What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future

Spotify is shaping listening habits, so much so that musicians are shaping themselves for Spotify. It makes your musical world a little more prescribed, a little smaller.  If it feels like everything’s getting a little stale, how do we get out? Guest: Tiffany Ng, culture and tech writer. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Dr. Oz to RFK Jr. to Donald Trump himself—the incoming administration looks like it will be populated with pitchmen and influencers. Will anyone take steps to divest from their businesses or avoid conflicts of interest—or will everyone just follow Trump’s lead from last time?  Guest: Drew Harwell, 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 access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anyone stuck in a knotted snarl of interstate clovers knows that GPS is both important and imperfect. But if GPS fails while you’re bringing a 737 in for a landing it could be catastrophic.  Why is “GPS spoofing” on the rise—and how can airlines protect their flights against being caught up in conflict zones. Guest: Drew FitzGerald, telecom reporter for the Wall Street Journal. 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 production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whatever X is, it ain’t the Twitter so many users fell in love with. Since the election, Bluesky has been on the rise, but it’s still only a fraction of the number of users on Twitter—at its peak or even now—or even fellow upstart Threads.  Is Bluesky set to take over the role Twitter used to play, or is it just one of many networks in a Balkanized social media landscape?  Guest: Will Oremus, a technology writer 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last May, a 12-year-old with sickle cell anemia was the first person to receive a new gene therapy to treat the disease. The process is painful, expensive, and still frightening and uncertain, but biomedical researchers are cautiously calling it a “cure.” Guests: Gina Kolata, medical reporter for the New York Times Deb and Keith Cromer, parents to Kendric Cromer, the first person in the world to go through a commercially approved gene therapy for sickle cell anemia. 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 production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Department of Justice has released its recommendations for how Google’s monopoly on web search should be broken up. Top of their wishlist? Spinning off their web browser Chrome.  But with a new administration coming to the White House, will Google have to comply? Guest: Leah Nylen, antitrust reporter for Bloomberg 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 access wherever you listen. Disclosure in Podcast Description: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond’s yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond’s YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since Elon Musk took over, Twitter—er, sorry “X”—has been slowly deflating. But given that soon you’ll be getting yelled at by right-wing trolls directly from White House press briefings, and your data is being swept up to train A.I., is there any reason to stay on the site at all anymore?  Guest: Nitish Pahwa, Slate business writer. 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 production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Alyssa Jeong Perry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Going on Joe Rogan’s podcast didn’t fit into Kamala Harris’s last month of campaigning, which consisted of a careful diet of traditional media and specifically selected appearances. It came up short against Donald Trump’s “get on mic with that guy and his big following” strategy.  Guest: Makena Kelly, senior writer at Wired. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many folks were surprised at how soundly Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris in the election, especially since they thought the polls made it seem like a coin flip. The problem is, that’s not quite what the polls were saying. Guest: Tatishe M. Nteta, Provost Professor of Political Science, Director of UMass Poll 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Elon Musk channeled his considerable resources towards Donald Trump’s campaign, there was talk about what his role in the new Trump administration would be. If his stint leading Twitter is any indication, the federal government could be in for a bumpy ride. Guest: Zoë Schiffer, incoming director of business and industry at Wired, author of Extremely Hardcore: Inside Elon Musk’s Twitter. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Voters in swing states are being subjected to constant political messages—on billboards, commercials and, increasingly, via text messages. But are dozens of “make a plan to vote” texts you’re receiving going to make a difference? Guest: Jacob Neiheisel, political science professor at the University at Buffalo  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. Disclosure in Podcast Description: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond’s yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond’s YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How did Elon Musk go from a poster to someone pumping millions of dollars towards Donald Trump? And what’s he hoping to get for doing so? Guest: Max Chafkin, Bloomberg Businessweek columnist.  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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

He didn’t find his grandfather. But traveling to, photographing, and uploading his grandfather’s memorial stone gave him something else.  Guest: Tony Tran, senior tech editor at Slate and author of the feature “My Weekends with the Dead.” 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This election cycle, TikTok has evolved into a news-and-politics delivery mechanism. Will it make a difference? Guest: Sapna Maheshwari, reporting on TikTok and other tech 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 by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Disclosure in Podcast Description: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond’s yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond’s YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

America’s head of cybersecurity isn’t worried about the election being hacked or the results being tampered with. But this election cycle does have her worried for our democracy. Guest: Jen Easterly, Director of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency  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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon Musk went from voting for Hillary to supporting Trump so hard that he may have broken election laws. And with Musk influencing both on X and in campaign finance, Democrats are kicking themselves for letting him go. What will his political and financial support actually amount to this election season?  Guest: Teddy Schleifer, New York Times reporter covering campaign finance and billionaire influence on American politics. 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 production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How did 23andMe go from the peak of the double-helix to a death spiral? And if it goes under, is all of the genetic data it collected at risk?  Guest: Kristen V. Brown, staff writer covering health for The Atlantic. 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 production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The crypto project “World Liberty Financial,” which was announced on X by Donald Trump, isn’t a cryptocurrency, nor a crypto-exchange, nor is it actually run by any Trumps. The truth is even stranger.  Guest: David Yaffe-Bellany, New York Times 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Decades ago, Three Mile Island was shut down after a near catastrophic nuclear meltdown. So why is Microsoft paying over a billion dollars to open it back up?  Guest: Matt Reynolds, senior writer at Wired 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. Disclosure in Podcast Description: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond’s yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond’s YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the idea of a climate haven has been upended. And as the climate change gets worse every year, fewer places will be safe from its devastation. Guest: Sarah Kaplan, Washington Post climate reporter covering humanity's response to a warming world. Keith Campbell, managing editor at the Asheville Watchdog 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

America is caught in a vicious cycle of trying to alleviate traffic by expanding and building more highways, only for them to clog right up with more cars. How do you beat the traffic? Guest: David Zipper, Senior Fellow at the MIT Mobility Initiative who writes about transportation policy. 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. Public.com+Public Investing: All investing involves risk. Brokerage services for US listed securities, options and bonds in a self-directed brokerage account are offered by Public Investing, member FINRA & SIPC. Not investment advice. Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank.Cryptocurrency trading services are offered by Bakkt Crypto Solutions, LLC (NMLS ID 1828849), which is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the NYSDFS. Cryptocurrency is highly speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and has the potential for loss of the entire amount of an investment. Cryptocurrency holdings are not protected by the FDIC or SIPC. . See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last decade, the European Union has been the vanguard regulating Big Tech, and the push has been led by Margrethe Vestager. As she steps down, Vestager is looking both back at the battles she’s fought, and how the fight will continue.  Guest: Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition. the European Commission’s Executive Vice President on a Europe Fit for the Digital Age. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Given Laura Loomer’s history of saying outright offensive and often bewildering things, how did she get into the Trump campaign’s inner circle?   Guest: Ken Bensinger, New York Times politics 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Instagram’s new default privacy settings for teenagers are designed to keep kids safe from strangers online. It’s a worthy endeavor, but are privacy settings enough? And what about all the other hazards teenagers face on social media?   Guest: Natasha Singer, New York Times tech reporter, focused on how technology is affecting childhood and schooling. 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 production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth. Public.com+Public Investing Disclosure: Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank. See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Boeing’s Starliner has now landed successfully—but Butch and Sunny weren’t on it. With a pair of astronauts still stuck on the ISS, when will NASA be ready to bring them back? And how? Guest: Micah Maidenberg, space business reporter for the Wall Street Journal. 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. Public.com+Public Investing: All investing involves risk. Brokerage services for US listed securities, options and bonds in a self-directed brokerage account are offered by Public Investing, member FINRA & SIPC. Not investment advice. Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank.Cryptocurrency trading services are offered by Bakkt Crypto Solutions, LLC (NMLS ID 1828849), which is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the NYSDFS. Cryptocurrency is highly speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and has the potential for loss of the entire amount of an investment. Cryptocurrency holdings are not protected by the FDIC or SIPC. . See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The law has been passed and signed by the president: TikTok’s parent company must sell or divest from the app. But that’s not happening without a legal fight.   Guest: Emily Baker-White, investigative reporter at Forbes. 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 production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An outbreak of eastern equine encephalitis in the northeast made headlines, but as far as mosquito-borne illnesses go, EEE is serious but still rare. What’s getting way too common is the mosquito itself. Guest: Amesh Adalja, doctor and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security 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 production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth. Public.com+Public Investing Disclosure: Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank. See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A month after a federal judge declared that Google was operating as a monopoly because of its search engine, the Justice Department has alleged that Google’s ad business was breaking antitrust law as well.  What if Google loses again? Guest: Leah Nylen, Bloomberg antitrust 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. Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Telegram was supposed to be the platform with the freest of free speech, which meant it was also rife with the worst the internet has to offer—"criminal activity” puts it lightly. But are French authorities setting a dangerous precedent with the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov?  Guest: Joseph Menn, tech reporter for the Washington Post covering privacy and security. 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. Public.com+Public Investing: All investing involves risk. Brokerage services for US listed securities, options and bonds in a self-directed brokerage account are offered by Public Investing, member FINRA & SIPC. Not investment advice. Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank.Cryptocurrency trading services are offered by Bakkt Crypto Solutions, LLC (NMLS ID 1828849), which is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the NYSDFS. Cryptocurrency is highly speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and has the potential for loss of the entire amount of an investment. Cryptocurrency holdings are not protected by the FDIC or SIPC. . See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the pandemic, schools have been reporting that their students are more anxious and having trouble learning. How much does simply removing cell phones from the classroom address these problems? Guests:  Laura Meckler, national education writer for the Washington Post Russell Shaw, head of Georgetown Day School and author of “Why We’re Banning Phones at Our School” for the Atlantic. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why are national politicians like Nancy Pelosi lining up alongside artificial intelligence companies to oppose safety regulations on this new industry proposed in California’s state legislature?  Guest: Rachael Myrow, senior editor on KQED’s Silicon Valley news desk. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The last crypto boom left the industry cash-rich and reputation-poor, so they’re doing what any beleaguered industry does—donating to politicians. Guest: Zeke Faux, investigative reporter for Bloomberg and author of Number Go Up. 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. Public.com+Public Investing Disclosure: Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank. See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are in high demand and short supply. The internet makes it easy for you to have a compounding pharmacy whip you up a batch—but should you? Guest: Kate Knibbs, senior writer at Wired.  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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since Elon Musk took over Twitter - now X - in 2022, he’s increasingly used it to push his conservative views. A suit against a non-profit brand safety group of advertisers and an exclusive interview with former President Trump show that Elon was never interested in keeping Twitter as a town square, but rather, a soapbox for him to push his political agenda.  Guest: Nitish Pahwa, associate writer for business and tech at 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.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth. Public.com+Public Investing: All investing involves risk. Brokerage services for US listed securities, options and bonds in a self-directed brokerage account are offered by Public Investing, member FINRA & SIPC. Not investment advice. Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank.Cryptocurrency trading services are offered by Bakkt Crypto Solutions, LLC (NMLS ID 1828849), which is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the NYSDFS. Cryptocurrency is highly speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and has the potential for loss of the entire amount of an investment. Cryptocurrency holdings are not protected by the FDIC or SIPC. . See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The hype has slowed but electric vehicles aren’t going away—once the infrastructure is in place, they’ll go everywhere. Guests:  Nitish Pahwa, associate writer for business and tech at Slate. Paula Gardner, business reporter for Bridge 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 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 Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should the other Silicon Valley giants be worried following the Department of Justice’s decisive win against Google?  Guest: Leah Nylen, antitrust reporter at 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 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 Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth. Public.com+Public Investing Disclosure: Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank. See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this month, AT&T was hit by the largest telecom hack ever. Not long after, Sydney Sweeney’s phone number was stolen by criminals, who used it to hack her social media and promote a memecoin. With how much sensitive data telecom companies have on us, why is their security so bad? And how can we protect ourselves?  Guests: Joseph Cox, investigative reporter and cofounder of 404 media. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The age when you need to start being screened for cancers may need to be updated, as rates among younger people are on the rise. New testing methods could make the process a lot easier than, say, a colonoscopy - but they’re not perfect.  Guest: Dylan Scott, senior correspondent and editor for Vox. 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. Public.com+Public Investing: All investing involves risk. Brokerage services for US listed securities, options and bonds in a self-directed brokerage account are offered by Public Investing, member FINRA & SIPC. Not investment advice. Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank.Cryptocurrency trading services are offered by Bakkt Crypto Solutions, LLC (NMLS ID 1828849), which is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the NYSDFS. Cryptocurrency is highly speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and has the potential for loss of the entire amount of an investment. Cryptocurrency holdings are not protected by the FDIC or SIPC. . See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How France changed its own laws to have the safest, most pervasively surveilled Olympics ever—and why some are worried the new security system will stay in place long after the games end. Guests:  Anne Toomey McKenna, professor, author, and expert in electronic surveillance. Henry Grabar, covering the Olympics in Paris 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.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For years, Silicon Valley has felt like a liberal enclave.. This election, a handful of powerful voices like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel are expressing support for the Trump-Vance ticket. Is this a shift in ideologies in Silicon Valley, or just a few of the loudest voices?  Guest: Nitish Pahwa, associate writer for business and tech at 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.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth. Public.com+Public Investing Disclosure: Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank. See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the hours after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, conspiracy theories started circulating all over social media, often amplified by powerful voices on both sides of the aisle. It shows a complete breakdown of trust in institutions during a critical election.  Guest: Drew Harwell, technology reporter at 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The biggest companies in the world are now tech companies, which is why the biggest antitrust, anti-monopoly fights in recent memory are centered around Silicon Valley.  Guest:  Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice 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. Public.com+Public Investing: All investing involves risk. Brokerage services for US listed securities, options and bonds in a self-directed brokerage account are offered by Public Investing, member FINRA & SIPC. Not investment advice. Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank.Cryptocurrency trading services are offered by Bakkt Crypto Solutions, LLC (NMLS ID 1828849), which is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the NYSDFS. Cryptocurrency is highly speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and has the potential for loss of the entire amount of an investment. Cryptocurrency holdings are not protected by the FDIC or SIPC. . See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“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 slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Public.com+Public Investing Disclosure: Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank. See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Public.com+Public Investing: All investing involves risk. Brokerage services for US listed securities, options and bonds in a self-directed brokerage account are offered by Public Investing, member FINRA & SIPC. Not investment advice. Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank.Cryptocurrency trading services are offered by Bakkt Crypto Solutions, LLC (NMLS ID 1828849), which is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the NYSDFS. Cryptocurrency is highly speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and has the potential for loss of the entire amount of an investment. Cryptocurrency holdings are not protected by the FDIC or SIPC. . See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 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 Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s hard to imagine music fans mourning a break-up of Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation, as a Department of Justice lawsuit requests. But even with this monopolistic middleman out of the way, touring musicians still seem destined to struggle financially. Guest: Laura Jane Grace, musician 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 production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Anna Phillips. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How well is the Biden administration coaxing semiconductor companies to build their chips in the United States? Compared to Taiwan, South Korea, Japan…or even mainland China, things are just okay. Guest: Asa Fitch, reporter for the Wall Street Journal, covering the semiconductor industry. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Fecal microbial transplants” treat someone’s unhealthy gut with poop from someone else’s healthy gut, and proponents of FMT claim it can help treat everything from IBS to autism. But if your doctor isn’t ready to fill you up with someone else’s poop, the internet will happily oblige.  Guest:  Luke Winkie, Slate staff writer who published “The Poop Broker.” 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

His law firm won a $73 million dollar settlement against Remington on behalf of nine Sandy Hook families. Now he’s filing a lawsuit against the gunmaker Daniel Defense, the video game company Activision, and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, on behalf of families in Uvalde. Guest: Josh Koskoff, attorney 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 production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Anna Phillips. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last year saw a record number of healthcare hacks with more than 700 separate incidents. And with a subsidiary of United Healthcare forking over a $22 billion ransom this year, the problem isn’t going away. With so much sensitive personal information on file, why aren’t hospitals and their ilk better prepared? Guest:  Dina Carlisle, president of the local nurses union, OPEIU 40 in Michigan. Justin Sherman, CEO of Global Cyber Strategies. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When OpenAI showed a demo for the latest version of ChatGPT —the one that you can chat with, you know, with your voice—one of the voices sounded eerily familiar. And instead of a victory lap, it was a reminder of all of the implications for intellectual property and one’s own basic human likeness that this technology carries with it. Guest: Sigal Samuel, senior reporter for Vox's Future Perfect and co-host of the Future Perfect podcast. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In theory, crowdfunding sites offer an opportunity for anyone to give to any cause, including, say, strangers facing huge medical bills. In practice, crowdfunding suffers from many of the same inequities that led to someone needing to crowdfund to begin with. Guest: Nora Kenworthy, author of Crowded Out: The True Costs of Crowdfunding Healthcare, associate professor at the University of Washington, Bothell. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2021 subreddit-coordinated effort to raise the price of Gamestop stock was, in some ways, a proof of concept: the little guy can get into the market and make some noise. Because even though that “meme stock” rose and fell, the idea of the meme stock went has changed the way our stock market works. Guest: Alex Kirshner, contributing writer 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.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The ability to choose the sex of your child through IVF is banned in most of the world. In America, however, parents can—and do—for a price. Guest: Emi Nietfeld, writer and software engineer, author of “The Parents Who Want Daughters—and Daughters Only” 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.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You might not know Brad Parscale by name, but you know his work: he was the digital campaign operative behind Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential victory. This election cycle, he’s back—and advising conservatives on how to utilize A.I. in their campaigns.  Guest: Garance Burke, global investigative journalist for the Associated Press. 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 production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, Cheyna Roth and Anna Phillips. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The California Journalism Preservation Act would make companies like Google and Meta pay publishers for the news content appearing in their feeds and search results—and force news organizations to spend that money on their journalists. How have similar laws worked in Canada and Australia? And could it solve journalism’s on-going revenue problem? Guest: Matt Pearce, former LA Times journalist, the president of Media Guild of the West. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bird flu isn’t new, you may even remember past outbreaks. But showing up in milk?  Is America ready if it leaps to spreading among humans? Guest: Katelyn Jetelina, epidemiologist, senior advisor to the CDC  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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are regulations regarding how farm animals are transported, how they’re auctioned, how they’re slaughtered—but when they’re living on the farm? That’s where things get cloudy.  Guest: Annie Lowrey, journalist writing on politics and economic policy for The Atlantic. 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 production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Anna Phillips. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The TikTok ban that has been floating around Washington since the last administration has been signed into law. What does that mean for users, creators and the court battles ahead? Guest:  Louise Matsakis, reporter covering tech and China. Dillon White, TikToker under the handle @dadchats 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the Wayback Machine to the mass-digitization of the history of Aruba, the Internet Archive is a non-profit doing valuable work. But some of its other projects—a pandemic-era lending library and the ongoing digitalization of 78 rpm records—have led to lawsuits now threatening the future of this repository of the past.  Guest: Kate Knibbs, senior writer at Wired. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tesla’s market cap has dropped. The company had its biggest round of layoffs ever. The Cybertruck doesn’t seem to be taking off. And Elon’s posting through it. Is Tesla in serious trouble? Guest: Dana Hull, Bloomberg reporter and contributor to the podcast Elon, Inc.   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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How the semi-legalization of marijuana has drawn a road map for legalizing psychedelics—and also provided a list of pitfalls to be avoided.  Guest: Jane C. Hu, science journalist and author of the newsletter The Microdose. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why lately our search engines just don’t seem to deliver results.  Guest: Jason Koebler, cofounder of 404 Media and co-host of the 404 Media Podcast.  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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The demand for electricity is surging in the U.S. With increasing amounts of power going towards artificial intelligence, manufacturing and electric vehicles, can the grid keep up? Guest: Evan Halper, business reporter covering the energy transition 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump got a huge financial boost when Truth Social went public last week—or did he? Guest: Nitish Pahwa, associate writer on business and tech 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.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From science fiction writers to American presidents to Elon Musk, everyone’s eager to send people to Mars. But, even if you could nail the physical aspects, are Earthlings cut out for life on Mars mentally?  Guest: Nathaniel Rich, contributing writer for New York Times magazine.  Kate Greene, author and poet 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How supply chains, the pandemic, and a steady stream of Wall Street money led to a crisis at Boeing. Guest: Jon Ostrower, editor-in-chief of the website the Air Current. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After organized-labor victories at Amazon, with automakers, and in Hollywood, big corporations are striking back by, among other things, suing the National Labor Relations Board.   Guest: Noam Scheiber, reporter for the New York Times covering working and workers. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite the blackouts, moderator revolts, and long string of controversies, Reddit remains an active, healthy website. As the site goes public this week, can it remain that way? Guest: Priya Anand, Bloomberg News tech 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Private equity firms have been buying up doctors’ offices and hospitals around the country. But if profits are the primary goal, what happens to the cost and quality of healthcare for patients? Guest: Gretchen Morgenson, senior financial reporter for the NBC News Investigative Unit and co-author of “These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs—and Wrecks—America”  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 production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Anna Phillips. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TikTok’s connection to the Chinese government has been a Washington talking point since the Trump administration, but earlier this month lawmakers in the House introduced a bill requiring the app’s parent company to either divest the company into American hands—or be banned. Guest: Emily Baker-White, technology reporter and senior writer at Forbes. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the debate around child safety online rages on, an investigation by The New York Times found a seedy world of pedophiles interacting with child influencer accounts, often run by their parents, on Instagram.  Guest: Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, investigative reporter at 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 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thousands of songs have disappeared from TikTok in recent months as music giant Universal Music Group, or UMG, has pulled its catalog from the app. UMG claims that TikTok is a music platform, and that TikTok needs to pay more to license its music. TikTok claims they're a marketing platform that helps labels promote their artists. But while the two sides argue over contract negotiations for licensing music on the video platform, many artists are left scrambling. Guest: Ethan Millman, staff writer at Rolling Stone covering the music industry. Want more What Next TBD? 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why scam obituaries are edging out earnest ones, with the help of artificial intelligence and an adept Google game. Guest: Mia Sato, reporter for The Verge. Want more What Next TBD? 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it censorship for social media platforms to moderate their content, or is censorship when the state tells social media platforms how to moderate their content?  Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, Slate writer on courts and the law.  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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fertility doctors and their patients trying to conceive via in vitro fertilization (IVF) were stopped in their tracks this week, as the Alabama Supreme Court declared that embryos have the same rights as people. The decision has left doctors wondering if they can be sued for carrying out standard IVF procedures, and experts worry the ruling could have ramifications for IVF around the country.  Guest: Dr. Elizabeth Constance, reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialist in Omaha, Nebraska. Want more What Next TBD? 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. Check out Compiler here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Studies have found that, in tiny increments, America’s East Coast is sinking into the ground thanks to climate change. Can a new approach to urban planning mitigate the effect? Guest: Matt Simon, senior staff writer at Wired. You can read Matt’s reporting 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 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apple Vision Pro goggles might be a crime against fashion but with the amount of data they can collect—both on the world around the user and on the users themselves—they have the potential to invade privacy right down to where you’re looking and for how long.  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 slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Check out Compiler here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The war in Ukraine reordered the priorities of the country’s growing tech sector, and has become a place for foreign companies to test out new tools with less regulation or scrutiny. Guests: Vera Bergengruen, senior correspondent at Time 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For a while, it seemed like the only place to meet potential partners was through an app—Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, etc. But as the apps are trying to monetize their matchmaking—and some users now with a whole decade of striking out under their belts—old-fashioned meet-cutes-in-bars or, say, debutante balls look more and more appealing. Guests:  Katherine Lindsay, culture writer and cofounder of Embedded Rachael Stein, dating-app spelunker  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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The NFL's concussion settlement was meant to provide financial support and medical help for players who developed traumatic brain injuries from the sport. So why are so many players denied the help they need? Guest: Will Hobson, sports reporter for 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 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The number of TV streaming services is going up—and so is the cost and so are the number of ads. Cordcutters are finding themselves back to cable prices and inconveniences. And these changes don’t just impact the TV viewing experience - they impact the types of shows that get made in the first place.  Guest: Alex Cranz, managing editor at 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’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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For all the promise of the technology, one use-case for artificial intelligence reared its ugly head last week: non-consensual pornographic images. As millions of users saw abusive A.I. generated images of Taylor Swift proliferate across X, the pitfalls of this technology became clear.  