“Home diagnostics” are a $5 billion industry—and growing. Spurred by social media, people are buying into at-home health tests, without input from their doctors, and often, not even the FDA. Guest: Elizabeth Dwoskin, reporter for the Washington Post Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and 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 slat...
Jul 14, 2024•26 min
Boeing just pled guilty to felony charges of defrauding the federal government, leading to millions of dollars in fines, and new, external oversight. Is this how the company finally turns it around? Guest: Oriana Pawlyk, POLITICO’s aviation reporter. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and 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 sla...
Jul 12, 2024•28 min
Air-conditioning can feel like the only way to get through increasingly hot summers, but it’s an expensive, power-hungry way to keep cool. How necessary is it? And how necessary is it to raise our thermostats up from 72 degrees? Guest: Adam Clark Estes, senior technology correspondent at Vox. 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” a...
Jul 11, 2024•25 min
Should Joe Biden still be the Democratic nominee in this presidential race? Elected Democrats have almost all said Biden is still the man. But Rep. Mike Quigley put his misgivings on the record. Guest: Rep. Mike Quigley, Democratic representative for Illinois’ fifth district. 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 ...
Jul 10, 2024•27 min
France’s far-right looked ready to take control of the National Assembly after the first round of snap elections. But when the dust settled after the second round, the left and center had held. Though French progressives are celebrating for now, the right-wing National Rally party still took more parliament seats than it’s ever held before. Guest: Harrison Stetler, freelance journalist based in Paris. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next...
Jul 09, 2024•25 min
What the fight against the “Briggs Initiative” in 1970s California tells us about the fight for gay rights—and the fight to keep those victories in place. Guest: Christina Cauterucci, senior writer at Slate and host of Slow Burn Season 9: Gays Against Briggs. 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 u...
Jul 08, 2024•31 min
The downsides of the streaming era are coming into focus for movie fans—uncontrollable, changing libraries; lower fidelity; lack of extras and features. Can all of these be solved with a return to physical media? Guest: Ash Nelson, journalist and author of “The Lost Art of the DVD Extra” for Slate. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free...
Jul 07, 2024•23 min
The world’s population has never been bigger, and it’s still growing. but there’s a movement of “pronatalists” who see the slowing birth rate in wealthy, educated populations as a doomsday scenario in the making—and they’ve found their spokesman in one Elon Musk. Guest: Sophie Alexander, reporter for Bloomberg Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicki...
Jul 05, 2024•23 min
Last week the Supreme Court ruled a $6 billion settlement between Purdue Pharma and victims of the opioid crisis could not move forward, because it granted immunity to the Sackler family, the principal owners of Purdue. For one of the litigants, a mother who has lost two sons to overdoses, the decision felt like “a sucker punch.” Guest: Cheryl Juaire, part of the bankruptcy settlement with Purdue Pharma and founder of the non-profit organization Team Sharing, a support group for parents who have...
Jul 04, 2024•33 min
When Roe v. Wade was overturned, a near-total abortion ban was triggered in Idaho, allowing for health exceptions only when “necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman.” But a case that found the ban in conflict with a federal law known as “EMTALA” went all the way to the Supreme Court, before being sent back to lower courts—neither overturning nor upholding Idaho’s ban. Guest: Dr. Stacy Seyb, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist in Boise, Idaho. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate...
Jul 03, 2024•28 min
The Supreme Court has ruled that presidents enjoy “substantial immunity” from prosecution for crimes committed while in office, which includes absolute immunity for “core constitutional duties” and “presumptive immunity” for “official acts.” All good news for one Donald J. Trump. How bad is it for the rest of us? Guest: Richard Hasen, law professor at UCLA and director of UCLA Law’s Safeguarding Democracy Project. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the wh...
Jul 02, 2024•28 min
If you’re questioning the choice of Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee after his debate, uh, performance last week, you’re not alone. But how do you swap candidates this late in the calendar—and who do the Democrats even have as an option? Guest: David Faris, associate professor of political science at Roosevelt University and author of The Kids Are All Left and It’s Time to Fight Dirty. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next...
Jul 01, 2024•26 min
The story of IUDs is a story of technology, reproductive rights, shortcomings in communication about women’s health, and politics. Guest: Mia Armstrong-Lopez, managing editor at ASU Media Enterprise and author of a recent piece on IUDs for Slate. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and 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.c...
Jun 30, 2024•26 min
Saying any one storm or heat wave or weather in general was “caused by climate change” is tricky—summer is, after all, usually pretty hot, and storms happen. But researchers are working on a model that brings “climate change” from abstract into the particular. Guest: Daniel Swain, climate scientist at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, studying how extreme events are changing on a warming Earth. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening t...
Jun 28, 2024•31 min
It’s Trump vs. Biden—again. But CNN promises, this time will be different. Guest: Margaret Sullivan, columnist covering media, politics and culture for The Guardian 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 access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena ...
Jun 27, 2024•28 min
The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision to uphold access to mifepristone left the door open for another case to be brought to ban the abortion pill. This physician is eager for another chance. Guest: Dr. Christina Francis, CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), associate scholar with the Charlotte Lozier Institute, a board member of Indiana Right to Life, physician member of the Abortion Pill Reversal Network. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate ...
Jun 26, 2024•32 min
The Apprentice, starring Captain America’s Sebastian Stan and Succession’s Jeremy Strong, was financed in part by the widely-loathed former-Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder. But after the movie premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, Trump’s attorneys sent cease-and-desist letters to the filmmakers—and Snyder seems to be using veto power on an American sale of the rights. Will this controversial cut of the film ever play on the big screen in the States? Guest: Jake Lahut, political reporter...
Jun 25, 2024•26 min
Lauren Boebert barely won re-election to the House in 2022. Now the gun-loving Freedom Caucus firebrand is running for Congress in a new Colorado district.. Even after a lewd theater scandal threatened to tank her career, how is Boebert still leading in the polls? Guest: Paul Karolyi, Senior Executive Producer of City Cast Denver 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 A...
Jun 24, 2024•27 min
As cars get smarter, automakers - with the help of third-party apps - are leveraging the new data they’re able to collect on people's driving habits to influence drivers’ insurance prices. The problem? Most people aren’t aware their driving is being monitored. Guest: Kashmir Hill, tech reporter for the New York Times. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts b...
Jun 23, 2024•25 min
Amazon has installed digital palm readers at Whole Foods. The reader scans your palm, collecting biometric data, and links it to your credit card to pay for your groceries. What does exchanging vein mapping for eggs and butter mean for the future of data security and in-person shopping. Guest: Emily Moore, freelance tech and food journalist Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe to...
Jun 21, 2024•23 min
The Supreme Court is soon expected to decide Grants Pass v. Johnson, a case where a town’s efforts to remove unhoused people from its parks became “cruel and unusual,” according to lower courts. Guest: Dr. Bruce Murray, chief medical officer for the Mobile Integrative Navigation Team (MINT) in Josephine County, Oregon. 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 Podcas...
Jun 20, 2024•33 min
Happy Juneteenth! What Next resumes regularly scheduled programming tomorrow, but for the holiday, check out this episode of Slow Burn Season 9: Gays Against Briggs. In 1977, John Briggs was a small-time state senator with big dreams. But Briggs’ plan to ban gay and lesbian teachers from California schools changed the arc of his life and career. Suddenly, he was a right-wing hero, and a villain of the gay rights movement. And his message seemed to be catching on all over the country. Subscribe t...
Jun 19, 2024•54 min
Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, the Christian right seems to be setting its sights on banning in-vitro fertilization. But even though the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution against IVF, it’s a very popular and widely accepted procedure, which is why Senate Republicans signed a statement in favor of access to IVF, the same day almost all voted against protecting it by law. Guest: Megan Messerly, health policy reporter at Politico. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plu...
Jun 18, 2024•28 min
The American economy has gotten more consolidated and more reliant on algorithms—while also, according to most people, getting more expensive, slower, and worse. Is there some causality in this correlation? Guest: Matt Stoller, Research Director for the American Economic Liberties Project and author of Goliath: The Hundred Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favor...
Jun 17, 2024•23 min
In 2021, one of the largest global law enforcement operations took place. It was all thanks to an encrypted phone service known as Anom, which was secretly run by the FBI. The program was a wild success. But did the agency take it too far? Guest: Joseph Cox, investigative reporter for 404 media and author of “Dark Wire, the Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever” Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all ...
Jun 16, 2024•33 min
On Monday, Tim Cook announced Apple was getting into artificial intelligence. Is Apple about to do for A.I. what it did for personal computers and smartphones? Guest: Gerrit De Vynck, tech reporter for the Washington Post. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and 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 a...
Jun 14, 2024•25 min
Furtively recorded conversations with Justices John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and Alito’s wife Martha-Ann provided a window into what these powerful figures are saying behind closed doors. But do the means of getting these recordings undermine their ultimate goal? Guest: Lauren Windsor, journalist and executive producer for “The Undercurrent” and documentary filmmaker of “Gonzo for Democracy.” Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and...
Jun 13, 2024•27 min
Two years ago, the FDA announced it was banning JUUL nicotine vapes from sale in the U.S.—and then quickly announced it was holding off on the ban to allow for review. How did regulating ecigarettes end up playing catch-up? Guest: Jamie Ducharme, health correspondent at Time, author of Big Vape: The Incendiary Rise of Juul. 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 12, 2024•26 min
Is Hunter Biden’s trial proof that the justice system doesn’t care about your last name? Or is the president’s son being targeted? Guest: Ankush Khardori, attorney and a former federal prosecutor in the US Justice Department. 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...
Jun 11, 2024•23 min
Joe Biden’s new executive order severely limits migrants from seeking asylum at the border. It’s a far cry from his campaign rhetoric and the New York Times called it the most restrictive immigration policy issued by any modern Democrat. What is he trying to accomplish? Guest: Jonathan Blitzer, staff writer for the New Yorker and author of “Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America and the Making of a Crisis.” Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free ...
Jun 10, 2024•27 min
