What Next | Daily News and Analysis

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What's What Next | Daily News and Analysis about?

A smart round-up of the biggest stories of the day. When the news feels overwhelming, we’re here to help you answer: What next? Look for the show every weekday afternoon.

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Why Liz Cheney Had to Go

05.12.2021

Does the looming ouster of a devoted Trump critic from House GOP leadership mean the party remains in thrall to the former president? Or does it just mean that Republican political leaders don’t want to keep talking about him? Guest: ...

What Next | Daily News and Analysis episodes:

05.12.2021 Why Liz Cheney Had to Go Does the looming ouster of a devoted Trump critic from House GOP leadership mean the party remains in thrall to the former president? Or does it just mean that Republican political leaders don’t want to keep talking about him? Guest: ...
05.11.2021 Arizona’s Bonkers Recount A complete recount of ballots from the 2020 election is underway in Maricopa County, where Arizona Senate Republicans still question the results of the general election. There’s no timeline or budget for the manual audit, and election experts say this ...
05.10.2021 I Was a Teenager in a Syrian Prison Omar Alshogre survived years of detainment in Syria when he was just a teenager. Now, he’s in the U.S. and is telling his story of survival so you don’t look away. Guest: Omar Alshogre, a Georgetown Student and the Director ...
05.07.2021 TBD \| Oversight Board to Facebook: Nice Try The question of Donald Trump’s banned account--to keep it blocked, or reinstate it--is one of the toughest that Facebook has ever faced. But the social network had a plan: punt the decision to its newly minted Oversight Board, a semi-independent ...
05.06.2021 The Gates Divorce Divorces aren’t usually major news events. But in the case of Bill and Melinda Gates, the state of their union is in the public interest. For the last 20 years, the two have led one of the most influential philanthropic ...
05.05.2021 Going After the Opioid Middlemen West Virginia was - and still is - decimated by the opioid addiction crisis. Now, one county is fighting to hold drug distributors accountable and get treatment for its residents. Guest: Eric Eyer, senior investigative reporter at Mountain State Spotlight. ...
05.04.2021 What Sex Workers Want Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance recently announced the end to prosecuting some charges related to sex work, following decisions in other New York City boroughs. But is this policy shift something sex workers actually want? And does it go far ...
05.03.2021 How Will the Recall of Gavin Newsom End? California Governor Gavin Newsom faces a newly-qualified recall petition, with 1.6 million people saying they want to see an election held over whether the governor should be replaced. But the anger that motivated so many of those signatures now seems ...
04.30.2021 TBD \| Tim Apple vs. Mark Facebook There was a time—back when Steve Jobs ran Apple and Mark Zuckerberg was in his early days as Facebook’s CEO— that Apple and Facebook were friends.. Or, at worst, frenemies. But as the companies grew, so did two competing views ...
04.29.2021 Inside India’s COVID Wards India started 2021 with government officials repeatedly declaring victory over COVID-19. But the virus has overrun hospitals and crematoriums, in part due to massive gatherings and a slow vaccination rollout. Guest: Chahat Rana, health reporting fellow at The Caravan magazine. ...
04.28.2021 A Better Way to Talk About Gun Violence The national conversation about gun violence in America almost always focuses on mass shootings -- but these events tend to overshadow the more day-to-day violence that makes up the bulk of gun deaths in the U.S. What would our policy ...
04.27.2021 The Invasion of Lake Tahoe Tech workers from the Bay Area happily left their expensive apartments for Lake Tahoe during the pandemic, hoping to get some fresh air and a change of scenery. Towns around the lake soon became "Zoom-towns" -- areas where remote workers ...
04.26.2021 The Case for Going Maskless Outdoors Masks are crucial to stopping the spread of COVID-19, especially indoors and during prolonged close contact. But after a year of the pandemic, evidence is growing that it’s time to rethink rules on wearing masks outdoors. Guest: Shannon Palus, senior ...
04.23.2021 TBD \| What's Causing the Tesla Crashes? Last week, a Tesla Model S crashed into a tree in a neighborhood north of Houston. Both men inside the car were killed. But according to police, neither of them was in the driver’s seat. This is not the first ...
04.22.2021 Patriot or Outcast? The country remains divided over the January 6th Capitol riot. The division is reflected in voter surveys, news coverage, and millions of social media posts. But the tension is also on display in small, idiosyncratic communities who realized some of ...
04.21.2021 The Chauvin Verdict After just 10 hours of deliberation, jurors found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty in the murder of George Floyd. This is what happened inside the courtroom and out on the streets. Guests: Jon Collins, criminal justice reporter at ...
