What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future

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What's What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future about?

Every Friday, 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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Did a Twentysomething Con A...

02.05.2023

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 ...

What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future episodes:

02.05.2023 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 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 ...
01.29.2023 Did A.I. Write This Headline? The proliferation of chatbots and A.I.-generated art has consumers and tech companies alike convinced that artificial intelligence is ready to be integrated into consumer electronics, products, homes, and across industry. In fact, it’s already in progress. What’s the worst that ...
01.27.2023 Will Google Get Broken Up? The U.S. Department of Justice announced this week that it is suing Google over its ad technology. What do they contend Google has been doing? And does this mean Alphabet is headed for a Bell Telecom-style bust-up? Guest: Leah Nylen, ...
01.22.2023 Does Meta Even Care When Its Users Get Hacked? It can feel very personal to have your Facebook or Instagram page hacked—they’re your pictures and your friends after all. But Meta, the social media parent company, handles hacks with anything but a personal touch. Guest: Kirstin Grind, investigative reporter ...
01.20.2023 An Antivax Dog Whistle Goes Viral The idea that COVID-19 vaccines are linked to sudden deaths among young people has no scientific support, but the theory nevertheless has a lot of traction on social media. How can public health officials educate the public—especially on subject like ...
01.15.2023 Tesla’s No Good, Very Bad Year Elon Musk was promising an “epic” Q4 at Tesla last year. But 2022 ended closer to what might be considered an “epic fail,” with the stock price down 65 percent. In an uncertain economic environment like this one, how much ...
01.13.2023 Why the Feds Want to Kill Noncompetes You might think of noncompete agreements as mostly limited to highly skilled, highly paid tech workers to protect trade secrets. But one-third of workers bound by noncompetes make $13/hour or less: fast-food workers, security guards, and the like. Noncompete clauses ...
01.08.2023 How War in Taiwan Could Short-Circuit U.S. Tech Roughly 95 percent of advanced semiconductor chip manufacturing happens in Taiwan, leaving the U.S. vulnerable to supply chain shocks and national security threats. Is the Biden administration’s $280 billion bill, signed in August last year, enough to boost domestic chip ...
01.06.2023 Will Southwest Be Held Accountable? Over the holidays, thousands of passengers were left stranded or delayed when Southwest Airline’s outdated re-booking software broke down. Who can be held accountable, and why don’t airlines invest more in their own infrastructure? Guest: Heather Tal Murphy, business and ...
12.23.2022 One Year - 1942: The Most Hated Man in America At the beginning of World War II, the greatest threat to the American war effort wasn’t the Nazis or the Japanese—it was runaway inflation. The man in charge of stopping it was the country’s “price czar,” Leon Henderson. In 1942, ...
12.18.2022 Are You Ready For Lab-Grown Meat? The Food and Drug Administration gave an important thumbs up to lab-grown chicken, which means we could start seeing it in stores as soon as next year. While billions of dollars have been spent developing lab-grown meat, important questions remain: ...
12.16.2022 SBF's Worst Week Yet Even in a crazy year for crypto, Sam Bankman-Fried’s story is undeniably the most bananas. And even in the context of the implosion of FTX, getting arrested has got to make this week his worst yet. What charges does SBF ...
12.11.2022 San Francisco’s Self-Driving Mess Self-driving cars and robotaxis are starting to appear on the streets of San Francisco. While we have a whole regulatory system in place for drivers, who’s making sure these new cars are safe? Guest: David Zipper, Visiting Fellow at the ...
12.09.2022 Let’s Talk, Chatbots Artificial intelligence is growing in leaps and bounds, and everywhere from Big Tech companies like Google to small teams like OpenAI are developing more and more convincing chatbots. Is the world ready for convincing, talking computers? Guest: Alex Kantrowitz, host ...
12.04.2022 Big Tech’s Boogeymen In Washington The Biden administration’s Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission are both staffed with accomplished progressives who are proving more aggressive than their predecessors in either the Trump or Obama eras. But can Big Tech be tamed? Guest: Leah Nylen, ...