Guest: Emanuel Maiberg, journalist and co-founder of 404 Media 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. Check out Compiler here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are we still paying off our pandemic-induced “immunity debt,” or is there another reason that it feels like we’re all sniffling and coughing and just feeling sick? Guest: Keren Landman, senior health 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/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the days leading up to the New Hampshire primary, voters received a robocall purportedly from Joe Biden. Authorities have now determined the call was likely A.I.-generated.  In the era of A.I., how can voters tell what’s real and what’s not? And will the general election be thrown into chaos by artificial intelligence-created disinformation?  Guest: Makena Kelly, senior writer at Wired covering politics 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 here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Paige Osburn and Anna Phillips. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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, 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 happening right now on the lines of the Writer’s Guild strike.  Guests:  Meredith Whittaker, president of the Signal Foundation, co-founder of the AI Now Institute at NYU Originally aired May 12th, 2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 aired July 16th, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 fight it either—he just doesn’t really understand what’s going on. Does anyone at Twitter understand? Guests:  Alex Heath, deputy editor of The Verge Jon Favreau, co-founder of Crooked Media, speechwriter for President Barack Obama Stephen King, author Originally aired April 28th, 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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’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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 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. Check out Compiler here: https://link.chtbl.com/compiler?sid=podcast.whatnext.2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the Arab Spring was unfolding, Twitter was hailed as a way for on-the-ground reporting to reach the public. But when fighting between Hamas and Israel broke out over the weekend, X became flooded with misinformation. Guest: Casey Newton, founder and editor of the technology newsletter Platformer. 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hank Asher was a lot of things: a Florida condo maven, a drug runner, a DEA informant—and a tech visionary who created the mixed blessing of turning everyone’s online activity into an unshakable shadow profile. Guest: McKenzie Funk, reporter for Pro Publica and the author of The Hank Show 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the trial begins, SBF is making the case that what he did is typical in the world of crypto. But when the government paints a much bleaker picture of FTX—one riddled with fraud and deception—what does that say about the industry?  Guest: Nitish Pahwa, associate business and tech writer at 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried marks the end of an era where crypto rose to dizzying, Super-Bowl-commercial heights. Where does the industry go from here?  Guest: Zeke Faux, investigative reporter for Bloomberg and author of Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall.  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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After years of being a rare spot of universal, American-government-funded health care, this fall’s new COVID-19 vaccine is hitting the commercial market for the first time. So far, the rollout has been mired by hiccups and confusion.  Guest: Jen Kates, senior vice president at KFF 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. Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Anna Philips. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amazon evolved from a place to get cheap used books to the “everything store”—one encompassing warehouses, logistics and shipping.  But with the FTC now run by Lina Khan—who wrote the essay ‘Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox” while at Yale Law School—a new contender for “antitrust trial of the century” has begun.  Guest: Leah Nylen, antitrust reporter 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 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As other tech companies that rode the pandemic to success started sinking, Instacart managed to stay above water—they turned a profit and even made it to an IPO. But a stubbornly static stock price has some asking if Instacart—and the whole gig economy—hasn’t already peaked.   Guest: Erin Griffith, who reports on tech startups and venture capital 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 work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The sword of regulation, which has been swinging over New York AirBnBs for over a decade, is falling at last. But will new laws for short-term rentals have the effect housing advocates are hoping for? And after many failed efforts, can these laws actually be enforced?  Guest: Heather Tal Murphy, Slate writer covering tech and business. 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act has noble-sounding intentions, but has been called one of the most dangerous bills in years by the digital rights group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Guest: Richard Blumenthal, senior United States senator from Connecticut.  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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A trial a decade in the making has started, as the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust case against Google and its unrivaled position as the top search engine begins. Is this the beginning of the government “taking on Big Tech” and the end of Google as we know it? Guest: Leah Nylen, covering antitrust 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 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

COVID’s still here but the public’s appetite for masking, social distancing, or remote learning is long gone. One palatable way to stop the spread: improving air circulation indoors.  Guest: Apoorva Mandavilli, science and global health 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.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Howard County signed a $27 million contract with the start-up Zum, the company promised to modernize the way schools provide transportation. But when the school year started, that’s not what happened. Guest: Daniel Zawodny, covering transportation for the Baltimore Banner and corps member of Report For America. 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It wasn’t long ago when social media was a place to go for up-to-the-minute updates in an emergency. But even as internet access is more widespread than ever—and natural disasters more frequent—Twitter and Facebook are less useful than ever. As hubs for news, that era appears over.  Guest: Will Oremus, tech reporter for 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 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Twitt—sorry, X—continues to go through tumult, an unlikely, long-time player is emerging as the last acceptable place to post. Guest: Sarah Frier, tech editor at Bloomberg Businessweek. 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. Podcast production by Evan Campbell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most pet food is made from the byproducts of the meat that we, humans, eat. Recently, there’s been a rise in high-end pet food products - including things like lab-grown meat - that are touted as sustainable options for your furry friend. But a closer look raises questions about whether or not this food is actually better for the environment. Guest: Chloe Sorvino, writer for Forbes and the author of the book Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed, and the Fight for the Future of Meat. Special thanks to Patrick Fort and Garbanzo.  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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the spring, it looked like TikTok was on the verge of being banned in America. Since then, it’s continued operating business as usual.  But this week, it was revealed that ByteDance and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States came close to striking a deal that would allow TikTok to continue operating in the U.S. The negotiations give a glimpse into how social media—and by extension speech itself—could be regulated on the internet. Guest: Emily Baker-White, tech reporter and senior writer at Forbes 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sorting through a loved one’s things after they’ve died can be an emotional, difficult chore. But now, added to that, people have to sort through the deceased’s password-protected online presence.  Guests: Kate Lindsay, author of the internet culture newsletter Embedded and the article “My Mom Will Email Me After She Dies” in 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 on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At first, cryptocurrency seemed like the solution to the problems sex workers have had with traditional banks. But as the US moves to regulate the crypto industry, many are finding it hasn’t worked out like they hoped.  Guests: Joel Khalili, reporter at Wired Liara Roux, sex worker, organizer, and writer You can check out Joel’s reporting in Wired 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 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When conservative writer Richard Hanania’s old posts, originally published under a pseudonym, came to light, people were shocked at just how racist and reactionary they were. Perhaps less shocking were the tech moguls who were revealed to be supporting him.  Guest: Anil Dash, technologist and writer, and the head of Glitch 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A “smart gun” is designed to only work in the hands of the gun’s proper owner. With the first smart gun potentially coming to market later this year, can the tech deliver on its promise? Guests:  Champe Barton, reporter at The Trace Kai Kloepfer, founder and CEO of Biofire 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a quiet spring, COVID is surging back for the fourth consecutive summer. So, is this just life now?  Guest: Katherine Wu, staff writer at 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 on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tesla sold a vision of how electric vehicles would work: just like gas-powered cars, but cleaner, better. But as a scandal about misrepresented battery life and driving range unfolds, and the price of their cars remains high, it increasingly looks like the transition will be anything but seamless—if it happens at all.  Guest: Edward Niedermeyer, author of Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors. You can check out Reuters reporting on Tesla’s range scandal 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 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s 2023 – and less than half of all Americans have returned to the office full time. That means U.S. downtowns from San Francisco to New York are emptier than they’ve been in decades. Offices are actually trending away from policies that mandate returning five days a week. So, how can cities get creative – and develop some new ways to boost the local economy? Guest: Henry Grabar, Slate staff writer 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 Amicus—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At a White House summit late last week, some of the biggest names in tech - including Meta, Google and OpenAI - signed “voluntary” commitments to safeguard artificial intelligence. In Congress, Senate Leader Chuck Schumer recently introduced a “legislative framework” for A.I. law… but as they debate and deliberate, the A.I. train continues to move full steam ahead. It’s clear the government’s paying attention, but can they keep up with the technology?   Guest: Makena Kelly, politics reporter at The Verge Don Beyer, U.S. representative for Virginia's 8th congressional district 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 Amicus—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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the tech industry started rounds of layoffs this year, almost half of the people let go were women—even though they make up a much smaller percentage of the workforce. What does this say about women in tech, and efforts to diversify the industry overall? Guest: Emma Goldberg, a reporter who covers the future of work 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 work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To keep places like Phoenix habitable, we need to have air-conditioning. But to have air-conditioning, we need a functional, modern electrical grid. With America’s grid already aging—and more demand coming in the form of electric cars and more A/C for hotter weather—what will it take to keep it going as the weather gets more extreme?  Guest: Dr. Joshua Rhodes, research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin studying energy systems and how they interact with our environment, climate, and life. 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Contract negotiations between the Teamsters and UPS broke down last week and now a strike looms. With time running out, can both sides reach a deal?  Guest: Noam Scheiber, labor 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.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Tate’s gross mix of self-help, toxic masculinity and misogyny captured the minds of young boys on the internet. It also led to indictments in Romania on human trafficking and rape charges.   Guest: Lisa Miller, contributing editor at New York magazine. 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It seems like with each new Musk innovation, a new Twitter replacement appears in response. But Threads is backed by Meta and available in just a few clicks for an Instagram user. Could it be the one? Guest: Mike Isaac, technology 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.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Even if you like the convenience of your phone unlocking after it reads your face, there are reasons to be wary of the TSA bringing facial recognition technology to the airport.  Guest: Geoffrey Fowler, technology columnist for 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 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A shortage of basic chemotherapy drugs to treat cancer is jeopardizing the care of hundreds of thousands of patients. The drugs aren’t expensive, or patented—so where are they?  Guest: Ed Yong, science journalist at The Atlantic. Host: Lizzie O'Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Semaglutide, better known by its brand name Ozempic, has been making headlines as a weight loss drug – despite only having FDA approval to treat diabetes. Now, some say it doesn’t just quell cravings for food – it helps quiet cravings for alcohol, drugs, and other compulsive behaviors. For years, researchers have been studying semaglutide's effectiveness as an addiction cure in animals. What have they found? And – does it actually work?  Guest: Sarah Zhang covers health and medicine 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 Amicus—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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon, accusing the online giant of “tricking and trapping people into recurring subscriptions.” The complaint says Amazon “knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in Amazon Prime."  With murmurs of a larger antitrust probe against Amazon just around the corner, how serious is this suit for the tech giant?  Guest: Leah Nylen, antitrust reporter at 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 Amicus—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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One son was preparing to take over George Soros’s multi-billion-dollar empire. Then, there was a falling out, and a new heir-apparent was chosen.  Who is Alex Soros? And, as he takes over for one of the most influential figures in American politics, what can we expect from him?  Guest: Gregory Zuckerman, special writer at the Wall Street Journal Host: Emily Peck 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Across Reddit, thousands of forums have gone “private” and effectively disappeared. Users are protesting the site’s plan to capitalize on its data, which has been enjoyed for free by people making third-party apps for Reddit, as well as some of the world’s biggest companies training their A.I. Guest: Sarah Needleman, reporter for the Wall Street Journal who writes about interactive entertainment and social media Host: Emily Peck 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As “deep fakes” have demonstrated, it’s getting easier and easier to swap an actor for a digital likeness—something that contributed to the Screen Actors Guild voting to authorize joining the writers on strike.  Guest: Heather Tal Murphy, Slate writer covering tech, business, and A.I. Host: Lizzie O'Leary 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. Check out AWS Insiders here: https://link.chtbl.com/awsinsiders?sid=podcast.whatnexttbd Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, the SEC sued Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world, and Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the US. Is it a sign that the glory days of crypto are gone? Guest: Stacy-Marie Ishmael, managing editor for crypto at Bloomberg News Host: Lizzie O'Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Until recently, Nvidia was a company known for graphics cards—a brand name among gamers but not necessarily the general public. But as part of the A.I. boom, Nvidia’s stock has skyrocketed, putting the company in Silicon Valley’s trillion-dollar valuation class with Apple, Meta, and Alphabet—briefly, at least. Guest: Don Clark, freelance reporter specializing in chips and enterprise tech. Host: Emily Peck 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When someone posts a photo of you online without your consent, it should be easy to have it taken down or confront the person who posted it. But what if the poster is your parent, and it’s not just one photo, but your entire childhood that’s readily available online? And as social media algorithms evolve to push content in front of as many people as possible, what happens when a temper tantrum goes viral? Guest: Kathryn Lindsay, technology and culture writer. Host: Emily Peck 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How the music streaming business opened the door to billions of dollars in fraud. Guest: Ashley Carman, Bloomberg News reporter covering the podcasting, music, and audio beat. 