04.20.2021 The Putin Problem The Biden administration is under no illusions that Russia President Vladimir Putin can be a willing partner of the U.S. But what tools remain to check Putin’s ambitions? Guest: Josh Keating, senior editor at Slate and the author of Invisible ...
04.19.2021 Fear and Paranoia in American Policing What makes a police officer shoot when a suspect’s hands are up? To understand this, it helps to examine police training, and the predominant lesson that many young officers receive: Any encounter could be your last. Guest: Michael Sierra-Arévalo, assistant ...
04.16.2021 TBD \| Seduced by Substack Like countless venture-funded start-ups before it, Substack is “disrupting” the media industry. The newsletter service is siphoning off high-profile talent with a promise of independence and bigger paychecks. But the platform’s influence might reach far beyond the media. Will Substack ...
04.15.2021 The Confusion Over Johnson & Johnson Federal officials have recommended halting distribution of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, citing rare but potentially severe blood clots. Now, health officials are trying to find out whether or not the clots are connected to the vaccine, creating confusion ...
04.14.2021 How Republicans Weaponized Cancel Culture Republicans are smart to lean in on “cancel culture” as a campaign issue to unite voters. Dan Pfeiffer of Pod Save America says Democrats have the power to make that a losing strategy for the GOP. Guest: Dan Pfeiffer, co-host ...
04.13.2021 The Lab Leak Theory How one theory about COVID-19’s origins went from the fringes to the mainstream -- and why it just might be plausible. Guest: Alina Chan, postdoctoral fellow at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Slate Plus members get bonus segments ...
04.12.2021 What's Different About the Chauvin Trial As Derek Chauvin stands trial for the murder of George Floyd, prosecutors are determined to show the justice system is going to work in this case. Beyond the courtroom, the future of Minneapolis’s relationship with its police department is an ...
04.09.2021 TBD \| The Rise of the Therapy Apps Since the start of the pandemic, usage of apps like BetterHelp and Talkspace has skyrocketed. These apps might make mental health care more accessible, but are the products they sell really the same as therapy? Guest: Molly Fischer, features writer ...
04.08.2021 One Man’s Mission to Protect Chinatown In February 2020, Karlin Chan began a group called the Chinatown Block Watch to patrol his New York City neighborhood and act as a “visual deterrent” to anti-Asian attacks. One year and one pandemic later, Chan’s Block Watch is still ...
04.07.2021 How Worried to Be About Michigan Michigan is currently home to 13 of the worst performing metro areas when it comes to the coronavirus. They recently surpassed 10,000 new cases and their curve has “gone vertical”. With vaccine distribution ramping up across the country, is the ...
04.06.2021 Biden’s Big Swing Last week, President Biden rolled out an ambitious infrastructure plan that relies on increased taxes on corporations to fund big changes to America’s infrastructure. His plan goes beyond putting pavement on the ground, and lays out a different vision for ...
04.05.2021 The Bizarre Origin Story of the Gaetz Scandal Last week, The New York Times reported that Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz was under investigation by the Justice Department over his relationships with women recruited online for sex, and whether he had sex with a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz gained national ...
04.02.2021 TBD \| The Fight Over Vaccine Passports There are at least 17 different “vaccine passport” initiatives underway in the United States. And leaked documents reveal that the Biden administration fears that “a chaotic and ineffective vaccine credential approach could hamper our pandemic response by undercutting health safety ...
04.01.2021 LA’s Housing Crisis Hits A Boiling Point Los Angeles’s Echo Park Lake is home to swan boats, running trails and space for members of it’s rapidly gentrifying community to gather during the pandemic. Up until last week, it was also home to over 100 people living in ...
03.31.2021 The Wedge Issue of Republicans’ Dreams Most kids in the country aren’t back to school in any way we’d recognize as normal. Republicans have noticed. Now, they’re launching a few trial balloons this year to see if “reopen the schools” can become their next winning campaign ...
03.30.2021 Can a Highway Be Racist? Houston residents and elected officials are trying to stop the largest urban highway project of their lifetimes -- one that would clear out more than 1,000 homes in primarily Black and Latin neighborhoods and, they say, introduce additional flooding and ...
03.29.2021 Should Florida Cancel Spring Break? Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has become a Republican celebrity for his notably lax coronavirus policies, keeping the state mostly open during the pandemic. But in Miami Beach, tourists are using the lack of restrictions to their advantage, exposing the difficulty ...
