What Next | Daily News and Analysis

By Slate Podcasts

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

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.

4.5

1,818 ratings

Download our free app to listen on your phone

LAST EPISODE

March Madness Comes to Capi...

03.29.2023

Two years ago, the NCAA changed their rules to allow college athletes to make money from their “name, image and likeness.” It was a stop-gap measure at best, and some folks even want to see athletes gain employee status. But, ...

What Next | Daily News and Analysis episodes:

03.29.2023 March Madness Comes to Capitol Hill Two years ago, the NCAA changed their rules to allow college athletes to make money from their “name, image and likeness.” It was a stop-gap measure at best, and some folks even want to see athletes gain employee status. But, ...
03.28.2023 Why Israelis Are Protesting Israel ground to a halt on Monday after a series of massive protests against planned judicial reforms. Though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the reforms will be delayed, getting them passed is a top priority for his far-right coalition government. ...
03.27.2023 Will Crime Decide Chicago’s Mayoral Race? In Chicago, a city plagued by recent crime concerns from its citizens, a progressive former Teachers Union organizer faces an opponent who has described himself in the past as “more of a Republican than a Democrat.” Guest: Gregory Pratt, Chicago ...
03.26.2023 TBD \| Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Woes Elon Musk has been promising fully self-driving Teslas to the public for years and the beta version of Full Self-Driving is already in over 300,000 cars. But as a recent recall attests, the software still isn’t ready to take the ...
03.24.2023 TBD \| The Case Against TikTok To most of its 150 million American consumers, TikTok is a fun app. To some creators, TikTok is a job and their platform. But to members of the US government, TikTok is a national security risk. As the fight over ...
03.23.2023 Why Biden Broke his Promise on Drilling 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 ...
03.22.2023 Why Is Adderall So Hard to Find? Since last summer, it’s been difficult to fill an Adderall prescription. The shortage is driving some people to try other ADHD medications—causing shortages of those medications too—while others are sourcing their medication on the “gray market.” Why is such a ...
03.21.2023 Atlanta's Battle Over "Cop City" The Atlanta Police Foundation’s $90 million police training facility, a mock-urban space with a nightclub, convenience store, and even homes, has drawn the ire of police reform activists, environmentalists, and even advocates for the homeless. The months-long effort by forest-dwelling ...
03.20.2023 Could Trump Be Arrested Over Stormy Daniels? This weekend, former President Trump warned supporters on Truth Social he could be arrested on Tuesday, and called for them to “TAKE OUR NATION BACK!” Although it’s unclear whether Trump is facing imminent arrest, many observers believe legal proceedings focused ...
03.19.2023 TBD \| When A.I. Steals Your Voice 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” ...
03.17.2023 TBD: Where Is Silicon Valley Going to Bank Now? 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 ...
03.16.2023 Is the SAT Done For? 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 ...
03.15.2023 Why Silicon Valley Bank Collapsed 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 ...
03.14.2023 How Anti-Trans Legislation Cost Rural South Dakota a Doctor South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has made anti-trans legislation a trademark of her term, but singling out trans people—and those who provide them medical care—comes at a cost to the state and its residents. It left the tiny rural town ...
03.13.2023 A Disability Rights Icon’s Long Legacy Judy Heumann devoted her life to advocating for Americans with disabilities and was a fixture at protests, sit-ins, and activist meetings, eventually becoming a presidential advisor. After passing away at 75, her work continues through her friends and those she ...
03.12.2023 TBD \| Would You Let A.I. Date For You? 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: ...
03.10.2023 TBD \| When Meta Tells Law Enforcement About Your Abortion 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 ...
03.09.2023 Does Steven Spielberg Have an Oscars Curse? For all of his success, Steven Spielberg has a spotty record at the Oscars. He’s been nominated 22 times, but he’s only won three. Is it a curse? This Sunday could mark a shift for the King of Hollywood’s five ...