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Twitter’s new CEO Linda Yaccarino finds herself on the edge of “the glass cliff”: when a woman is sent in to fix a big mess.  Guest: Vittoria Elliot, reporter for Wired, covering platforms and power 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the coffee shop to the salon to the grocery store, Americans feel like they’re being prompted and prodded for tips more than ever—and they’re starting to resent it. Guest: Kelly Phillips Erb, tax and law reporter for Forbes.  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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Out of the smoky backrooms, Vegas and clandestine dens, and straight to your phone—how did gambling on sports go from forbidden to inescapable seemingly overnight?  Guest: John Holden, associate professor at Oklahoma State’s Spears school of business  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. Check out AWS Insiders here: https://link.chtbl.com/awsinsiders?sid=podcast.whatnexttbd Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Space might seem to be heading from the domain of big government programs to a playground for billionaires. But just below the surface, a world of start-ups are getting ready to launch.  Guest:  Ashlee Vance, business columnist and author of When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach.  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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 happening right now on the lines of the Writer’s Guild strike.  Guests:  Meredith Whittaker, president of the Signal Foundation, co-founder of the AI Now Institute at NYU 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meta’s reached a sort of mid-life crisis. Between the layoffs, the stagnant metaverse and Facebook’s dwindling profile, does Zuckerberg have a plan here? Guests:  Naomi Nix, Washington Post 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 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When television and screenwriters went on strike in 2007, Netflix had just started offering the option to stream content. This week, the Writer’s Guild of America went on strike to update pay structures for the streaming era—and to get ahead of A.I. and the changes it may bring.  Guests:  Michelle Dean, television writer and journalist Anousha Sakoui, entertainment industry writer for the Los Angeles 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 more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two gig workers standing side-by-side can be offered the very same job and get offered two different wages. Set by an algorithm and based on calculations that are never explained to the workers themselves, this unequal pay for equal work is already subject to lawsuits that call it a form of price fixing and wage discrimination, but the tech is being tested in other industries. Guests: Veena Dubal, law professor at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco Sergio Avedian, senior contributor at The Rideshare Guy 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 fight it either—he just doesn’t really understand what’s going on. Does anyone at Twitter understand? Guests:  Alex Heath, deputy editor of The Verge Jon Favreau, co-founder of Crooked Media, speechwriter for President Barack Obama Stephen King, author 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Weather apps can be frustrating. And with how much we rely on them to know if we should wear pants or shorts, they'll still leave you in the rain. But as the climate gets wilder, the questions of how to tell people what they need to know—and quickly—can be an issue of life or death. Guest: Charlie Warzel, staff writer at the Atlantic Daniel Swain, UCLA climate scientist   Host: Lizzie O'Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reddit announced it will start charging companies to use its huge, ever-growing trove of text to train A.I. chatbots. It’s another expense for the fledgling tech and another knock against the “open internet” ideals that Reddit once embodied.  Guest: Mike Isaac, tech 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.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new law in Utah that goes into effect next year states that anyone under 18 needs parental permission to use social media. Is it a necessary step to protect children from harms associated with social media, or are we blunting a tool of expression for the youth?  Guest: Dr. Mitch Prinstein, chief science officer at American Psychological Association Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discord is a place to share a community online. Most often, it's for gaming. So why did classified intelligence from the Pentagon end up on a small server whose main interests seem to be video games, military equipment and memes? And how? Guest: Shane Harris, intelligence and national security reporter for the Washington Post. Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. air travel is being strained on all sides—travel demand is back to 2019 levels, but the number of pilots and planes and ground crew hasn’t caught back up, and a rash of close calls are raising safety concerns about America’s aging flying infrastructure. Guest: Jon Ostrower, editor in chief of The Air Current. Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While TikTok’s parent company, Bytedance, is fighting to keep its flagship app from being banned in the United States, it’s also pushing a new app into the marketplace—Lemon8. One part Pinterest, one part Instagram and a dash of its sister app, Lemon8 is most likely saddled with the same security concerns that led lawmakers to consider banning TikTok. Guest: Sapna Maheshwari, business reporter for the New York Times. Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CBP One, U.S. Customs and Border Protection's app that is supposed to make crossing the border more efficient, is littered with bugs. But even a perfectly functional smartphone app would pose problems for people seeking asylum on the southern U.S. border.  Guest: Arelis Hernández, Washington Post reporter Gia Del Pino, director of communications at the Kino Border Initiative Felicia Rangel Samponaro, director of the Sidewalk School Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Medicare Advantage plans have increased their reliance on software to determine what their customers require—and, therefore, receive—elderly patients are being denied coverage for care they need. What happens when an algorithm — not a doctor — decides how much care you need and it’s not enough? Guest: Casey Ross, national technology correspondent at STAT Host: Emily Peck 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon Musk has been promising fully self-driving Teslas to the public for years and the beta version of Full Self-Driving is already in over 300,000 cars. But as a recent recall attests, the software still isn’t ready to take the wheel—and Musk himself may be a big reason why.  Guest: Faiz Siddiqui, tech reporter for the Washington Post Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To most of its 150 million American consumers, TikTok is a fun app. To some creators, TikTok is a job and their platform. But to members of the US government, TikTok is a national security risk. As the fight over TikTok’s future comes to Capitol Hill this week, what’s next for the embattled social media platform? Guest: Emily Baker-White, senior writer, tech reporter at Forbes Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Using just what you’ve posted to social media, generative A.I. can create a “puppet version” of your voice—one that’s close enough to scam your family into paying thousands in, say, bail money. And imitating public officials to create “deep fakes” who say whatever they’re told is even easier.  Guest: Pranshu Verma, tech reporter for the Washington Post. Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The economy is doing well almost every but in tech, where headlines about layoffs have been replaced with news about Silicon Valley Bank’s demise. The collapse of “the central artery for the tech industry” looks like the end of an era. Where do venture capitalists, start-ups—and the industry writ large—go now? Guest: Priya Anand, reporter at Bloomberg covering venture capital and start-ups. Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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. Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The online dating world can be brutal and repetitive—just the kind of thing you might want to automate. But, in one tech writer’s experience, artificial intelligence isn’t ready to make real connections—at least, not without a lot of help. Guest: Heather Tal Murphy, covers business and technology at Slate Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just weeks before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a Nebraska woman and her daughter were charged with performing an illegal abortion, thanks to information that law enforcement uncovered by going through their Facebook accounts.  Guest: Johana Bhuiyan, senior reporter on tech and surveillance for The Guardian Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The diabetes medication Ozempic has exploded in popularity, particularly amongst those in Hollywood looking to lose a few extra pounds. But a silver bullet for weight loss leads to a number of questions: Is “buying weight loss” via injection somehow worse than diet and exercise? Are so many people buying and using this drug that people who need it for its intended purpose are missing out? What happened to body positivity?  Guest: Matthew Schneier, feature writer for New York Magazine. Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was reported this week that the U.S. Department of Energy now believes, “with low confidence,” that the COVID-19 virus came from a lab. But is there enough evidence for the “lab leak theory” to convince those who believe the virus emerged from animals in a wet market? Guest: Angela Rasmussen, virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New understandings of how our brains develop are changing how the law considers who is mature and who isn’t. But If our brains are still developing, when can the law treat us like adults?  Guest: Jane C. Hu, independent science journalist. Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Microsoft has been testing out their new artificial intelligence on their long-ridiculed search engine Bing. The results? A chatbot that lies brazenly and confidently, and has a penchant for manipulation. What are the risks and rewards of letting bots loose on the world? Guest: Drew Harwell, Washington Post tech reporter covering artificial intelligence  Host: Emily Peck 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The tech-laden, luxury bassinet “Snoo” has been presented as preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, helping babies sleep longer, and a totally reasonable way to spend $1,700. Is any of that true? Guest: Kate Taylor, senior features correspondent for Business Insider John Collins, Lizzie’s husband. Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Come to think of it, a giant balloon seems like a pretty conspicuous way to spy on another country. So what was that Chinese spy balloon doing above the U.S.—and what have American planes been shooting down since? Guest: Shane Harris, Washington Post reporter covering intelligence and national security.  Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s hard to put a number on it but judging from the number of videos emerging online, there are more and more contraband cell phones finding their way into the hands of people in prison, who use them to record TikTok dances, take online courses, and alert the outside world to what’s happening on the inside. Guest: Keri Blakinger, criminal justice reporter at the Los Angeles Times, author of Corrections in Ink. Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TikTok was banned on government agency devices in December; several schools and universities have banned it on their devices and wifi networks, and the governor of Texas unveiled a plan to ban it in the state. Can “Project Texas” stem the anti-TikTok tide? And would banning the app actually achieve…anything? Guest: Louise Matsakis, reporter for Semafor covering tech and China Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

JP Morgan Chase is getting an education on FAFSA and financial aid–which would’ve been helpful before they acquired a now, quite dubious seeming start-up. Guest: Ron Lieber, New York Times journalist, author of the “Your Money” column. Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last fall it seemed like everyone got sick—not just with COVID, but from a slew of respiratory diseases, from the mild to the severe. Researchers are trying to untangle how our immune systems have changed in the COVID era, and if we’re paying back an “immunity debt” or are victims of “immunity theft.”  Guest: Tim Requarth, contributing writer to Slate.  Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The proliferation of chatbots and A.I.-generated art has consumers and tech companies alike convinced that artificial intelligence is ready to be integrated into consumer electronics, products, homes, and across industry. In fact, it’s already in progress. What’s the worst that can happen? Guest: Will Oremus, technology reporter for the Washington Post Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. Department of Justice announced this week that it is suing Google over its ad technology. What do they contend Google has been doing? And does this mean Alphabet is headed for a Bell Telecom-style bust-up? Guest: Leah Nylen, reporter covering antitrust for Bloomberg News Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It can feel very personal to have your Facebook or Instagram page hacked—they’re your pictures and your friends after all. But Meta, the social media parent company, handles hacks with anything but a personal touch.  Guest: Kirstin Grind, investigative reporter for the Wall Street Journal. Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The idea that COVID-19 vaccines are linked to sudden deaths among young people has no scientific support, but the theory nevertheless has a lot of traction on social media.  How can public health officials educate the public—especially on subject like vaccines, where their effectiveness renders them effectively invisible?  Guest: Katelyn Jetelina, epidemiologist and data scientist Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon Musk was promising an “epic” Q4 at Tesla last year. But 2022 ended closer to what might be considered an “epic fail,” with the stock price down 65 percent. In an uncertain economic environment like this one, how much blame goes to Musk for unloading $40 billion worth of stock and focusing on his shiny new social media network? Or are these just growing pains that every company goes through as they mature?  Guest: Dana Hull, automotive and technology reporter for Bloomberg News in San Francisco Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You might think of noncompete agreements as mostly limited to highly skilled, highly paid tech workers to protect trade secrets. But one-third of workers bound by noncompetes make $13/hour or less: fast-food workers, security guards, and the like. Noncompete clauses not only give employers leverage over their employees—both during and after their employment—but studies have shown the agreements are a weight on the economy, which is why the FTC is angling for a federal ban.  Guest: Elizabeth Wilkins, director of the Office of Policy Planning, Federal Trade Commission Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Roughly 95 percent of advanced semiconductor chip manufacturing happens in Taiwan, leaving the U.S. vulnerable to supply chain shocks and national security threats. Is the Biden administration’s $280 billion bill, signed in August last year, enough to boost domestic chip manufacturing? Guest: Don Clark, freelance reporter specializing on chips and enterprise tech. Host: Emily Peck 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the holidays, thousands of passengers were left stranded or delayed when Southwest Airline’s outdated re-booking software broke down. Who can be held accountable, and why don’t airlines invest more in their own infrastructure?  Guest: Heather Tal Murphy, business and technology reporter for Slate. Host: Mary C. Curtis 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the beginning of World War II, the greatest threat to the American war effort wasn’t the Nazis or the Japanese—it was runaway inflation. The man in charge of stopping it was the country’s “price czar,” Leon Henderson. In 1942, he controlled how much coffee ordinary people could drink and how many tires they could buy. Those rules made him a nationwide villain. But would they save the country? One Year is produced by Evan Chung, Sophie Summergrad, Sam Kim, and Josh Levin. Derek John is senior supervising producer of narrative podcasts and Merritt Jacob is senior technical director. Slate Plus members get to hear more about the making of One Year. Get access to extra episodes, listen to the show without any ads, and support One Year by signing up for Slate Plus for just $15 for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Food and Drug Administration gave an important thumbs up to lab-grown chicken, which means we could start seeing it in stores as soon as next year. While billions of dollars have been spent developing lab-grown meat, important questions remain: Is the production of it actually greener than raising livestock? Can it be made affordably? Is it healthy? And will anyone eat it? Guest: Chloe Sorvino, staff writer on food and agriculture at Forbes, and the author of Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed and the Fight for the Future of Meat. Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Even in a crazy year for crypto, Sam Bankman-Fried’s story is undeniably the most bananas. And even in the context of the implosion of FTX, getting arrested has got to make this week his worst yet. What charges does SBF face? Guest: Stacy-Marie Ishmael, managing editor on crypto for Bloomberg News Host: Lizzie O’Leary Sponsored by Saks.com. Check out the Holiday Gift Guide on saks.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Self-driving cars and robotaxis are starting to appear on the streets of San Francisco. While we have a whole regulatory system in place for drivers, who’s making sure these new cars are safe? Guest: David Zipper, Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Taubman Center for State and Local Government Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Artificial intelligence is growing in leaps and bounds, and everywhere from Big Tech companies like Google to small teams like OpenAI are developing more and more convincing chatbots. Is the world ready for convincing, talking computers?  