03.26.2021 TBD \| The AstraZeneca Saga Back in April 2020, AstraZeneca was hailed as a frontrunner in the race to get an effective vaccine to market. A year later, after a series of trial pauses, communication blunders, and PR problems, the vaccine is on the cusp ...
03.25.2021 One Colorado Man’s Crusade Against Gun Violence Colorado Rep. Tom Sullivan counts the number of Fridays since his son was killed in the Aurora theater shooting in 2012. The latest mass shooting in Boulder, which left 10 people dead, was yet another reason Sullivan says he’s continuing ...
03.24.2021 Migrant Families Are Still Being Separated After four years of President Trump’s harsh immigration policies, many advocates for Central American migrants welcomed a change in administration. But after two months in office, President Biden has given a clear message to people arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border: ...
03.23.2021 One Month Without Water Residents of Jackson, Mississippi, were left without water for weeks after a deep freeze hit the south, bursting pipes and forcing people to rely on bottled or collected rain water. But even though the water is back on, Jackson’s next ...
03.22.2021 Why Don’t We Know More About the Atlanta Victims? On March 16, a white gunman killed eight people - six of them Asian-American women - during shootings at three different spas in Georgia. The shooter claims he was driven by a “sex addiction,” but his actions fall into a ...
03.19.2021 TBD \| Hate, Lies, and AI Facebook’s failure to contain the spread of dangerous misinformation is no secret. For years, the company has pledged publicly to fix the problem. But in the wake of the Capitol riots, it’s clear that there’s more work to be done. ...
03.18.2021 Why Cuomo Won’t Resign New York Governor Andrew Cuomo faces calls to resign over accusations of sexual harassment and allowing a toxic workplace culture to persist. But to the people who know him best, it’s unlikely the governor will ever bow to those demands. ...
03.17.2021 Our Year: Emergency Mode Can’t Last Forever The COVID-19 pandemic exposed crucial gaps in the public health system, including the government’s inability to gather data quickly and accurately. After a year of lockdowns and isolation, a return to life resembling normalcy is in sight, but how will ...
03.16.2021 Our Year: 1 Out of 530,000 When it comes to the past year, we’ve all lost something -- or someone. Time with friends and family. A job. A loved one. But when we think about the 530,000 people in the U.S. who died because of COVID-19, ...
03.15.2021 Our Year: Who's “Essential” Now? When the coronavirus pandemic shut down cities across the U.S. and forced many people to work from home, others deemed “essential” still had to show up for their jobs. A year later, the gap between the need for essential workers ...
03.12.2021 TBD \| Does Google Actually Want to Hire Black Engineers? Back in 2014, Google released in-depth diversity data for its workforce for the first time. 1.1 percent of its tech team identified as Black. Six years later, after millions of dollars spent and a much-hyped partnership program with historically Black ...
03.11.2021 The Fight to Reopen Schools in Memphis Why did schools stay closed for so long in Memphis? And why weren’t parents clamoring for them to reopen? To answer those questions, you have to tell a longer story about the relationship between a majority-Black, Democratically-controlled city and a ...
03.10.2021 White, Republican, and Vaccine Skeptical Nearly a third of republican voters say they’re not interested in getting a COVID-19 vaccine. What does that mean for the spread of the virus? Guest: Dan Diamond, national health reporter for the Washington Post. Slate Plus members get bonus ...
03.09.2021 Who Gets to Work on Capitol Hill? The 117th U.S. Congress is the most diverse ever. But that distinction does not extend to senior staff on the Hill. How does the makeup of Congressional staff influence legislation? Guest: Maya King, author of Politico’s Recast newsletter on how ...
03.08.2021 Derek Chauvin on Trial George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police last year sparked an international protest movement and amplified calls for police accountability. Now, as the former police officer Derek Chauvin goes on trial, Minneapolis is preparing for another public reckoning. ...
03.05.2021 TBD \| The Failing Lifeline for Low-Income Americans The federal Lifeline program was intended to bridge the gap between Americans who could comfortably pay for phone and internet service, and those who couldn’t. But in the midst of the pandemic, Lifeline is falling woefully short. How did a ...
03.04.2021 Good Luck Voting in Georgia Next Election After Joe Biden’s surprising win in Georgia, Republicans in the state started in on legislation to limit voting access in the state. Their efforts mirror what’s happening in state houses across the country. Is there any way to slow down ...

