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An Inflation Reduction Act subsidy for electric vehicles is being shut down by the Trump administration at the end of September, and automakers are preparing for sales of EVs to slow. Can this nascent industry survive?  Guest: Ryan Felton , reporter covering the automotive industry for the Wall Street Journal Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole...

There is a “stuckness” to American political life right now, which has become a seemingly inexorable centrifuge of polarization, victimization and power grabbing. The constitution is brandished as sword and shield, and also as though it is the word of God. Americans, it seems, have lost the ability to think creatively and expansively about the constitution, and our ability to amend it. On this wee...

This week: Tesla offered Elon Musk an incentive package worth a trillion dollars.   Felix Salmon , Elizabeth Spiers , and Emily Peck discuss Tesla's motivation and why Musk, already the richest man in the world, would be tempted by the outrageous number. Then, the big antitrust case against Google went out with a whimper, with the Judge ruling that they are a monopoly but they don’t need to break...

On today’s episode, hosts Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay are joined by Spitfire News writer Kat Tenbarge, who came to the defense of the Gaylor fandom (people who believe Taylor Swift is secretly queer) after they were accused of “crashing out” in light of her engagement to Travis Kelce. But who are the Gaylors, really ? And why are they always the butt of the joke? Get more of ICYMI with Slate Plus...

We’ve been told that artificial intelligence can write, code, generate images—it can do everything…except feasibly turn a profit. But investing in A.I. has nevertheless become a pillar of the U.S. economy. Where is this leading us? Guest: Ed Zitron, author of the newsletter Where’s Your Ed At and host of the podcast Better Offline . Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-fre...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss what the spate of legal defeats for the Trump administration portends as cases wind toward the Supreme Court, the real world effects of RFK Jr. gutting the CDC with guest Dr. Josh Sharfstein , and whether Democrats should compel government shutdown or avoid it now that Congress is back. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emil...

Today on the show: What to do when your kid won’t stop sucking their thumb. Lucy, Elizabeth, and Zak offer guidance for moving on from thumb-sucking—without turning to bribes or battles—as well as alternative methods of self-soothing. In ‘triumphs and fails’ Elizabeth and Zak wrestle with airports and big international moves, while Lucy deals with a budgeting tantrum. Join us on Facebook and email...

From the gold accents going up in the White House, to his orders to bring back classical design to federal buildings, Donald Trump is a president with a very specific aesthetic sensibility—which often is a manifestation of his politics. Guest:  Abdallah Fayyad , policy correspondent at Vox Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and ac...

Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay talk about the backlash surrounding The Cutting Room Floor, a fashion podcast you may know from its Leandra Medine Cohen episode or its viral Steve Madden interview . Last week, host and creator Recho Omondi went on TikTok to hire a full-time staffer who would be an office administrator, bookings coordinator, and personal assistant. Fans were intrigued until she droppe...

This week, Steve, Julia and guest host Isaac Butler visit a pre-gentrified 1990s New York to discuss the gritty crime romp Caught Stealing directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Austin Butler (no relation). Next, it’s off to Cooper’s Chase, an English manor turned retirement community , to take up the case of The Thursday Murder Club , Netflix’s new film adaptation of the beloved cozy mystery s...

Donald Trump has been working to expand his presidential influence into places that are supposed to operate independently, like the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Federal Reserve, and even into Congress’s constitutionally appointed “power of the purse.” As Congress returns to Washington, is this nominally co-equal branch of government willing to wrest its power back? Guest: Luke Broadwater , r...

Trans rights and access to health care have been under attack on the state level for years, but the second Trump administration and the Supreme Court have accelerated a chilling effect at clinics across the country. Guest: Grace Byron , author of “ The Grim State of Trans Health Care ” and “ The Bureaucratic Nightmares of Being Trans Under Trump ” for the New Yorker.  Want more What Next? Subscrib...

Hosts Alex Kirshner , Ben Lindbergh , and Lindsay Gibbs discuss college football’s wild week one, including Bill Belichick’s disastrous debut with the Tar Heels and Arch Manning’s early struggles. They dissect the baffling Micah Parsons trade, and later welcome Syracuse sports management professor Lindsey Darvin to explore whether the world of video gaming is boosting women's sports. Finally, Ben...