Guest: Alex Kantrowitz, host of the Big Technology podcast. Host: Emily Peck 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Biden administration’s Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission are both staffed with accomplished progressives who are proving more aggressive than their predecessors in either the Trump or Obama eras. But can Big Tech be tamed? Guest: Leah Nylen, reporter for Bloomberg News  Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dating back to the Arab Spring, Twitter’s potential for real-time organizing has been a selling point. But trying to find information on China’s “Zero COVID” protests reveals just how vulnerable the now-understaffed platform is to manipulation. Guest: Joseph Menn, cybersecurity reporter for the Washington Post.  Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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. Thanks Avast.com! Learn more about Avast One at Avast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The option to “buy now and pay later” over installments exploded over the past two years, thanks to people being flush with stimulus cash and shopping online during the pandemic. But is this new, underregulated industry a useful line of credit or another path into debt? Guest: Paulina Cachero, personal finance reporter for Bloomberg. Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After decades as America’s booming industry, tens of thousands of tech workers have been laid off in November alone. Is the venture-capital, low-interest-rate wind leaving the sails temporary or is this the end of the hunt for “the next big thing?” Guest: Timothy B. Lee, reporter for Full Stack Economics covering labor markets, technology, and housing. Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At this year’s annual UN conference on climate change, they are discussing “climate reparations,” wherein the rich countries that grew their wealth burning fossil fuels pay money to poorer and more vulnerable countries. It sounds sensible, but is the UN capable of administering something like this? And how much money are we talking here? Guest: Vijay Vaitheeswaran, global energy and climate innovation editor at The Economist. Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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. Thanks Avast.com! Learn more about Avast One at Avast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The (once) third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, collapsed in stunning fashion this week, highlighting why consumers really do want regulation, and why old financial institutions remain wary of crypto.   Guest: Felix Salmon, host of Slate Money, chief financial correspondent for Axios. Host: Lizzie O’Leary   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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The second largest investor in Twitter, after Elon Musk, is the Saudis, which raises questions about what kinds of “free speech” Musk is really committed to. But it also raises questions around national security in the U.S.  Guest: Chris Murphy, U.S. Senator from Connecticut Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been a rough autumn for parents of little kids, as non-COVID respiratory diseases are taking advantage of the first fall since 2019 where schools and daycares are full again, and America’s strained pediatric health care system is once again put to the test.  Guest: Katherine Wu, science writer for The Atlantic. Host: Lizzie O’Leary. Podcast production by Madeline Ducharme. 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One week in as head honcho of Twitter and Elon Musk is in a tight spot: how do you balance the desires of advertisers with your ostensible zeal for free speech? How do you make something for which you’ve already overpaid turn a profit? How do you convince Stephen King to pony up for a blue check? Guest: Alex Kirshner, contributing writer at Slate.  Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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. Podcast production by Madeline Ducharme. Thanks Avast.com! Learn more about Avast One at Avast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are some 400 million surveillance cameras installed in China, one for every three to four civilians. Built with the help of American tech companies, the surveillance state was pitched to the public as a way to make society safer and more efficient. But after severe lockdowns during COVID, the public has been objecting out of the eye of the camera lens. Protests are being written on bathroom walls. Guest: Josh Chin, deputy bureau chief, China, for the Wall Street Journal Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twitter has been a lot of things—where you posted your lunch, where you met your people, where you were subjected to a harassment campaign. Now, as Elon Musk prepares to take the reins, where is it headed? Guest: Will Oremus, technology reporter for the Washington Post. Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alzheimer’s treatment hasn’t changed much in the past two decades, and the way researchers have been thinking about and approaching the disease may be to blame.  Guest: Damian Garde, reporter for Stat covering the biotech industry. Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One company’s software is helping set prices for apartments across the country. But when does an algorithm telling landlords how much to charge—by drawing on property data—cross the line from “handy tool” to “illegal price-fixing”?  Guest: Heather Vogell, reporter with ProPublica Host: Lizzie O'Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The idea of composting a human body may seem unsettling—or even gross—and it runs counter to the normal American funeral rites of embalming and internment, which preserve the body. But advocates say it’s a greener and more peaceful way to return our bodies to the Earth.  Guest: Eleanor Cummins, science journalist Host: Lizzie O’Leary 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. Thanks Avast.com! Learn more about Avast One at Avast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following their victory in Staten Island, the Amazon Labor Union is still facing an uphill battle. Both the company and the union are closely watching the organizing vote at a warehouse outside of Albany, NY. Guest: Noam Scheiber, labor reporter for the New York Times. Host: Lizzie O'Leary 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 your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Churches are using accountability apps to keep tabs on their members' behavior. But if your pastor wants to monitor your phone, can you truly consent? Guest: Dhruv Mehrotra Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twenty-six words defined the internet as we know it today. What happens if they’re deleted? Guest: Jeff Kosseff Host: Lizzie O'Leary The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Longtermism, the idea that positively influencing the future is a key moral priority of our time, is hot in Silicon Valley. But does it miss the bigger picture? Guests: William MacAskill, Robert Wright Host: Lizzie O'Leary Thanks Avast.com! Learn more about Avast One at Avast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With disaster relief funds from Hurricane Harvey, Houston's Harris County instituted a mandatory buyout program for residents in flood-prone areas. But some residents didn't want to leave. Guest: Amal Ahmed, Dolores Mendoza Host: Mary C. Curtis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nuclear technology has become more important than ever, thanks to a global energy crisis and climate change. But it also has a complicated history. Guest: Joshua Keating Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Conservative lawmakers in Florida and Texas are taking aim at content moderation on social media, with implications that go far beyond just the platforms. Guest: Mark Joseph Stern Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Victims of a new and high tech kind of human trafficking are forced to scam people all around the world. Guest: Cezary Podkul Host: Lizzie O'Leary Human Trafficking’s Newest Abuse: Forcing Victims Into Cyberscamming Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A small parish in Louisiana tried to get affordable, fast internet. An incumbent ISP stopped them. Guest: Issie Lapowsky, Wanda Manning Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An inside look at the rise of YouTube into a social media behemoth. Guests: Mark Bergen and Claire Stapleton Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Technology is transforming the creative economy and ideas about what "art" even is. Guest: Drew Harwell Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LYMErix, the first vaccine against Lyme, was pulled from the market amid poor sales and pressure from the public. Now, over 20 years later, a new vaccine is in late-stage trials. Guest: Cassandra Willyard Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A father took a photo of his son for their doctor. He wound up being investigated by the police. Guest: Kashmir Hill Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shows are disappearing. Staff are getting axed. Is It greed, or necessary for the networks' survival? Guest: Julia Alexander Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Legendary hacker Peiter "Mudge" Zatko’s reputation in the cybersecurity world is unmatched. His allegations against Twitter’s security are all the more damning because of it. Guest: Joseph Menn Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's no way to remove politics from public health. Guest: Tim Requarth Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Inflation Reduction Act is spurring progress towards new climate technology that, at times, sounds like something out of a science fiction movie. Will it make a dent in the fight against climate change? Guest: Pranshu Verma Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The psychedelic renaissance is here. But not everyone’s on board. Guest: John Semley Host: Sonari Glinton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Crypto mining is booming in Texas. Will the power grid be able to handle it? Guest: Russell Gold Host: Sonari Glinton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It makes intuitive sense for companies that develop a technology to hold its intellectual property rights. But in the case of vaccines and medical treatments, IP laws slow down manufacturing and distribution and give private companies the power to make huge decisions that affect public health globally. Guest: Zain Rizvi, researcher for advocacy group Public Citizen, specializing in pharmaceutical innovation and access to medicine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The US has been in a housing shortage for decades. Can it ever be fixed? Guest: Conor Dougherty Host: Emily Peck Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers have untangled a world of illicit trade that threatens ecosystems and endangers species. Guest: Dr. Alice Hughes, Richard Stewart Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In buying One Medical, Amazon is primed to be your doctor. Are they disrupting health care, or just collecting more data? Guest: Rebecca Pifer Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toronto’s Quayside project is a telling example of how smart cities have failed. Could it also show how to make them better? Guest: Ben Green, Jennifer Keesmaat Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The continent's deadly heat wave is only the tip of the melting iceberg. Guest: Henry Grabar Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thenmozhi Soundararajan was scheduled to give a talk at Google for Dalit History Month. It led to vicious attacks against her from some of its employees. Guest: Thenmozhi Soundararajan Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dysfunction is nothing new to Twitter. But Elon Musk pulling his offer to buy the company adds a new layer of chaos. Guest: Alex Kantrowitz Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's still a lot unknown about COVID's new wonder drug. Guest: Rachel Gutman-Wei Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Climate change is causing unprecedented severe weather. Is the agency prepared for it to get worse? Guest: Craig Fugate and Ashley Nerbovig Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to the Justice Department, there’s a right way — and a wrong way — to be a hacker. Guest: Josephine Wolff Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Social media makes mental health information accessible. But it's not a perfect solution. Guest: Lindsay Lee Wallace Host: Mary C. Curtis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fidelity made headlines when they announced you could invest your retirement savings in Bitcoin. Then the crypto market crashed. Guest: Anthony Lee Zhang Host: Sonari Glinton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The openness of the internet is its greatest strength. Or a glaring weakness, depending on who you ask. Does something need to change? Guest: Jared Schroeder Host: Sonari Glinton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode originally aired in July 2021. Last year, North Americans saw record-breaking heat, droughts, wildfires, and floods. The science is clear: we are living through the effects of climate change. Now scientists are trying to answer: is this the new normal? Guest: Daniel Swain, climate scientist at UCLA  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One state wants to stop people from buying one. But can electric vehicles be stopped?  Guest: Ryan Cornell Host: Sonari Glinton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She wanted to be an icon for working women. What went wrong? Guest: Sheera Frenkel Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon Musk isn't wrong that Twitter has a bot problem. But he's kind of missing the point. Guest: Samuel Woolley Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some call him revolutionary. Others call him a hack. Is his success warranted? Guest: Ashlee Vance Host: Lizzie O'Leary Thanks Avast.com! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Schools have spent millions to detect threats online. It mostly doesn’t work. Guest: Arijit Sen Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What can current surveillance infrastructure tell us about online privacy after the fall of Roe?  Guest: Lily Hay Newman Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is El Salvador heading for default after going all in on crypto? Guest: Anna-Cat Brigida Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

They’ve stolen billions of dollars. Is the U.S. ready to crack down? Guest: Jason Bartlett, research associate in the Energy, Economics, and Security Program at the Center for a New American Security Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The shooting in Buffalo raises questions about the effectiveness of content moderation. Is the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism the answer to how social media can moderate extremist content? Guest: Emma Llansó, director of the Free Expression Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology Host: Ray Suarez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump's Truth Social network was supposed to be the right's answer to Twitter. What happens to the company if Elon takes over? Guest: Drew Harwell, reporter for the Washington Post Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Companies are developing and selling A.I. products intended to tell your boss or your teacher how you're feeling. Guest: Kate Kaye, reporter for Protocol Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A conversation with one of the smartest First Amendment lawyers in the country. Guest: Jameel Jaffer Host: Lizzie O'Leary Thanks Avast.com! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pandemic changed the way abortion care could be provided online. So what happens now? Guest: Dr. Mai Fleming, family medicine physician and Fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health. Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can Starlink ever fulfill its promise of connecting the world, especially places left behind by traditional internet? Or will it be just another toy for the rich?  