Israel and America’s war with Iran has spread, leading to the displacement of nearly 20 percent of people in Lebanon. What does that look like on the ground—and how will the conflict end? Guests: Basma Alloush , Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Rescue Committee. Joshua Keating , senior 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. Su...
Mar 18, 2026•27 min
The Republican-led Senate prepares this week to tackle an issue that’s very important to the president, his diehards, and hardly anyone else: passing the SAVE Act in order to force people to prove citizenship before voting. Guest: Ari Berman , national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones. 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 Fr...
Mar 17, 2026•25 min
If no other explanations for the Iran War seem satisfying, have you considered that the point is to bring about the end of the world and the return of Jesus Christ? The people in power have. Guest: Tim Dickinson , senior writer and editor at The Contrarian . 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...
Mar 16, 2026•26 min
A half dozen state attorneys general have sued the online gaming platform Roblox after multiple investigations found child predators on the site and more than 20 people were arrested for abducting or abusing children they had met via Roblox. Guest: Mike Hilgers , Nebraska Attorney General. 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 ...
Mar 15, 2026•33 min
On this week’s Slate Plus exclusive, Timothée Chalamet enters the pas de deux between an Oscar-nominated actor and a public itching for a villain. But as one Gen Z star’s public approval goes down, another’s rises, on the strength of a “ bixie .” Guest: Nadira Goffe , Slate culture 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 favo...
Mar 13, 2026•4 min
Drone warfare has evolved immensely since Ukraine. The use of artificial intelligence in combat has evolved just since Venezuela. Guest: Steven Feldstein, political scientist and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program . 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...
Mar 13, 2026•26 min
Is the Strait of Hormuz safe? Is the U.S. going to put boots on the ground? Did we obliterate Iran’s nuclear facilities? And why are we at war with Iran… at all? Guest: Tommy Vietor, political commentator on Pod Save America and Pod Save the World, spokesman for Obama and the National Security Council in 2011 and 2012. 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...
Mar 12, 2026•31 min
Who is the new supreme leader of Iran, and how does he differ from his predecessor father? Guest: Graeme Wood , staff writer at The Atlantic and a lecturer in political science at Yale . 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. Podcas...
Mar 11, 2026•24 min
Nominated for Best International Feature Film at this year’s Academy Awards, The Voice of Hind Rajab uses audio from the actual emergency call with a five-year-old girl in Gaza who was killed by Israeli forces in January 2024. Guest: Kaouther Ben Hania , director of the Oscar-nominated film, The Voice of Hind Rajab . 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...
Mar 10, 2026•22 min
A July ICE protest ended with a police lieutenant shot, 19 people arrested and nine people now on trial. For Trump’s Department of Justice, it’s a chance to see how calling groups “domestic terrorist organizations” performs in a courtroom. Guest: Leeja Miller , lawyer and YouTuber based in Minneapolis. 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...
Mar 09, 2026•26 min
How does Paramount, an old-guard studio and media institution, buying Warner Bros., another of the same, change the landscape in Hollywood, on cable, and in news? Guest: Julia Alexander , media correspondent for Puck News. 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...
Mar 08, 2026•26 min
When you’re sending troops to war, it seems like there are more important things to consider than how it will impact the stock market. However, it doesn’t seem coincidental that this administration waited until the markets closed on a Friday to launch its attacks on Iran. Guest: Justin Wolfers , professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Sla...
Mar 06, 2026•34 min
As recent demonstrations showed, a sizable segment of the Iranian people already opposes the regime. But when President Trump told them to “take over your government,” it seems unlikely he considered how the regime responded to those protests, or other movements for a more open Iranian society. Guest: Kian Tajbakhsh , visiting assistant professor at New York University, lecturer at Columbia University, who works on the Committee on Global Thought and in the School of International and Public Aff...
Mar 05, 2026•26 min
How the attention economy, distrust of all authority, and an actual crime turned a suburban Arizona street into the place to be for certain content creators. Guest: Luke Winkie , Slate staff writer, author of the piece “ The Haunting American Scene Unfolding Outside Nancy Guthrie’s House. ” 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 ...
Mar 04, 2026•25 min
After a Democrat flipped a state senate seat for a district that Trump had won by a large margin, both parties are closely watching today’s Texas primaries. What are they looking for, and what can the results tell us about the midterm elections this fall? Guest: Bayliss Wagner , Texas politics reporter. 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 “...
Mar 03, 2026•28 min
Over the weekend, in the middle of the night, the Trump administration brought the United States into yet another Middle East war. Guest: Shane Harris , staff writer at The Atlantic covering national security and intelligence 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...
