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What Next | Daily News and Analysis
The problem with the news right now? It’s everywhere. And each day, it can feel like we’re all just mindlessly scrolling. It’s why we created What Next. This short daily show is here to help you make sense of things. When the news feels overwhelming, we’re here to help you answer: What next? Look for new episodes every weekday morning. Get more of What Next with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of What Next and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from…
Episodes
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisJustin Trudeau Steps Down
After nine years as Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau has resigned. Has Canada joined much of the rest of the world by jettisoning its progressive…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisIs ISIS Back? Or Did It Never Leave?
Though their physical caliphate has been gone for more than five years, the terrorist organization ISIS has survived—through propaganda, in chatrooms, and as…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisBitcoin Takes the White House
Cryptocurrency spent generously on this last election cycle, and now they’ve got their top pick in the White House, and wins across Congress. Where is the…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisMusk vs. MAGA
On Christmas Eve a fracas erupted on X, when Elon Musk posted in favor of H1-B visas for specialized and high-skill workers and was met with anger from the…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisThe Struggle to Get Aid to Gaza
Dispensing aid in the Gaza Strip is becoming increasingly difficult. No one knows this better than Hani. On a professional level, his employer, UNRWA—the main…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisHow To Exorcise Your Fitness Demons
Happy New Year! What Next resumes regularly scheduled programming tomorrow, but for the holiday, check out this episode of How To! from December: How To…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisThe Trump Restoration
The year is wrapping up and so is The Biden Era—oh who are we kidding? This was, and is, the Age of Trump…and now, apparently, Elon Musk. Brace yourselves…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Jimmy Carter’s Legacy
Former president Jimmy Carter died on Sunday at age 100. Carter was a born-again evangelical Christian as well as a Democrat. Those two identities existed in…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
The Cost of Suicide Prevention Software
Between a third and half of American schoolchildren have a form of “mental health monitoring” software on their school devices, which scans for and flags…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
2024 In Review: Would You Buy Poop On the Internet?
“Fecal microbial transplants” treat someone’s unhealthy gut with poop from someone else’s healthy gut, and proponents of FMT claim it can help treat everything…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
TBD | 2024 In Review: Would You Buy Poop On the Internet?
“Fecal microbial transplants” treat someone’s unhealthy gut with poop from someone else’s healthy gut, and proponents of FMT claim it can help treat everything…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
2024 in Review: What the WNBA Salary Debate Misses
While the What Next team takes some rest, enjoy this episode, originally aired on April 22. With all eyes on the WNBA as Caitlin Clark was drafted, many were…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
2024 in Review: Why Miss USA is Imploding
While the What Next team takes some rest, enjoy this episode, originally aired on May 16. When Miss USA abdicated her throne, people noticed that the first…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
2024 in Review: Wait, Is JUUL Banned or Not?
While the What Next team takes some rest, enjoy this episode, originally aired on June 12. Two years ago, the FDA announced it was banning JUUL nicotine vapes…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
2024 in Review: Would You Die For MrBeast?
While the What Next team enjoys some rest, enjoy this episode, originally aired on August 15. MrBeast is known for videos that blend stunts and philanthropy…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Influencer vs. Influencer
One influencer working for Amazon sued another influencer who works for Amazon for creating content that looks too similar to theirs. But with how the…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
TBD | Influencer vs. Influencer
One influencer working for Amazon sued another influencer who works for Amazon for creating content that looks too similar to theirs. But with how the…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Plus | A Karaoke Holiday With What Next
For a very special holiday edition of What Next, Mary chats with Death Sex & Money host Anna Sale about the anthems they’ll be belting out the next time they…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Drones!??!!!?!!!
Reports of flocks of drones, flying overhead nightly, are coming in from New Jersey down to Maryland. Are they UFOs? Nefarious foreign powers? Something even…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Can More Grocery Stores Fix Food Deserts?
How do you keep a grocery store open in a small or low-income community? The answer might involve regulating big box stores like Walmart and Kroger. Guest…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisHow Trump Got ABC to Pay Up
What ABC’s huge defamation settlement with Donald Trump says about the state of the media, heading into Trump’s second term. Guest: David Folkenflik, media…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisHow Shaboozey Broke the Mold
After a tepid embrace of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter and a back-and-forth over Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” country music fans are all in on Shaboozey’s “A Bar…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Make Hollywood Great Again
The highest grossing documentary in 2024 was “Am I Racist?” from The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh, and it’s not the only avowedly right-wing movie that’s enjoyed…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
The Surveillance State Trump Is Inheriting
Our lives, and our communication in particular, are increasingly conducted over the internet. This means we are increasingly able to be hacked and monitored…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Elon Musk and Trump’s Shadow Transition Team
Elon Musk has been down in Florida with Donald Trump, inviting his fellow rich Silicon Valley friends to stop by and weigh in on the next administration. How…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisWho Can Save the Democrats?