Older episodes

What Next | Daily News and Analysis

What's What Next | Daily News and Analysis about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

What Next | Daily News and Analysis episodes:

Why Liz Cheney Had to Go

Arizona’s Bonkers Recount

I Was a Teenager in a Syrian Prison

TBD | Oversight Board to Facebook: Nice Try

The Gates Divorce

Going After the Opioid Middlemen

What Sex Workers Want

How Will the Recall of Gavin Newsom End?

TBD | Tim Apple vs. Mark Facebook

Inside India’s COVID Wards

A Better Way to Talk About Gun Violence

The Invasion of Lake Tahoe

The Case for Going Maskless Outdoors

TBD | What's Causing the Tesla Crashes?

Patriot or Outcast?

The Chauvin Verdict

The Putin Problem

Fear and Paranoia in American Policing

TBD | Seduced by Substack

The Confusion Over Johnson & Johnson

How Republicans Weaponized Cancel Culture

The Lab Leak Theory

What's Different About the Chauvin Trial

TBD | The Rise of the Therapy Apps

One Man’s Mission to Protect Chinatown

How Worried to Be About Michigan

Biden’s Big Swing

The Bizarre Origin Story of the Gaetz Scandal

TBD | The Fight Over Vaccine Passports

LA’s Housing Crisis Hits A Boiling Point

The Wedge Issue of Republicans’ Dreams

Can a Highway Be Racist?

Should Florida Cancel Spring Break?

TBD | The AstraZeneca Saga

One Colorado Man’s Crusade Against Gun Violence

Migrant Families Are Still Being Separated

One Month Without Water

Why Don’t We Know More About the Atlanta Victims?

TBD | Hate, Lies, and AI

Why Cuomo Won’t Resign

Our Year: Emergency Mode Can’t Last Forever

Our Year: 1 Out of 530,000

Our Year: Who's “Essential” Now?

TBD | Does Google Actually Want to Hire Black Engineers?

The Fight to Reopen Schools in Memphis

White, Republican, and Vaccine Skeptical

Who Gets to Work on Capitol Hill?

Derek Chauvin on Trial

TBD | The Failing Lifeline for Low-Income Americans

Good Luck Voting in Georgia Next Election

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