? Slate’s Daniel Engber has a takedown of the many-armed beast of the deep: The research on cephalopod intelligence is flimsy, he says, and the octopus is hardly the first animal to have fascinated us with its methods of escape. In the Spiel, it’s time to name another Lobstar. One more thing: Please fill out the Slate podcast survey at Slate.com/podcastsurvey.

Benjamin Wittes is a writer and national security expert, and the editor-in-chief of Lawfare. In a wide-ranging conversation with Isaac Chotiner, he discusses how to read the tea leaves of the Mueller investigation, why people are too critical of James Comey, and why even the Trump administration hasn’t changed his (positive) opinion of the national security state.   Email: ask@slate.comTwitter: @IHaveToAskPod Podcast production by Max Jacobs.Please fill out the Slate podcast survey at slate.com/podcastsurvey

Dana Stevens, Inkoo Kang and Marissa Martinelli spoil Annihilation, discussing what's behind the Shimmer, how DNA works, and the weird Annihilation noise.

Aisha Harris talks A Fantastic Woman, nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, with Slate science intern Alex Barasch. And we revisit two conversations we had with two first-time directors who are up for big awards this Sunday: Yance Ford, whose Strong Island is nominated for Best Documentary, and Greta Gerwig, whose Lady Bird is nominated for 5 awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Original Screenplay.For links on what we discuss check out our show page. And please fill out the Slate podcast survey at slate.com/podcastsurvey.Tell a friend to subscribe! Share this link: megaphone.link/representEmail: represent@slate.comFacebook: Slate RepresentTwitter: @SlateRepresent, @craftingmystyleProduction by Veralyn WilliamsSocial media: Marissa Martinelli

Pierre Bienaimé has three things to start your day – from Russia's nuclear capabilities, to Trump's steel tariffs, to Jared Kushner's money moves.

Jacob Weisberg is joined by The Washington Post's Shane Harris to discuss the fallout of Jared Kushner's security clearance downgrade and just how his role in the West Wing could be changing.

Today on The Gist, a unified theory of Donald Trump. Plus, Trump dragged his fellow Republicans and made his Democrats grin like Cheshire cats at the televised meeting on gun control. What are the chances that the White House lets Trump’s comments stand? Mike talks to Slate politics writer Jim Newell.In the Spiel, the president has a lot of retrograde ideas that suit him. Here’s one that doesn’t: steel tariffs. One more thing: Please fill out the Slate podcast survey at slate.com/podcastsurvey.