03.08.2023 Why Child Labor is an Immigration Issue The New York Times published an exposé on immigrant children illegally employed to do dangerous jobs across the country. To one U.S. representative, it’s not just a labor issue; it’s symptomatic of the larger problems in the immigration system. Fixing ...
03.07.2023 Food Stamps Face Their Biggest-Ever Cut The federal government ended the COVID-19 increase to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program this month. What does this mean for people who depend on SNAP to put food on the table? Guests: Helena Bottemiller Evich, reporter and founder of Food ...
03.06.2023 The Fight To Return Native Remains to Their Tribes The “Native American Graves and Repatriation Act” passed more than 30 years ago, with the goal of returning human remains, which were taken from native burial sites, back to their tribes. But museums and universities still hold the remains of ...
03.05.2023 TBD \| The Hollywood Weight Loss Wonder Drug The diabetes medication Ozempic has exploded in popularity, particularly amongst those in Hollywood looking to lose a few extra pounds. But a silver bullet for weight loss leads to a number of questions: Is “buying weight loss” via injection somehow ...
03.03.2023 TBD \| What Would Convince a Lab Leak Skeptic? It was reported this week that the U.S. Department of Energy now believes, “with low confidence,” that the COVID-19 virus came from a lab. But is there enough evidence for the “lab leak theory” to convince those who believe the ...
03.02.2023 Will SCOTUS Kill Student Loan Relief? President Biden’s student loan debt relief plan goes before the Supreme Court this week. Though the court’s conservative majority seems opposed to the program, debt-relief detractors are struggling to answer a major question: who does this program harm? Guests: Mark ...
03.01.2023 Why Insulin Prices Keep Rising It’s a rare bi-partisan point of agreement: the price of insulin is too high—and it’s still rising. With the stakes literally life-or-death for millions of Americans, what can be done? Guest: Bram Sable-Smith, Midwest correspondent for Kaiser Health News. If ...
02.28.2023 When Politicians Need Mental Healthcare When John Fetterman checked himself into a hospital for clinical depression in mid-February, he was praised by both parties and public health officials for his bravery. But not long ago, being diagnosed with depression or taking time for your mental ...
02.27.2023 Beijing’s Crackdown on Hong Kong Dissidents When Beijing passed a new law that harshly penalized protests in Hong Kong, activists and dissident groups had to choose whether to shut down or get out. Now, 47 pro-democracy activists are facing charges and likely prison time, and a ...
02.26.2023 TBD \| Is a 25-Year-Old’s Brain Mature? New understandings of how our brains develop are changing how the law considers who is mature and who isn’t. But If our brains are still developing, when can the law treat us like adults? Guest: Jane C. Hu, independent science ...
02.24.2023 TBD \| Why A.I. Says the Darndest Things Microsoft has been testing out their new artificial intelligence on their long-ridiculed search engine Bing. The results? A chatbot that lies brazenly and confidently, and has a penchant for manipulation. What are the risks and rewards of letting bots loose ...
02.23.2023 Ukraine’s War Is Its New Normal The sound of air raid sirens in Kyiv are almost comforting to one Ukrainian journalist—it means the air defense system still works. But even with the Russians running low on weaponry, he doesn’t see how the war ends while Vladimir ...
02.22.2023 When an Earthquake Hits a Civil War How getting recovery aid and assistance to Turkey and northern Syria has been complicated by on-going aftershocks from the earthquake and the reverberations of the Syrian civil war. Guests: Louisa Loveluck, Baghdad bureau chief for the Washington Post. Dr. Ahmad ...
02.21.2023 The Ohio Trainwreck Blame Game How a derailed train and the dark cloud of chemical burn off over East Palestine, Ohio, came to confirm everything you think is wrong with everything. Guest: Ben Mathis-Lilley, Slate staff writer If you enjoy this show, please consider signing ...
02.20.2023 Amicus: The “Stop the Steal” Fight That Never Ended Enjoy this episode of Slate's Amicus, while the What Next team enjoys the holiday. Wisconsin’s State Supreme Court heard one of the landmark cases of the 2020 presidential election. During oral arguments in Trump v Biden in December 2020, Justice ...
02.19.2023 TBD \| The Baby-Sleep Industrial Complex The tech-laden, luxury bassinet “Snoo” has been presented as preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, helping babies sleep longer, and a totally reasonable way to spend $1,700. Is any of that true? Guest: Kate Taylor, senior features correspondent for Business Insider ...
