What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Over the last month, North Americans have seen record-breaking heat, droughts, wildfires, and floods. The science is clear: we are living through the effects of climate change. Now scientists are trying to answer: is this the new normal? Guest: Daniel Swain , climate scientist at UCLA  Host Lizzie O’Leary   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the last month, North Americans have seen record-breaking heat, droughts, wildfires, and floods. The science is clear: we are living through the effects of climate change. Now scientists are trying to answer: is this the new normal? Guest: Daniel Swain , climate scientist at UCLA  Host Lizzie O’Leary   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brittany Hogan worked in diversity and inclusion for the Rockwood School District for eight years. As public debate intensified over the way race is discussed in schools, and threats were made against her, Hogan eventually was pushed to resign. Guest: Brittany Hogan , former director of educational equity and diversity for the Rockwood School District in St. Louis County. If you enjoy this show, p...

Texas Dems are on the lam. After walking out of their regularly scheduled legislative session to block an extremely restrictive election security bill, they’ve decided to go bigger. At the start of the special session called by Governor Greg Abbott to get that bill passed, 51 of 67 House Democrats broke quorum and fled to DC in a last-ditch effort to thwart the bill and spur national Democrats int...

Oil-giant Exxon says publicly that it supports initiatives to fight climate change. But a new undercover investigation reveals the company’s quiet lobbying effort to stymie environmental protection legislation.  Guest: Lawrence Carter , Senior Reporter & Special Projects Editor at Unearthed, a journalism project from Greenpeace U.K.  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate...

Olympics officials have created an anti-doping system to crack down on cheaters. We have no idea if it’s working. And it’s ensnaring athletes for seemingly bizarre infractions.  Guest: Lindsay Crouse , writer and producer for the New York Times Opinion section.  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bo...

For many white-collar workers, the full-time work from home era is coming to an end. Some are going back into offices five days a week. Many others will be expected to split the week between home and the office.  As the new rules are laid down, office workers are asking themselves: do we want work to go back to the way it was? Or is it time, finally, to try something different?  Guest: Brigid Schu...

For many white-collar workers, the full-time work from home era is coming to an end. Some are going back into offices five days a week. Many others will be expected to split the week between home and the office.  As the new rules are laid down, office workers are asking themselves: do we want work to go back to the way it was? Or is it time, finally, to try something different?  Guest: Brigid Schu...

Last year, UNC Chapel Hill began courting Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones to come teach at the Hussman School of Journalism. But when her tenure recommendation landed in front of the school’s board of trustees, they refused to take a vote, leaving her application in limbo. After months of public pressure and lobbying by students and faculty, Hannah-Jones was offered tenure -...

The Supreme Court just completed its first term with new justice Amy Coney Barrett. With a conservative supermajority now seated, what does this term spell for the future of America’s legal landscape?  Guest: Mark Joseph Stern , reporter on courts and the law for Slate. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate pod...

From Slate Studios & ServiceNow, this episode of Let’s Workflow It features Deryck Mitchelson – one of the leaders taking on the greatest workflow challenge of our time – the effort to vaccinate millions of citizens from COVID-19. As Director of Information Security for NHS National Services Scotland, Deryck manages his nation’s contact tracing and vaccination systems, and shares his unique pe...

Critical Race Theory was created in the 1970s by a Harvard Professor seeking to describe the way racism is baked into the legal system. Half a century later, CRT is now the weapon of choice for right-wing pundits looking to silence conversations about race.  From an academic discipline to a conservative scare tactic, how did critical race theory become the dominant culture war in American politics...

Last week, the U.S. government released a new report that attempts to categorize 144 verified sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP. They could only definitively explain one of them.  The new report signals a shift in the way we think about UAP. As technology has advanced and evidence of these encounters has increased, the question has become more urgent: What exactly is happening in...

Last week, the U.S. government released a new report that attempts to categorize 144 verified sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP. They could only definitively explain one of them.  The new report signals a shift in the way we think about UAP. As technology has advanced and evidence of these encounters has increased, the question has become more urgent: What exactly is happening in...

Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema has become a constant source of consternation for the left wing of the Democratic party. But early in her career, she was a vocal proponent of progressive ideals. How did she turn into one of the party’s staunchest defenders of bipartisan compromise?  Guest: Amanda Becker , Washington Correspondent for the 19th. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for...

The Champlain Tower South building in Surfside Florida collapsed early last Thursday morning, seemingly out of the blue. But reporting shows that the condo board members were aware the building was structurally unsound for years. Right now the death toll stands at 12, with 149 people still unaccounted for. How did such a preventable tragedy take place? Guest: Daniel Rivero , reporter for WLRN in M...

Pop star Britney Spears spoke out in court last week about the conservatorship she’s been under for 13 years, shedding light on all the restrictions she’s lived under. In doing so, Spears opened up a world rarely-seen outside of courtrooms and the reality for an estimated 1.3 million people living under a court-ordered guardianship. Guest: Sara Luterman , freelance journalist covering disability p...

Last week, Las Vegas Raiders defensive end, Carl Nassib, came out in an Instagram post, making him the first openly gay active player in NFL histroy. The league immediately posted in in celebration of Nassib’s announcement. But given the NFL’s sorry history of standing by players on the vanguard, will the league really put its money where its mouth is this time?  Guest: LZ Granderson , LA Times op...

For nearly two years, an unprecedented experiment has been taking place in the town of El Zonte in El Salvador. Funded by a mysterious donor, the town’s residents built a Bitcoin economy, using the cryptocurrency to purchase just about anything.  Now, El Slavador has passed a new law making it the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. Can they replicate El Zonte’s success at a national s...

For nearly two years, an unprecedented experiment has been taking place in the town of El Zonte in El Salvador. Funded by a mysterious donor, the town’s residents built a Bitcoin economy, using the cryptocurrency to purchase just about anything.  Now, El Slavador has passed a new law making it the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. Can they replicate El Zonte’s success at a national s...

COVID’s Delta variant is on the rise in the U.S. The data suggest we have room for optimism -- so why are we seeing dire messages from public health experts?  Guest: Dr. Monica Gandhi , infectious diseases and HIV doctor at UCSF/San Francisco General Hospital.  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bon...

Senate Democrats tried to open up debate on sweeping voting rights legislation Tuesday but were stopped by a lack of support from their Republican counterparts. Would a more incremental approach have succeeded?  Guest: Rick Hasen , professor of law and political science at the University of California–Irvine School of Law and the author of Election Meltdown: Dirty Tricks, Distrust, and the Threat...

America has gone soft on monopolies. A small number of businesses control an ever-increasing market share with only muted protests from the Federal Trade Commission, the supposed antitrust watchdog of the U.S. government. But that all might be about to change with Lina Khan’s appointment as FTC chair. Guest: Matt Stoller , director of research at the American Economic Liberties Project and the aut...

Fears that an ultra-conservative faction would take control of the country’s largest organization of evangelicals did not come to fruition at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting this year. But it was only a narrow loss, and, like conservatives around the country, the group remains sharply divided.  Guest: Bob Smietana , national reporter for Religion News Service.  If you enjoy this s...

Ever since police used a DNA platform called GEDmatch to crack the Golden State Killer case in 2018, police departments around the country have rushed to use genetic genealogy to crack their own cold cases. The result? Hundreds of violent cases solved.  So--why are some states passing new laws to limit this new technology? Guest: Nila Bala , senior staff attorney at the Policing Project at NYU Law...