Mar 02, 2026•27 min
How much would it change your life and approach to health if you had instant access to your quantified biometrics? RFK Jr. and the Department of Health and Human Services have bet the difference would be huge, and loosened regulation on them—leaving TBD no choice but to strap in and give ‘em a try. Guests: Nadira Goffe , Slate staff writer. Mario Aguliar , health tech correspondent for Stat News Dr. Sandeep Kishore , associate professor at the University of California San Francisco Dr. Jordana C...
Mar 01, 2026•23 min
Training for the Olympics is a Sisyphean task, but if you’re a curler, pushing a rock is kind of your thing. And who knows? Your big break might come in your 50s. Guest: Rich Ruohonen, Minnesota curler (and lawyer) who represented the US in the 2026 Winter Olympics. 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 ...
Feb 27, 2026•5 min
The Pentagon wants Anthropic to hand over its A.I. with no strings attached. Anthropic doesn’t want its products used to surveil Americans or create autonomous machines of war. Naturally, the Pentagon is mad - so mad, they’re threatening to invoke the Defense Production Act against them. But who has more leverage here? Guest: Sheera Frenkel, 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 favo...
Feb 27, 2026•25 min
The gay romance show Heated Rivalry brought an influx of attention to hockey, and gold-medal winning performances from both the women’s and men’s American teams seemed to be priming the NHL for a fresh, diverse group of fans. Then Kash Patel showed up in the men’s locker room. Guest: Frankie de la Cretaz , writer at the intersection of sports, gender, culture, and queerness, author of Hail Mary: the Rise and Fall of the National Women’s Football League and Out of Your League newsletter. Want mor...
Feb 26, 2026•27 min
With President Trump’s urging and support from CIA drones, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s more confrontational approach to the drug cartels culminated in the death of “El Mencho,” the most wanted man in both Mexico and the United States. Guest: León Krauze , Mexican journalist and author covering politics and the cartels. 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...
Feb 25, 2026•23 min
Why a number of Congressional Democrats are skipping tonight’s State of the Union address—and why some are still going. Guest: Congresswoman Veronica Escobar , representing Texas's 16th Congressional District in El Paso. 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 ...
Feb 24, 2026•26 min
Counter to claims that immigrants just need to come to America “the right way,” DHS has begun using the department that administers legal immigration to arrest, detain, and deport people—including those who are following the law. Guest: Jonathan Blitzer, staff writer at 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 listening to the whole What Next family an...
Feb 23, 2026•25 min
You might not think you need artificial intelligence added to your shopping experience. Store employees might not see the point either. So why is it there anyway? Guest: Mia Sato , reporter at The Verge who covers tech companies, platforms, and users. 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 sl...
Feb 22, 2026•21 min
Tech companies proudly touting that the imminent artificial intelligence revolution are pushing the stock market to ever higher heights, even as workers wonder what their role will be in this brave new world. But outside of the big A.I. players, the rest of the market seems to be wondering the same thing. Guest: Emily Peck, co-host of Slate Money and national correspondent at Axios. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all...
Feb 20, 2026•25 min
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, was arrested after a release of Epstein files revealed he had allegedly shared confidential trade reports with the financier. Guest: Imogen West-Knights , Slate contributing 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 subscribe directly from the W...
Feb 19, 2026•4 min
From the hundreds of Washington Post staffers fired, to Anderson Cooper leaving 60 Minutes, to Stephen Colbert and his own network fighting in public, Trump’s return to the White House is transforming legacy media into something less antagonistic to power—but also less capable of fulfilling its own self-described mission. Guest: Oliver Darcy, journalist behind the Status substack . Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across a...
Feb 19, 2026•29 min
Trump’s “Board of Peace” emerged from last year’s ceasefire negotiations to govern Gaza after the war. But since then, the board has evolved into a motley group of countries that are willing to pay a billion dollars to join a body that has Donald Trump as its chairman for life. They also have mostly stopped talking about Gaza. Guest: Gregg Carlstom , Middle East Correspondent at The Economist. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family ...
Feb 18, 2026•23 min
An activist and former political director for Bernie Sander’s presidential campaign shocked the field by winning a primary for a special congressional election. Now the favorite to win the solidly blue district, she’s actually excited to work with congressional moderates—and to keep pushing them. Guest: Analilia Mejía , Democratic nominee for New Jersey's 11th congressional district special election Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next f...
Feb 17, 2026•27 min
Youth sports have grown into a $40-billion dollar per year industry, where eager parents shell out for private coaches, off-season practice, and travel leagues, in the hopes of giving their child a competitive edge. Guest: Anna North, senior correspondent at Vox. She writes Kids Today, a newsletter about kids. 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...
Feb 16, 2026•20 min
