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Despite his campaign promises, President Biden has signed off on the Willow Project, an $8 billion plan to extract 600 million barrels of oil from public lands in Alaska. But how useful might this 30-year project be with the country continually prioritizing electric energy?

Guest: Ben Lefebvre, energy reporter at Politico. 

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Using just what you’ve posted to social media, generative A.I. can create a “puppet version” of your voice—one that’s close enough to scam your family into paying thousands in, say, bail money. And imitating public officials to create “deep fakes” who say whatever they’re told is even easier. 

Guest: Pranshu Verma, tech reporter for the Washington Post.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers  dive into the drama in the banking world. They discuss the fallout of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and its subsequent government takeover. They also take some listener questions about SVB! Felix, Emily and Elizabeth also discuss Credit Suisse, and how government policy may change for banks that are “too big to fail”. 

In the Plus segment: What was it like to have an SVB bank account in the last week?

Podcast production by Anna Phillips and Patrick Fort.

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The economy is doing well almost every but in tech, where headlines about layoffs have been replaced with news about Silicon Valley Bank’s demise. The collapse of “the central artery for the tech industry” looks like the end of an era. Where do venture capitalists, start-ups—and the industry writ large—go now?

Guest: Priya Anand, reporter at Bloomberg covering venture capital and start-ups.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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David Plotz, John Dickerson, and Emily Bazelon discuss the Silicon Valley Bank bailout with David Leonhardt; Ron DeSantis coming out against aid to Ukraine; and free speech fights at elite law schools.

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:

William Saletan for The Bulwark: “The Ukraine Untruths of Disingenuous DeSantis”

Ken White for The Popehat Report: “Hating Everyone Everywhere All At Once At Stanford”

David Lat for Original Jurisdiction: “Yale Law Is No Longer #1—For Free-Speech Debacles”

Jordan Metzl for The New York Times: “Working From Home Is Less Healthy Than You Think”

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: Maurice Chammah for The Marshall Project: “The Mercy Workers”

John: OpenAI example recipe generator

David: Robyn Dixon for The Washington Post: “A Railroad Fan Photographed Putin’s Armored Train. Now He Lives In Exile.”

Listener chatter: Alex Traub for The New York Times: “Judy Heumann, Who Led the Fight for Disability Rights, Dies at 75”; Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist, by Judith Heumann; 

Crip Camp; The Power of 504, Judy's Heumann’s Ted Talk

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John discuss the health benefits and drawbacks of working from home.

Tweet us your questions and chatters @SlateGabfest or email us at [email protected]. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. 

Research by Bridgette Dunlap.

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Colleges are dropping the SAT as a requirement in their admissions process, citing studies that what the test measures best is simply how well you’ve prepared for the test. But the question at the heart of the matter remains: how do you create a fair and equitable college admissions process? And can a test-optional system help foster a more equal playing field when there’s still so much inequality built into our school systems?

Guest: Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, senior reporter at Higher Ed Dive.

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The downfall of Silicon Valley Bank marks the second largest bank collapse in American history. 

Why and how did SVBgo under? Where were the regulators? And how do we stop this from happening again?

Guest: Annie Lowery,staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of Give People Money.

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The online dating world can be brutal and repetitive—just the kind of thing you might want to automate. But, in one tech writer’s experience, artificial intelligence isn’t ready to make real connections—at least, not without a lot of help.

Guest: Heather Tal Murphy, covers business and technology at Slate

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers are joined by American Banker national editor Kevin Wack to discuss all things banking, including retail banking, why it’s so difficult to switch banks and why neobanks aren’t more successful. They also discuss the Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal.

In the Plus segment: the lead up to the Silicon Valley Bank downfall.

Podcast production by Anna Phillips and Patrick Fort.

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Just weeks before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a Nebraska woman and her daughter were charged with performing an illegal abortion, thanks to information that law enforcement uncovered by going through their Facebook accounts. 

Guest: Johana Bhuiyan, senior reporter on tech and surveillance for The Guardian

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.

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