In August, California regulators voted to allow self-driving car companies like Cruise and Waymo to expand their operations and start offering robotaxi services. 2 months later, after a litany of mistakes, Cruise is pulling all of its driverless cars off the road.

Is this an existential threat to the entire AV industry?

Guest: David Zipper, visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School

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Self-Driving Cars Crash Into Reality

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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The TikTok ban that has been floating around Washington since the last administration has been signed into law. What does that mean for users, creators and the court battles ahead?

Guest: 
Louise Matsakis, reporter covering tech and China.
Dillon White, TikToker under the handle @dadchats

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So ... Is TikTok Banned?

From the Wayback Machine to the mass-digitization of the history of Aruba, the Internet Archive is a non-profit doing valuable work. But some of its other projects—a pandemic-era lending library and the ongoing digitalization of 78 rpm records—have led to lawsuits now threatening the future of this repository of the past. 

Guest: Kate Knibbs, senior writer at Wired.

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The Internet Archive Endangered

Tesla’s market cap has dropped. The company had its biggest round of layoffs ever. The Cybertruck doesn’t seem to be taking off. And Elon’s posting through it. Is Tesla in serious trouble?

Guest: Dana Hull, Bloomberg reporter and contributor to the podcast Elon, Inc.  

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What’s Driving Tesla’s Layoffs?

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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Self-Driving Cars Crash Into Reality

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