Guest: Meaghan Tobin, reporter at Rest of World Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twitter is the platform of choice for politicians, journalists, academics, and many other agenda-setters. Twitter influences conversations that take place in newsrooms and statehouses. What happens if the company’s placed in the hands of a pugnacious, provocative plutocrat like Elon Musk? Guest: Will Oremus, tech reporter for the Washington Post Host: Seth Stevenson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The conflict between Ukraine and Russia is uncovering new wartime applications for facial recognition technology. Guest: Aric Toler, director of research and training at Bellingcat Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are we facing down yet another COVID wave right now? Does it matter? Guest: Katherine Wu, staff writer for The Atlantic Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How did Intuit build its TurboTax empire? Guest: Justin Elliott, reporter for ProPublica Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is Musk's bid to take Twitter private a genuine attempt to mold the social network in his image? Or is he just going to have some fun, make some money, and walk away? Guest: Felix Salmon, host of Slate Money and chief financial correspondent for Axios Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The rideshare company's founder once called taxis “evil.” Now, Uber might need them to survive. Guest: Preetika Rana Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With 9.1% ownership of Twitter—and a board seat—Elon Musk is the new master of Twitter's future. Why did the wealthiest man in the world just take over the world's most influential platform? Guest: Ranjan Roy, writer of the Margins newsletter Host: Lizzie O'Leary  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For nearly a decade, Margrethe Vestager has led Europe's efforts to rein in big tech. One newspaper article described Vestager as putting the fear of God into Silicon Valley. How is she thinking about fairness in tech in 2022? Guest: Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for a Europe fit for the Digital Age  Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why did Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt spend over a decade building relationships with the most powerful Democrats in America? Guest: Alex Thompson, reporter at Politico Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Going off-grid can seem appealing in lots of ways. But are there consequences if everyone unplugs from the system? Are there costs we haven’t considered? Guest: Ivan Penn, renewable energy correspondent for the New York Times Host: Seth Stevenson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The FBI warned that Russia would use deepfakes to support its invasion of Ukraine. Are they missing the real threat? Guest: Noah Giansiracusa, professor of math and data science at Bentley University. Host: Seth Stevenson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In just two years, the mental-health startup Cerebral has grown to operate in 50 states, registered more than 200,000 patients, and reached a $4.8 billion valuation. Has it prioritized growth over patient care? Guest: Caleb Melby Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hong Kong's zero-COVID policy got enviable results, but inadvertently set the stage for disaster. What will it take to change course? Guest: Dr. Karen Grépin, Associate Professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Minnesota's Operation Safety Net, a coordinated effort among nine Minnesota law enforcement agencies, was announced in February 2021, its mission was to ensure the trial of Derek Chauvin would proceed peacefully. It also promised to protect people's right to gather and demonstrate peacefully. Did Operation Safety Net keep its promise? Guest: Tate Ryan-Mosley, reporter for MIT Tech review Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vladimir Putin has always regarded the internet with suspicion. Now, with western tech companies pulling out of Russia and control of the war narrative slipping, he sees an opening. Will Putin wall off Russia from the rest of the digital world? Guests: Yana Pashaeva, Moscow-based journalist Justin Sherman, fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Second Sight restored partial vision to hundreds of patients around the world through retinal implants. Then, on the verge of bankruptcy, they abandoned the project. Now, over 300 patients with Second Sight technology in their bodies are asking: what will happen to us? Guest: Eliza Strickland, senior editor at IEEE Spectrum Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Up against one of the world's most effective propaganda operations, Ukraine has taken control of the online narrative. With Russian troops closing in, how important is winning the information war? Guest: Casey Newton, writer at Platformer Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peter Thiel spent the better part of two decades molding the tech industry in his image. Now, he's leaving Facebook behind and turning his attention to politics. Is Thiel the next kingmaker for the populist right? Max Chafkin, writer for Bloomberg and is the author of The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For seven years, Ukraine has served as a virtual testing ground for a generation of cyber weaponry capable of taking down power grids, networks, and supply chains. With an invasion of Ukraine underway, will these weapons come into play? Guest: Andy Greenberg, senior writer at WIRED and the author of the book Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin's Most Dangerous Hackers  Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over two years into the pandemic, much of the world remains either unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, or lacking access to mRNA vaccines entirely. How did the leading effort to vaccinate the world go so wrong? Guest: Achal Prabhala, coordinator of the AccessIBSA project and a fellow of the Shuttleworth Foundation, in Bangalore. Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued Tesla. It accuses the electric vehicle maker of fostering a workplace rife with racism and discrimination. What's happening inside Tesla's Fremont plant? Guest: Dana Hull, reporter for Bloomberg Host: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In just a few short years, the Chinese fast fashion company Shein upended the way countless young women shop online. It’s approach could soon shape the way everyone else shops, too.  Guest: Louise Matsakis, freelance technology reporter Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Facebook’s first crack at the metaverse has a problem: kids. Underage users seem to be flooding Horizon Worlds, potentially putting themselves at risk.  Is Meta doomed to repeat Facebook’s mistakes? Guest: Will Oremus, technology news analysis writer for the Washington Post.  Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Banks, healthcare providers, and retailers around the world still rely on COBOL, a programming language originally developed in the 1960s. By all accounts the code is powerful, practical, and very rarely problematic. But the small group of people who still know the language are aging out of the workforce.  What happens when there are no more COBOL coders left? Guest: Clive Thompson, journalist and author of "Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World." Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For Spotify, the last month has seen a cascade of controversies around its exclusive podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. Is it time for the streaming service to rethink its role as a podcast publisher? And is it even possible to moderate podcast misinformation? Guest: Evelyn Douek, lecturer at Harvard Law School, and Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ten years ago, IBM made a gamble. Through a monumental advertising and PR campaign, it promised that its AI technology–Watson–would transform the health care industry as we know it. A decade and billions of dollars later, Watson Health is being sold for parts.  What went wrong with IBM’s “moonshot?” And what does Watson’s failure tell us about the promise of AI for health care? Guest: Casey Ross, national technology correspondent for STAT Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A recent advertisement for crypto.com, featuring Matt Damon, was met with widespread mockery online. But Damon’s ad is only the most visible example of a much broader—and more insidious—trend of celebrity cryptocurrency endorsements. Is the partnership between crypto and Hollywood really dangerous? And what separates the trend from run-of-the-mill salesmanship? Guests: Jacob Silverman, staff writer for the New Republic and Ben McKenzie, actor, writer, and director. Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on What Next TBD: What is going on with little kids' vaccines? Why don’t they seem to be a priority for the government or the pharmaceutical companies, while parents are stressed to a breaking point? We discuss with Meg Tirrell, health and science correspondent for CNBC, and co-host of the Readout Loud podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elizabeth Holmes was found guilty of defrauding investors this week in federal court. The former CEO, wunderkind, and blood mogul has been the subject of intense legal interest and public fascination ever since her company, Theranos, was beset by scandal in 2015. Today on What Next: TBD we follow-up with Rebecca Jarvis, host of “The Dropout” podcast and ABC News Chief Business, Technology & Economics Correspondent. We dig into the verdict and ask if Silicon Valley will finally confront the elements of its culture that allowed Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos to run wild with investor’s money, and patient’s health. You can listen to “The Dropout: Elizabeth Holmes on Trial” now wherever you get your podcasts. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode originally aired in July 2021 Last week, the U.S. government released a new report that attempts to categorize 144 verified sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena, or U.A.P. They could only definitively explain one of them.  The new report signals a shift in the way we think about U.A.P. As technology has advanced and evidence of these encounters have increased, the question has become more urgent: what exactly is happening in our skies? Guest: Shane Harris, intelligence and national security reporter for the Washington Post Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode originally aired in September. In the U.S., the PCR test is the gold standard for COVID testing. Common knowledge would have it that the test is more accurate—and therefore more effective at containing the spread of the disease—than the rapid antigen test.  What if that isn’t quite true?  Guest: Michael Mina, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health  Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Using experimental technology to pull gigatons of carbon out of the air and bury it deep beneath the Earth sounds like a bad sci-fi plot point. If things don’t change soon, it also might be one of our only options. Guest: Clive Thompson, journalist and author of Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The U.S. civil court system doesn’t get as much attention as the criminal courts, but it would be hard to overstate its importance. In 2018, for example, 47 percent of respondents to a Pew survey said they had dealt with the system in one way or another; from eviction proceedings, to debt collection, to child-support modifications.  What happened when the pandemic upended such an important pillar of the justice system? Did new technologies fix existing problems—or just create new ones? Guest: Qudsiya Naqui, officer at the Pew Charitable Trust Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Monday, Jack Dorsey stepped down as CEO of Twitter. It’s not the first time he’s left the job.  Is this really the end for the man who guided Twitter through the Trump era? And how will the platform change without him at the helm? Guest: Nick Bilton, special correspondent at Vanity Fair Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode originally aired in January 2021 The story of how GameStop went from the verge of a bankruptcy to a $15 billion market value isn’t an easy one to wrap your head around. But it helps to go back to the beginning; almost three years ago, in a subreddit called r/wallstreetbets. Guests: Brandon Kochkodin, reporter at Bloomberg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the weekend, Russia tested a new weapon​​—a type of missile that can fly into space and destroy a satellite in orbit.  The test created thousands of pieces of debris, which will hurtle around the Earth’s orbit for years to come. What’s the real risk of the rapid increase in space junk? And is there anything to be done about it? Guest: Laura Grego, Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at MIT Host: Seth Stevenson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A recent poll showed that about a third of parents of younger children would get their kids vaccinated, a third would not, and the final third said they wanted to wait and see how the vaccines worked. Public health officials are asking: what will it take to convince that third group that now is the time to vaccinate?  Guests: Julie Hamill Dr. Aaron Carroll, pediatrician and professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In schools across the country, tighter digital controls were put in place to keep kids on task during the pandemic. Are they here to stay? Guests: Priya Anand, reporter at Bloomberg Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The bots aren’t just buying cool sneakers. They’re buying concert tickets. Tickets to basketball games and Broadway shows. At the beginning of the pandemic, they were buying hand sanitizer and face masks. And later, they were booking vaccine reservation spots. Why are bots taking over certain markets? And is there anything we can do to slow them down? Guests:  Derreck Johnson, designer at Slate Eric Budish, economics professor at the University of Chicago Host: Seth Stevenson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Between April and June of this year, Zillow bought nearly 4,000 homes. And they had no intention of holding onto them. The plan was to flip houses, often and at scale, joining the ranks of companies like Opendoor and Offerpad, also known as iBuyers.  So, why did Zillow put their plans on pause last weekend? Can online middlemen really change the way we buy and sell houses? Guests:  Tony Santos, homeowner Patrick Clark, reporter at Bloomberg Host: Henry Grabar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last month, the domain company Epik and the streaming service Twitch have fallen prey to massive-scale hacks. The hackers revealed not just email addresses, but detailed personal information too. For Twitch, it was the entire source code for their site.  But the attackers aren’t holding this data for ransom. In fact, they don’t seem to want much of anything. What’s motivating this new wave of activist hacks? And who suffers? Guest: Drew Harwell, tech reporter at the Washington Post Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The last month has seen a steady drip of leaked documents from inside Facebook, each seemingly more damning than the next. This week, the whistleblower behind the leaks revealed her identity. What motivates Frances Haugen? And can she do real damage to the social media giant? Guest: Jeff Horwitz, tech reporter at the Wall Street Journal.  Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since 2018, internal research teams at Facebook have been studying the effect on Instagram on mental health. Their results couldn’t be more clear: Instagram is causing problems, especially for teen girls.  Why has it taken so long for their research to surface? And what can be done to improve the relationship between kids and the platform? Guest: Georgia Wells, tech reporter at the Wall Street Journal.  Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the U.S., the PCR test is the gold standard for COVID testing. Common knowledge would have it that the test is more accurate—and therefore more effective at containing the spread of the dease—than the rapid antigen test.  What if that isn’t quite true?  Guest: Michael Mina, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health  Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The final episode of Season 1 features Ted Ross, Chief Information Officer for the City of Los Angeles. His role became more vital than ever during the pandemic, with L.A.’s 4 million residents and 50,000 employees relying on the city’s complex technological operation for support. Ted helped his city navigate the challenge with tech solutions built on principles designed to serve citizens and inspire employees: focus on people, improve lives, and lean into promising innovations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recently, China restricted video game playing to just three hours a week for its young people: 8pm to 9pm, Friday through Sunday. And that’s not the only change. Over the last few months, private tutors, diehard celebrity fans, and tech giants have all faced fresh restrictions from Beijing. What’s behind this new wave of crackdowns? Guest: Brenda Goh, technology correspondent for Reuters Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Colorado River Basin is experiencing its 22nd year of drought. Its reservoirs are at their lowest-ever levels. The water stored in the system is at just 40 percent of its capacity. How did the situation on the Colorado become so dire? And what does the shortage mean for the 40 million people who rely on its waters? Guest: Abrahm Lustgarten, senior investigative reporter at ProPublica Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A medicine meant to treat parasites is the latest unproven COVID treatment craze. With warnings from the FDA, and prescribers clamping down, some are going to extreme lengths to get their hands on the drug. What’s behind Ivermectin’s sudden rise? Guest: Brandy Zadrozny, senior reporter for NBC News  Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elizabeth Holmes convinced countless people that her company would change the world. Can she convince 12 jurors that she didn’t intend to deceive her company’s patients and investors? Guest: Rebecca Jarvis, host of “The Dropout” podcast and ABC News Chief Business, Technology & Economics Correspondent  Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Biden administration says a third dose of vaccines for all American adults will end the pandemic faster. And experts say there is evidence of waning vaccine effectiveness against mild-to-moderate disease. But globally, what’s the best use of the next available dose?  Guest: Saad Omer, director of the Yale Institute for Global Health.  Host: Lizzie O’Leary This episode was produced by Alyssa Edes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Experts say that a “fully approved” designation for the vaccines could have sweeping effects. Broader vaccination mandates, inclusion for new age groups, and reassurance for those hesitant to take a vaccine without the designation. As calls for approval grow louder and more urgent, the Food and Drug Administration is yet to give its blessing. What’s happening inside the FDA as they work toward this milestone? Guest: Sarah Owermohle, health care reporter at Politico  Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

