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Our friends over at the Slate podcast Slow Burn are good at taking events that we think are settled history, then unlocking a new understanding of those stories through interviews, archives, and fresh analysis. They’ve reexamined Supreme Court history several times in recent years, including a new season about Neil Gorsuch we’re featuring on Amicus for the next three weeks. Becoming Justice Gorsuc...

After a small business in Nantucket put a “no influencers” sign in their store, creators accused it of being sexist. The issue divided the internet, when really, both things can be true: Influencer culture is harmful, and “influencer” has become a pejorative word for any woman who posts online. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay talks with writer Kat Tenbarge about how the word “influencer” has...

David Plotz interviews John Lanchester about his new novel Look What You Made Me Do , a darkly funny psychological thriller about two couples in modern-day London whose lives collide in a story of infidelity, obsession, and revenge. The book explores the performance of niceness, class, intergenerational frictions and how technology makes vengeance not just possible but almost exceedingly easy in t...

How much should we know about our politicians? This week we found out that even two of the most scrutinized people in America still have their secrets—be it how our president gets where he’s going, or if a certain House member is, in fact, not engaged and is actually...single?  This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unloc...

In a world where everyone is carrying smartphones and setting up Ring cameras, you could be forgiven for thinking the war is over and the surveillance state won. But Flock cameras being denounced in town halls and smashed on the street have become a place for people to channel their heretofore unseen rage.  Guest: Joseph Cox , reporter for 404 Media Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate...

This week, Emily Bazelon, David Plotz, and guest host Juliette Kayyem discuss the security calculations behind Trump’s plane switch operation; the White House’s attempts to circumvent Supreme Court rulings in its continued obsession with ‘birth tourism’; and whether ‘burritogate’ reveals the extent of today’s economic anxiety or that young Americans simply aren’t learning to cook anymore.  Fo...

Why Donald Trump’s proudly announced executive order on childhood vaccines is a move in the wrong direction—and towards a less healthy, more measle-y America. Guest: Julie Rovner , chief Washington correspondent, host of the KFF Health News weekly health policy news podcast, “ What the Health? ” Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family...

McGruff the Crime Dog arrived on the scene at the dawn of the 1980s, just as a firehose of anti-drug PSAs was inundating the youth of America. These messages didn’t always work as intended—but they did work their way into the long term memories of the kids who heard them. In the first of two episodes, originally released in 2022, we take a look at PSAs and their strange afterlife through the lens...

Hank Green is finally burning out. After creating for the internet for almost 20 years, the YouTuber (and one half of Vlogbrothers) confessed to having a “not healthy” relationship with AI, relying on the tool to help him create more and more content. Viewers, however, feel betrayed, and worry they can no longer trust Hank’s work to be his own. In today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay talks with Char...

McGruff the Crime Dog arrived on the scene at the dawn of the 1980s, just as a firehose of anti-drug PSAs was inundating the youth of America. These messages didn’t always work as intended—but they did work their way into the long term memories of the kids who heard them. In the first of two episodes, originally released in 2022, we take a look at PSAs and their strange afterlife through the lens...

Donald Trump’s success with Gen Z men was one of the many surprises in 2024, but as the second administration has gone on, that support has been plummeting. What would it take for Democrats to win the Zoomers?   Guest: Adam Mockler, host of The Adam Mockler Show podcast and YouTube channel . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next f...

Peter Santenello has been documenting his world travels on YouTube for nearly two decades, but it wasn’t until he moved in with a family in the Ukrainian countryside that he really began to hone his storytelling approach. There were no flashy edits or celebrities, just visits with locals talking about their home, and his Ukraine series quickly gained an online following in that country. ...

Any jobs report, by necessity, is going to be vague and subject to revision, but the latest from the Bureau of Labor Statistics paints a pretty clear picture: America hasn’t added as many jobs as hoped or expected this summer, and the labor market is looking rough. Guest: Justin Wolfers , professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan and “deputy platypus” at Platypus Econo...

Credible accusations of sexual assault, eventually, led to Graham Platner leaving the Maine Senate race. But Ohio Representative Max Miller is responding to his own allegations with a different tact: the Trump method of ignoring, denying, and staying in. Guest: Jill Filipovic , journalist, lawyer, and author of The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness and OK Boomer, Let’s Talk: How My Generat...

This week: On the heels of his recent story on the glut of art that baby boomers are leaving to younger generations, Felix Salmon talks with Elizabeth Spiers and Emily Peck about why boomers like to collect things—from fine art to Pez dispensers—and why younger generations aren’t necessarily following suit. Then, the hosts look at why Scott Bessent decided to prop up the Japanese yen and what make...

We don’t know how to talk about bodies online. When a popular content creator named Samyra posted a TikTok accusing The Cheesecake Factory’s “Skinnylicious” menu as fatphobic, the internet couldn’t stop itself from berating her about her size. But when Ariana Grande releases a new music video and people express alarm about her weight loss, suddenly it’s inappropriate to discuss other people’s bodi...

In the final episode—for now—of our series on reclaiming constitutional power for every American, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern urge you to consider the many ways you can make constitutional meaning in your life, your community, and your profession. Joining us to imagine what that has looked like historically and what it might look like tomorrow is New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie, o...

Céline Dion is set to emerge from her career dormancy into a sold-out Paris residency—a triumph over a rare neurological illness that, until recently, prevented her from singing. Her silence seemed unimaginable. Only a few decades ago, a precocious Dion evolved from a big-lunged teen Francophone chanteuse to the chest-beating frontwoman of a string of smash English-language hits—including several...

The wins, the losses, the wins-that-are-so-close-are-they-REALLY-wins, and more from the primary elections this week, that left us asking, “Can we just get the midterms over with now?” Guest: Jim Newell , Slate senior politics writer. 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 ac...

Investments in—and among—artificial intelligence companies have pushed the S&P 500 to record highs. It’s also introduced a volatility to the markets that may be unprecedented. Is this growing pains or the wobble before the fall?  Guest: Ed Elson , co-host of the Prof G Markets and First Time Founders podcasts. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss what Abdul El-Sayed's Michigan primary win signals about the future of the Democratic Party, Todd Blanche's march toward confirmation as attorney general and how opposition to AI data centers swiftly became a bipartisan political fight. Listener chatter from Francis Creighton in Bethesda, Maryland: UK Parliament: Chiltern Hundreds a...

If you feel compelled to comment on a famous woman’s body, a good rule of thumb to remember is “don’t.” But to avoid feeling complicit or like we’re normalizing something we know to be harmful, there are discussions to be had—amongst ourselves at least. Is that any better? Guest: Scaachi Koul , Slate senior writer  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to th...

Laura Loomer may not have an official position in the White House (or anywhere?) but she nevertheless does have the president’s ear—and newfound affinity for Ukraine and its war against Russia. Guest: Ken Bensinger , media and politics reporter for the New York Times. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite...

The internet is never not nostalgic for the past, but something about the 90s is different. While previous trends like Y2K and “millennial optimism” have been mostly about the hair and clothes, 90s nostalgia is all about the tech. Or rather, lack of tech. Host Kate Lindsay and showrunner Daisy Rosario talk about what social media gets right about the decade, and what’s just “nostalgia slop” trying...

More Democrats than ever are suspicious of big money in politics and against unconditional American military support for Israel. The prominent lobbying group AIPAC sits right where these issues intersect, and it has become a bogeyman in primary races across the country this year. Guest: Peter Beinart, editor-at-large for Jewish Currents , author of the Beinart Notebook Substack .  Want more W...