Primary sources exposed and explained.

If you'd like to sort this department listing by headline, author or date, please use the Slate search.

• Madoff 'n' Jeff Bernie Madoff and his accountant made the oddest of couples.
  Bonnie Goldstein Dec. 17, 2008
  
• A Hold on Holder? Senators squabble over how soon to hold the confirmation hearing for Obama's attorney-general nominee.
  Bonnie Goldstein Dec. 15, 2008
  
• Layoff Spin An ad firm accidentally leaks its "restructuring communications plan."
  Bonnie Goldstein Dec. 8, 2008
  
• Inaugural Housing Madness In Washington, D.C., suddenly everybody's a landlord.
  Bonnie Goldstein Dec. 1, 2008
  
• Eric Holder and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day When Obama's pick for attorney general had to explain a pardon.
  Bonnie Goldstein Nov. 25, 2008
  
• CBS's Dream Team Guess who CBS considered to conduct its Dan Rather investigation?
  Bonnie Goldstein Nov. 17, 2008
  
• CBS Rewards Bush Stonewaller Dan Bartlett wouldn't help CBS's Rathergate investigation. The network hired him anyway.
  Bonnie Goldstein Nov. 11, 2008
  
• Suing God The Almighty doesn't live in Nebraska.
  Bonnie Goldstein Nov. 10, 2008
  
• Mormons for Traditional Marriage! Guess who helped put California's Proposition 8 over the top?
  Bonnie Goldstein Nov. 6, 2008
  
• Where To Dump the Kids How Nebraska became to child abandonment what Nevada once was to the quickie divorce.
  Bonnie Goldstein Nov. 4, 2008
  
• Senate Rules For Convicted Felons Ted Stevens may collect his Senate salary until he arrives at prison.
  Bonnie Goldstein Oct. 31, 2008
  
• How the GOP Scares Jews Pennsylvania GOP to Jewish voters: Obama will bring on Holocaust II!
  Bonnie Goldstein Oct. 28, 2008
  
• Obama Through British Eyes Great Britain's Washington ambassador sizes up Obama for his prime minister.
  Bonnie Goldstein Oct. 20, 2008
  
• Gitmo Torture Tips Dos and don'ts of "degradation tactics."
  Bonnie Goldstein Oct. 14, 2008
  
• Watching the Detective How Sarah Palin dug up dirt on her ex-brother-in-law.
  Bonnie Goldstein Oct. 10, 2008
  
• Sarah Palin's Tax Return The vice-presidential nominee and the first dude won't be subsidizing this election.
  Bonnie Goldstein Oct. 6, 2008
  
• Jesse Jackson vs. Wall Street Bailout The civil rights leader invites you to picket the Treasury Department.
  Bonnie Goldstein Sept. 24, 2008
  
• Too Sexy for My Sandbox The Campaign for a Commerical-Free Childhood wins a victory against Bratz.
  Bonnie Goldstein Sept. 22, 2008
  
• Todd to Juneau: Drop Dead  Sarah Palin's First Dude refuses a subpoena from Alaska's State Senate.
  Bonnie Goldstein Sept. 19, 2008
  
• Lehman Brothers' Bankruptcy Petition Anybody got a spare $613 billion?
  Bonnie Goldstein Sept. 17, 2008
  
• Sex and Drugs and Government How federal employees who collect oil and gas royalties created a "culture of substance abuse and promiscuity."
  Bonnie Goldstein Sept. 11, 2008
  
• Daniel Mudd on Foreclosure What Fannie Mae's chief said before the feds seized his company and bade him farewell.
  Bonnie Goldstein Sept. 11, 2008
  
• The Book on Sarah Palin An excerpt from the only biography of John McCain's presumptive running mate.
  Bonnie Goldstein Sept. 3, 2008
  
• Teenage Pregnancy, GOP-Style An unusual McCain campaign press release.
  Bonnie Goldstein Sept. 1, 2008
  
• How To Have a Cow The Minnesota State Fair's large-animal birthing extravaganza.
  Bonnie Goldstein Aug. 26, 2008
  
• I Have a Lawsuit ... Martin Luther King Jr.'s children squabble in court.
  Bonnie Goldstein Aug. 20, 2008
  
• How To Picket Tropic Thunder Groups representing the mentally disabled organize a nationwide protest.
  Bonnie Goldstein Aug. 13, 2008
  
• Swearing Is Bad Quaker pacifists strike a blow to California's loyalty oath.
  Bonnie Goldstein June 16, 2008
  
• Bill Murray's Pre-nup Want to marry Dr. Peter Venkman? Just sign here.
  Bonnie Goldstein June 2, 2008
  
