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The following podcast contains explicit language.

Hello and welcome to the waves for Thursday, August 15th, the Work Life Edition.

I'm Christina Cauterucci, a staff writer at Slate and host of the Slate Podcast Outward.

I'm Marcia Chetland, a professor of history at Georgetown University.

I'm Nicole Perkins, writer and co-host of Thursday 8Kitt.

And I'm June Thomas, senior managing producer of Slate Podcasts.

Before we get into today's episode, June, I want to hear about what you thought about, what was in our email inbox this week.

Well, let me round up what was in our email.

Our last episode, where we talked, just to remind you about Jane Mayer's Al Franken's story in the New Yorker, Carabolics, New York Magazine's Story, The Most gullible Manning Cambridge and the new season of Veronica Mars, it generated more reader email than usual, and it was mostly extreme, either extremely supportive or extremely critical of our takes.

On Franken, one emailer who was from Minnesota said that appalling photograph, not from S&L in the 80s,

but from the year before he ran from the Senate, is evidence.

He needed to go for that alone, therefore all the discussion of whether or not he is innocent

is completely beside the point, IMO.

Others thought we were naive about the politics of bringing down Franken.

One emailer said, quote,

we ignored clear political motivation of initial accusation

on customary weak response from Democrats.

I think we were aware of that.

And another said, I was turned off by the mayor and Franklin bashing,

by the attitude that even innocent mistakes are inexcusable.

And last one on this, one woman noted that the Al Franken story had caused an unusually

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