America used to be at the vanguard of railroad technology. What went wrong? And can the new infrastructure bill fix our broken system? Guests: Alon Levy and Eric Goldwyn of the Marron Institute at NYU  Host Henry Grabar   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whether it’s a phone screen or a coffee machine, why is it so hard to fix our own stuff? And what can we do to make it a bit easier? Guest: Jason Koebler, editor-in-chief of Motherboard and contributor to the CYBER podcast Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Amnesty International and a French journalism nonprofit named Forbidden Stories revealed that technology from a spyware firm called NSO Group is being deployed on a massive scale. The spyware, called Pegasus, gives the user access to every part of a victim’s smartphone -- notes, messages, photos, and recordings.  What’s it like for security researchers to see their worst fears about digital spying play out? And what are they worried about next? Guests: John Scott Railton, Senior Researcher at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto Siddharth Varadarajan, Founding Editor of the Wire Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last month, North Americans have seen record-breaking heat, droughts, wildfires, and floods. The science is clear: we are living through the effects of climate change. Now scientists are trying to answer: is this the new normal? Guest: Daniel Swain, climate scientist at UCLA  Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For many white-collar workers, the full-time work from home era is coming to an end. Some are going back into offices five days a week. Many others will be expected to split the week between home and the office.  As the new rules are laid down, office workers are asking themselves: do we want work to go back to the way it was? Or is it time, finally, to try something different?  Guest: Brigid Schulte, director of the Better Life Lab at New America Host Henry Grabar   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Slate Studios & ServiceNow, this episode of Let’s Workflow It features Deryck Mitchelson – one of the leaders taking on the greatest workflow challenge of our time – the effort to vaccinate millions of citizens from COVID-19. As Director of Information Security for NHS National Services Scotland, Deryck manages his nation’s contact tracing and vaccination systems, and shares his unique perspective on the systems and technology necessary to turn vaccines into vaccinations. Listen and subscribe to Let’s Workflow It wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, the U.S. government released a new report that attempts to categorize 144 verified sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP. They could only definitively explain one of them.  The new report signals a shift in the way we think about UAP. As technology has advanced and evidence of these encounters has increased, the question has become more urgent: What exactly is happening in our skies? Guest: Shane Harris, intelligence and national security reporter for the Washington Post Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For nearly two years, an unprecedented experiment has been taking place in the town of El Zonte in El Salvador. Funded by a mysterious donor, the town’s residents built a Bitcoin economy, using the cryptocurrency to purchase just about anything.  Now, El Slavador has passed a new law making it the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. Can they replicate El Zonte’s success at a national scale? Guest: Ezra Fieser, reporter at Bloomberg Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever since police used a DNA platform called GEDmatch to crack the Golden State Killer case in 2018, police departments around the country have rushed to use genetic genealogy to crack their own cold cases. The result? Hundreds of violent cases solved.  So--why are some states passing new laws to limit this new technology? Guest: Nila Bala, senior staff attorney at the Policing Project at NYU Law.  Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last decade, billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson have come to embody the future of space travel and exploration. What does it mean when the ideas and ambitions of a few powerful men come to dominate the conversation so thoroughly? Guest: Lucianne Walkowicz, astronomer at the Adler Planetarium and founder of the Just Space Alliance Host Lizzie O’Leary This episode is sponsored by Teamistry. You can listen here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two weeks ago, as wildfires burned north of Los Angeles, the crime app Citizen offered $30,000 for information that would lead to the arrest of a suspected arsonist. They had the wrong guy.  Why is Citizen offering bounties in the first place? And what does this bounty debacle say about the app’s aspirations for the future? Guest: Joseph Cox, reporter at Motherboard  Host Henry Grabar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After years of careful planning and public spats, Apple and Epic—the maker of Fortnite—have spent the last three weeks in court, fighting over the future of mobile gaming. What happens if, for once, Apple loses? Guest: Elizabeth Lopatto, deputy editor at the Verge  Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, a hacker group called DarkSide shut down the Colonial Pipeline, which supplies 45 percent of the fuel consumed on the East Coast. Gas prices skyrocketed, people started hoarding gas, and DarkSide walked away with over $4 million in Bitcoin. How did they do it? And what makes this hack different from those we’ve seen before? Guest: David Uberti, cybersecurity reporter at the Wall Street Journal Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Serum Institute of India was supposed to supply vaccines not just to India, but to the entire Global South. Now, with cases surging, there aren’t nearly enough vaccines for India’s population, not to mention the many countries that are relying on it. How did such a successful institution come up so short? And what are the costs of that failure? Guest: Samanth Subramanian, senior reporter at Quartz Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The question of Donald Trump’s banned account--to keep it blocked, or reinstate it--is one of the toughest that Facebook has ever faced. But the social network had a plan: punt the decision to its newly minted Oversight Board, a semi-independent “Supreme Court” tasked with making hard decisions about what content stays up, and what comes down.  Did that plan just backfire? Guest: Kate Klonick, professor at St. John’s University School of Law  Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There was a time—back when Steve Jobs ran Apple and Mark Zuckerberg was in his early days as Facebook’s CEO— that Apple and Facebook were friends.. Or, at worst, frenemies. But as the companies grew, so did two competing views of how the internet should work.  What led to the rift between Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook? And will Apple’s new privacy rules undercut Facebook’s vision for the internet? Guest:    Mike Isaac, tech reporter at the New York Times  Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, a Tesla Model S crashed into a tree in a neighborhood north of Houston. Both men inside the car were killed. But according to police, neither of them was in the driver’s seat.  This is not the first crash in which Tesla’s “autopilot” feature has likely played a role. Should we really be trusting this technology? Guest:  Missy Cummings, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Duke University Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Like countless venture-funded start-ups before it, Substack is “disrupting” the media industry. The newsletter service is siphoning off high-profile talent with a promise of independence and bigger paychecks. But the platform’s influence might reach far beyond the media. Will Substack change the way we think about online creators and their audiences? Can it create a new kind of relationship between them? Guest:    Charlie Warzel, writer of Galaxy Brain  Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the start of the pandemic, usage of apps like BetterHelp and Talkspace has skyrocketed. These apps might make mental health care more accessible, but are the products they sell really the same as therapy? Guest:    Molly Fischer, features writer for the Cut at New York Magazine Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ICYMI is Slate’s new podcast about internet culture. It’s a show for people who have a healthy relationship with the internet, made by people who really, really don’t. It’s hosted by Slate’s Madison Malone Kircher and Rachelle Hampton. Twice a week they’ll explore what’s trending at the top of your feeds, investigate the ghosts of internet past, and help you sound like the smartest person in your group chat. In the episode you’re about to hear, they take you on an all-access tour of Clubhouse, the invite-only audio app that already has millions of users, including everyone from Elon Musk and Drake to Oprah and Joe Rogan. Madison somehow ends up taking a shower with hundreds of other users? The app also doesn’t allow people to record and publish audio, so this episode will probably get them banned. If you like what you hear, or you want to be the first to know whether Madison gets kicked off Clubhouse, subscribe to ICYMI wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are at least 17 different “vaccine passport” initiatives underway in the United States. And leaked documents reveal that the Biden administration fears that “a chaotic and ineffective vaccine credential approach could hamper our pandemic response by undercutting health safety measures, slowing economic recovery, and undermining public trust and confidence.”  Without coordination, a chaotic and ineffective approach seems likely. So, what can, and what should, the Biden administration do to avoid this outcome? And what are the risks and rewards of coordinating an effort that divides Americans along the lines of vaccination status? Guest:    Dan Diamond, health policy and politics reporter for the Washington Post Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back in April 2020, AstraZeneca was hailed as a frontrunner in the race to get an effective vaccine to market. A year later, after a series of trial pauses, communication blunders, and PR problems, the vaccine is on the cusp of FDA approval.  By all accounts, the company succeeded in making a safe, effective vaccine. So why has there been so much confusion about its rollout? Guest:    Peter Aldhous, science reporter at Buzzfeed News Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Facebook’s failure to contain the spread of dangerous misinformation is no secret. For years, the company has pledged publicly to fix the problem. But in the wake of the Capitol riots, it’s clear that there’s more work to be done. So, why isn’t the social media giant using its powerful AI to contain hate and lies? Guest:  Karen Hao, senior AI reporter at MIT Technology Review Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back in 2014, Google released in-depth diversity data for its workforce for the first time. 1.1 percent of its tech team identified as Black. Six years later, after millions of dollars spent and a much-hyped partnership program with historically Black colleges and universities across the country, that number is up to 2.4 percent.  How did such a promising effort yield such incremental change? Guest: Nitasha Tiku, tech culture reporter at the Washington Post Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The federal Lifeline program was intended to bridge the gap between Americans who could comfortably pay for phone and internet service, and those who couldn’t. But in the midst of the pandemic, Lifeline is falling woefully short. How did a program meant to help connect low-income Americans with phone and internet service ended up making them second-class digital citizens at the worst possible moment?  Guest:  Tony Romm, senior tech policy reporter at the Washington Post, author of “How the Federal Lifeline Program Failed Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic” Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last year, the Australian government has been waging a quiet war against Facebook and Google. Through a new law, it plans to force the big tech companies to pay news outlets in exchange for linking to their sites. Will this new law have the intended effect? Or will it set a dangerous precedent that cedes even more power over to the tech giants? Guest:  JR Hennessy, editor at Business Insider Australia Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last week, millions of Texans have been forced to live without power or heat. At least 16 have died since Monday. In a state that’s no stranger to extreme weather and high power demand, how did it all go so wrong? Guest:  Josh Rhodes, research associate at the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas at Austin   Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For most of the last year, Clubhouse—the audio-only social media app—has been dominated by conversations about business, branding, and Elon Musk. But as users picked up the app around the globe, something extraordinary happened.   Censors in mainland China overlooked it. And for two weeks in February, it hosted a series of unusual, unfiltered conversations. Han Chinese, Hong Kongers, Taiwanese, and Uighurs all flooded to the app to speak freely about authoritarianism, democracy, and propaganda.  Here’s what happened when the censors looked the other way.  Guest:  Melissa Chan, journalist with the Global Reporting Centre Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, in response to protests by farmers outside New Delhi, India, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi restricted access to the mobile web in areas where the protests were unfolding. The move is the latest in the Indian government’s long history of throttling internet access and censoring speech online.  Why is the Modi government increasingly shutting down the internet and stifling digital dissent? And what does the party’s history of internet shutdowns tell us about India’s future? Guest:  Pranav Dixit, correspondent for Buzzfeed News Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of how GameStop went from the verge of a bankruptcy to a $15 billion market value isn’t an easy one to wrap your head around. But it helps to go back to the beginning; almost three years ago, in a subreddit called r/wallstreetbets. Guests:  Brandon Kochkodin, reporter at Bloomberg Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most people thought developing the vaccine in record time would be the hard part. That, or shipping millions of doses at subzero temperatures to every corner of the country. But nobody--or, almost nobody--guessed that the biggest barrier between U.S. citizens and vaccination would be … online scheduling.  What went wrong with the vaccine websites? And what will it take to get them right? Guests:  Raphael Lee, director of USDR’s Health Program  Hana Schank, director of Strategy for Public Interest Technology at New America Jessica Allen Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Facebook and Twitter banned thousands of accounts in the wake of the Capitol riots, fringe groups are flocking to platforms like Signal and Telegram. With the inauguration just days away, and government officials warning of violence, QAnon believers and Stop the Steal protesters are now communicating in encrypted spaces. What, if anything, is being planned?  Guest:  Will Sommer, politics reporter at the Daily Beast Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, in the wake of violent protests at the Capitol, the social media platforms took unprecedented steps to rein in the president. Facebook banned his account at least through Inauguration Day. Twitter removed tweets and locked his account for 12 hours. Will these measures really make a difference? And how is it that two CEOs came to have so much power over the president’s reach? Guest:  Danielle Citron, professor at UVA Law School and vice president of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recently, one of the world’s leading AI ethics researchers, Timnit Gebru, left Google. Google says she resigned. Timnit says she was fired. In the days since, Timnit’s departure has turned into a public relations crisis for the search giant, prompting its CEO to issue a public apology.  What happened behind the scenes at Google that led to Timnit’s dismissal?  Guest: Timnit Gebru, AI ethics researcher, and the co-founder of Black in AI.  Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, the FTC and more than 40 state attorneys general brought antitrust lawsuits against Facebook. And they’re not pulling their punches. They are calling for Facebook to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp into independent companies. In other words, breakup. The lawsuits represent some of the most significant antitrust action in the United States in the last 40 years. Will they get results? Guest: Tony Romm, tech policy reporter at the Washington Post Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ransomware attacks--when hackers break into digital systems, encrypt files, and demand payment to unlock them, isn’t new. But 2020 has seen an explosion in the frequency of these hacks, which are often targeted at schools and hospitals. Who is behind this recent spate of attacks? And is there anything schools and hospitals can do to protect themselves? Guests: Jessica Beyer, teacher at Baltimore County Public Schools Dave Uberti, cyber security reporter at the Wall Street Journal Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Joe Biden takes office in two months, the federal government will take on a new stance in its fight to contain the coronavirus. The broad strokes of that strategy have been outlined in debates and on campaign websites, but now the real work begins. Two weeks ago, the president-elect appointed a team of 13 advisers to answer some key questions. How can the new government win the trust of the 73 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump? What would a national mask mandate look like? How will the different vaccines be distributed? A member of President-elect Biden’s COVID-19 council takes us behind the scenes. Guest: Celine Gounder, member of the Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Advisory Board, and host of the American Diagnosis and Epidemic podcasts. Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Barack Obama first won the White House, back in 2008, with Joe Biden as his vice president, the executive branch’s stance towards tech and tech companies was seen as cooperative, progressive, and forward-thinking. This time around, the tech giants can expect a very different relationship. Will Biden be the president to finally rein in big tech? Guest: Cecilia Kang, technology reporter at The New York Times Host Lizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Companies like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash have always argued that their workers are independent contractors, not employees. This distinction has been crucial in their rise from startups to multi-billion-dollar companies. On Tuesday, Californians sided with these companies by approving Prop 22, a ballot measure that enshrines workers’ non-employee status. Why did progressive Californians side with Big Tech? And will the rest of the country follow California’s lead? Guest: Sam Harnett, Tech and Labor reporter at KQED Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2016 general election changed the way we think about information online and its power to sway results. Four years later, Americans will vote amid a surge of misinformation, collected and distorted to fit political narratives. What can people and platforms do to protect the truth in this most consequential election? Guests: Renee DiResta, Research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory Justin Hendrix, founder of Tech Policy Press Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been 22 years since the federal government last brought a meaningful legal challenge to a big tech company. Back then, when the Justice Department sued Microsoft, the outcome changed the direction of the company for years to come. Now, the Department of Justice is coming for Google. Can the search giant resist this challenge to its role as the gatekeeper of the internet? Guest: Tony Romm, technology reporter at the Washington Post Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two years ago, Mark Zuckerberg held up Holocaust denial as an example of the type of speech that would be protected on Facebook. The company wouldn’t take down content simply because it was incorrect. This week, Facebook reversed that stance. Is this decision the first step toward a new way of policing speech on the social network? Guest: Evelyn Douek, Lecturer at Harvard Law School and affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last decade, born from the chaos of the 2008 financial crisis, automated tenant screening has grown into a billion-dollar industry. Now, nine out of 10 landlords rely on automated tenant-screening reports, scraped from eviction history, criminal background records, and terror watchlists, to decide if they can trust potential renters. The problem? Often, the reports contain major errors, mistaken identities, and criminal records that are supposed to be expunged. Can these reports really be trusted? Guest: Lauren Kirchner, investigative reporter at The Markup Original reporting with Matthew Goldstein, reporter at The New York Times  Host Celeste Headlee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Spanish-speaking voters in Florida have been exposed to a steady uptick in falsities and conspiracy theories. This misinformation is shared in WhatsApp groups, Facebook groups, and YouTube channels, then amplified by enormously popular local radio stations. Now there are signs that the flood of misinformation is having an effect. Groups that voted Democrat in 2016 seem to be leaning to the right. Will this onslaught of misinformation tilt the Latino vote in Florida? And if so, what does that mean for Florida’s 29 electoral votes? Guest: Eduardo Gamarra, professor of politics and international relations at Florida International University.   