When comedy writer Tamara Yajia talks about her childhood, she’s sometimes unsure what tone to strike. Her new memoir Cry for Me Argentina: My Life as a Failed Child Star depicts a very fun nuclear family with parents and grandparents who are loud, crass, and sex-positive. There are hilarious moments and situations that seem wildly inappropriate. In this week’s episode, Tamara tells Anna about the...

From selling hats, NFTs and cryptocurrency, to stock boosts, swaps and golf-course deals made abroad, the Trumps are taking this presidency to the bank—for what looks to be billions. You can call it distasteful, but has it tipped over into “illegal”? Guest:  David Kirkpatrick , staff writer at the New Yorker. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole Wha...

In this Money Talks: Felix Salmon is joined by author and New York Times reporter David Gelles to discuss his new biography of enigmatic Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, Dirtbag Billionaire . David does a deep dive into what makes the brand and its founder so unique, including the paradoxes of a wildly successful company trying to remain environmentally sustainable and a billionaire who believes...

Sarah loves her in-laws, even though their politics send her running for the exits. Now, her daughter is starting to ask questions about her grandparents’ patriarchal, conservative views. How can Sarah raise her kid to be self-assured, justice-oriented, and open-minded—without spoiling the connection between her in-laws and the grandchild they adore? On this episode of How To!, Courtney Martin bri...

While the What Next team celebrates Labor Day, please enjoy this episode from our colleagues at ICYMI, Slate’s internet culture podcast. Mary will be back with a new episode of What Next tomorrow. On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Slate senior writer Scaachi Koul to talk about the return of the girlboss. Over five years after various exposes exposed their poor management and, in s...

A24 rose from “small budget indie movie studio” to “one of the most respected brands in cinema” on a reputation for treating filmmakers like auteurs. But as the studio is growing and exploring how to integrate artificial intelligence, it’s at odds with some of the very directors who helped A24 establish itself. Guest: Alex Barasch , culture editor at the New Yorker Want more What Next TBD? Subscri...

In this episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick discusses the recent deployment of the National Guard in Washington D.C. and its implications for checks and balances in the U.S. legal system. She is joined by Elizabeth “Liza” Goitein from the non-partisan Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program, a leading expert on all things Posse Comitatus, the Insurrection Act, and the Pandora’s box o...

This week: Fed governor Lisa Cook is suing the Trump administration over her dismissal. Felix Salmon , Elizabeth Spiers , and Emily Peck , along with guest Kashmir Hill of The New York Times , discuss the weak fraud case being used to oust the Biden-appointed Fed governor and its significance in the fight to preserve the independence of the Federal Reserve. Then, Kashmir goes in depth on the many...

On today’s episode, hosts Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay are joined by Slate staff writer Luke Winkie, whose piece “ Is This What It Takes to Beat Trump? ” examines Gavin Newsom’s latest social media strategy: shitposting. The California governor has started tweeting in the style of Donald Trump to ridicule the president and promote his new redistricting effort in California. It’s also paving the wa...

California Governor Gavin Newsom, presumably as a precursor to a run for the presidency, has been getting attention for a very Trump-influenced style of, uh, fighting back against Donald Trump. Is this where American politics is headed? Does it have to be? Guest: Ben Mathis-Lilley , Slate senior writer. This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, no...

Sped-up voices. Wacky instruments. Songs about cavemen, bathtubs, bikinis, and mothers-in-law. From the dawn of rock ‘n’ roll through the 1970s—the age of streaking, CB radios, disco and King Tut—novelty songs could be chart-topping hits. But by the corporate ’80s, it was harder for goofballs to score hits on regimented radio playlists. Until one perm-headed, mustachioed, accordion-playing parodis...

The playlists of dozens of high-level government officials and tech executives were suddenly broadcast to the world on a website called “the Panama Playlists.” But the information wasn’t taken by sophisticated hackers infiltrating any mainframes—it was all already publicly available. Guest: Mike Isaac , New York Times Silicon Valley correspondent.  Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus...