What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Donald Trump is appearing in court today as a criminal defendant. Why did this case take so long to go to trial, and what’s at stake for the former president?  Guest: Jeremy Stahl , jurisprudence editor at 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. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by cl...

How the semi-legalization of marijuana has drawn a road map for legalizing psychedelics—and also provided a list of pitfalls to be avoided.  Guest: Jane C. Hu , science journalist and author of the newsletter The Microdose. 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 Podcas...

Why lately our search engines just don’t seem to deliver results.  Guest: Jason Koebler , cofounder of 404 Media and co-host of the 404 Media Podcast .  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 top of our show page. Sign up now at s...

How Florida Judge Aileen Cannon is delaying Donald Trump’s trial over classified documents taken to Mar-a-Lago—and what special prosecutor Jack Smith can do to get things moving. Guest: Lee Kovarsky , professor of law at University of Texas , co-director of the UT Capital Punishment Center Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and ac...

How did an attempt to simplify a tedious student-aid form turn into a full-on debacle that has some high school seniors wondering if they will have to delay starting college?  Guest: Danielle Douglas-Gabriel , national higher education reporter for the Washington Post . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favori...

2024 is down to two historically unpopular candidates. That may leave the door open for third-party candidates to make some noise. But Democrats have been burned before – and aren’t going down without a fight. Guest: Dave Weigel, reporter for Semafor. 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....

In response to a spike in child labor violations, some states are strengthening their laws against the practice—while 16 states have weakened laws against child labor. What’s going on? Guest: Lauren Kaori Gurley, labor reporter for the Washington Post . 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...

The demand for electricity is surging in the U.S. With increasing amounts of power going towards artificial intelligence, manufacturing and electric vehicles, can the grid keep up? Guest: Evan Halper, business reporter covering the energy transition 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 favori...

Donald Trump got a huge financial boost when Truth Social went public last week—or did he? Guest: Nitish Pahwa , associate writer on business and tech for Slate . 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 top of our show page. Sign u...

Benjamin Netanyahu has been able to count on the support from Israel’s ultra-Orthodox parties. But as the IDF needs additional manpower to continue a two-front war, the military exemption that the ultra-Orthodox enjoy is coming under scrutiny, and could fracture Netanyahu’s hold on power. Guest: Yair Rosenberg , staff writer for The Atlantic. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access...

Sports betting is now mostly legal, and, if you watch sports, its advertisements are inescapable. Now, a series of scandals has rocked the professional leagues. When everyone bets, odds are – someone will cross a line.   Guest: Jay Caspian Kang, staff writer for “The New Yorker” and author of The Loneliest Americans . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the...

Democrat Marilyn Lands will be sworn in to the Alabama House of Representatives this week, having won a special election in the deep-red state by 25 points. How did Lands do it—and what can the national Democrats learn from her victory? Guest: Marilyn Lands, Alabama lawmaker who won a special election for the state’s House of Representatives. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access...

The group that brought the case that overturned Roe v. Wade is back before the Supreme Court arguing for more restrictions on mifepristone, the “abortion pill.” Who are Alliance Defending Freedom, and what are their goals? Guest: David Kirkpatrick , staff writer for The New Yorker. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all...

From science fiction writers to American presidents to Elon Musk, everyone’s eager to send people to Mars. But, even if you could nail the physical aspects, are Earthlings cut out for life on Mars mentally?  Guest: Nathaniel Rich , contributing writer for New York Times magazine.  Kate Greene, author and poet Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole...

How supply chains, the pandemic, and a steady stream of Wall Street money led to a crisis at Boeing. Guest: Jon Ostrower , editor-in-chief of the website the Air Current . 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 top of our show pag...

A new documentary, “Quiet On Set,” looks back at Nickelodeon’s heyday, and the culture of abuse that many of its child stars were subjected to. Guest: Kate Taylor, reporter for Business Insider and producer of “Quiet on Set.”  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...

Nominated by Biden for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, Adeel Mangi has a Harvard education and years as a prominent corporate litigator under his belt. But during his Senate confirmation hearing, the main thing Republican lawmakers wanted to talk about were Hamas’s October 7th attacks. Now, Democrats are weighing filling a seat in the federal judiciary against giving in to Islamophobia. Guest:...

With four criminal cases against him, including one that was scheduled to begin this week, Donald Trump and his legal team have successfully muddied the waters in all four trials. With solid odds of winning the presidential election in the fall, has Donald Trump managed to once again wriggle his way out of this one? Guest: Jeremy Stahl , Slate’s jurisprudence editor . Want more What Next? Subscrib...

A concert outside of Moscow was interrupted by gunshot and a fire. Though ISIS claimed responsibility within hours, Putin isn’t letting this crisis go to waste.  Guest: Shane Harris, senior national security writer for the Washington Post.  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 t...

After organized-labor victories at Amazon, with automakers, and in Hollywood, big corporations are striking back by, among other things, suing the National Labor Relations Board.   Guest: Noam Scheiber , reporter for the New York Times covering working and workers. 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...

Despite the blackouts, moderator revolts, and long string of controversies, Reddit remains an active, healthy website. As the site goes public this week, can it remain that way? Guest: Priya Anand, Bloomberg News tech 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 Po...

Experts say domestic violence tends to start or intensify during pregnancy. But since the overturn of Roe v. Wade , terminating a pregnancy—or even advising or helping someone to terminate a pregnancy—has been criminalized in several states which can leave survivors of domestic violence unable to separate from an abusive partner.   Guest: Julianne McShane , writer at Mother Jones covering the inte...

When even Israel’s American allies like Biden and Chuck Schumer seem to be growing impatient waiting for a ceasefire in Gaza, what is standing in the way? Guest: Fred Kaplan, Slate writer and author of  The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War . 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 hard to imagine anyone changing their opinion on Trump based on a new running mate. But there’s more at stake with this pick than just the 2024 election. Guest: Benjy Sarlin , Washington Bureau Chief at Semafor 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 Podcasts by...

With gangs controlling much of the capital and the prime minister out of office, what is Haiti’s path to stability? What role should the international community play?   Guest: Harold Isaac , independent journalist in Haiti. 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 Pod...