• Kindergarten Show Trial The classmates of a 5-year-old autistic child vote him off the island.
  Bonnie Goldstein May 30, 2008
  
• Cindy McCain's Tax Return The candidate's wife contributed $1.7 million to the treasury for 2006.
  Bonnie Goldstein May 27, 2008
  
• DEA vs. CA Congress criticizes the drug agency's paramilitary crackdown on medical marijuana.
  Bonnie Goldstein May 23, 2008
  
• Ted Kennedy's Convention Speech Are Obama and Clinton re-enacting the 1980 split between Kennedy and Jimmy Carter?
  Bonnie Goldstein May 21, 2008
  
• PTSD Bingo Too many "compensation-seeking veterans"? Change the diagnoses!
  Bonnie Goldstein May 19, 2008
  
• California's Gay Marriage Decision The California Supreme Court rules that gay marriage is a right under the state constitution.
  Bonnie Goldstein May 16, 2008
  
• eBay v. Craigslist Twin pillars of the Internet economy sue each other.
  Bonnie Goldstein May 15, 2008
  
• Racist Secret Service E-Mails What they chat about when they aren't protecting the president.
  Bonnie Goldstein May 12, 2008
  
• Watchdog, Watch Thyself Did the Office of Special Counsel violate the very laws it enforces at other federal agencies?
  Bonnie Goldstein May 8, 2008
  
• Can't Help Loving Remembering the woman who defeated anti-miscegenation laws.
  Bonnie Goldstein May 6, 2008
  
• So You Want To Map Your Genome Options vary, depending on your budget.
  Bonnie Goldstein May 2, 2008
  
• So You Want To Be a Scientologist All you have to do is sign this contract.
  Bonnie Goldstein April 30, 2008
  
• Canada's Baby-Bottle Decree Ottawa is worried about bisphenol A. Why aren't we?
  Bonnie Goldstein April 28, 2008
  
• White House Political Science How the Bush administration meddles with government science.
  Bonnie Goldstein April 25, 2008
  
• VD Valentines Electronic greeting cards break the bad news gently to ex-lovers.
  Bonnie Goldstein April 23, 2008
  
• McCain's Tax Returns The GOP presidential candidate's 1040 forms provide an incomplete financial picture.
  Bonnie Goldstein April 21, 2008
  
• Pope Rope-A-Dope Past victims of sexual abuse request a meeting with the pope, and receive no reply.
  Bonnie Goldstein April 17, 2008
  
• Sexual Blackmail at Immigration Services Land of the free. Home of the brave.
  Bonnie Goldstein April 15, 2008
  
• World's Bravest Stenographer A court reporter helps subdue a razor-wielding defendant, then scrupulously records every swear word uttered during the scuffle.
  Bonnie Goldstein April 11, 2008
  
• Polygamy Affidavit Four hundred children aren't feeling the Big Love in Texas.
  Bonnie Goldstein April 9, 2008
  
• The Clintons' Tax Returns Adjusted gross income in 2000: $357,000. Adjusted gross income in 2006: $16 million.
  Bonnie Goldstein April 6, 2008
  
• Stabenow Husband's Prostitution Bust A 20-year-old Michigan woman is charged for selling oral sex to a U.S. senator's husband.
  Bonnie Goldstein April 4, 2008
  
• The Torture Memo Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo greenlights abusing prisoners of war.
  Bonnie Goldstein April 2, 2008
  
• The Torture Memo Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo greenlights abusing prisoners of war.
  Bonnie Goldstein April 2, 2008
  
• Nipple Rings vs. Metal Detectors Gloria Allred strikes a blow for body piercing.
  Bonnie Goldstein March 31, 2008
  
• Putting the Private in Private Eye Want to know what's on the Pellicano wiretaps? Get your own detective.
  Bonnie Goldstein March 28, 2008
  
• Obama's Tax Returns Adjusted gross income: more than $900,000.
  Bonnie Goldstein March 25, 2008
  
• A Car-Bomb Primer Read the State department report, When Broken Down Vehicles Go Boom!
  Bonnie Goldstein March 25, 2008
  
• Buying Michigan Govs. Corzine and Rendell propose letting Clinton supporters bankroll a new Michigan primary.
  Bonnie Goldstein March 21, 2008
  
• Obama on Racism, 1990 When will black and white law students enjoy the same right to be "mediocre"?
  Bonnie Goldstein March 19, 2008
  
• The Quantico Circuit Caper A techie discovers just how open to surveillance telecom records are.
  Bonnie Goldstein March 18, 2008
  
• Presidential Dreams A Canadian novelist anthologizes REM-phase brain activity about Obama, Clinton, and McCain.
  Bonnie Goldstein March 14, 2008
  
• The Emperors' Club's Front Company Gotten your "strategy planned" lately, har har?
  Bonnie Goldstein March 12, 2008
  
• Eliot Spitzer's Escort Service Serving (until a few days ago) persons of "immense financial and influential affluence."
  Timothy Noah March 10, 2008
  
• The Weirdest Legal Pleading Ever An anti-video-game crusader tries the Florida Supreme Court's patience.
  Bonnie Goldstein March 7, 2008
  
• Canada's Obama NAFTA Memo Did Obama's senior economic adviser dismiss his candidate's protectionism with a wink?
  Bonnie Goldstein March 4, 2008
  
• The Texas Dildo Massacre (NSFW) The state's sex-toy ban is struck down by a federal court.
  Bonnie Goldstein March 3, 2008
  
• What High Schoolers Don't Know When the civil war was fought. Why Joe McCarthy was controversial. Etc.
  Bonnie Goldstein Feb. 29, 2008
  
• Rep. Renzi's Indictment Today's lesson: You can extort or you can double-cross, but you can't do both.
  Bonnie Goldstein Feb. 27, 2008
  
• How To Get on Gladiator Kindly fill out this form.
  Bonnie Goldstein Feb. 25, 2008
  
• No Obscenity, Please. We're Canadian. Canada's border control agency is on the outlook for porn.
  Bonnie Goldstein Feb. 22, 2008
  
• Fidel's Adios The comandante has left the building.
  Bonnie Goldstein Feb. 19, 2008
  
• Katrina Victims' Toxic Trailers Open a window, advises the CDC, and "spend as much time outdoors ... as possible."
  Bonnie Goldstein Feb. 15, 2008
  
• Peer-Reviewing the Bible How to get published in a Creationist "academic" journal.
  Bonnie Goldstein Feb. 13, 2008
  
• Waxman Rebukes Clemens' Lawyer Was "Roger will eat his lunch" a threat against the IRS agent who initiated the steroids probe?
  Bonnie Goldstein Feb. 11, 2008
  
• The Gambino Indictment The Mafia as mirror of corporate America.
  Bonnie Goldstein Feb. 8, 2008
  
• Jailhouse Lit Bust! Roberto Bolano's critically-acclaimed novel The Savage Detectives is banned in a Texas prison.
  Bonnie Goldstein Feb. 7, 2008
  
• Obama's Music Video Will.i.am describes the genesis of his all-star "Yes We Can."
  Bonnie Goldstein Feb. 5, 2008
  
• Detroit Mayor's Steamy Text Messages The bodyguards "were right outside the door. They had to have heard everything." "I need you soooo bad." Etc.
  Bonnie Goldstein Feb. 1, 2008
  
• Murdoch and Regan, Best Friends 4-Ever Judith Regan settles her lawsuit against NewsCorp.
  Bonnie Goldstein Jan. 29, 2008
  
• Medical Marijuana and Workers' Rights Can your boss fire you for smoking weed when you've got a prescription?
  Bonnie Goldstein Jan. 28, 2008
  
• Giuliani's Online Social Networks They love him on Facebook, but they spurn him on Digg and Gather.
  Bonnie Goldstein Jan. 24, 2008
  
• Huck's Keith Richards Pardon How the Rolling Stones guitarist won forgiveness from an evangelical Baptist minister-turned-governor.
  Bonnie Goldstein Jan. 22, 2008
  
• David Letterman's Waiver How Late Night and The Late Late Show got their writers back.
  Bonnie Goldstein Jan. 18, 2008
  
• May Casinos Caucus? A Nevada teacher's union dukes it out with Obama supporters.
  Bonnie Goldstein Jan. 17, 2008
  
• Johnson Denies Obama Smear The BET founder claims he was talking about community organizing, not the candidate's teenage drug use.
  Bonnie Goldstein Jan. 15, 2008
  
• Dr. Robert Jarvik, Pitchman Congress investigates celebrity drug endorsements.
  Bonnie Goldstein Jan. 10, 2008
  
• New Jersey's Apology for Slavery A fifth state expresses regret over the peculiar institution.
  Bonnie Goldstein Jan. 8, 2008
  
• The Wire's Suppressed Final Scene McNulty and Bunk say goodbye.
  Bonnie Goldstein Jan. 4, 2008
  
• Tiger Attack Radio Transcript "Shot the tiger at the cafe."
  Bonnie Goldstein Jan. 2, 2008