ICE needs more agents to meet Trump’s promised deportation numbers. But is loosening standards and shortening training time to get more agents on the street a good idea, when ICE’s work is becoming more controversial, confrontational, and dangerous? Guest: Robert Klemko , Washington Post reporter covering policing and criminal justice reform. 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. Subscri...
Oct 09, 2025•23 min
It’s clear President Trump wants to send troops to Portland, Oregon. But it’s not clear why—especially to people who live there. Guests: Isaac Stanley-Becker , staff writer for The Atlantic . Elizabeth Lopatto , senior reporter at The Verge . 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.co...
Oct 08, 2025•27 min
It’s been two years since Hamas attacked Israel and set off a devastating war. Since then, talks have fallen apart over and over again. Trump says – this time is different. But should anyone believe him? Guest: Yair Rosenberg , staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of Deep Shtetl , a newsletter about the intersection of politics, culture, and religion. 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 p...
Oct 07, 2025•26 min
The Supreme Court is back in session, and conservative controlled body again has a docket full of cases that look like 6-3 wins for the Trump agenda. Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, co-host of Amicus, and senior writer covering courts and the law for Slate. 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...
Oct 06, 2025•27 min
How one of the largest video game companies was bought for $55 billion by a group that includes Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and Jared Kushner. Guest: Jason Schreier , Bloomberg 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 slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. P...
Oct 05, 2025•20 min
TikTok exploded to popularity not by giving users what they asked for—but by figuring out what users really were interested in, and serving that. What happens to this algorithm if Bytedance cedes control of it to the U.S.? Guest: Emily Baker White, senior writer at Forbes and the author of Every Screen on the Planet: The War Over TikTok 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 ...
Oct 03, 2025•25 min
Donald Trump’s theory of a government shutdown was that it would give him more power to fire federal employees, and cut benefits and healthcare. Of course, if you claim to be an all-powerful executive, aren’t people going to conclude that the shutdown is your fault? Guest: David Dayen , executive editor of the American Prospect. 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 Ap...
Oct 02, 2025•30 min
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth summoned the military’s top brass from all over the world for a meeting to announce…they need to shave and get in shape? And then Trump followed with a speech about how he wants to deploy them in American cities and also Joe Biden sucks. Good talk, everybody. Guest: Idrees Ali , national security correspondent for Reuters . 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...
Oct 01, 2025•27 min
The president’s case against James Comey doesn’t look very strong to outside legal observers. But even the most spurious accusation against the former head of the FBI would matter when it comes from the sitting president. Guest: Ankush Khardori, senior writer for POLITICO Magazine and 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 ...
Sep 30, 2025•25 min
With Gaza cut off from food and aid, activists have taken matters into their own hands, and are attempting to circumvent Israel’s blockade themselves via the Mediterranean. Guest: Zue Jernstedt , member of About Face: Veterans Against the War and participant on the Veterans Boat of the Global Sumud Flotilla . 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 clic...
Sep 29, 2025•25 min
When you’re getting out of an Uber, Tesla’s unintuitive door handle can embarrass you. In an emergency, getting out of the car quickly can be the difference between life and death. Guest: Dana Hull , Bloomberg News reporter covering Tesla and Elon Musk 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 s...
Sep 28, 2025•24 min
The government runs out of money next Tuesday. Trump’s threatened “mass firings” if it shuts down. Earlier this year, Democrats played ball. But now, one Democratic Senator explains why he’s approaching things differently. Guest: Chris Van Hollen , Democratic Senator from Maryland. 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 Slat...
Sep 26, 2025•4 min
Why would Donald Trump rush to announce that Tylenol is a potential cause of autism, a claim unsupported by the research? Guest: Dan Diamond , White House 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 access wherever you listen. Podcast...
Sep 26, 2025•29 min
The First Amendment prohibits Congress from making laws that abridge freedom of speech or of the press, but in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, it’s clear that it doesn’t take a law to attack those rights. Guest: Karen Attiah , former columnist for the Washington Post and former editor of the Post’s Global Opinions section. 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...
Sep 25, 2025•24 min
Over three different trips during the war, this doctor saw the chaos of blast injuries in northern Gaza give way to gunshot wounds suffered at aid-distribution sites in the south. Guest: Dr. Mohammed "Adeel" Khaleel , minimally invasive and complex spinal surgeon with Texas Metroplex Institute for Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Surgery. 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 t...
Sep 24, 2025•30 min
American agriculture relies on foreign workers, and they rely on the H-2A visa program to work legally in the United States. Despite a growing number of people applying for visa spots, the Trump administration has proposed cutting the division of the Department of Labor that enforces H-2A rules, leaving workers to choose between being vulnerable to ICE or to exploitation. Guest: Max Blau , ProPublica reporter covering health care, the environment, agriculture and immigration. Want more What Next...