The hunt for the new chair of the Democratic National Committee is on and the winning candidate will be the one that party officials believe can guide…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisHow Daniel Penny Walked Free
Daniel Penny’s trial over the death of Jordan Neely hinged on the question of how and when a “reasonable person” would feel threatened. Does the jury’s…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Why United Healthcare Is Easy to Hate
Last week’s killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO prompted an outpouring of glee online. A look into UnitedHealthcare’s business practices—and the American…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisThe End of Assad in Syria
After more than a decade of civil war, Syrian rebels have toppled President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in just about a week. How was the dictator finally…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Spotify Trapped
Spotify is shaping listening habits, so much so that musicians are shaping themselves for Spotify. It makes your musical world a little more prescribed, a…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
The Influencer Administration
From Dr. Oz to RFK Jr. to Donald Trump himself—the incoming administration looks like it will be populated with pitchmen and influencers. Will anyone take…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Even Trump Loyalists Are Scared Of Kash Patel
During his first administration, Donald Trump tried naming Kash Patel as deputy director of the FBI, but members of the administration pushed back. Now with…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisMartial Law (Briefly) in South Korea
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law late Tuesday, leading South Korea’s parliament to cross barricades to convene and vote it down…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisDid Biden Break the Presidential Pardon?
How problematic is it for Joe Biden to pardon his son Hunter after promising, again and again, that he wouldn’t? Guest: Ankush Khardori, senior writer for…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisThe House’s Gift to Trump
The House already voted to pass the “The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act.” But with Donald Trump returning to the White House…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
When Your Flight’s GPS Gets Spoofed
Anyone stuck in a knotted snarl of interstate clovers knows that GPS is both important and imperfect. But if GPS fails while you’re bringing a 737 in for a…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
The Post-Election Social Media Wars
Whatever X is, it ain’t the Twitter so many users fell in love with. Since the election, Bluesky has been on the rise, but it’s still only a fraction of the…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Decoder Ring | If You Give a Mouse a Cookie…Will He Want a Welfare Check?
While the What Next team is having a holiday, take this journey with our colleagues over at Decoder Ring. What Next will be back in your feed on Monday. Adults…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisWhich Came First, the Bird Flu or the Egg?
As Thanksgiving approaches the price of eggs is spiking again. But it wasn’t just inflation this time – it was also the rising number of cases of avian flu…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisA New Strategy for Banning Abortion
The Supreme Court threw out the last attempt to ban mifepristone, the “abortion pill,” because they couldn’t figure out who in the case was being injured. Now…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisWhen Jesus Is on the Curriculum
New curriculum for Texas public schools teaches vocabulary and reading through stories from the Bible and takes a noticeably Christian point of view towards…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Is Sickle Cell Anemia…Cured?
Last May, a 12-year-old with sickle cell anemia was the first person to receive a new gene therapy to treat the disease. The process is painful, expensive, and…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
TBD | What's Google Without Chrome?
The Department of Justice has released its recommendations for how Google’s monopoly on web search should be broken up. Top of their wishlist? Spinning off…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisWhat's Google Without Chrome?
The Department of Justice has released its recommendations for how Google’s monopoly on web search should be broken up. Top of their wishlist? Spinning off…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisMass Deportation How?
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised to deport millions of “illegal immigrants.” As he prepares to return to the White House, it’s time to figure out…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisTrump’s Shadow Cabinet
Donald Trump’s picks for cabinet positions are causing a lot of rolling of eyes and gnashing of teeth. But even though they don’t have official titles or…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisWelcome to Trump City, USA
Donald Trump retook the presidency, in part, by doing much better in American cities in 2024 than ever before. Why did these urban Democratic strongholds shift…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisJamie Raskin: “We Can’t Let The Fear Paralyze Us”
Rep. Jamie Raskin led the second impeachment of Donald Trump, the effort to get him off the ballot under the 14th amendment, and campaigned to beat him at the…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
TBD | The X-odus
Since Elon Musk took over, Twitter—er, sorry “X”—has been slowly deflating. But given that soon you’ll be getting yelled at by right-wing trolls directly from…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
The X-odus
Since Elon Musk took over, Twitter—er, sorry “X”—has been slowly deflating. But given that soon you’ll be getting yelled at by right-wing trolls directly from…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
The Manosphere That Delivered Trump Back to Power
Going on Joe Rogan’s podcast didn’t fit into Kamala Harris’s last month of campaigning, which consisted of a careful diet of traditional media and specifically…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisCan SNL Meet the Moment?
People praise Saturday Night Live for its political satire…in spite of how toothless a lot of that satire is. Is the show equipped to take on Donald Trump, a…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisTrump Vs The World
What does Donald Trump’s reelection mean for the wars in Ukraine and Gaza? Guest: Fred Kaplan, Slate’s “War Stories” correspondent, author of the new novel A…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisProtecting Abortion, Electing Trump
Donald Trump’s position on abortion was opaque enough that even states that passed protections for abortion rights still voted for him by a large margin. But…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisHow to Prepare for the Worst
How are politicians and civil society leaders preparing to meet the challenges of President Trump’s second term? For starters, they’re gaming out the…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
TBD | The Polls Weren’t Wrong
Many folks were surprised at how soundly Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris in the election, especially since they thought the polls made it seem like a coin…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
The Polls Weren’t Wrong
Many folks were surprised at how soundly Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris in the election, especially since they thought the polls made it seem like a coin…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
TBD | Elon Wins
As Elon Musk channeled his considerable resources towards Donald Trump’s campaign, there was talk about what his role in the new Trump administration would be…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Elon Wins
As Elon Musk channeled his considerable resources towards Donald Trump’s campaign, there was talk about what his role in the new Trump administration would be…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisTrump 2.0
It’s not 2016 all over again. With a party now shaped in his image, and a Supreme Court that already gave him immunity, how will a vengeful Donald Trump’s…