Slate News

You’re nervous. We’re nervous. As we stop for gas with almost two weeks to go before November 5th, we’re kicking the tires of American democracy to see if it’s roadworthy. On this week’s show, Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Matthew Seligman, one of the authors of How to Steal a Presidential Election , to examine the legal avenues available to Donald J Trump and his band of merry lawyers to subvert t...

This week: Big trouble in not-so-little China as the second-largest economy tries to get out of its post-COVID funk. Emily Peck , Elizabeth Spiers , and Reuters’ Anna Szymanski (filling in for Felix Salmon) discuss China’s new economic stimulus measures, which might be too-little, too late. They also discuss the secretive family behind Boar’s Head and a Sherwood piece about a mysterious $7 billion...

Elon Musk went from voting for Hillary to supporting Trump so hard that he may have broken election laws. And with Musk influencing both on X and in campaign finance, Democrats are kicking themselves for letting him go. What will his political and financial support actually amount to this election season?  Guest: Teddy Schleifer , New York Times reporter covering campaign finance and billionaire i...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Kamala Harris’s voter outreach to black and Hispanic men; the close races for Republican senators in Nebraska, Texas, and Florida; and the conspiracy theories that endanger FEMA and aid for hurricane victims. And it’s never too early to send us your Conundrums at  slate.com/conundrum . For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily...

Though Black voters remain a dependable bloc for the Democrats, the Trump campaign has been attempting to make in-roads with Black men. Can Kamala Harris shore up her coalition in this tight race? Guest: Kadia Goba , political reporter at Semafor . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Sub...

According to a new CDC report, the number of overdoses in America is finally dropping after rising for years. What’s behind this rare good news in the ongoing opioid crisis? Guest: David Ovalle , reporter covering opioids and addiction at the Washington Post Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate pod...

Forget polls—are gambling websites the real way to predict politics? Guest: Nitish Pahwa, business and tech writer at Slate Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to g...

For this Money Talks, it’s time to turn the rat race into a rat walk on the beach. Brigid Schulte, author of Over Work: Transforming the Daily Grind in the Quest for a Better Life , speaks with about America’s toxic relationship with labor in which employees at all levels are underpaid, under-rested, and over-hustled. They discuss what America can learn from work cultures in other countries and wh...

Misinformation in the wake of disasters isn’t new, but the media environment today—rife with A.I. images, light on moderation, and eager to point fingers—seems more vulnerable to it than ever. Guest: Will Oremus, technology writer for the Washington Post . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podca...

How did 23andMe go from the peak of the double-helix to a death spiral? And if it goes under, is all of the genetic data it collected at risk?  Guest: Kristen V. Brown , staff writer covering health for The Atlantic . 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...

“Prosecutors elicited perjury and a man's gonna go to his death. We can't allow that to happen.” – Paul Clement, October 9th, 2024.  This week the US Supreme Court heard arguments in the latest chapter in the complex and prolonged legal battle involving Richard Glossip , who has been on Oklahoma's death row since his conviction for a 1997 murder-for-hire. Following two independent investigations i...

This week: Big storms are the new norm, and they’re costing America big time. Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the economic toll and surging insurance coasts of climate change. They also examine the curious case of a Canadian carpenter who made and lost a fortune on Tesla options, and Felix reveals what he’ll be up to on his upcoming sabbatical. In the Numbers Round, Emily...

The crypto project “World Liberty Financial,” which was announced on X by Donald Trump, isn’t a cryptocurrency, nor a crypto-exchange, nor is it actually run by any Trumps. The truth is even stranger.  Guest: David Yaffe-Bellany, New York Times reporter 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. S...

The crypto project “World Liberty Financial,” which was announced on X by Donald Trump, isn’t a cryptocurrency, nor a crypto-exchange, nor is it actually run by any Trumps. The truth is even stranger.  Guest: David Yaffe-Bellany, New York Times reporter 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. S...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the close race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump;  Why Legal Experts Are Worried About a Second Trump Presidency ; and Hurricanes Helene and Milton and climate change. And it’s never too early to send us your Conundrums at  slate.com/conundrum . For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David talk about media e...

How the State Department is evacuating Americans from Beirut—and how the war is influencing Lebanese-American voters living in a swing state. Guest: Amy Fallas , PhD candidate studying history in Beirut for the last year. Alabas Farhat , Michigan State Representative.  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorit...

The accusations against Sean “Diddy” Combs have grown in both number and grimness. Is this the music industry’s moment of reckoning?  Guest: Nadira Goffe , associate culture writer at Slate. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at t...

The Supreme Court term’s kicked off this week, and the cases in front of the nine justices could reshape American life in public, at home, and in the doctor’s office, for wide swaths of the country. The election, too, could be at the hands of the Court.  Guest: Mark Joseph Stern , Slate senior writer covering courts and the law. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listen...

A year after the initial Hamas attack on Israel, tens of thousands are dead, bombs are still falling, a regional war is expanding, and there’s no end in sight. Two writers reflect on the destruction, loss, and death. Guests: Peter Beinart is the Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents and the author of “The Beinart Notebook” on Substack. Mohammed R. Mhawish is Palestinian journalist who was evacuated f...

Decades ago, Three Mile Island was shut down after a near catastrophic nuclear meltdown. So why is Microsoft paying over a billion dollars to open it back up?  Guest: Matt Reynolds, 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...

Democracy had a pretty rough ride at the Supreme Court last term. Presidents have criminal immunity now! Agency experts aren’t the experts anymore! Sure, you can convert that rifle into an automatic weapon! And guess what? More horrors await us this term.  But we are not going to spend this last episode before the start of a new term dispassionately picking over a smattering of cases for a lawyerl...

This week: the Longshoremen’s strike is over, and economic disaster has been averted. Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the strike, sketchy union leader Harold Daggett, and how the White House put its thumb on the scales to help cut a deal. Also: OpenAI just had a $6.6 billion investment round, but the company is bleeding losses. Then: Dish Network wants to buy DirecTV for $...

In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the idea of a climate haven has been upended. And as the climate change gets worse every year, fewer places will be safe from its devastation. Guest: Sarah Kaplan, Washington Post climate reporter covering humanity's response to a warming world. Keith Campbell, managing editor at the Asheville Watchdog Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access...

 This week,  Jamelle Bouie  of The New York Times joins John Dickerson and David Plotz to discuss the vice-presidential debate between Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance; the deadly conflict between Israel and Iran with Nathan Guttman of Israeli public television; and the federal indictment of New York City Mayor Eric Adams.  For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Jamelle, John, and David talk wit...

With Israel sending airstrikes on Lebanon and deflecting missiles from Iran, the war has become what experts feared: a regional conflict. How much more will the fighting spread? Guest: Shane Harris , intelligence and national security reporter for the Washington Post.  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorit...