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Over the weekend, in the middle of the night, the Trump administration brought the United States into yet another Middle East war.  Guest: Shane Harris , staff writer at The Atlantic covering national security and intelligence 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 A...

On this episode: Lucy Lopez and Elizabeth Newcamp are talking bad husbands this week. Not their husbands (though both are terrible gift givers). But it seems like everywhere on the internet lately there are a lot of wives posting about terrible things their husbands did, getting negative reactions, and then getting mad that people are attacking their husbands. The Cut even wrote a piece about it c...

How much would it change your life and approach to health if you had instant access to your quantified biometrics? RFK Jr. and the Department of Health and Human Services have bet the difference would be huge, and loosened regulation on them—leaving TBD no choice but to strap in and give ‘em a try.  Guests:  Nadira Goffe , Slate staff writer. Mario Aguliar , health tech correspondent for...

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay and Slate staff writer Luke Winkie debrief after Luke’s scene report from outside Nancy Guthrie’s Arizona home. The 84-year-old was reported missing on February 1, and ever since, true-crime creators have been livestreaming from her home, spreading theories, and profiting off her disappearance without any journalistic or investigative experience. Independent c...

This week: We saw the fallout from the Supreme Court’s ruling that Trump’s tariffs were indeed unconstitutional. Felix Salmon , Elizabeth Spiers , and Emily Peck , weigh in on the decision and the ensuing confusion around what tariff refunds would actually look like. Then, in a surprise twist, Netflix has backed off the Warner Brothers deal, allowing Paramount to swoop in. The hosts explain what s...

“Not on the level” is how Donald Verrilli Jr. describes the Trump administration’s general, current Supreme Court practices. The former United States Solicitor General joins Dahlia Lithwick to discuss the ways this radical new posture is forcing judges to confront arguments and asserted powers previously seen as far beyond presidential authority, while still trying not to shift excessive power to...

Training for the Olympics is a Sisyphean task, but if you’re a curler, pushing a rock is kind of your thing. And who knows? Your big break might come in your 50s. Guest: Rich Ruohonen, Minnesota curler (and lawyer) who represented the US in the 2026 Winter Olympics.  This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive...

These days, country and pop acts regularly invade each other’s territory. But in Nashville during the 1970s, “crossover” was a dirty word. Then came two rising stars who offered up a new hybrid of Americana-style pop. John Denver infused his folk balladry with homespun lyrics about country roads and wide-open skies. Olivia Newton-John sang over twangy melodies that belied her British-Australian ro...

The Pentagon wants Anthropic to hand over its A.I. with no strings attached. Anthropic doesn’t want its products used to surveil Americans or create autonomous machines of war.  Naturally, the Pentagon is mad - so mad, they’re threatening to invoke the Defense Production Act against them. But who has more leverage here?  Guest: Sheera Frenkel, reporter for the New York Times  Want m...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss whether Trump’s State of the Union address effectively convinced voters to ignore the pain in their wallets because he says he’s “winning” the economy, how the Supreme Court finally stood up to the president on something he really cares about, and the Pentagon’s ominous ultimatum against AI company Anthropic. For this week’s Slate P...

On this episode: Lucy Lopez , Elizabeth Newcamp , and Zak Rosen are talking artificial intelligence in schools. It’s everywhere! And one parent is worried about an assignment requiring her son to use A.I. They bring on Jeff Young from the Learning Curve podcast to unpack what the listener’s teacher was trying to get at, some good uses for ChatGPT (versus the bad ones), how A.I. ruined the em dash,...

The gay romance show Heated Rivalry brought an influx of attention to hockey, and gold-medal winning performances from both the women’s and men’s American teams seemed to be priming the NHL for a fresh, diverse group of fans. Then Kash Patel showed up in the men’s locker room. Guest:  Frankie de la Cretaz , writer at the intersection of sports, gender, culture, and queerness, author of Hail M...

The delicious, healthful prune has long had a cross to bear: It’s best known for making people poop. In the late 1990s, the California Prune Board set out on a quixotic mission to amend this sales-flattening reputation. It would attempt to rechristen this ancient fruit in the hopes the prune could one day be as unencumbered as an apricot, a raisin, or a fig.  In a world where every product an...

The delicious, healthful prune has long had a cross to bear: It’s best known for making people poop. In the late 1990s, the California Prune Board set out on a quixotic mission to amend this sales-flattening reputation. It would attempt to rechristen this ancient fruit in the hopes the prune could one day be as unencumbered as an apricot, a raisin, or a fig.  In a world where every product an...

On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay and senior supervising producer Daisy Rosario reflect on the 2026 Winter Olympics —but not just what happened out on the ice. There was a different Olympics unfolding on social media, with viral moments from the ceremony that deserve their own gold, silver, and bronze medals. Kate and Daisy rank them, and also finally break their silence on the internet’s othe...

The original trio Steve, Dana, and Julia convene for a right cracker of a Gabfest as they discuss How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, the new comedic mystery from Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee. In the Netflix series, three longtime Belfast friends must revisit their childhood trauma to unravel the mystery of a fourth friend’s disappearance— raucous Northern Irish hijinks ensue. Next, they step int...

With President Trump’s urging and support from CIA drones, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s more confrontational approach to the drug cartels culminated in the death of “El Mencho,” the most wanted man in both Mexico and the United States.  Guest: León Krauze , Mexican journalist and author covering politics and the cartels.  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad...

Why a number of Congressional Democrats are skipping tonight’s State of the Union address—and why some are still going. Guest:  Congresswoman Veronica Escobar , representing Texas's 16th Congressional District in El Paso. 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...

When Helena de Groot got married she didn't want children, but her husband did. For eight years, love was enough to paper over their differences. Then an unplanned pregnancy forced them to finally choose. Listen to her terrific new podcast Creation Myth , out now from the CBC. This episode was produced by Andrew Dunn.  Death, Sex & Money is now produced by Slate! To support us and our col...

Hosts Alex Kirshner , Lindsay Gibbs , and Ben Lindbergh relive the dual wins for Team USA's women's and men’s hockey teams and examine how MAGA has co-opted the victory. Then, they’re joined by journalist Chris Dalby, author of the Sports and Crime newsletter, goes deep on why Trump seems to love pardoning athletes . Next, the hosts get into the alarming expansion of sports betting via prediction...

On this episode: Lucy Lopez and Elizabeth Newcamp help Slate senior producer, Cheyna Roth , prepare to bring home her second child. They talk about everything from preventing sibling jealousy to handling two crying children at once. Then they answer a question from a prospective parent who is worried they’ll never sleep well again.   This week on the Plus Playground: Life-changing baby gear v...

Counter to claims that immigrants just need to come to America “the right way,” DHS has begun using the department that administers legal immigration to arrest, detain, and deport people—including those who are following the law. Guest: Jonathan Blitzer, staff writer at the New Yorker and author of Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis . Want...

You might not think you need artificial intelligence added to your shopping experience. Store employees might not see the point either. So why is it there anyway? Guest: Mia Sato , reporter at The Verge who covers tech companies, platforms, and users. 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. Sub...

The Supreme Court struck down Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on Friday, ruling 6–3 that they vastly exceed anything federal law allows a President to do. It was a massive loss for a signature component of Trump’s economic agenda, and a coalition of liberals and conservatives on the court agreed that the statute invoked to impose these tariffs was never intended to be wielded in this fashion. The...

John Dickerson talks with Father James Martin about his new book, Work in Progress: Confessions of a Busboy, Dishwasher, Caddy, Usher, Factory Worker, Bank Teller, Corporate Tool, and Priest . They discuss the spiritual lessons learned through eight different jobs, Martin's controversial LGBTQ ministry that made him a target of criticism within the Catholic Church, and what the Gospels demand abou...