Sep 23, 2025•28 min
Media giants like Paramount and Disney have been swift to capitulate to the Trump administration and the tenacious head of the FCC, Brendan Carr. Why new ownership from the likes of the Ellisons is likely to make things worse. Guest: Nitish Pahwa , staff writer for business and tech at Slate. 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...
Sep 22, 2025•25 min
If you’re hunting for a job, the odds are increasingly likely you’ll have an interview with an artificial intelligence “recruiter.” And why not? It’s also increasingly likely you’ll be working with A.I. anyway. Guest: Danielle Abril , technology-in-the-workplace 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” a...
Sep 21, 2025•28 min
TikTok—which was supposed to be banned again on Wednesday but, again, isn’t—may be legal once more. The Trump administration says it’s meeting with Xi Jinping Friday to finalize the agreement, which may involve—get this—a wealthy Trump-supporting tech mogul. Guest: Nitish Pahwa , staff writer for business and tech at Slate. 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 TBD—you’ll also access a...
Sep 19, 2025•5 min
As the Charlie Kirk murder demonstrated, law enforcement, the government, and media all need more internet fluency. But their reactions in the wake of the murder don’t seem to be moving towards a better understanding. Guest: Ryan Broderick , reporter on online culture, author of the newsletter Garbage Day . 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 ...
Sep 19, 2025•32 min
Donald Trump has been calling for the Fed to cut rates to bolster the economy, and yesterday, they announced they would. The bad news is that’s because the economy is going to need a lot more bolstering. Guest: Justin Wolfers , economist and professor at the University of Michigan 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...
Sep 18, 2025•23 min
What happens to an organization when it purges much of its leadership and ranks irrespective of ability, and hires for sycophantic loyalty instead? The FBI is finding out. Guests: Michael Feinberg , former assistant special agent in charge at the FBI’s field office in Norfolk, VA, now a fellow at Lawfare . Quinta Jurecic , staff writer at The Atlantic. 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 podcast...
Sep 17, 2025•27 min
Conservatives have decried higher education as a center of liberal indoctrination for decades, and under the second Trump administration, colleges and universities are watching their federal funding be withheld or frozen, their presidents step down, and professors lose their jobs. What can be done to wrest back academic freedom and independence from a vindictive administration? Guest: Sarah Brown, senior editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus t...
Sep 16, 2025•30 min
Hasan Piker was scheduled to debate Charlie Kirk at Dartmouth College later this month, a left-vs-right, Vidal-vs-Buckley for the streaming age. In the wake of Kirk’s shocking death, Piker wants to continue to be clear about who Kirk was, what he stood for, and the reactionary political project he was working to advance. Guest: Hasan Piker, Twitch streamer and left-wing political commentator. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family a...
Sep 15, 2025•26 min
After their daughter committed suicide, they found her ChatGPT log—and where artificial intelligence helped her write her suicide note. Guest: Laura Reiley, writer for the Cornell Chronicle. 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 access wherever you listen. Hoste...
Sep 14, 2025•31 min
On Friday, authorities announced they had a suspect – and they sure seemed confident they “got him” (to quote Utah Governor Spencer Cox). Mary and Slatester Luke Winkie discuss the press conference – and what happens now. Guest: Luke Winkie , Slate staff writer. 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 ...
Sep 12, 2025•4 min
Graphic, violent videos like the shooting of right-wing pundit Charlie Kirk circulate across social media moments after they happen, finding an audience even among people who have made no effort to seek them out. Guest: Craig Silverman, journalist and cofounder of Indicator . 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 sho...
Sep 12, 2025•33 min
How a Supreme Court decision from the shadow docket opens the door to racial profiling, creates a nightmare for millions of Latino Americans, and drains dwindling legitimacy from the court itself. Guest: Mark Joseph Stern , senior writer covering courts and the law for Slate, and the co-host of Amicus. 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 “T...
Sep 11, 2025•27 min
Last week, Donald Trump announced the military had blown up what he said was a drug-smuggling boat. This week, we still don’t know why he believes the boat was full of smugglers. But even if they were trafficking drugs, can the president legally blow up 11 people in international waters? Guests: Shane Harris , staff writer covering national security and intelligence for The Atlantic . Ana Vanessa Herrero , journalist based in Caracas, Venezuela and reporting on South America for the Washington P...
Sep 10, 2025•29 min
With Republicans holding both houses of Congress and the White House, Democrats don’t have a lot of ways to stall Donald Trump’s agenda—except for refusing to further fund the government and triggering a shutdown. They already passed on the opportunity once, but is the situation now so desperate that the opposition party needs to do something—anything? Guest: Rep. Jamie Raskin , U.S. representative for Maryland's 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives Want more What Next...
Sep 09, 2025•23 min
