Slate Fare

Chaos Muppets All the Way Down

Revisiting Dahlia Lithwick’s Unified Theory of Muppet Types for 2026.

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As we celebrate 30 years of Slate , one of the OG Slatesters, our own June Thomas, slid over into the Amicus Plus host chair and turned the tables on Dahlia Lithwick for a conversation about all things Muppets. The real Slateheads will understand this immediately, but for everyone else: This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

June Thomas: We have a very important piece of Slate lore to discuss. One of the most significant stories that Slate has published in its 30 years. I think about Chaos Muppets and Order Muppets maybe six times a day every single day of my life, but when I went to reread the piece, which is famously called Chaos Theory: A Unified Theory of Muppet Types , I was shocked to discover that it’s from 2012.…