What Next | Daily News and Analysis

The war in Iran is either already over, or almost over, or going to continue until Trump feels it is over in his bones? If you’re Congress, what are you supposed to do with that?  Guest: Adam Kinzinger, former Republican Congressman for Illinois’s 11th and 16th districts, Jan 6 Committee member, former lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus...

Israel and America’s war with Iran has spread, leading to the displacement of nearly 20 percent of people in Lebanon. What does that look like on the ground—and how will the conflict end? Guests:   Basma Alloush , Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Rescue Committee.  Joshua Keating , senior correspondent at Vox. Want more What Next? Subscribe t...

The Republican-led Senate prepares this week to tackle an issue that’s very important to the president, his diehards, and hardly anyone else: passing the SAVE Act in order to force people to prove citizenship before voting. Guest: Ari Berman , national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones.  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next...

If no other explanations for the Iran War seem satisfying, have you considered that the point is to bring about the end of the world and the return of Jesus Christ? The people in power have.  Guest:  Tim Dickinson , senior writer and editor at The Contrarian . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favori...

A half dozen state attorneys general have sued the online gaming platform Roblox after multiple investigations found child predators on the site and more than 20 people were arrested for abducting or abusing children they had met via Roblox.  Guest: Mike Hilgers , Nebraska Attorney General. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next fam...

On this week’s Slate Plus exclusive, Timothée Chalamet enters the pas de deux between an Oscar-nominated actor and a public itching for a villain. But as one Gen Z star’s public approval goes down, another’s rises, on the strength of a “ bixie .”  Guest: Nadira Goffe , Slate culture writer . This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only...

Drone warfare has evolved immensely since Ukraine. The use of artificial intelligence in combat has evolved just since Venezuela.  Guest: Steven Feldstein, political scientist and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program . Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Nex...

Is the Strait of Hormuz safe? Is the U.S. going to put boots on the ground? Did we obliterate Iran’s nuclear facilities? And why are we at war with Iran… at all? Guest: Tommy Vietor, political commentator on Pod Save America and Pod Save the World, spokesman for Obama and the National Security Council in 2011 and 2012.  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening...

Who is the new supreme leader of Iran, and how does he differ from his predecessor father? Guest: Graeme Wood , staff writer at The Atlantic and a lecturer in political science at Yale . 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 clicking “Try Free” at the t...

Nominated for Best International Feature Film at this year’s Academy Awards, The Voice of Hind Rajab uses audio from the actual emergency call with a five-year-old girl in Gaza who was killed by Israeli forces in January 2024.  Guest:  Kaouther Ben Hania , director of the Oscar-nominated film, The Voice of Hind Rajab . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listen...

A July ICE protest ended with a police lieutenant shot, 19 people arrested and nine people now on trial. For Trump’s Department of Justice, it’s a chance to see how calling groups “domestic terrorist organizations” performs in a courtroom. Guest:  Leeja Miller , lawyer and YouTuber based in Minneapolis.  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whol...

How does Paramount, an old-guard studio and media institution, buying Warner Bros., another of the same, change the landscape in Hollywood, on cable, and in news? Guest: Julia Alexander , media correspondent for Puck 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 Apple Podcast...

When you’re sending troops to war, it seems like there are more important things to consider than how it will impact the stock market. However, it doesn’t seem coincidental that this administration waited until the markets closed on a Friday to launch its attacks on Iran. Guest: Justin Wolfers , professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan Want more What Next TBD? Subscri...

As recent demonstrations showed, a sizable segment of the Iranian people already opposes the regime. But when President Trump told them to “take over your government,” it seems unlikely he considered how the regime responded to those protests, or other movements for a more open Iranian society. Guest:  Kian Tajbakhsh , visiting assistant professor at New York University, lecturer at Columbia...

How the attention economy, distrust of all authority, and an actual crime turned a suburban Arizona street into the place to be for certain content creators. Guest: Luke Winkie , Slate staff writer, author of the piece “ The Haunting American Scene Unfolding Outside Nancy Guthrie’s House. ” Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and a...

After a Democrat flipped a state senate seat for a district that Trump had won by a large margin, both parties are closely watching today’s Texas primaries. What are they looking for, and what can the results tell us about the midterm elections this fall? Guest: Bayliss Wagner , Texas politics reporter. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next...

Over the weekend, in the middle of the night, the Trump administration brought the United States into yet another Middle East war.  Guest: Shane Harris , staff writer at The Atlantic covering national security and intelligence 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 A...

How much would it change your life and approach to health if you had instant access to your quantified biometrics? RFK Jr. and the Department of Health and Human Services have bet the difference would be huge, and loosened regulation on them—leaving TBD no choice but to strap in and give ‘em a try.  Guests:  Nadira Goffe , Slate staff writer. Mario Aguliar , health tech correspondent for...

Training for the Olympics is a Sisyphean task, but if you’re a curler, pushing a rock is kind of your thing. And who knows? Your big break might come in your 50s. Guest: Rich Ruohonen, Minnesota curler (and lawyer) who represented the US in the 2026 Winter Olympics.  This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive...

The Pentagon wants Anthropic to hand over its A.I. with no strings attached. Anthropic doesn’t want its products used to surveil Americans or create autonomous machines of war.  Naturally, the Pentagon is mad - so mad, they’re threatening to invoke the Defense Production Act against them. But who has more leverage here?  Guest: Sheera Frenkel, reporter for the New York Times  Want m...

The gay romance show Heated Rivalry brought an influx of attention to hockey, and gold-medal winning performances from both the women’s and men’s American teams seemed to be priming the NHL for a fresh, diverse group of fans. Then Kash Patel showed up in the men’s locker room. Guest:  Frankie de la Cretaz , writer at the intersection of sports, gender, culture, and queerness, author of Hail M...

With President Trump’s urging and support from CIA drones, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s more confrontational approach to the drug cartels culminated in the death of “El Mencho,” the most wanted man in both Mexico and the United States.  Guest: León Krauze , Mexican journalist and author covering politics and the cartels.  Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad...

Why a number of Congressional Democrats are skipping tonight’s State of the Union address—and why some are still going. Guest:  Congresswoman Veronica Escobar , representing Texas's 16th Congressional District in El Paso. 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...

Counter to claims that immigrants just need to come to America “the right way,” DHS has begun using the department that administers legal immigration to arrest, detain, and deport people—including those who are following the law. Guest: Jonathan Blitzer, staff writer at the New Yorker and author of Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis . Want...

You might not think you need artificial intelligence added to your shopping experience. Store employees might not see the point either. So why is it there anyway? Guest: Mia Sato , reporter at The Verge who covers tech companies, platforms, and users. 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. Sub...