Slate News

Educational, entertaining, and about as universally beloved as any part of American life, how did Sesame Street find itself cutting staff and searching for a new broadcasting home? Guest: David Kamp, author of Sunny Days: The Children's Television Revolution That Changed America Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your other favorite Slate podca...

In this Money Talks: How does America assert its power globally? The short answer is money. For the long answer, Felix Salmon calls in authors Edward Fishman ( Chokepoints ) and Saleha Mohsin ( Paper Soldiers ) who both recently published books on the subject. They’ll discuss how the US dollar managed to become the world’s reserve asset, the ways it’s been weaponized in the past, and what that glo...

Last week, Democrats averted a government shutdown—by voting for a MAGA-friendly Continuing Resolution, which may have just handed even greater power to Trump. Why? Guest: Josh Marshall , editor-in-chief of Talking Points Memo Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next sh...

With a Trump-friendly Supreme Court and a contentious relationship with the press, could Donald Trump follow through on his 2016 campaign goal of making it easier to sue media companies for libel—and imperil America’s free press? Guest: David Enrich, business investigations editor at the New York Times and author of “ Murder The Truth. ” Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access a...

David Plotz talks with author Adam Higginbotham about his new book,  Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space .  They discuss the feats of engineering that took place, the political cynicism and cost-cutting that played a role in the tragedy, the heroism and tragic loss of the people on board the shuttle, and more.    Tweet us your questions  @SlateGabfest  or email us...

Donald Trump continued his almost uninterrupted losing streak in the courts. Across the country we saw federal judges openly criticizing his Administration officials and their lawyers for overreach, bullying and misrepresentations about not only their cases, but about norms and values. But Trump has both judges and law firms in his crosshairs. On this week’s show, former US Attorney Preet Bharara...

This week: The US Stock Market is plummeting during Trump’s second term. Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers explain why headlines very rarely affect the movements of the Stock Market–and discuss whether we're currently living one of those exceptions. Then, the Wall Street Journal has reported that the Trump family is in talks to invest in the US arm of crypto giant Binance . If true,...

From television, to a royal wedding…and back to TV, Meghan Markle is carving out her own niche. Guest: Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay, cohosts of Slate’s ICYMI . 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 access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can sub...

The public’s anger towards Elon Musk and DOGE has found an outlet in the form of Musk’s car company Tesla. How long can the company put up with a sinking reputation and stock price?  Guest: Pranshu Verma, tech 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...

This week, John Dickerson and David Plotz are joined by  Juliette Kayyem  to discuss how Elon Musk and DOGE are endangering Americans; the Trump administration’s attacks on universities and the arrest of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil; and the politics of the measles outbreak centered on West Texas. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, John and David are joined by  Juliette Kayyem  to di...

DOGE cuts have already hit Social Security, with offices closing and employees fired. With Elon Musk calling the program a “Ponzi scheme” and saying entitlements are “the big one to eliminate,” this may be just the beginning of the unraveling of the trusted safety net that millions of Americans rely on.  Guest: Joe Perticone, political reporter at The Bulwark . Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus...

The Trump administration’s approach to free speech, immigration, and due process all converge in a crackdown on Columbia University.  Guest: Sarah Brown , news editor at the Chronicle for Higher Education. Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on  Apple Pod...

Andrew Cuomo—the hard-headed former governor of New York state —became something of a national hero in 2020 with his no-nonsense press conferences. By 2021, he was mired in a sexual misconduct scandal and the fallout from a public health disaster. How is he polling so well in the Democratic primary for New York’s mayoral race? Guest: Jimmy Vielkind , New York politics reporter for WNYC. Want more...

They were three Harris-supporting women, from across the country, all married to Trump-supporting men—and they were all contemplating divorce. Guest: Scaachi Koul , Slate senior writer who wrote about women considering leaving their husbands over their support for Donald Trump and the author of Sucker Punch .   Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and al...

After the election, Mark Zuckerberg announced that he was doing away with Facebook’s fact-checking apparatus in the US. With content creators getting paid based on reach, and content spreading wider and faster the more extreme it is, is Facebook the perfect environment for misinformation to flourish?  Guest:  Craig Silverman , technology reporter for ProPublica. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe...

This week: Trump’s tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China went into effect – only for him to turn around and suspend many of them. Felix Salmon , Emily Peck , and Elizabeth Spiers discuss Trump’s love of tariffs and the political effects of his trade war. Then, Egg Watch gets a whole segment this week as Chenya Roth joins to discuss the economics of egg demand and the question of if eggs even should...

Elon Musk’s moves at DOGE have been legally dubious from the start. And the more we learn, the more questions we have about this not-an-agency helmed by Musk –– who is apparently both in charge, and also not in charge. That’s why we wanted to talk with Kate Shaw, University of Pennsylvania law professor and co-host of the Strict Scrutiny podcast , about the very real constitutional issues raised b...

To understand the second Trump administration, you have to understand the internet culture that gave birth to it. Guest: Elle Reeve , CNN correspondent who reported on the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, VA for Vice News. 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...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss President Trump’s authoritarian address to Congress and whipsawing on tariffs; the outright betrayal of Ukraine and alliance with Russia on naked display in the Oval Office; and the ways the Covid pandemic caused and accelerated change in America. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss Andrew Cuomo,...

Aware of Donald Trump’s reputation as a dealmaker, Ukrainians had some hope as he took office—maybe Trump could break the stalemate with Russia and find peace. Then that Oval Office meeting happened… Guest: Romeo Kokriatski is the managing editor of New Voice of Ukraine, and co-host of the podcast Ukraine Without Hype . Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Ne...

On Wednesday morning the Supreme Court dealt a blow to the Trump administration's effort to withhold $2 billion promised for foreign aid work. Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern discuss the Court’s decision to reject the Trump administration's request to halt a lower court's order, by a five to four vote, compelling the State Department to resume payments. While Chief Justice John Roberts and A...

Republicans have been talking about cutting the size of the government down for decades. Now that the Trump administration is following through on those plans, the process is laying bare just how much pain this budget hacking is going to inflict on Americans and people across the globe. Guest: Jeffrey Okoro, executive director for CFK Africa, a non-profit focusing on public health and financial op...

Congressional Republicans are trying to extend Trump’s first-term tax cuts, appease GOP budget hawks and increase defense spending—all in a single budget. Can it be done? Guest: Jim Newell , senior politics writer at Slate. Want more What Next? Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to What Next and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show...

In this Money Talks: Emily Peck is joined by journalist and author Adam Chandler to discuss what he discovered about how Americans think about work while writing his book 99% Perspiration . They’ll get into America's often misguided and misinformed obsession with rugged individualism, the long-term effects of de-emphasizing community, and of course, Emily in Paris .  Want to hear that discussion a...

A survey of people incarcerated in California found that 20 percent of women in for homicide had killed their abusive partners. How have self-defense laws failed women in abusive relationships—and how can they be reformed to save lives? Guest: Rachel Louise Snyder , journalist, author of No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us , and professor at American Universi...