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As Elon Musk channeled his considerable resources towards Donald Trump’s campaign, there was talk about what his role in the new Trump administration would be. If his stint leading Twitter is any indication, the federal government could be in for a bumpy ride. Guest: Zoë Schiffer , incoming director of business and industry at Wired, author of Extremely Hardcore: Inside Elon Musk’s Twitter . Want...

As Elon Musk channeled his considerable resources towards Donald Trump’s campaign, there was talk about what his role in the new Trump administration would be. If his stint leading Twitter is any indication, the federal government could be in for a bumpy ride. Guest: Zoë Schiffer , incoming director of business and industry at Wired, author of Extremely Hardcore: Inside Elon Musk’s Twitter . Want...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the big wins of Donald Trump and Senate Republicans; the what-next of the second Trump presidency; and the electoral victories and possible setbacks for abortion rights. Join us on December 4 for Political Gabfest Live in Brooklyn!  Tickets are on sale now . And send us your Conundrums at  slate.com/conundrum . Email your chatters,...

It’s not 2016 all over again. With a party now shaped in his image, and a Supreme Court that already gave him immunity, how will a vengeful Donald Trump’s second term go down? Guest: David A. Graham , staff writer at the Atlantic who wrote “ What Trump Understood, and Harris Did Not .” Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across...

In this extra episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern wade through the immediate aftermath of the election. Will splitting the ticket on abortion protect abortion rights nationally? (No) What will the federal government look like at 12:02 pm on January 20th, 2025? (very different than at 11:58 am that day) Are all of Brett Kavanaugh’s wildest unitary executive dreams about to come...

Trump has just about done it again—and the country’s largely swinging further to the right on down-ballot candidates and even some ballot initiatives. Why couldn’t the Harris campaign pull it off, and what do other key losses for the Democrats say about what Americans want? Guest: David Faris , politics professor at Roosevelt University and contributing writer for Slate . Want more What Next? Subs...

It’s been a strange election—Trump being shot at on stage; Biden dropping out—but also a very familiar one, with the same issues, same rhetoric, and same deadlocked, dysfunctional Congress waiting on the other side. How long will the political Groundhog Day last—and what will it take to break this cycle? Guests: Osita Nwanevu , contributing editor at the New Republic and columnist at The Guardian...

The worst part about the election being tomorrow is knowing that we (almost definitely) won’t know the results tomorrow. Guests: Ari Berman, voting rights reporter for Mother Jones Kadia Goba, political reporter for Semafor Isaac Saul, founder of the Tangle newsletter Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite...

Voters in swing states are being subjected to constant political messages—on billboards, commercials and, increasingly, via text messages. But are dozens of “make a plan to vote” texts you’re receiving going to make a difference? Guest: Jacob Neiheisel, political science professor at the University at Buffalo  Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whol...

This week’s show is unapologetically long, deep, and hopeful. Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Yale history professor Timothy Snyder to talk about his new book, On Freedom , and to have the audacity to re-imagine freedom on the precipice of an election that could turn the United States hard right into tyranny. Next, Dahlia is joined by Rick Hasen, Director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA...

This week: Readers aren’t buying Jeff Bezos’ claim that killing the Washington Posts’ presidential endorsement wasn’t from his own business interests. Emily Peck , Elizabeth Spiers , and Anna Szymanski weigh in on how the move may or may not help Bezos and what the WaPo boycott can actually accomplish. Also: How would a Trump victory affect the economy? Badly, economists say. Finally: Facebook lai...

How did Elon Musk go from a poster to someone pumping millions of dollars towards Donald Trump? And what’s he hoping to get for doing so? Guest: Max Chafkin , Bloomberg Businessweek columnist.   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...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the final week of the presidential campaign; the threats to election integrity; and the consequences of not endorsing. Join us on December 4 for Political Gabfest Live in Brooklyn!  Tickets are on sale now . And send us your Conundrums at  slate.com/conundrum . Email your chatters, questions, and comments to  gabfest@slate.com . (Me...

They believe they are the law. They believe the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. They’re determined not to let it happen again. Meet the constitutional sheriffs. Guest: David Gilbert , reports on disinformation, online extremism and election hucksters for WIRED . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your fa...

It’s gone to Trump once and Biden once. Now, there’s a slight but very real chance that the entire election will turn based on how Nebraska’s second congressional district—with its singular electoral college vote—goes. Guest: Paul Kane , congressional reporter at the Washington Post. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across a...

The hardest-to-reach portion of the electorate remains “undecided” at this point of the election cycle, but the outcome depends on which campaign can convince them to join their side. Guest: Michael Podhorzer , Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP) and author of the substack Weekend Reading . We want to hear from you! Submit your answers to our What Next listener survey at  slate...

In this Money Talks: the man who would bet billions on a coin toss. Host Felix Salmon chats with Lionel Barber, whose new book Gambling Man: The Secret Story of the World’s Greatest Disruptor, Masayoshi Son reveals how the man who backed Alibaba became the world’s biggest maverick investor, throwing fortunes at enterprises that could either succeed spectacularly or go down in flames. Podcast produ...

In a presidential race as tight as this one, a few thousand votes—in the right states—could be the difference. Is the Green Party candidate Jill Stein set up to be that difference, like so many Democrats believe she was in 2016? Guest: Matt Flegenheimer, correspondent for the New York Times specializing in long-form profiles of political figures. We want to hear from you! Submit your answers to ou...

He didn’t find his grandfather. But traveling to, photographing, and uploading his grandfather’s memorial stone gave him something else.  Guest: Tony Tran, senior tech editor at Slate and author of the feature “ My Weekends with the Dead. ” 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 toda...

This week: How do you buy an election? Throw a sweepstakes! Emily Peck , Elizabeth Spiers , and Rueters’ Anna Szymanski (filling in for Felix Salmon) discuss Elon Musk’s scheme to get potential Trump voters to the ballot box and the maneuverings of the campaign finance industrial complex. Next, they discuss a French gambler whose massive bet on the election may affect Trump’s real-world odds. Fina...

It’s easy to dismiss nativist rhetoric as mere Trumpy “locker room talk.” But when it comes to immigration, deportation and even detention, rhetoric about foreigners and violent invaders is actually a legal long game. Toward the end of the summer of 2023, Katherine Yon Ebright, counsel in the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program, noticed that rightwing anti immigration groups and...

This election cycle, TikTok has evolved into a news-and-politics delivery mechanism. Will it make a difference? Guest: Sapna Maheshwari , reporting on TikTok and other tech for the New York Times . 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”...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Donald Trump’s fascism, disinhibition, and age; the state of young men in America with  Rachel Simmons ; and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Michigan with  Nicholas Confessore  of The New York Times. Join us on December 4 for Political Gabfest Live in Brooklyn!  Tickets are on sale now . And send us your Conund...

When put to the voters, abortion rights have been winning over stricter restrictions even in places like deeply red Kansas. But Florida Republicans are working hard to defeat a ballot measure that would roll back the state’s six-week abortion ban—and they might have found a formula to win. Guest: Grace Panetta , political reporter at The 19th.  We want to hear from you! Submit your answers to our...

Donald Trump’s most consistent policy message has been anti-immigration, but according to surveys, more than a quarter of Kamala Harris supporters also support mass deportations. How did American opinions on immigration sour across the political spectrum so quickly? Guest: Rogé Karma, staff writer at The Atlantic . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the who...