What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Residents of Jackson, Mississippi, were left without water for weeks after a deep freeze hit the south, bursting pipes and forcing people to rely on bottled or collected rain water. But even though the water is back on, Jackson’s next water crisis might not be so far off. Guest: Nick Judin is a reporter at the Mississippi Free Press.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds...

On March 16, a white gunman killed eight people - six of them Asian-American women - during shootings at three different spas in Georgia. The shooter claims he was driven by a “sex addiction,” but his actions fall into a complicated legacy where race, sex, and the fetishization of Asian women all intersect. That legacy is now in full view as the nation grapples with this latest tragedy and a rise...

Facebook’s failure to contain the spread of dangerous misinformation is no secret. For years, the company has pledged publicly to fix the problem. But in the wake of the Capitol riots, it’s clear that there’s more work to be done. So, why isn’t the social media giant using its powerful AI to contain hate and lies? Guest:  Karen Hao , senior AI reporter at MIT Technology Review Host Lizzie O’Leary...

Facebook’s failure to contain the spread of dangerous misinformation is no secret. For years, the company has pledged publicly to fix the problem. But in the wake of the Capitol riots, it’s clear that there’s more work to be done. So, why isn’t the social media giant using its powerful AI to contain hate and lies? Guest:  Karen Hao , senior AI reporter at MIT Technology Review Host Lizzie O’Leary...

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo faces calls to resign over accusations of sexual harassment and allowing a toxic workplace culture to persist. But to the people who know him best, it’s unlikely the governor will ever bow to those demands.  Guests: Jimmy Vielkind , Wall Street Journal reporter covering New York politics & government. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feed...

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed crucial gaps in the public health system, including the government’s inability to gather data quickly and accurately. After a year of lockdowns and isolation, a return to life resembling normalcy is in sight, but how will we know when we get there?  Guests: Alexis Madrigal , co-founder of The COVID Tracking Project, and staff writer at The Atlantic. Slate Plus members...

When it comes to the past year, we’ve all lost something -- or someone. Time with friends and family. A job. A loved one. But when we think about the 530,000 people in the U.S. who died because of COVID-19, the magnitude makes it hard to see the individuals. Today, we remember one loss, out of many. Guests: Alicia Montgomery, executive producer of podcasts at Slate, and her cousin, Yvonne Tilghman...

When the coronavirus pandemic shut down cities across the U.S. and forced many people to work from home, others deemed “essential” still had to show up for their jobs. A year later, the gap between the need for essential workers and the way they’re treated is all too apparent.  Guests: Henry Grabar , staff writer at Slate. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up no...

Back in 2014, Google released in-depth diversity data for its workforce for the first time. 1.1 percent of its tech team identified as Black. Six years later, after millions of dollars spent and a much-hyped partnership program with historically Black colleges and universities across the country, that number is up to 2.4 percent.  How did such a promising effort yield such incremental change? Gues...

Back in 2014, Google released in-depth diversity data for its workforce for the first time. 1.1 percent of its tech team identified as Black. Six years later, after millions of dollars spent and a much-hyped partnership program with historically Black colleges and universities across the country, that number is up to 2.4 percent.  How did such a promising effort yield such incremental change? Gues...

Why did schools stay closed for so long in Memphis? And why weren’t parents clamoring for them to reopen? To answer those questions, you have to tell a longer story about the relationship between a majority-Black, Democratically-controlled city and a largely white, Republican-controlled state.  Guest: Laura Faith Kebede , reporter for Chalkbeat Tennessee .  Slate Plus members get bonus segments an...

Nearly a third of republican voters say they’re not interested in getting a COVID-19 vaccine. What does that mean for the spread of the virus?  Guest: Dan Diamond , national health reporter for the Washington Post .  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 117th U.S. Congress is the most diverse ever. But that distinction does not extend to senior staff on the Hill. How does the makeup of Congressional staff influence legislation? Guest: Maya King , author of Politico’s Recast newsletter on how race and identity shape politics, policy, and power.   Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See...

George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police last year sparked an international protest movement and amplified calls for police accountability. Now, as the former police officer Derek Chauvin goes on trial, Minneapolis is preparing for another public reckoning.  Guest: Jon Collins , senior reporter for Minnesota Public Radio. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast fee...

The federal Lifeline program was intended to bridge the gap between Americans who could comfortably pay for phone and internet service, and those who couldn’t. But in the midst of the pandemic, Lifeline is falling woefully short. How did a program meant to help connect low-income Americans with phone and internet service ended up making them second-class digital citizens at the worst possible mome...

The federal Lifeline program was intended to bridge the gap between Americans who could comfortably pay for phone and internet service, and those who couldn’t. But in the midst of the pandemic, Lifeline is falling woefully short. How did a program meant to help connect low-income Americans with phone and internet service ended up making them second-class digital citizens at the worst possible mome...

After Joe Biden’s surprising win in Georgia, Republicans in the state started in on legislation to limit voting access in the state. Their efforts mirror what’s happening in state houses across the country. Is there any way to slow down these efforts to limit access to the ballot?  Guest: Ari Berman , writer for Mother Jones and the author of Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Righ...

As legislative sessions begin across the country, a rash of anti-trans bills have been brought to the floor by Republican legislators. Many of the proposals target trans youth -- both in sports, and access to medical care. If any of these bills become law, what will it mean for trans rights across the country?  Guest: Kate Sosin , Reporter for the 19th Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-...

President Joe Biden has said he wants to focus his foreign policy on rebuilding international alliances and standing up to China and Russia. But just five weeks into the new administration, the Middle East has already started to demand Biden’s attention.   Guest: Josh Keating, senior editor at Slate. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See...

The power’s back on in Texas, but many residents are still struggling to clean up after a disastrous winter storm. The cold snap knocked out electricity for several days and froze water lines. Some Texans are still without water; others are bailing out flooded homes. But this storm was just the latest in a series of catastrophes to hit Texas in the past several years, leaving the state’s most vuln...

Over the last year, the Australian government has been waging a quiet war against Facebook and Google. Through a new law, it plans to force the big tech companies to pay news outlets in exchange for linking to their sites. Will this new law have the intended effect? Or will it set a dangerous precedent that cedes even more power over to the tech giants? Guest:  JR Hennessy , editor at Business Ins...

Over the last year, the Australian government has been waging a quiet war against Facebook and Google. Through a new law, it plans to force the big tech companies to pay news outlets in exchange for linking to their sites. Will this new law have the intended effect? Or will it set a dangerous precedent that cedes even more power over to the tech giants? Guest:  JR Hennessy , editor at Business Ins...

After years of policy work in Washington, Neera Tanden is more than qualified to serve as Biden’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget. But her open scorn for conservatives and progressives alike, often expressed through aggressive Twitter barbs, has made her confirmation the most tenuous of the new president’s picks. Guest: Jim Newell , Slate’s senior politics writer. Slate Plus member...

The U.S. military has long had a sexual assault problem. And the Marine Corps - the final service branch to gender-integrate - is no exception. Though multiple scandals have rocked the Marines, continued abuses make it clear that deeper changes are needed to make all service people safe. Guest: Erin Kirk-Cuomo , founder of #NotInMyMarineCorps. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podc...

Democrats are divided over student debt forgiveness. President Joe Biden is trying to get $10,000-per-borrower canceled, while more progressive members of the party want $50,000 wiped out. So whom would these proposals help? And what can be done to keep the student debt crisis from happening all over again?  Guest: Jordan Weissmann, Slate's senior business and economics correspondent. Slate Plus m...