How much of our lives—our tastes, preferences and choices—have been fed to us through an interlocking, impersonal network of algorithms? Guest: Kyle Chayka, staff writer at the New Yorker and author of Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture. 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 T...
Jan 21, 2024•36 min
When a cyberattack knocked the British Library out of commission in October of last year, a nation's researchers, scholars, students, and bookworms were left high and dry. Months later, the library is starting to come back online in limited capacity, but the attack has laid bare just how fragile our digital systems are. Guest: Sam Knight, staff writer at the New Yorker If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate po...
Jan 19, 2024•28 min
Covered in cameras, full of microphones, and always eager to use location data, our vehicles are “smartphones on wheels”—and privacy nightmares. Guest: Kashmir Hill, technology and privacy reporter 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. Sign up now at slate.co...
Jan 14, 2024•23 min
Shortly after take off from Portland, OR, the plug exit on a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet blew out – causing an uncontrolled decompression of the plane. Now, accident investigators are hard at work, trying to determine what happened in what's the latest catastrophe for the respected commercial airplane provider. Guest: Jon Ostrower, Editor-in-chief of The Air Current If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bon...
Jan 12, 2024•35 min
What the Cybertruck says about safety, regulation, and the degree to which Tesla is beholden to the whims of Elon Musk. Guest: Edward Niedermeyer, author of Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors 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 t...
Jan 07, 2024•25 min
If A.I. and chatbots are the next wave of innovation, then the New York Times and other media organizations are determined to get paid this time. Guest: Megan Morrone, technology editor for the Axios AI+ newsletter 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/whatn...
Jan 05, 2024•28 min
While the What Next: TBD team spends some time with their families during the holidays, we revisit some of 2023’s biggest, strangest, and best stories. Regularly scheduled programming resumes in January. Artificial intelligence—as it already exists today—is drawing from huge troves of surveillance data and is rife with the biases built into the algorithm, in service of the huge corporations that develop and maintain the systems. The fight for the future doesn’t look like war with Skynet; it’s ha...
Dec 31, 2023•34 min
While the What Next: TBD team spends some time with their families during the holidays, we revisit some of 2023’s biggest, strangest, and best stories. Regularly scheduled programming resumes in January. Pedestrian deaths in America have been rising for the last decade, while dropping in Europe and Japan. What makes the U.S. so dangerous for pedestrians? Guest: Jessie Singer, author of There Are No Accidents: The Deadly Rise of Injury and Disaster―Who Profits and Who Pays the Price. Originally a...
Dec 29, 2023•37 min
While the What Next: TBD team spends some time with their families during the holidays, we revisit some of 2023’s biggest, strangest, and best stories. Regularly scheduled programming resumes in January. Twitter’s “blue check” verification went from something you applied for, to something you could pay for, to something you had to pay for…to something that many celebrities wouldn’t even accept for free. Master of horror Stephen King told us he wouldn’t pay for a blue check, but he’s not going to...
Dec 24, 2023•34 min
Without infrastructure to support all-electric vehicles, consumers have increasingly embraced the hybrid. The lower emissions are good—but are they slowing down our transition into an electric future? Guest: Patrick George, editor-in-chief of InsideEVs.com, contributor to The Atlantic and The Verge. 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...
Dec 22, 2023•27 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
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
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
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
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
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
A review website became suddenly flush with new bylines, right as the newsroom was negotiating with management. But information on their new contributors was hard to find—were they people at all, or was this the first clumsy incursion of A.I. into their newsroom? Guest: Will Sommer, Washington Post media reporter 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 Pr...
Nov 12, 2023•21 min
In late October, Tesla mechanics in Sweden began to strike after the company refused to sign a collective agreement. This week, the country's other major unions joined in the fight as well. Can Sweden’s robust labor culture force Tesla to make concessions? Guest: Melissa Eddy, Berlin correspondent 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...
Nov 10, 2023•26 min
Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty on seven charges of wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering and is facing a 110-year sentence. Cryptocurrency, itself, has lost an ambassador, a lot of value, and quite a bit of credibility. Guest: Nitish Pahwa, associate business and tech writer covering the trial for Slate. 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 P...
Nov 04, 2023•31 min
Biden’s executive order on A.I. indicates his administration is taking it seriously. Does it go far enough? Guest: Cecilia Kang, covering technology and policy 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. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our wor...
Nov 03, 2023•32 min
The man at the center of it all takes the stand in his own defense—but what’s left to say? Guest: Nitish Pahwa, associate business and tech writer covering the trial for Slate. 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. Lear...
Oct 28, 2023•25 min
In August, California regulators voted to allow self-driving car companies like Cruise and Waymo to expand their operations and start offering robotaxi services. 2 months later, after a litany of mistakes, Cruise is pulling all of its driverless cars off the road. Is this an existential threat to the entire AV industry? Guest: David Zipper, visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ad...
Oct 27, 2023•29 min
Since Microsoft announced its bid to buy Activision Blizzard last year, regulators around the world sounded the alarm that the merger would suppress competition in the industry. Now that the deal has officially gone through, should gamers be worried? Guest: Jason Schreier, covering the video game industry for Bloomberg 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 D...
Oct 21, 2023•27 min
Since war broke out, Hamas has been efficient in getting its message out on social media - both in providing crucial information to refugees fleeing the area, and in waging psychological warfare. How can platforms meet the need for open lines of communication without spreading propaganda? Guest: Sheera Frenkel, covering tech 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 ...
Oct 20, 2023•28 min
Zelle has exploded in popularity as a fast, convenient way to send and receive money. But the story of a couple who was scammed out of a pool shows there are problems with safety on the platform. Guest: Devin Friedman, journalist and senior correspondent for GQ magazine. You can read Devin’s piece here. 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...
Oct 14, 2023•26 min
