ICYMI | ChatGPT Has Ruined the Em Dash

Slate Technology

Slate

Society & Culture, Technology, History

4.6 • 636 Ratings

🗓️ 23 August 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay get into the war between em dashes and artificial intelligence. Back in 2024, what started as a developer question became an all-out grammar war, with the use of em dashes becoming a possible indicator that something was written using ChatGPT. In the past week alone, several writers have published their defenses of the em dash and how we shouldn’t let ChatGPT ruin our favorite keyboard shortcut. However, the em dash may be a symptom of a bigger issue: have our AI detection skills gotten worse? Or, are we all doomed to be tricked by a hyphen or two? Get more of ICYMI with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of ICYMI and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the ICYMI show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/icymiplus for access wherever you listen. This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:30.1	How much do you know about the scandal that got Bill Clinton impeached?
0:33.5	Monica Lewinsky is under the microscope. Bill Clinton is under siege and the White House is trying to contain the damage.
0:40.3	Maybe you know the basics, that Clinton's presidency came to a screeching halt amid a storm of accusations involving sex, power, and partisan warfare.
0:48.4	If it turns out to be true, it could be the end of Clinton's presidency.
0:51.6	Congress is rushing to overthrow the commander-in-chief.
0:55.7	What determines who we believe and whose side we take in a political fight?
0:59.6	Tripped and secret me tape Monica Lewinsky.
1:01.8	Go down the radio shack and buy a tape recorder and plug it in your phone.
1:06.0	What does it mean to abuse one's power?
1:07.9	I did not have sexual relations with that woman. It is absolutely staggering
1:13.4	that the fate of the most powerful man on the planet is in the hands of a completely unknown
1:18.0	23-year-old. Subscribe to Slow Burn and Apple Podcasts. Hey, I'm Candace Lem, and I'm Kate Lindsay, and you're listening to I see why am I in case you missed it Slate's podcast about internet culture and Kate is Christian girl autumn cancelled As of this morning, I am happy to announce that Christian Girl Autumn is continuing as planned.
2:11.2	Let's all clap.
2:12.3	Thank God.
2:13.5	Oh, right.
2:14.1	You can't really clap because, yeah, Candice is coming at you from a sort of blanket fort dungeon situation right now.
2:21.1	Yeah, I'm under a blanket because there is some construction happening around my house and therefore I needed to move rooms.
	...

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