What Next | Daily News and Analysis

US Cyber Command launched its first cyber operation to deter Russian interference in the 2018 midterm elections, but is it too late? Clint Watts, the author of Messing With the Enemy , "Oh yeah." Today on the show, the continued assault on our information space. Plus, the bomb scares that targeted high-profile Democrats. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser discuss Elon Musk’s other , other project with their Slate colleague Henry Grabar. Not space travel, not electric cars, but the Boring Company, which is working on a tunneling project in Los Angeles that would bring a new type of transportation to an area plagued by traffic. Musk announced over the weekend that the first tunnel will be open to t...

Slate senior editor Josh Keating explains why Turkey has seized on the disappearance of a foreign journalist to stick it to Saudi Arabia. And Slate writer Aymann Ismail reconsiders going on hajj.  We’ll be piloting What Next in public for the next several weeks. Tell us what you think: whatnext@slate.com .  Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show, our weekend reading lists, and a picture of...

Andrew Gillum began his candidacy as a "Medicare for All" supporter. His subtle slide from that position to another is a small, but telling one. Today on the show, a look into the health care debate in the lead up to midterms. Plus, Slate's Mark Joseph Stern on the Trump administration's effort to roll back civil rights protections for transgender people. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

Kai Wright of WNYC and Slate’s Jamelle Bouie on the governor’s race in Georgia. Plus, Deadspin’s Dvora Meyers explains the implosion of USA Gymnastics.  We’ll be piloting What Next in public for the next several weeks. Tell us what you think: whatnext@slate.com .  Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at Slate.com/what...

Budget cuts have crippled the IRS allowing tax cheats to run rampant. ProPublica's Jesse Eisinger says the agency's ability to pursue criminal cases is in collapse because of budget cuts and the fact that the agency still has the same number of auditors it had in 1953. So who benefits from this? And why does it matter? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mary Harris is joined by Vox’s Dara Lind to discuss how the latest caravan from Honduras is shining a light on the danger and red tape facing asylum seekers. Plus, what else did you miss today? We’ll be piloting What Next in public for the next several weeks. Tell us what you think: whatnext@slate.com . ' Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign u...

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser discuss the continuing saga that is Facebook’s effort to fix itself--ideally, without breaking everything else. On Friday, the company finally released more information about the huge hack that it announced last month, which affected nearly 30 million people. They’ll talk about what was stolen, and why it matters. Then, April and Will are joined...

Host Mary Harris talks to Dexter Filkins of the New Yorker on the fraught relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. Plus, Slate’s Jim Newell explains why you should care about the final debate tonight between Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke.  This is the debut episode of What Next, Slate’s new daily news show. We’ll be piloting What Next in public for the next several weeks. Tell us what you thin...

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser discuss the latest data spill in Silicon Valley: It’s Google this time. And it’s time to talk gadgets again. This week Facebook announced its second foray into the hardware space with the Portal and Portal Plus—essentially a smart display for making video calls, equipped with an AI camera and Amazon Alexa. Meanwhile, Google launched a new smart...

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk about the announcement that Amazon would raise the minimum wage for its US workers to 15 dollars an hour. While Jeff Bezos may be receiving praise for the move this week, another enigmatic tech CEO is facing retribution. Elon Musk has agreed to settle with the SEC following tweets he made about potentially taking the company private and wil...

A smart round-up of the biggest stories of the day. When the news feels overwhelming, we’re here to help you answer: What next? Look for the show every weekday afternoon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk about the recent announcement that Instagram’s founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, would be leaving the company - at least in part due to clashes with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over the company’s future. They also discuss tech talks on capitol hill this week between the justice department and federal and state law enforcement on pol...

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk about a literal moonshot. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has announced the first private customer who is signed up for a trip around earth’s moon, possibly as early as 2023—and he’ll be bringing some surprising passengers. Meanwhile,the Justice Department is investigating Musk’s other company, Tesla, over an ill-advised tweet. Next, Will and April di...

Technology continues to change the way we live and work. Which is why The Secret History of The Future—the new technology show from Slate and The Economists—is digging through the past to find lessons for our future. Subscribe to Secret History of the Future via Apple Podcasts , Overcast , Spotify , Stitcher , or Google Play . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We have a special bonus If Then! On Wednesday afternoon Apple held its big annual event full of new and expensive gadgets. We wanted to help you make sense of what happened, and what it means. Host Will Oremus is joined by journalist and Slate contributor Christina Bonnington, who covers emerging technology and consumer technology. They talk through new phones, new watches, and all the things Appl...

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser discuss California’s landmark decision to eliminate cash bail for defendants in criminal cases--and the controversial algorithmic “risk assessment” system that will partially replace it. They also hash out a fresh debate over who gets to fact-check the news that appears in your Facebook feed following an outcry in media circles on Tuesday, after...

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser are joined once again by their Slate colleague Mark Joseph Stern to make sense of a what a Kavanaugh-court might mean for the internet going forward. They are also joined by music and technology writer David Turner, who pens the weekly newsletter Penny Fractions , which is all about the economics and culture of music streaming. They’ll talk to h...

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser discuss reports that big tech companies are lobbying in favor of a national privacy law. They’ll talk about what their motivations are. (Hint: It’s not just altruism or civic duty.) The hosts are also joined by Eugen Rochko, the founder of Mastodon, a social network that’s becoming an increasingly popular alternative to Twitter. Rochko likes to...

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk about a new Russian hacking report--this time, targeting conservatives. And it’s been a busy news week (as always) for Facebook, with reports on massive changes to its ad targeting and a heretofore secret plan to rate the credibility of its own users. Then, April is joined by Ryan Gallagher, a U.K. based investigative journalist at the Inte...

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk about how Google has been tracking and storing your location—even after you’ve asked it not to. Then they review some of the disturbing security news out of DEF CON, the annual hacker conference in Las Vegas, including a demonstration in which an 11-year-old managed to hack a voting machine in minutes. The hosts are joined by Dana Hull, a r...

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser discuss why a bunch of the big tech platforms—Facebook, YouTube, Apple—are suddenly banning the far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his media empire Infowars. They also talk about the latest Wells Fargo foreclosure scandal where a computer glitch led to hundreds of wrongful foreclosures. The hosts are then joined by William Sommer, tech...

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk talk about a new study that suggests the internet might not have played the crucial role in Trump’s election victory that we tend to assume. And then: flying cars! And self-driving cars. The hosts are joined by Justin Erlich, the new VP of policy at Voyage , an self-driving vehicle company in Silicon Valley. Before that, he was head of poli...

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk about what’s happening new with the proposed $3.9 billion dollar merger between Sinclair, the largest television station owner in the country and also happens to have an overt tilt in favor of Trump, and Tribune media. Thanks to an unexpected announcement from the FCC last week, that merger may be doomed. The hosts are also joined by Claire...

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus is joined by guest co-host Maya Kosoff from Vanity Fair. They discuss the latest Congressional dog and pony show involving the big social media platforms. They’ll get into a controversy over whether Facebook should ban the prominent conspiracy theorist Alex Jones of InfoWars. Meanwhile, there’s a new owner of the title “wealthiest person in modern history.” They...