02.17.2023 TBD \| What Made the Balloon Drama Pop Off? Come to think of it, a giant balloon seems like a pretty conspicuous way to spy on another country. So what was that Chinese spy balloon doing above the U.S.—and what have American planes been shooting down since? Guest: Shane ...
02.16.2023 Will Abortion Pills Be Banned? A judge in north Texas is considering a lawsuit that could make access to abortion pills more difficult across the country. While anti-abortion activists can point to a string of recent successes, the existence of another, widely-used abortion medication would ...
02.15.2023 Is Nikki Haley the GOP’s Future? Former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador Nikki Haley announced that she is running to be president in 2024—challenging Donald Trump for the Republican nomination. How will she define herself in contrast to the former president—her former boss—without losing his ...
02.14.2023 Why the West Bank Is at a Boiling Point With hard-right, pro-settler representatives in the Israeli government, and the Palestinian Authority losing credibility with Palestinians, illegal settlements in the West Bank have become flashpoints in the ever-present yet still-escalating tension in the region. Guest: Yair Rosenberg, staff writer at ...
02.13.2023 The Mass Shooter Database Why does someone become a mass shooter? Researchers are interviewing perpetrators and their victims—and those who narrowly averted committing a mass shooting—and discovering a common thread of psychological despair. Can their work be applied to the prevention of future violence? ...
02.12.2023 TBD \| Contraband Tech Behind Bars It’s hard to put a number on it but judging from the number of videos emerging online, there are more and more contraband cell phones finding their way into the hands of people in prison, who use them to record ...
02.10.2023 TBD \| Why Ban TikTok? TikTok was banned on government agency devices in December; several schools and universities have banned it on their devices and wifi networks, and the governor of Texas unveiled a plan to ban it in the state. Can “Project Texas” stem ...
02.09.2023 How Florida’s School Censorship Spreads Governor Ron DeSantis canceling the rollout of AP African-American Studies course in Florida is more than just another salvo in the culture war. It has implications across public education, across the country—and its chilling effect is already evident. Guests: Jeremy ...
02.08.2023 The Russian “Collaborators” For Ukrainians who remained behind when the war began, choices made in the fog of occupation come under scrutiny when the invading army leaves, and neighbors once divided by the Russians again must live side by side. Guest: Joshua Yaffa, ...
02.07.2023 His Son Died in Uvalde. He’s Still Fighting. Immediately following a mass shooting, public officials will say that “now is not the time” to discuss what changes—for example, making it more difficult to get an assault weapon—could have prevented the shooting, yet once the media cycle moves on, ...
02.06.2023 Georgia Takes on Trump A special grand jury in Georgia may soon announce whether Donald Trump will face criminal charges, including racketeering, for a phone call to Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger following the 2020 election. Guest: Tamar Hallerman, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's lead ...
02.05.2023 TBD \| Did a Twentysomething Con America’s Biggest Bank? JP Morgan Chase is getting an education on FAFSA and financial aid–which would’ve been helpful before they acquired a now, quite dubious seeming start-up. Guest: Ron Lieber, New York Times journalist, author of the “Your Money” column. Host: Lizzie O’Leary ...
02.03.2023 TBD \| How COVID Changes Our Immune Systems Last fall it seemed like everyone got sick—not just with COVID, but from a slew of respiratory diseases, from the mild to the severe. Researchers are trying to untangle how our immune systems have changed in the COVID era, and ...
02.02.2023 The Plot Against Pope Francis Not all of the Cardinals who elected Pope Francis are pleased with the changes he’s made, or his vision for where the Catholic Church goes next. Both the 86-year-old Francis and his detractors are preparing for his successor. Who’ll prevail? ...
02.01.2023 The Hysteria Over D.C.’s New Crime Bill The Revised Criminal Code Act is a major overhaul to D.C.’s criminal code that critics say will clog the courts with low-level crimes and fill the streets with criminals. Slate’s legal expert doesn’t see the data to support any of ...
01.31.2023 From Rodney King to Tyre Nichols The video of Tyre Nichols being fatally beaten by Memphis police officers was made public on Friday. How does this latest high-profile incident of police brutality echo the killing of George Floyd or the beating of Rodney King? And 30 ...

Older episodes