12.02.2022 Twitter's Vulnerabilities, Exposed Dating back to the Arab Spring, Twitter’s potential for real-time organizing has been a selling point. But trying to find information on China’s “Zero COVID” protests reveals just how vulnerable the now-understaffed platform is to manipulation. Guest: Joseph Menn, cybersecurity ...
11.27.2022 The Trap of Buy Now, Pay Later The option to “buy now and pay later” over installments exploded over the past two years, thanks to people being flush with stimulus cash and shopping online during the pandemic. But is this new, underregulated industry a useful line of ...
11.20.2022 The End of the Tech Boom After decades as America’s booming industry, tens of thousands of tech workers have been laid off in November alone. Is the venture-capital, low-interest-rate wind leaving the sails temporary or is this the end of the hunt for “the next big ...
11.18.2022 The Case Against Climate Reparations At this year’s annual UN conference on climate change, they are discussing “climate reparations,” wherein the rich countries that grew their wealth burning fossil fuels pay money to poorer and more vulnerable countries. It sounds sensible, but is the UN ...
11.13.2022 Is This The Cryptocalypse? The (once) third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, collapsed in stunning fashion this week, highlighting why consumers really do want regulation, and why old financial institutions remain wary of crypto. Guest: Felix Salmon, host of Slate Money, chief financial correspondent for Axios. ...
11.11.2022 Senator Chris Murphy on Elon's Acquisition of Twitter The second largest investor in Twitter, after Elon Musk, is the Saudis, which raises questions about what kinds of “free speech” Musk is really committed to. But it also raises questions around national security in the U.S. Guest: Chris Murphy, ...
11.06.2022 Why Are So Many Little Kids Sick Right Now? It’s been a rough autumn for parents of little kids, as non-COVID respiratory diseases are taking advantage of the first fall since 2019 where schools and daycares are full again, and America’s strained pediatric health care system is once again ...
11.04.2022 So How’s It Going, Elon? One week in as head honcho of Twitter and Elon Musk is in a tight spot: how do you balance the desires of advertisers with your ostensible zeal for free speech? How do you make something for which you’ve already ...
10.30.2022 Big Brother, Big Tech and China There are some 400 million surveillance cameras installed in China, one for every three to four civilians. Built with the help of American tech companies, the surveillance state was pitched to the public as a way to make society safer ...
10.28.2022 Twitter Is Dead; Long Live Twitter Twitter has been a lot of things—where you posted your lunch, where you met your people, where you were subjected to a harassment campaign. Now, as Elon Musk prepares to take the reins, where is it headed? Guest: Will Oremus, ...
10.23.2022 Can We Make an Alzheimer’s Drug That Works? Alzheimer’s treatment hasn’t changed much in the past two decades, and the way researchers have been thinking about and approaching the disease may be to blame. Guest: Damian Garde, reporter for Stat covering the biotech industry. Host: Lizzie O’Leary If ...
10.21.2022 When An Algorithm Raises Your Rent One company’s software is helping set prices for apartments across the country. But when does an algorithm telling landlords how much to charge—by drawing on property data—cross the line from “handy tool” to “illegal price-fixing”? Guest: Heather Vogell, reporter with ...
10.16.2022 Are You Ready to Be Composted When You Die? The idea of composting a human body may seem unsettling—or even gross—and it runs counter to the normal American funeral rites of embalming and internment, which preserve the body. But advocates say it’s a greener and more peaceful way to ...
10.14.2022 The Next Amazon Union Fight Following their victory in Staten Island, the Amazon Labor Union is still facing an uphill battle. Both the company and the union are closely watching the organizing vote at a warehouse outside of Albany, NY. Guest: Noam Scheiber, labor reporter ...
10.09.2022 When Your Church Surveils Your Phone Churches are using accountability apps to keep tabs on their members' behavior. But if your pastor wants to monitor your phone, can you truly consent? Guest: Dhruv Mehrotra Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
10.07.2022 Could the Supreme Court Kill the Internet As We Know It? Twenty-six words defined the internet as we know it today. What happens if they’re deleted? Guest: Jeff Kosseff Host: Lizzie O'Leary The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
