West Virginia University is wrapping up its first semester following dramatic cuts to undergraduate and graduate programs. Its president calls the “restructuring” an effort to better focus on majors like medicine, nursing, and business – degrees that will lead directly to lucrative jobs. But what is a degree really for? And how do you decide when a diploma is “worth it?” Guest: Michael Powell, staff writer at The Atlantic. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate ...
Dec 19, 2023•26 min
“Easy returns” are an essential part of the online shopping experience. But 20-30 percent of online purchases get sent “back,” which is to say, they then enter the labyrinth of third-party return facilities, destined for re-evaluation, restocking—or possibly, the garbage. Guest: Amanda Mull, staff writer at The Atlantic. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and...
Dec 18, 2023•24 min
Going through airport security is a legal requirement. Is it fair for a private company to interject itself in that process—and cut to the front of the line? Guest: David Zipper, visiting Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, focused on mobility, cities and technology. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do he...
Dec 17, 2023•25 min
Fast-fashion titan Shein is preparing for its initial public offering, even as questions of sustainability and labor practices linger. Guest: Jordyn Holman, business reporter covering the retail industry and consumerism for The New York Times If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Si...
Dec 15, 2023•28 min
Kate Cox’s fight to abort her pregnancy and save her fertility in Texas says a lot about America’s post-Roe, fractured approach to reproductive rights. Guest: Selena Simmons-Duffin, health policy correspondent at NPR. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatne...
Dec 14, 2023•29 min
Over 100 hostages being held by Hamas were released during the temporary ceasefire last month. But Sagui Dekel-Chen, a resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz, was not among them. With Gaza under bombardment again, all his father can do is plead with the Israeli government, and wait. Guest: Jonathan Dekel-Chen, professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, father of Sagui Dekel-Chen, who is presumed to be one of the hostages held by Hamas. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus....
Dec 13, 2023•29 min
For pilots facing mental health problems of almost any kind, the cost of getting help might be too much to bear. After a crisis on an Alaska Airlines flight, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are examining how to make the skies safer, while allowing pilots to get help. Guest: Pete Muntean, pilot, flight instructor and CNN correspondent covering aviation and transportation. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus...
Dec 12, 2023•25 min
As war rages in Gaza, the Biden administration has begun imposing visa bans on people involved in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where assaults by Israeli settlers against Palestinians have been on the rise since October 7. Guest: Dalia Hatuqa, multimedia journalist living in Ramallah, specializing in Israeli-Palestinian affairs. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of sh...
Dec 11, 2023•21 min
Elon Musk is suing Media Matters for reporting that advertisers’ content was showing up right next to posts from newly reinstated Nazis on X, something X’s CEO said was impossible. Media Matters is based in D.C, and X is headquartered in California - so why did Musk choose to file the suit in Texas? Guest: Liz Dye, columnist at Above the Law, Substacks as Law and Chaos Pod, co-hosts the podcast Opening Arguments. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus membe...
Dec 10, 2023•32 min
Is Spotify’s 2023—ending with layoffs and cancelling critically acclaimed original podcasts—a sign of trouble at the streaming giant, or an adjustment to expectations that’s setting them up for a brighter future? Guest: Ashley Carman, Bloomberg reporter who covers Spotfiy If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work w...
Dec 08, 2023•27 min
Pickleball’s exploding popularity isn’t an organic grassroots rise. According to a reporter’s intrepid Freedom of Information Act inquiries, enthusiastic pickleball ambassadors are employing the “USA Pickleball tool kit” and harrying local park departments to elbow out their tennis-and-basketball-playing neighbors. Guest: Jason Koebler, cofounder of 404 Media and host of the 404 Media Podcast, former editor-in-chief of Motherboard. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plu...
Dec 07, 2023•28 min
The Sacklers were set to pay $6 billion in exchange for immunity from any future lawsuits over their role in the opioid crisis. But the Supreme Court will now decide whether bankruptcy law can be wielded in this manner to protect the very wealthy—and trump the very-American right to sue for damages. Guest: Brian Mann, reporter on addiction at NPR. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes ...
Dec 06, 2023•26 min
Last week, former UN ambassador and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley scored a coveted endorsement from Charles Koch’s political advocacy group. She’s passed Ron DeSantis in the polls—and now, she’s the top, non-Trump Republican candidate for president. But is there any hope of winning over Trump voters—or is this a race to be the candidate who steps in if the former president goes to jail? Guest: Alexandra Ulmer, reporter at Reuters covering the 2024 U.S. presidential race, with a focus on Re...
Dec 05, 2023•26 min
Jeff Bezos said Amazon will be “Earth’s safest place to work.” But state and federal investigators are looking into the online retailer’s rates of on-the-job injuries. Is working in an Amazon warehouse inherently unsafe, or is the number of accidents unavoidable for the US’s second largest employer, as the company contends? Given OSHA’s limited powers, does the government have any options other than taking their word for it? Guest: Caroline O'Donovan, Washington Post reporter covering Amazon If ...
