What Next | Daily News and Analysis

It’s been a rough autumn for parents of little kids, as non-COVID respiratory diseases are taking advantage of the first fall since 2019 where schools and daycares are full again, and America’s strained pediatric health care system is once again put to the test.  Guest: Katherine Wu , science writer for The Atlantic . Host: Lizzie O’Leary. Podcast production by Madeline Ducharme. If you enjoy this...

One week in as head honcho of Twitter and Elon Musk is in a tight spot: how do you balance the desires of advertisers with your ostensible zeal for free speech? How do you make something for which you’ve already overpaid turn a profit? How do you convince Stephen King to pony up for a blue check? Guest: Alex Kirshner , contributing writer at Slate.  Host: Lizzie O’Leary If you enjoy this show, ple...

Democrats have been winning reliably in Nevada, but between the lack of enthusiasm for Joe Biden among Latino voters, and a lackluster voter-turnout effort from Vegas’s hospitality union, it’s very possible that the face of Nevada’s “Stop the Steal” effort may win a Senate seat. Guest: Jon Ralston , CEO and Editor in Chief of The Nevada Independent. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing...

Joe Biden won Colorado by 13 points, which is why Jim O’Dea is running for the Senate as a moderate Republican—one who will stand up to Donald Trump. It’s a message that isn’t winning support from Democratic voters, and may well be undermining his appeal to Republicans.   Guest: Jim Newell , senior politics writer at Slate.  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate...

Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases challenging race-conscious admissions programs. If the justices decide that affirmative action is unconstitutional—as they seem poised to do—how can universities still create diverse student bodies?  Guest: Mark Joseph Stern , senior writer at Slate covering the Supreme Court. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slat...

According to the recently released results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, American students across the country are scoring lower on math and reading. But before we panic, it’s important to put those results in context, and consider what evaluations can actually tell us. Guest: Jack Schneider , associate professor of education at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and co-ho...

There are some 400 million surveillance cameras installed in China, one for every three to four civilians. Built with the help of American tech companies, the surveillance state was pitched to the public as a way to make society safer and more efficient. But after severe lockdowns during COVID, the public has been objecting out of the eye of the camera lens. Protests are being written on bathroom...

Twitter has been a lot of things—where you posted your lunch, where you met your people, where you were subjected to a harassment campaign. Now, as Elon Musk prepares to take the reins, where is it headed? Guest: Will Oremus , technology reporter for the Washington Post . Host: Lizzie O’Leary If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like ze...

An investigation into child welfare agencies around the country uncovered that the vast majority of searches of home environments happen without anything like a warrant, increasing the stress for parents as well as the children whose welfare is supposed to be being protected.  Guest: Eli Hager , ProPublica reporter covering issues affecting children and teens in the Southwest. If you enjoy this sh...

The truth is, no one ever had a workable plan for Brexit. And as Liz Truss becomes the fourth Prime Minister to resign since the referendum and Rishi Sunak steps in as tribute, it’s an important lesson for voters on any side of the Atlantic: You can’t stake your party—or your country’s future—on a lie.  Guest: Felix Salmon , host of Slate Money , chief financial correspondent at Axios .   If you e...

Reporters have questioned whether Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, who had a stroke in May, is competent to serve in the U.S. Senate. The attention on his apparent aphasia – or ability to process conversation and speak clearly – reveals the biases that keep many disabled people from disclosing their conditions or even running for office in the first place. Guest: Sara Luterman , ca...

Ron DeSantis broke with tradition when he rejected the Florida legislature’s redistricting map and presented his own. But by splitting a majority Black district in northern Florida into four other districts, he may have violated both Florida and federal laws against gerrymandering. Guest: Joshua Kaplan , reporter at ProPublica .  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. S...

Alzheimer’s treatment hasn’t changed much in the past two decades, and the way researchers have been thinking about and approaching the disease may be to blame.  Guest: Damian Garde , reporter for Stat covering the biotech industry . Host: Lizzie O’Leary If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus epis...

One company’s software is helping set prices for apartments across the country. But when does an algorithm telling landlords how much to charge—by drawing on property data—cross the line from “handy tool” to “illegal price-fixing”?  Guest: Heather Vogell , reporter with ProPublica Host: Lizzie O'Leary If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefit...

You can divide the career of the artist formerly known as Kanye West into chapters using off-script televised moments—announcing “George W. Bush doesn’t care about Black people” during a Hurricane Katrina telethon; interrupting Taylor Swift on stage at the VMAs; calling 400 years of slavery a choice in the TMZ offices. Now his Tucker Carlson appearance and subsequent bans from social media for ant...

Republican rhetoric paints America’s cities as cesspools of crime, homeless and, uh, out-of-touch elites, and the party has largely given up courting urban voters. The GOP may be able to hold on to power thanks to voting systems that favor rural areas, but legislating as though their responsibilities stop at the city lines is a growing concern for the Americans who actually live there. Guest: Henr...

Five years after exposés in the New Yorker and New York Times, Harvey Weinstein is in jail—but a major rallying point of #MeToo was just how widespread this sexual harassment, abuse, and violence really is in workplaces across industries. Looking back, from the top of media to blue- and pink-collar work, how much has the #MeToo movement changed? Guest: Christina Cauterucci , senior writer at Slate...

As a Syrian American surgeon living in Chicago, Dr. Samer Attar felt compelled to be of service during the Syrian civil war, when doctors were being driven underground by Syria’s Russia-backed military. When Russian bombs began raining down in Ukraine this year, Dr. Attar once more raised his hand to cross the border and treat the war-wounded.  Guest: Dr. Samer Attar , associate professor of surge...

The idea of composting a human body may seem unsettling—or even gross—and it runs counter to the normal American funeral rites of embalming and internment, which preserve the body. But advocates say it’s a greener and more peaceful way to return our bodies to the Earth.  Guest: Eleanor Cummins , science journalist Host: Lizzie O’Leary If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Pl...

Following their victory in Staten Island, the Amazon Labor Union is still facing an uphill battle. Both the company and the union are closely watching the organizing vote at a warehouse outside of Albany, NY. Guest: Noam Scheiber , labor reporter for the New York Times. Host: Lizzie O'Leary If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero...

With inflation up and unemployment down, the Federal Reserve is raising interest rates and signaling that they’re willing to risk a lot to stall the rising price of everything. But is Jerome Powell doing too much—or is he already too late to avoid a painful recession? Guest: Jordan Weissmann , senior editor at Slate reporting on economics, politics, and public policy. If you enjoy this show, pleas...

Herschel Walker’s campaign for the U.S. Senate has been rocky to say the least, with revelations of heretofore-unmentioned children, accusations of domestic abuse, and multiple abortions paid for by the aggressively pro-life candidate. Yet the race remains close with Reverend Raphael Warnock—and the outcome could determine which party controls the Senate. Guest: Greg Bluestein , political reporter...

When the January 6 committee reconvenes, one their first orders of business will likely concern longtime GOP operative and Trump ally Roger Stone. What have lawmakers discovered in the raw footage from a Danish documentary team, and Stone’s personal text messages? And what does it reveal about January 6?  Guest: Josh Meyer , USA Today’s domestic security correspondent .  If you enjoy this show, pl...

What Next is still enjoying the three-day weekend, so we proudly present this special episode of Amicus. Dahlia Lithwick is joined by two key players from this week’s consequential voting rights cases at the US Supreme Court. The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund’s senior counsel Deuel Ross argued part of Merrill v Milligan at the High Court on Tuesday, and Evan Milligan of Alabama Forward...

Churches are using accountability apps to keep tabs on their members' behavior. But if your pastor wants to monitor your phone, can you truly consent? Guest: Dhruv Mehrotra Host: Lizzie O'Leary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.