This episode originally aired in July 2021.

Last year, North Americans saw record-breaking heat, droughts, wildfires, and floods. The science is clear: we are living through the effects of climate change. Now scientists are trying to answer: is this the new normal?

Guest: Daniel Swain, climate scientist at UCLA 
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From the Vault: It's Hot. It's Flooding. Is This the New Normal?

Every Friday and Sunday, Slate’s popular daily news podcast What Next brings you TBD, a clear-eyed look into the future. From fake news to fake meat, algorithms to augmented reality, Lizzie O’Leary is your guide to the tech industry and the world it’s creating for us to live in.

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News

How the semi-legalization of marijuana has drawn a road map for legalizing psychedelics—and also provided a list of pitfalls to be avoided. 

Guest: Jane C. Hu, science journalist and author of the newsletter The Microdose.

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Is America Ready for Legal Psychedelics?

Why lately our search engines just don’t seem to deliver results. 

Guest: Jason Koebler, cofounder of 404 Media and co-host of the 404 Media Podcast. 

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Does Google Suck Now?

The demand for electricity is surging in the U.S. With increasing amounts of power going towards artificial intelligence, manufacturing and electric vehicles, can the grid keep up?

Guest: Evan Halper, business reporter covering the energy transition for the Washington Post

Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.
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America Needs More Power

Donald Trump got a huge financial boost when Truth Social went public last week—or did he?

Guest: Nitish Pahwa, associate writer on business and tech for Slate.

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Truth Social’s Rocky Week

From science fiction writers to American presidents to Elon Musk, everyone’s eager to send people to Mars. But, even if you could nail the physical aspects, are Earthlings cut out for life on Mars mentally? 

Guest: Nathaniel Rich, contributing writer for New York Times magazine. 
Kate Greene, author and poet

Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.
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From the Vault: It's Hot. It's Flooding. Is This the New Normal?

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