Dec 04, 2023•25 min
Though navigating the internet involves spraying your data pretty indiscriminately, you actually have more control over it than you think—it’s just a pain to rein it in. Guest: Geoffrey Fowler, Washington Post tech columnist. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slat...
Dec 03, 2023•32 min
Artificial intelligence seems predestined to become a bigger part of our lives. To what extent is the A.I. push being led by Sam Altman and the OpenAI team a cause for concern? Guest: Karen Hao, journalist, data scientist and contributing writer for the Atlantic. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here...
Dec 01, 2023•34 min
Eric Adams’ political career has been heavy on soundbites and low-simmering scandals. But now, as mayor of New York, he might have finally risen far enough to fall. Guest: David Freedlander, New York Magazine contributor and the author of The AOC Generation: How Millennials Are Seizing Power and Rewriting the Rules of American Politics. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows li...
Nov 30, 2023•26 min
California’s new “CARE courts” are designed to help people struggling with psychotic disorders to get the help they need. But is having judges mandate treatment a step in the right direction? Guest: April Dembosky, health correspondent for KQED. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sig...
Nov 29, 2023•26 min
Citing the risks from criminals listening in and pranksters interfering in their channels, the NYPD is the latest and biggest police department moving to encrypt their radio communications. But what about the reporters who rely on the police scanner—and the public who rely on those reporters? Guests: Todd Maisel, contributing editor at AMNewYork and photojournalist Adam Scott Wandt, associate professor of public policy at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. If you enjoy this show, please consi...
Nov 28, 2023•26 min
A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began this weekend in Gaza, as hostages and prisoners were freed by both sides. But any end to the immediate conflict still remains in doubt. Guest: Peter Beinart, professor of journalism and political science at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York, editor-at-large at Jewish Currents, and author of The Beinart Notebook on Substack. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus memb...
Nov 27, 2023•26 min
The first steps on the moon were in the name of “all mankind.” But with more countries—and the private sector—competing to not only return, but to tap into the moon’s resources, we’re going to need some ground rules. Guest: Chris Davenport reports on NASA and the space industry at the Washington Post. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and y...
Nov 26, 2023•24 min
An app for open money laundering, a corridor of massive casinos in the middle of nowhere, and the global scamdemic. Guest: Cezary Podkul, reporter for ProPublica If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about yo...
Nov 24, 2023•29 min
While the What Next team celebrates the holiday, enjoy this episode from our colleagues at Decoder Ring. In 1992, a Minnesota-based software company known for its educational hit The Oregon Trail released another simulation-style game to school districts across the country. Freedom! took kids on a journey along the Underground Railroad, becoming the first American software program to use slavery as its subject matter. Less than four months later, it was pulled from the market. In this episode, w...
Nov 23, 2023•44 min
The war in Gaza has laid bare some deep fault lines within the Democratic party when it comes to Israel policy. How might that impact next year’s elections? Guest: Alex Sammon, Slate politics writer. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help sup...
Nov 22, 2023•26 min
OpenAI was the hottest startup in Silicon Valley off the success of ChatGPT. Then, the board fired Sam Altman. Guest: Mike Isaac, technology reporter at the New York Times. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn mo...
Nov 21, 2023•31 min
Over the past few years, ultra-conservative activists took aim at school boards, trying to shape curriculums to match their beliefs. But this year, from Pennsylvania to Iowa, “parental rights candidates” lost handily. What happened? Guest: Adam Laats, Professor of Education and History at Binghamton University. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prud...
Nov 20, 2023•24 min
The bedbug break-out during Paris fashion week this fall was obviously horrifying, but the bad news doesn’t stop there. Bedbugs are on the rise—and on the move. Guest: Benji Jones, senior environmental reporter at Vox. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/w...
Nov 19, 2023•26 min
Girls at a New Jersey high school were early victims of a novel and growing problem: their images were taken from social media without consent to create “deep-fake pornography.” Guest: Julie Jargon, Wall Street Journal family and tech columnist. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD....
Nov 17, 2023•24 min
As Palestinian allies like Hezbollah and Iran voice their support, is there a danger of more countries being pulled into the war in Gaza? Guest: Gregory Gause, head of the Department of International Affairs at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, specialist in Middle East politics. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn a...
Nov 16, 2023•24 min
If you want to imagine what Donald Trump’s second presidential term would look like, look at what he left unfinished from his first—and listen to his long list of personal grievances. Guest: Susan Glasser, staff writer at The New Yorker, co-author of The Divider, a history of Donald Trump in the White House. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudenc...
Nov 15, 2023•23 min
