What Next | Daily News and Analysis

For pregnant women in the U.S., there are plenty of reasons to mistrust the medical establishment. Mortality rates are high compared to other western countries, and one-third of women in the U.S. give birth by C-section. It’s no wonder that many women turn to the internet for alternatives.   This week, the story of one woman who was drawn into a network of private Facebook groups dedicated to the...

Democratic operatives who specialize in Latino voter outreach are sounding the alarm: The Biden campaign assumes Latino support at its own peril.  Guest: Chuck Rocha , head of Nuestro PAC .   Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hybrid learning is a massive educational experiment playing out in schools across the country. No two classrooms are alike. We took a look at one teacher’s experience.  Guest: Christopher Pinto, a high school math and statistics teacher at the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District outside Houston, Texas.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted...

This is what coronavirus purgatory looks like: Our present economic doldrums are brutal for service workers and tolerable for white-collar workers. Congress is deadlocked over a second coronavirus relief bill. And the market is performing as if help is on the way.  Guest: Jordan Weissmann , Slate’s senior business and economics correspondent.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podc...

A new whistleblower complaint alleges that the Trump administration is trying to manipulate national security agencies for political ends. With two months to go until the presidential election, what can Congress do to respond? Guest: Shane Harris , reporter at the Washington Post.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

As the planet warms in the coming decades, many parts of the planet that millions now call home will become uninhabitable. At first, people in these areas will move to the cities, then across international borders. This mass migration is already underway in the hottest parts of the world, and it is likely to accelerate in coming years. Just how many people will be forced to move? And where will th...

As the planet warms in the coming decades, many parts of the planet that millions now call home will become uninhabitable. At first, people in these areas will move to the cities, then across international borders. This mass migration is already underway in the hottest parts of the world, and it is likely to accelerate in coming years. Just how many people will be forced to move? And where will th...

The American West is undergoing one of the most extreme fire seasons on record. With megafires creating apocalyptic scenes across large swaths of California, Oregon, and Washington, and a pandemic still in full effect, how are residents and firefighters responding? Are wildfires like the ones seen these past few weeks an anomaly? Or is a burning horizon something people out West will have to learn...

For months after Donald Trump’s 2016 victory, pundits labored over how the polls, and the reports surrounding them, had badly misjudged and mischaracterized the election. Since then, pollsters have made significant changes in hopes of painting a more accurate picture of the 2020 race. How much trust should voters put in the numbers this time? And what does the data say about Joe Biden’s perceived...

John Nolan worked at the United States Postal Service for a total of 24 years. He retired in 2005. The last couple of months have been a frustrating time for someone with intimate knowledge of the institution. What are we getting wrong about the Postal Service? Guest: John Nolan, former Deputy Postmaster General  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted...

In the wake of the killing of Michael Brown in 2014, and the national protests that followed, many believed that video shared on social media, along with footage from body cameras, would reshape the relationship between police and citizens. Six years later, one thing is clear: It didn’t work. Can viral videos really hold power to account? And why do we so often put our faith in technological solut...

In the wake of the killing of Michael Brown in 2014, and the national protests that followed, many believed that video shared on social media, along with footage from body cameras, would reshape the relationship between police and citizens. Six years later, one thing is clear: It didn’t work. Can viral videos really hold power to account? And why do we so often put our faith in technological solut...

President Donald Trump’s business dealings have been shrouded in secrecy, but new legal scrutiny on the Trump Organization might turn up some answers about how the president makes and keeps his money. Guest: David Fahrenthold , Washington Post reporter covering the Trump family and its business interests.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acas...

Nine weeks out from the presidential election, the Trump campaign is trying to make the election about “law and order.” Is that a winning strategy when the violence they’re pointing to is happening under Trump’s watch?  Guest: Will Saletan , Slate’s national correspondent Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more i...

The Democratic primary for a Massachusetts Senate seat is becoming a test of progressive bona fides and the strength of the Kennedy family name. So perhaps it’s not surprising to learn that, when it comes to their voting records, the two candidates are extremely similar.  Guest: Victoria McGrane , political correspondent for the Boston Globe.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podc...

One week ago, a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin shot Jacob Blake in the back seven times, paralyzing him from the waist down. In the immediate aftermath, citizens of Kenosha took to the streets in protest. Those protests later turned into more tragedy when 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse shot three protestors, killing two. How is the city of Kenosha handling the turmoil? Guest: Gina Barton, inve...

Not long ago, the QAnon conspiracy theory seemed to have lost momentum. Social media mentions had decreased. 8chan had gone offline. But since March, fueled by the pandemic and social media giants, the conspiracy has taken on new life. What’s responsible for the rapid uptake of the movement? And now that QAnon has spilled over to the mainstream, how far can it go? Guest: Ali Breland , reporter at...

Not long ago, the QAnon conspiracy theory seemed to have lost momentum. Social media mentions had decreased. 8chan had gone offline. But since March, fueled by the pandemic and social media giants, the conspiracy has taken on new life. What’s responsible for the rapid uptake of the movement? And now that QAnon has spilled over to the mainstream, how far can it go? Guest: Ali Breland , reporter at...

Last week, the Trump administration used shaky reasoning to pursue additional sanctions against Iran. The proposal was rejected by nearly the entire U.N. Security Council, including close allies like the U.K and France. It was just the latest example of how “America First,” and the rejection of multilateralism under Trump, has turned the U.S. into a loner state on the world stage. Guest: Fred Kapl...

For the past two weeks, Belarus has been gripped by political protest. The country’s longtime authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, is courting Russian intervention as a worried European Union looks on.  Guest: Julia Ioffe , GQ correspondent. Read her latest column on Belarus.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pri...

Getting tested for the coronavirus has never been as easy as it should be in the U.S. We’ve seen equipment shortages, long delays for test results, and even mixed messages about who should be getting tested. But there is a way to fix America’s inadequate testing. And experts say it could return some normalcy even before we have a reliable vaccine. Guest: Robinson Meyer , a staff writer at The Atla...

The pandemic hasn’t stopped the flow of migrants to the U.S.-Mexico border. But it has prompted an emergency crackdown on asylum seekers, and critics of the Trump administration say the policy is violating U.S. law.  Guest: Adolfo Flores , reporter for BuzzFeed News.  Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more infor...

In the early days of the pandemic, countries around the world invested heavily in new technologies that would help track the movement of the virus. Now, six months later, contact tracing apps are all but an afterthought in the fight to contain COVID-19. What happened? The U.K. provides some answers. The country put its faith in technology to contain the virus, and paid the price. Guest: Gus Hosein...

In the early days of the pandemic, countries around the world invested heavily in new technologies that would help track the movement of the virus. Now, six months later, contact tracing apps are all but an afterthought in the fight to contain COVID-19. What happened? The U.K. provides some answers. The country put its faith in technology to contain the virus, and paid the price. Guest: Gus Hosein...

New York Attorney General Letitia James surprised many when she announced plans to dissolve the National Rifle Association. James accused the gun lobby, which is headquartered in New York, of mismanaging their finances – claiming top executives “looted” NRA assets. With the organization’s finances in trouble, and the State AG investigating them for financial misconduct, could this be the end of th...