Shows / What Next | Daily News and Analysis
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 AnalysisAmerica Can't Quit Trump
Trump has just about done it again—and the country’s largely swinging further to the right on down-ballot candidates and even some ballot initiatives. Why…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
A Shocking and Predictable Election
It’s been a strange election—Trump being shot at on stage; Biden dropping out—but also a very familiar one, with the same issues, same rhetoric, and same…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisWhat to Watch While Watching Election Results
The worst part about the election being tomorrow is knowing that we (almost definitely) won’t know the results tomorrow. Guests: Ari Berman, voting rights…
What Next | Daily News and Analysisu up? Go vote.
Voters in swing states are being subjected to constant political messages—on billboards, commercials and, increasingly, via text messages. But are dozens of…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisWhat Elon Wants From Trump
How did Elon Musk go from a poster to someone pumping millions of dollars towards Donald Trump? And what’s he hoping to get for doing so? Guest: Max Chafkin…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisSpoiler Alert: The People Policing Your Vote
They believe they are the law. They believe the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. They’re determined not to let it happen again. Meet the…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisSpoiler Alert: Almighty Omaha
It’s gone to Trump once and Biden once. Now, there’s a slight but very real chance that the entire election will turn based on how Nebraska’s second…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisSpoiler Alert: Undecided Voters
The hardest-to-reach portion of the electorate remains “undecided” at this point of the election cycle, but the outcome depends on which campaign can convince…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisSpoiler Alert: Jill Stein
In a presidential race as tight as this one, a few thousand votes—in the right states—could be the difference. Is the Green Party candidate Jill Stein set up…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisFacebook for the Dead
He didn’t find his grandfather. But traveling to, photographing, and uploading his grandfather’s memorial stone gave him something else. Guest: Tony Tran…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisCan TikTok Sway this Election?
This election cycle, TikTok has evolved into a news-and-politics delivery mechanism. Will it make a difference? Guest: Sapna Maheshwari, reporting on TikTok…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisAbortion Is on the Ballot. Republicans Have a Plan.
When put to the voters, abortion rights have been winning over stricter restrictions even in places like deeply red Kansas. But Florida Republicans are working…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisWhen It Comes to the Border, Has Trump Already Won?
Donald Trump’s most consistent policy message has been anti-immigration, but according to surveys, more than a quarter of Kamala Harris supporters also support…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisWhy Killing Sinwar Won’t End the War
Does the death of Yahya Sinwar finally make a ceasefire in Gaza possible? Guests: Jonathan Dekel-Chen, professor of Soviet and East European Jewry at the…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisShould the Menendez Brothers Be Free?
Why this closed case from 1989 is suddenly back in the news—and why the brothers may yet be freed. Guest: Brian Buckmire, ABC Legal Contributor with a segment…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisHow Secure Is Our Election?
America’s head of cybersecurity isn’t worried about the election being hacked or the results being tampered with. But this election cycle does have her worried…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisThe Elon-Trump Alliance
Elon Musk went from voting for Hillary to supporting Trump so hard that he may have broken election laws. And with Musk influencing both on X and in campaign…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisKamala’s Bid for Black Men’s Votes
Though Black voters remain a dependable bloc for the Democrats, the Trump campaign has been attempting to make in-roads with Black men. Can Kamala Harris shore…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisOverdose Deaths Are Going Down. Why?
According to a new CDC report, the number of overdoses in America is finally dropping after rising for years. What’s behind this rare good news in the ongoing…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisGambling on Elections, What Could Go Wrong?
Forget polls—are gambling websites the real way to predict politics? Guest: Nitish Pahwa, business and tech writer at Slate Want more What Next? Subscribe to…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisAn Extremely Online Hurricane Season
Misinformation in the wake of disasters isn’t new, but the media environment today—rife with A.I. images, light on moderation, and eager to point fingers—seems…
What Next | Daily News and Analysis23andMe...And a Looming Data Disaster
How did 23andMe go from the peak of the double-helix to a death spiral? And if it goes under, is all of the genetic data it collected at risk? Guest: Kristen…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
TBD | Trump’s Crypto Gurus
The crypto project “World Liberty Financial,” which was announced on X by Donald Trump, isn’t a cryptocurrency, nor a crypto-exchange, nor is it actually run…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisTrump’s Crypto Gurus
The crypto project “World Liberty Financial,” which was announced on X by Donald Trump, isn’t a cryptocurrency, nor a crypto-exchange, nor is it actually run…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisGetting Out Of Lebanon
How the State Department is evacuating Americans from Beirut—and how the war is influencing Lebanese-American voters living in a swing state. Guest: Amy…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisDiddy Was Indicted. Conspiracies Ran Wild.
The accusations against Sean “Diddy” Combs have grown in both number and grimness. Is this the music industry’s moment of reckoning? Guest: Nadira Goffe…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
The Supreme Court’s Back. Uh Oh.