Host Celeste Headlee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As of Sept. 24, there are 42 vaccines in clinical trials on humans. At least 92 others are being developed but have not yet gone to trial. For months, the world has tracked the progression of these vaccines closely, with the expectation that once one arrives on the market, we can finally start to go back to normal. But, is that true? Does the world really look much different with an effective vaccine? Guest: Dr. Paul Offit, professor of pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Host Celeste Headlee   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For pregnant women in the U.S., there are plenty of reasons to mistrust the medical establishment. Mortality rates are high compared to other western countries, and one-third of women in the U.S. give birth by C-section. It’s no wonder that many women turn to the internet for alternatives.   This week, the story of one woman who was drawn into a network of private Facebook groups dedicated to the idea of ‘freebirth,’ or unassisted birth. And what happens when the misinformation shared in these private groups has real-life consequences.   Guest: Brandy Zadrozny, reporter for NBC News. You can read her reporting on ‘freebirth’ here.    This episode originally aired in March 2020    Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the planet warms in the coming decades, many parts of the planet that millions now call home will become uninhabitable. At first, people in these areas will move to the cities, then across international borders. This mass migration is already underway in the hottest parts of the world, and it is likely to accelerate in coming years. Just how many people will be forced to move? And where will they go? Guest: Abrahm Lustgarten, senior reporter at ProPublica Host Celeste Headlee   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the wake of the killing of Michael Brown in 2014, and the national protests that followed, many believed that video shared on social media, along with footage from body cameras, would reshape the relationship between police and citizens. Six years later, one thing is clear: It didn’t work. Can viral videos really hold power to account? And why do we so often put our faith in technological solutions to solve societal problems? Guests: Bijan Stephen, reporter at the Verge Ethan Zuckerman, former director, the Center for Civic Media, MIT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not long ago, the QAnon conspiracy theory seemed to have lost momentum. Social media mentions had decreased. 8chan had gone offline. But since March, fueled by the pandemic and social media giants, the conspiracy has taken on new life. What’s responsible for the rapid uptake of the movement? And now that QAnon has spilled over to the mainstream, how far can it go? Guest: Ali Breland, reporter at Mother Jones   Host Celeste Headlee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the early days of the pandemic, countries around the world invested heavily in new technologies that would help track the movement of the virus. Now, six months later, contact tracing apps are all but an afterthought in the fight to contain COVID-19. What happened? The U.K. provides some answers. The country put its faith in technology to contain the virus, and paid the price. Guest: Gus Hosein, executive director at Privacy International   Host Celeste Headlee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the early days of internet search engines, Google set itself apart by providing a simple service. A list of links, inviting you to explore the websites that best matched your query. It was a portal to the rest of the internet. But over the last two decades, that mission has changed. Does Google search still take you to the best result for your query? Or does it point users back to its own suite of products? Guest: Adrianne Jeffries, investigative journalist at The Markup.   Host Celeste Headlee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the past five months, city blocks have been slipping away. Bars are closed; restaurants are half-empty; retail is shuttered. As the country returns to varying states of lockdown, how long can these blocks hold on?   This week: how one commercial strip on Chicago’s South Side is weathering the pandemic.    Guests: Nedra Sims Fears, executive director of the Greater Chatham Initiative Brian d'Antignac, The Woodshop Jaidah Wilson-Turnbow, Frances Cocktail Lounge Zoie Reams, Brown Sugar Bakery     Host Henry Grabar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the last four months, federal and state eviction moratoria have kept Americans in their apartments, even if they couldn’t pay rent. Now, with financial relief in question, and moratoria set to expire, the first of the month might look very different for millions of Americans. Guests: Emily, a resident of Chicago’s Northwest Side Mark Durakovic, principal at Kass Management Peter Hepburn, analyst at Princeton’s Eviction Lab Host Henry Grabar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than any other U.S. city, New Orleans banks on its culture. From music to restaurants to parades, the city relies on a steady stream of tourists to support its many artists and institutions. In March, those tourists stopped visiting. And without them, the fragile infrastructure of clubs, venues, and performances is starting to collapse. Can New Orleans survive the coronavirus? Guests: Patrick Williams, harmonica player Jesse Paige, owner of the Blue Nile Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes, Executive Director of the Ashé Cultural Arts Center Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After months of coronavirus lockdowns, cities are taking stock of their finances. The situation is bleak. With plummeting sales and property tax revenue, American cities of all sizes may be facing a budget crisis. What happens when local governments have to cut their budgets by double-digit percentages? Will the federal government learn from the Great Recession and intervene? Guests: Minh Nguyen, owner of Cafe TH in Houston Chris Brown, Houston City Controller Mildred Warner, professor of urban planning at Cornell.   Host: Henry Grabar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tens of thousands of people leave American cities every year. Normally, they’re replaced by new arrivals seeking jobs, education, and opportunity. But in a world transformed by the coronavirus, what happens if nobody arrives to replace them? Guests: Emily Badger, reporter at the New York Times Natalie Moore, reporter at WBEZ Amanda Kolson Hurley, editor at Bloomberg Businessweek Host: Henry Grabar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since March, white-collar offices in major cities across the United States have stood empty. Now, with growing evidence that the workforce is equally effective at home, companies and designers are starting to rethink the office—what it looks like, what it’s used for, and if it’s really needed at all. But this wholesale reimagining of office life comes at a cost. How will the severe reduction of commuters transform American cities? Guests: John Capobianco, principal at IA Interior Architects Hannah Hackathorn, principal at Unispace Ellen Baer, BID president, Hudson Square Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Responding to protests around the country, the New York City Council passed the POST Act: Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology last week. The bill will require the NYPD to reveal the extent of their surveillance technology deployed within the city. For the first time, New Yorkers will get a clear picture of the technology being employed to watch and trace them. Experts say to expect the worst. Guest: Ángel S. Díaz, counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In March, when schools across the country shut down, few people could have guessed that students wouldn’t return until the fall. Schools weren’t equipped to deploy remote-learning curricula, technology was in short supply, and most parents weren’t free to guide their children through lessons during the day. Three months later, little has changed. And all that time out of the classroom has taken a toll on students. Can they recover in time for the fall? Guest: Dana Goldstein, national correspondent at the New York Times   Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, three of the leading developers of facial-recognition technology announced they would stop, or at least pause, selling this technology to police. The decision stems from evidence of racial bias inherent in these tools. For the researchers who first uncovered the deep-seated issues with these tools, it’s a watershed moment. Will facial-recognition technology continue to grow unchecked? Or will this week’s announcements result in lasting change? Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Guest: Deb Raji, technology fellow at the AI Now Institute. Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the midst of the pandemic, protests and police lockdowns, restaurants are turning increasingly to delivery apps like DoorDash and Grubhub to stay afloat. But with shady tactics, soaring fees, and deep-seated flaws with the business model of the entire industry, delivery startups may do more harm than good. Guest: Ranjan Roy, CEO at the Edge Group and writer of Margins newsletter Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Tuesday, after years of inaction, Twitter fact checked President Trump’s tweets for the first time. Six words were added below the original text, directing readers to outside articles refuting his claims. Two days later, the president signed an executive order that aims to change the nature of online speech, and the platforms that host it. Guest: Casey Newton, Silicon Valley editor at the Verge   Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the coronavirus shut down manufacturing across California in March and April, Elon Musk only wanted one thing: to start making cars again. So when local government officials in Alameda County got in his way, Musk took the fight public, and won. Guest: Kara Swisher, co-host of the Pivot podcast. Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every week, it feels like some new piece of coronavirus information dominates the headlines. Mysterious symptoms, changing government directives. This constant trickle of updates can quickly turn into a flood. How should normal people interpret this deluge of data? Guest: Emily Oster, professor of economics at Brown University and co-founder of COVID-Explained.  Host Lizzie O’Leary     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yesterday, New York City announced that it would provide 140,000 free antibody tests to residents who want to know if they have been exposed to the coronavirus. And New York isn’t alone: large-scale antibody testing is ramping up around the country. But with faulty tests flooding the market and questions about whether a positive test really confers immunity are antibody tests really worth the bother? Guests: Shannon Palus, staff writer for Slate, and Dr. Natalie E. Dean, assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, the world’s largest tech companies posted their quarterly earnings. And—unlike most other companies in the world—things aren’t looking so bad. With the global economy reeling, and people sheltering indoors, the tech giants have an opportunity to reshape the way we live. Don’t expect them to wait on the sidelines. Guest: Elizabeth Dwoskin, Silicon Valley correspondent at the Washington Post Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are over 60 vaccines for the coronavirus currently in development. Four of them are already being tested in humans. As researchers move at breakneck speed to find a vaccine, they’re debating breaking (or at least bending) the rules that ensure the end product is safe. How do we balance speed with safety in the rush to develop a vaccine? Guest: Dr. Timothy Lahey, an infectious diseases doctor, ethicist, and vaccine researcher at the University of Vermont Medical Center. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before the U.S. can start opening back up, states will need to put systems in place for “contact tracing,” or meticulous tracking of the disease within communities. South Korea’s extensive tracing program has all but eliminated the spread of the virus within its borders. What will it take for the U.S. to do the same? Guests: Raphael Rashid, a freelance journalist, and Dr. Mike Reid, professor at University of California, San Francisco Host Henry Grabar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As governments around the world try to predict the toll and duration of the coronavirus, they’re turning increasingly to a handful of forecasting models for answers. But many of the leading models differ drastically in their approach and methods. What do we need to know about these forecasts? And what are their limitations? Guest: Jordan Ellenberg, mathematics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, workers at Amazon, Whole Foods, and Instacart have announced mass strikes across the country. Though demand for these services is high, pay and protection is low. What exactly do we owe to the delivery workers at the front lines of the pandemic? And with these companies hiring in record numbers, can the strikes succeed? Guests: Heidi Carrico, founding member of the Gig Workers Collective, and Johana Bhuiyan, tech accountability reporter at the Los Angeles Times.   Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work. The United States failed to roll out widespread testing in the early days of the pandemic. Now it faces critical shortages of supplies as it scrambles to track the disease around the country. Until testing is available at scale, Americans won’t be able to return to their normal lives. So: what will it take to solve the country’s testing shortage? Guest: Robert P. Baird, contributor to the New Yorker Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work. Google has spent the last decade trying to find a foothold in the health care industry. Now they’re partnering with the federal government to build a website that will seek to address the crisis. Can Google be trusted with our medical data? Guest: Mason Marks, law professor at Gonzaga University School of Law and an affiliated fellow at Yale Law School's Information Society Project. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, the superintendent of the Northshore school district near Seattle made a difficult decision. With the coronavirus spreading rapidly in the area, she closed all 34 schools in her district and moved all classes online. But for many schools, remote learning at this scale simply isn’t an option.  With new cases appearing around the country, how will schools respond? And what happens when you send millions of students home for weeks on end? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work. For pregnant women in the U.S., there are plenty of reasons to mistrust the medical establishment. Mortality rates are high compared to other western countries, and one-third of women in the U.S. give birth by C-section. It’s no wonder that many women turn to the internet for alternatives. This week, the story of one woman who was drawn into a network of private Facebook groups dedicated to the idea of ‘freebirth,’ or unassisted birth. And what happens when the misinformation shared in these private groups has real-life consequences. Guest: Brandy Zadrozny, reporter for NBC News. You can read her reporting on ‘freebirth’ here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OpenAI was founded in 2015 with a billion dollars and an idealistic mission: Create artificial intelligence that could address humanity’s biggest problems, and do it out in the open. Then came the money problems. Guest: Karen Hao, senior A.I. reporter at MIT Tech Review   Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After years of controversial content moderation decisions, from deepfakes to deplatforming, Facebook is trying something new. In January, the social network announced that its new Oversight Board, which will act as a sort of supreme court for controversial content, will begin hearing cases this summer. Could this independent board change the way we govern speech online? Guest: Kate Klonick, assistant professor at St. John’s University School of Law, and fellow at the Information Society Project at Yale.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last month, as coronavirus spread across China, Xi Jinping’s vast surveillance and censorship infrastructure went into high gear. But with outrage growing over the death of a beloved doctor, and surveillance technology under strain, the virus is exposing the limits of the Chinese Communist Party’s techno-authoritarian network. Guest: Josh Chin, Wall Street Journal reporter covering Chinese politics and tech Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Monday, the Iowa caucuses went off the rails. As the hours stretched into days, and still the results remained unclear, a new piece of election technology was identified as a central cause of the delay. An app designed to make the election process speedier and more secure had the opposite effect. And its failure is symptomatic of deep-rooted issues in the way the Democratic Party develops and deploys election technology. So, what exactly went wrong on Monday? And what does it say about the party’s effort to regain its digital edge in 2020? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices