Slate News

This week: Trump almost started a trade war with our nearest neighbors. Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers explain why Trump’s trade war with Canada and Mexico not happening is still newsworthy. Then, Felix breaks down why Trump’s plan for a US sovereign wealth fund makes no sense. And finally, Kalshi seems to have found a loophole by offering event contracts on the Super Bowl even i...

Elon Musk is supposed to be running several companies and a new government department—so why is he also spending money to pretend to be good at video games? Guest: Drew Harwell, tech reporter for the Washington Post . This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next TBD—you’ll also access ad-free l...

Elon Musk is supposed to be running several companies and a new government department—so why is he also spending money to pretend to be good at video games? Guest: Drew Harwell, tech reporter for the Washington Post . This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next TBD—you’ll also access ad-free l...

You can’t doubt the enthusiasm of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. You can question the legality of some of their early moves.  Guest: Makena Kelly , senior writer at WIRED .  Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the...

You can’t doubt the enthusiasm of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. You can question the legality of some of their early moves.  Guest: Makena Kelly , senior writer at WIRED .  Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Elon Musk’s speedy assault on federal agencies, talk to guest  David Leonhardt  about the widening gap between US prosperity and quality of life, and discuss recent aggressive immigration efforts by states. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the New York doctor recently indicted in Louisiana for...

Last week, Donald Trump announced that Guantanamo Bay would be used to house the “worst criminal illegal aliens” and claimed that it would be drastically scaled up to hold as many as 30,000 people. In addition to its infamous role in the War on Terror, it’s the latest use of Gitmo as an immigration deterrent—and legal grey zone. Guest: Andrea Pitzer , author of One Long Night: A Global History of...

Why did the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which gives money to humanitarian causes around the world and accounts for roughly half of one percent of the federal budget, end up in DOGE’s crosshairs? And is its abrupt closure legal?   Guests: Franco Ordoñez , White House Correspondent for NPR. Fred Kaplan , Slate’s war stories correspondent. Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to...

America hadn’t had a major commercial airline crash since 2009 until the mid-air collision over the Potomac. Is this a sign of a larger problem that will require government intervention—and will Congress prioritize safety over convenience for their constituents and themselves?   You can read Dan’s 2023 article, “ Everyone Seems to Agree a Major Plane Crash is Coming. Why?” on Slate. Guest: Dan Koi...

In this Money Talks: Historian Quinn Slobodian’s 2023 book Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy explored the dark reality that many extremists seek a purely capitalist society free of democracy. Now, with the Silicon Valley elite playing such a large role in Trump’s second term, Quinn's work is more relevant than ever. In this episode, Quinn joins Felix S...

Trump and his allies in the House’s flurry of anti-trans legislation and executive orders will soon run into both the law and the reality that our institutions like the military really rely on trans people. Guests: Major Alivia Stehlik, Director of Holistic Health and Fitness for the 101st Airborne Division. Kate Sosin, LGBTQ+ reporter at The 19th. Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock fu...

The artificial intelligence industry was thrown for a loop when the Chinese start-up DeepSeek rolled out a product that was more energy efficient, cheaper to produce, and open source. Where did DeepSeek come from, and are Silicon Valley and Washington right to be panicking?  Guest: Zeyi Yang , senior writer at WIRED. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to t...

If you’re punch-drunk and disoriented this week, come on in. Donald J Trump’s second administration is materializing at frightening speed and recklessness and it is hard (and stressful) to keep up with it all. Kim Lane Scheppele, the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Sociology and International affairs at Princeton University, explains that the speed and viciousness of the legal orders in Trump...

This week: The Trump administration offered a resignation deal to millions of federal employees. Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers discuss why this plan seems like a bad idea – for everyone. Then, Invidia’s stock dropped this week when Deepseek proved AI can be done cheaper. But is this just steam engines and Jevons paradox all over again? Finally, the bookstore is back. The hosts d...

Did the Chinese artificial intelligence start-up Deepseek just blow up the A.I. world as we know it? Or is it just a cheap knock-off? Guest: Lizzie O’Leary , host of the Slate podcast What Next TBD . This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next—you’ll also access ad-free listening across all yo...

Tapped by Trump for the role of health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. presents himself as someone willing to say what other politicians won’t. But during his Senate confirmation hearings, both Democrats and Republicans questioned his previous statements about vaccines—and questioned whether he even knows what the job he’s trying to get entails. But his nomination signals that maybe it isn’t abou...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the chaos and coming fight around impoundment of federal grants; the surprise market shakeup around AI and DeepSeek; and talk with Jonathan Rauch about his new book out next week entitled  Cross Purposes: Christianity’s Broken Bargain with Democracy . For this week’s Slate Plus Episode, Emily, John, and David discuss new data from t...

Tulsi Gabbard’s political career is truly singular: once a young progressive Democrat on the rise, then a gadfly taking surprise meetings with Bashar al-Assad, now she’s Donald Trump’s nominee to head up National Intelligence. Along the way, Gabbard has given almost everyone a reason not to vote for her. Guest: Elaine Godfrey , staff writer covering national politics for The Atlantic . Want more W...

Trump’s Office of Management and Budget sent a memo directing federal agencies to “temporarily pause all activities related to … disbursement of all Federal financial assistance,” which threw everything from Meals on Wheels to the rebuilding of a Rhode Island bridge into a state of confusion.  What seems clear is that Congress has already stipulated how this money should be spent—and the president...

Amicus is coming to you with an extra episode because of the five-alarm threat to the balance of power in the wake of Monday and Tuesday’s memos from the White House Office of Management and Budget freezing vast tranches of federal funding. As agencies, states, and nonprofits scramble to figure out if they can make payroll or even keep the lights on, a hugely significant legal battle is brewing ov...

The Trump administration’s fight against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs is underway, and it’s proving to be even broader and further-reaching than anticipated. What’s at stake for these programs—and why are so many Americans glad to see them go? Guest: Farah Stockman , member of the New York Times Editorial Board , author of American Made: What Happens to People When Work Disappear...

Between Trump’s broad pardon for January 6 rioters and Facebook loosening restrictions on its platforms, it’s looking much easier for militia groups like the Oathkeepers and Proud Boys to recruit members, organize, and carry out violence. Guest: Josh Kaplan , reporter for ProPublica. Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your other favorite Slate...

Artificial intelligence is coming to a doctor’s office near you—if it isn’t already there, working in an administrative role. Are you ready for generative A.I. to help your doctor diagnose you? Is your doctor ready to listen—with the necessary mix of humility and skepticism? Guest: Geoffrey Fowler, Washington Post tech columnist. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free l...

This week: Tiktok gets a stay of execution in America. Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers speculate on the reasons Trump changed his mind on the TikTok ban and who will ultimately win the jackpot if an American company gets a stake. Then, in a move that’s sketchy at best, Trump launched a memecoin just as he became president again and the cryptobros aren’t happy. Finally, digital sho...

It’s barely been a week and the torrent of horrible coming from the pens and mouth of President Trump is staggering. Many of the executive orders signed this week focus on immigration, and that is where we have our eyes trained as well. This week, to help us make sense of the whirlwind that threatens to upend the lives of millions of people Dahlia Lithwick talks to Aaron Reichlin-Melnick , Senior...