The Supreme Court term’s kicked off this week, and the cases in front of the nine justices could reshape American life in public, at home, and in the doctor’s…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
October 7th, One Year Later
A year after the initial Hamas attack on Israel, tens of thousands are dead, bombs are still falling, a regional war is expanding, and there’s no end in sight…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisA.I. Goes Nuclear
Decades ago, Three Mile Island was shut down after a near catastrophic nuclear meltdown. So why is Microsoft paying over a billion dollars to open it back up?…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisHelene Proves Nowhere is Safe
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the idea of a climate haven has been upended. And as the climate change gets worse every year, fewer places will be safe…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisExperts Feared a Wider War. It's Finally Here
With Israel sending airstrikes on Lebanon and deflecting missiles from Iran, the war has become what experts feared: a regional conflict. How much more will…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisVance and Walz Debate
The second, and likely final, debate of this presidential election was between JD Vance and Tim Walz, two Midwestern men with two very different visions of…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisHow To Debate JD Vance, From His Last Opponent
How Tim Ryan looks back on debating JD Vance in the 2022 Ohio Senate race—and how he would coach Tim Walz to win. Guest: Tim Ryan, former representative from…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisWill Eric Adams Cost the Dems the House?
The federal indictment of Eric Adams is just the latest in a long line of embarrassing blow-ups, scandals, and unforced errors by the New York Democrats. Can…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisAmerican Life is a Highway
America is caught in a vicious cycle of trying to alleviate traffic by expanding and building more highways, only for them to clog right up with more cars. How…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisBonus: The Surge | Indicted for Swagger
A throwback week in politics finds New York’s Boss Tweed of Swagger in trouble, a Republican bucking the party line for his constituents and a name Democrats…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisBig Tech Fears Her
Over the last decade, the European Union has been the vanguard regulating Big Tech, and the push has been led by Margrethe Vestager. As she steps down…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisWill North Carolina Pick The President?
Winning North Carolina would make Kamala Harris’s path to the White House much easier. And to judge from the huge campaign push, Democrats think the state is…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisWhy More Democrats Are Buying Guns
Why are more liberals taking up arms? And how could the trend change the conversation about guns in America? Guest: Cameron McWhirter, national affairs…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisThe New Rules of Campus Protest
How universities and colleges are trying to keep student protests under control—or embracing a raucously political campus. Guests: Sophie Hurwitz, politics and…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisWhat Was The Point of Israel’s Pager Attack?
What message was Israel sending to Hezbollah, its backers, and the population of Lebanon, by blowing up pagers and walkie-talkies last week? And does the…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisTrump Called. Laura Loomer Answered.
Given Laura Loomer’s history of saying outright offensive and often bewildering things, how did she get into the Trump campaign’s inner circle? Guest: Ken…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisBonus: The Surge | 45 Days from Election Day
It’s just 45 days until election day—and the polls are telling us…a little bit of everything. In our first Slate Plus exclusive crossover, Mary sits down with…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Can Instagram Really Keep Kids Safe?
Instagram’s new default privacy settings for teenagers are designed to keep kids safe from strangers online. It’s a worthy endeavor, but are privacy settings…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisInside Israel’s October 7th Tourism
Scores of Jews from around the world are visiting Israel to tour the grounds of the Nova music festival and burned out kibbutzim, bearing witness and…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisThe View from Springfield, Ohio
The story of Springfield, Ohio—as told by the people who live there—is nothing like the one heard from the debate stage. Guest: Aymann Ismail, Slate staff…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisWhen Cops Police Your Vote
Law enforcement units looking to prevent voter fraud are popping up from Texas to Virginia—but are they trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist—or simply…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisThe Kamala Endorsement (Taylor’s Version)
When Taylor Swift stated she was voting for Kamala Harris, a large segment of Swifties breathed a sigh of relief. How did Swift’s politics become so…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisIs Boeing Lost in Space?
Boeing’s Starliner has now landed successfully—but Butch and Sunny weren’t on it. With a pair of astronauts still stuck on the ISS, when will NASA be ready to…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
TikTok Goes to Court
The law has been passed and signed by the president: TikTok’s parent company must sell or divest from the app. But that’s not happening without a legal fight…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisThe Pandemic Lessons We’ve Forgotten
Rather than coming out of the pandemic with a new toolkit of public health measures or even personal habits, the response to this summer’s long wave of COVID…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisTrump and Harris, Head to Head
How did the first debate—with these particular candidates—go? Were minds changed? Guest: David Faris, politics professor at Roosevelt University and a…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisHer Sister Died in 9-11. She Almost Got Justice.
After 12 years of “pretrial proceedings,” and 23 years after the crime in question, prosecutors announced that a plea deal had been reached with Khalid Shaikh…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisShould Parents Face Charges for Kids’ Crimes?
After the school shooting in Georgia last week, charges were brought against the 14-year-old alleged gunman—and also against his father. Who’s really…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisThe Misguided Buzz About Mosquitoes
An outbreak of eastern equine encephalitis in the northeast made headlines, but as far as mosquito-borne illnesses go, EEE is serious but still rare. What’s…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisUS v. Google… Again
A month after a federal judge declared that Google was operating as a monopoly because of its search engine, the Justice Department has alleged that Google’s…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisWho—and Why—Israelis Are Protesting
Will the deaths of six hostages mark a turning point in how Israelis view the war in Gaza—and how Netanyahu’s government is conducting it? Guest: Yair…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisCould Arlington Cost Trump Military Votes?
How much do military voters and their families care about Trump attempting a campaign stop at Arlington National Cemetery? Guest: Leo Shane III, deputy editor…
What Next | Daily News and AnalysisWhy Shein and Temu Are At War
Can fast-fashion giant Shein go public while fending off accusations of bad labor practices, the US government, and a back-and-forth war with newcomer Temu?…
- What Next | Daily News and Analysis
How To Put a Toxic Job Behind You
While the What Next team enjoys the holiday, we’re proud to feature this episode from our colleagues at How To. When Elle started a new career as a therapist…