Slate News

At this very moment, police departments can gather more data than they have time to actually go through — audio and video from crime scenes, cell phone and search data, vast digital dragnets. This is where artificial intelligence comes in…as well as the civil rights questions. Guest: Gerrit De Vynck , tech reporter for the Washington Post. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access...

Troops on America's streets, threats of “plenary powers”, and extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean have prompted members of the military past and present to say that we are in the biggest civil/military crisis since the Civil War. On this week's Amicus, how SCOTUS' immunity decision in Trump v. United States helped deliver us to this scary moment. Dahlia Lithwick speaks to Yale Law School milit...

This week: The price of gold has skyrocketed to over $4k an ounce.  Felix Salmon , Elizabeth Spiers , and Emily Peck speculate why this might be happening right now – or if there even is a “why”. Then, Intercontinental Exchange has announced an investment of $2 billion in Polymarket, upping the valuation from $1 billion to $8 billion. The hosts discuss what makes prediction markets so big right no...

As troops continue to roll in, unwelcome, to American cities, you can be forgiven for calling the national picture “pretty bleak.” But even now, the news will occasionally let you get off a chuckle or guffaw, even if it isn’t always from your better nature. It’s SchadenFriday; go ahead and indulge. Guest: Alex Sammon, Slate feature writer.  This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by sub...

Though ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services denied their Freedom of Information Act requests, these journalists aren’t giving up without a fight—not until they get their hands on a document that outlines how much information Medicaid is sharing with ICE. Guest: Joseph Cox , cofounder of 404 Media.  Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the extremely consequential new Supreme Court term beginning this week, the facts on the ground and the legal questions at play behind Trump’s escalating deployments of troops to US cities, and the likely legal defeat of state bans on conversion therapy. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the Tr...

ICE needs more agents to meet Trump’s promised deportation numbers. But is loosening standards and shortening training time to get more agents on the street a good idea, when ICE’s work is becoming more controversial, confrontational, and dangerous?  Guest: Robert Klemko , Washington Post reporter covering policing and criminal justice reform. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access...

It’s clear President Trump wants to send troops to Portland, Oregon. But it’s not clear why—especially to people who live there. Guests: Isaac Stanley-Becker , staff writer for The Atlantic . Elizabeth Lopatto , senior reporter at The Verge .   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. Subscri...

It’s been two years since Hamas attacked Israel and set off a devastating war. Since then, talks have fallen apart over and over again. Trump says – this time is different. But should anyone believe him?  Guest:  Yair Rosenberg , staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of Deep Shtetl , a newsletter about the intersection of politics, culture, and religion.  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Sl...

The Supreme Court is back in session, and conservative controlled body again has a docket full of cases that look like 6-3 wins for the Trump agenda. Guest:  Mark Joseph Stern, co-host of Amicus, and senior writer covering courts and the law for 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....

How one of the largest video game companies was bought for $55 billion by a group that includes Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and Jared Kushner. Guest: Jason Schreier , Bloomberg 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. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at...

Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern are joined by Vox’s Ian Millhiser to discuss the upcoming Supreme Court term, which officially starts on Monday. The term begins with a slew of wildly significant cases that feel all but decided in the Trump administration’s favor already. That feeling of inevitability could perhaps be ascribed to the ongoing assault on democracy coming from the high c...

This week: Felix Salmon finally gets to nerd out on Argentina's economy as Trump goes against the GOP playbook by bailing the country out to the tune of $20 billion. Felix, Elizabeth Spiers , and Emily Peck break down why this is such an unusual move, how it shows Trump’s favoritism, and what it means for America’s soy farmers. Then, the US government has officially shut down but stocks are soarin...

TikTok exploded to popularity not by giving users what they asked for—but by figuring out what users really were interested in, and serving that.  What happens to this algorithm if Bytedance cedes control of it to the U.S.?  Guest: Emily Baker White, senior writer at Forbes and the author of Every Screen on the Planet: The War Over TikTok Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access...

This week, John Dickerson, David Plotz, and guest host Juliette Kayyem discuss the disturbing spectacle of military fealty staged by Hegseth and Trump at Quantico, the possible outcomes of the dramatic government shutdown, and the hybrid war Russia appears to be waging with drones over distressed European cities. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, John, David, and guest host Juliette Kayyem...

Donald Trump’s theory of a government shutdown was that it would give him more power to fire federal employees, and cut benefits and healthcare. Of course, if you claim to be an all-powerful executive, aren’t people going to conclude that the shutdown is your fault? Guest: David Dayen , executive editor of the American Prospect. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listen...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth summoned the military’s top brass from all over the world for a meeting to announce…they need to shave and get in shape? And then Trump followed with a speech about how he wants to deploy them in American cities and also Joe Biden sucks. Good talk, everybody.  Guest: Idrees Ali , national security correspondent for Reuters . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Pl...

The president’s case against James Comey doesn’t look very strong to outside legal observers. But even the most spurious accusation against the former head of the FBI would matter when it comes from the sitting president. Guest: Ankush Khardori, senior writer for POLITICO Magazine and former federal prosecutor in the US Justice Department. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-...

In this Money Talks: Felix Salmon is joined by Doug Woodham, author of the upcoming biography Jean-­Michel Basquiat: The Making of an Icon, to discuss Basquiat’s path to becoming a darling of the art market. They discuss the idiosyncrasies of the art market and  why Basquiat – the “Jimi Hendrix” of the art world – was initially undervalued but later became part of the modern day art canon.  Join S...

With Gaza cut off from food and aid, activists have taken matters into their own hands, and are attempting to circumvent Israel’s blockade themselves via the Mediterranean. Guest:  Zue Jernstedt , member of About Face: Veterans Against the War and participant on the Veterans Boat of the Global Sumud Flotilla . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole Wh...

When you’re getting out of an Uber, Tesla’s unintuitive door handle can embarrass you. In an emergency, getting out of the car quickly can be the difference between life and death. Guest: Dana Hull , Bloomberg News reporter covering Tesla and Elon Musk  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 week ended with a Grand Jury Indictment of former FBI Director James Comey for what looks to be a pair of unprovable crimes. Indeed the  US Attorney overseeing the case declined to bring the indictment for that very reason. He’s gone and Donald Trump’s personal insurance lawyer brought the case. Mark Joseph Stern and Dahlia Lithwick discuss what that means for the Justice Department. Then Yale...

This week: NVIDIA has announced a $100 billion investment in OpenAI to help build out data centers equipped with NVIDIA chips. Felix Salmon , Elizabeth Spiers , and Emily Peck , joined by Bloomberg’s Max Chafkin , examine the complexities of this massive deal and why it might feed the argument that the AI boom is a bubble. Then,Trump has announced a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas. They discuss how th...

The government runs out of money next Tuesday. Trump’s threatened “mass firings” if it shuts down. Earlier this year, Democrats played ball. But now, one Democratic Senator explains why he’s approaching things differently. Guest: Chris Van Hollen , Democratic Senator from Maryland. This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock...

Why would Donald Trump rush to announce that Tylenol is a potential cause of autism, a claim unsupported by the research? Guest: Dan Diamond , White House reporter for the Washington Post. 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 to...