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Slate Podcaster Mike Pesca Suspended After Saying White People Should Be Allowed to Say N-Word

Mike Pesca, the host of The Gist podcast, reportedly made his argument in a Slack chat with workmates last week.

Slate has indefinitely suspended one of its top podcast hosts after he argued that white people should be allowed to use the n-word sometimes, according to The New York Times. Mike Pesca, the host of The Gist podcast, reportedly made his argument in a Slack chat with workmates last week. They were talking about Times reporter Donald McNeil Jr., who was ousted this month after The Daily Beast reported that he had allegedly used racist language during an educational trip to Peru with teenagers. Pesca, who is white, reportedly told colleagues that he believed there were contexts in which the slur could be used, and then was told Monday that he’d been suspended without pay. Slate spokeswoman Katie Rayford said the decision was made after “additional issues” were raised following the argument. “I can confirm this was not a decision based around making an isolated abstract argument in a Slack channel,” she said. “After additional issues were raised by staff, we felt it was appropriate to take further action and indefinitely suspend the show pending an investigation.”