10.02.2022 The Philosopher With Silicon Valley's Ear Longtermism, the idea that positively influencing the future is a key moral priority of our time, is hot in Silicon Valley. But does it miss the bigger picture? Guests: William MacAskill, Robert Wright Host: Lizzie O'Leary Thanks Avast.com! Learn more ...
09.30.2022 When Climate Change Makes You Sell Your House With disaster relief funds from Hurricane Harvey, Houston's Harris County instituted a mandatory buyout program for residents in flood-prone areas. But some residents didn't want to leave. Guest: Amal Ahmed, Dolores Mendoza Host: Mary C. Curtis Learn more about your ...
09.25.2022 Can Nuclear Power Be Green? Nuclear technology has become more important than ever, thanks to a global energy crisis and climate change. But it also has a complicated history. Guest: Joshua Keating Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
09.23.2022 The Fight Over Online Speech Headed to the Supreme Court Conservative lawmakers in Florida and Texas are taking aim at content moderation on social media, with implications that go far beyond just the platforms. Guest: Mark Joseph Stern Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
09.18.2022 The Hidden Abuse Behind Those Spam Texts You're Getting Victims of a new and high tech kind of human trafficking are forced to scam people all around the world. Guest: Cezary Podkul Host: Lizzie O'Leary Human Trafficking’s Newest Abuse: Forcing Victims Into Cyberscamming Learn more about your ad choices. ...
09.16.2022 How Big Internet Keeps Small Communities Disconnected A small parish in Louisiana tried to get affordable, fast internet. An incumbent ISP stopped them. Guest: Issie Lapowsky, Wanda Manning Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
09.11.2022 The Chaos That Made YouTube a Juggernaut An inside look at the rise of YouTube into a social media behemoth. Guests: Mark Bergen and Claire Stapleton Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
09.09.2022 Can A.I. Make Great Art? Technology is transforming the creative economy and ideas about what "art" even is. Guest: Drew Harwell Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
09.04.2022 The Summer Vaccine of the Future LYMErix, the first vaccine against Lyme, was pulled from the market amid poor sales and pressure from the public. Now, over 20 years later, a new vaccine is in late-stage trials. Guest: Cassandra Willyard Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about ...
09.02.2022 A.I. Made to Fight Child Porn Ensnared an Innocent Dad A father took a photo of his son for their doctor. He wound up being investigated by the police. Guest: Kashmir Hill Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
08.28.2022 The Streaming TV Bloodbath Shows are disappearing. Staff are getting axed. Is It greed, or necessary for the networks' survival? Guest: Julia Alexander Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
08.26.2022 The Hacker Blowing the Whistle on Twitter Legendary hacker Peiter "Mudge" Zatko’s reputation in the cybersecurity world is unmatched. His allegations against Twitter’s security are all the more damning because of it. Guest: Joseph Menn Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
08.21.2022 We're Expecting the Wrong Things From the CDC There's no way to remove politics from public health. Guest: Tim Requarth Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
08.19.2022 What All That Money for Green Tech in the Climate Bill Is Buying The Inflation Reduction Act is spurring progress towards new climate technology that, at times, sounds like something out of a science fiction movie. Will it make a dent in the fight against climate change? Guest: Pranshu Verma Host: Lizzie O'Leary ...
08.14.2022 Big Pharma’s Bet on Psychedelics The psychedelic renaissance is here. But not everyone’s on board. Guest: John Semley Host: Sonari Glinton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
08.12.2022 Crypto Could Leave Texas in the Dark Crypto mining is booming in Texas. Will the power grid be able to handle it? Guest: Russell Gold Host: Sonari Glinton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
08.07.2022 The Monkeypox Vaccine Monopoly It makes intuitive sense for companies that develop a technology to hold its intellectual property rights. But in the case of vaccines and medical treatments, IP laws slow down manufacturing and distribution and give private companies the power to make ...
08.05.2022 The Homes We Forgot to Build a Decade Ago The US has been in a housing shortage for decades. Can it ever be fixed? Guest: Conor Dougherty Host: Emily Peck Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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