What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Slate Podcasts•slate.com

The problem with the news right now? It’s everywhere. And each day, it can feel like we’re all just mindlessly scrolling. It’s why we created What Next. This short daily show is here to help you make sense of things. When the news feels overwhelming, we’re here to help you answer: What next? Look for new episodes every weekday morning. Get more of What Next with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of What Next and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or visit slate.com/whatnextplus for access wherever you listen.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last refreshed: July 3rd, 2026 at 5:08 PM

Follow on

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

RSS

Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app

Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episodes

Off-the-Record: Toy Story 5 Did NOT Make Mary Cry

WARNING: This episode spoils Toy Story 5. Right on the heels of two new directors with two fresh new films, comes a five-installment franchise: Toy Story 5. But the consensus is split on this big screen screentime critique. Guest: Sam Adams , Slate senior writer and editor. This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcas...

Jul 03, 2026•11 min

Diving In | How Food Delivery Killed Competition (And Took Your Budget With It)

Thanks for joining us during the holidays. White our team is taking a break, we want to share a series with you that we think you’ll love. It’s called Diving In. Getting food delivered should be simple — but somehow it's gotten outrageously expensive. Economist Justin Wolfers breaks down why food delivery apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub make it nearly impossible to compare prices, and why that's no accident. Subscribe on YouTube https://youtube.com/platypuseconomics Subscribe on Subst...

Jul 03, 2026•16 min

AC Won't Save You from the Heat Dome

Well, the movement to change society so it stops heating up the world didn’t take, so now we need to figure out how to change society to deal with a hotter planet. That means new forms of insurance, new models for construction and—yes, looking at you, Europe—more air conditioning. Guest: Jeff Goodell , contributing writer at Rolling Stone and the author of the book The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free l...

Jul 02, 2026•25 min

SCOTUS and the "Color Blind" Constitution

The Supreme Court wrapped up a year of giving Trump and the Republican Party nearly everything they could want. And even in the final, birthright citizenship case, what is remarkable is not that Trump lost, but how close he came to winning that one too. Guest: Jay Willis , editor-in-chief at Balls and Strikes. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by cli...

Jul 01, 2026•27 min

How This New Gilded Age Ends

The Gilded Age has nothing on the present when it comes to a huge—and growing—portion of wealth being controlled by a smaller and smaller group of men—and they’re doing their best to keep it that way. Must everything that goes up come down? Guest: Paul Krugman , Nobel Prize-winning economist and professor at City University of New York’s Graduate Center. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podca...

Jun 30, 2026•31 min

Here Come the Socialists

How far does Zohran Mamdani’s political approach and appeal carry beyond liberal strongholds in city centers? Guest: Perry Bacon, staff writer at The New Republic and host of the TNR show Right Now With Perry Bacon . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get acce...

Jun 29, 2026•29 min

Off the Record: Taylor’s Version

Across the nation, we’re getting ready for July 4, 2026: Taylor Swift’s wedding weekend. Also Donald Trump is either dying or dying to be thin, JD Vance is vying to seem human, and Bill Cassidy is determined to go out in a blaze of obsequiousness. This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe direc...

Jun 26, 2026•4 min

A.I. Enshittifies Everything

Through stealing your job or simply tanking the stock market—whichever comes first—the rise of artificial intelligence (companies) is a very futuristic sounding problem. It may have some very old-fashioned sounding solutions however. Guest: Cory Doctorow , sci-fi author, journalist, blogger and author of “ The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI. ” Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcas...

Jun 26, 2026•32 min

No One Knows the Truth About the Iran Deal

Where do negotiations with Iran stand at the moment? Well, Iran’s out from under a more-than-four-decade-long sanction and could start making bank, plus it controls the Strait of Hormuz and hasn’t agreed to any concessions on its nuclear program. On the American side, JD Vance got to see Switzerland. Guest: Tommy Vietor, co-founder of Crooked Media and co-host of the political podcasts Pod Save America and Pod Save the World . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listen...

Jun 25, 2026•32 min

What the Pool’s Reflecting

Most people probably don’t think about the reflecting pool on the National Mall much, but Donald Trump sure does. His efforts to cosmetically raise it to his standards have been staggeringly expensive, and ineffective in surprising ways. It encapsulates the Trump presidency experience pretty succinctly. Guest : Christina Cauterucci , Slate senior writer Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcas...

Jun 24, 2026•27 min

The Return of the Firing Squad

With lethal injection drugs getting harder and harder to procure, states are legalizing death by firing squad. It may seem like a return to a more barbaric time, but there’s reason to believe that execution methods like lethal injection or nitrogen gas are even less humane. But even moreso, it may force us to confront our feelings about the death penalty as a nation. Guests: Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood , Catholic priest and founder of the Execution Intervention Project. Maurice Chammah , staff writer for...

Jun 23, 2026•31 min

America Before 250

It has been 250 years and America still doesn’t know how to talk about the genocide of indigenous peoples that kicked the whole thing off. Guest: Rebecca Nagle, host of Pushkin’s First America podcast , Crooked's This Land podcast, and author of “ By The Fire We Carry: The Generation-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land ”. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple P...

Jun 22, 2026•25 min

Elon, Please Log Off

Everyone needs a hobby. Unfortunately, instead of, say, model trains, the world’s first trillionaire’s seems to unwind by boosting calls for anti-immigrant violence on his social media platform. Guest: Nitish Pahwa , Slate staff writer covering business and tech. This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can...

Jun 19, 2026•3 min

Can ChatGPT Be a Criminal Accomplice?

People are asking artificial intelligence large language models how to do everything—even how to harm themselves and others. And while companies claim there are guardrails in place for those situations, we’ve already seen real-world instances of an LLM’s advice being used to plan a mass shooting. Guest: Mark Follman, national affairs editor at Mother Jones and author of “ Trigger Points: Inside the Mission to Stop Mass Shootings in America. ” Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to a...

Jun 19, 2026•28 min

Hosted on Megaphone by Spotify

For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android