What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Does Meta's $17 billion (give or take) settlement address people's concerns about social media and its impact on teenagers… or is it already too late?Guest: Paresh Dave, senior writer for WIRED.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.Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Extraditing someone who was arrested in one state for a crime committed in another state is an extremely routine process—or at least it was. But an ICE officer charged in a shooting in Minnesota was arrested in Texas and, rather than being sent to Minnesota for trial, he was simply released 90 days later.Guest: Quinta Jurecic, staff writer at The Atlantic.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate 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, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Inflation is up, borrowing is up, debt is rising. If the bond market is offering a review of the new US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, it seems to be saying “This guy may not know what's going on.” Guest: Catherine Rampell, economics editor at The Bulwark, author of the Receipts and anchor at MS NOW.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The WNBA is enjoying its most profitable and popular season in league history. At the same time, it's become another front in the culture war. Guest: Matreyi Anantharaman, staff writer at Defector. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump, Supreme Court justices, states, and even the Post Office are all trading legal salvos over mail-in voting. Where does it stand now? And what's Trump's end goal in making mail-in voting—something rural and elderly voters rely on—more difficult?Guest: Richard Hasan, Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law, Professor of Political Science, Director, Safeguarding Democracy ProjectWant more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The idea of a big ol' group of friends taking a vacation sounds so fun…in theory. In practice, though, the museum friends and the beach friends are forming opposing factions, and the vegetarian friend is hovering between malnourishment and total banishment. But these problems have one elegant solution: the parallel play vacation.Guest: Luke Winkie, Slate staff writer and author of “There's Only One Palatable Way to Travel With Friends.”This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you'll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Through stealing your job or simply tanking the stock market—whichever comes first—the rise of artificial intelligence (companies) is a very futuristic sounding problem. It may have some very old-fashioned sounding solutions however.Guest: Cory Doctorow, sci-fi author, journalist, blogger and author of “The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI.”This episode originally aired June 26. TBD will be back to regularly scheduled programming next week.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the trade war with Canada to the literal war with Iran, US foreign policy seems to have become “flail at whatever Trump says to flail at, no matter the cost.” But the American people are the ones left holding that bill—and it's adding up.Guest: Adam Kinzinger, former Republican congressman and an Air Force veteran, host of The Kinzinger Report, writes about news, politics, and Trump on adamkinzinger.com.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Intertwined with many Americans' contempt for data centers is their suspicion of artificial intelligence itself, which is being used to spy on you, being forced on anyone who still has a job, and will eventually, we're promised, put them out of it. Seems like the Democrats easily could stake a claim as the party that won't let A.I. wreck the economy—alas, there's a lot of money in looking the other way.Guest: Greg Casar, US Representative for Texas's 35th congressional districtWant more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the trial of Lindsay Clancy over the murder of her three children goes into closing arguments this week, the reactions to the case reveal just how little the general public understands about postpartum psychosis.Guest: Meghan Cliffel, writer, mindfulness teacher, postpartum psychosis survivor and maternal mental health advocate.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since losing the 2024 presidential election, Democrats have been doing a lot of finger pointing. But with the midterms this fall, it's time to stop pointing and start saying what you actually believe and why people should vote for you.Guest: Amanda Litman, author of “When We're in Charge” and head of Run for Something.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nobody objected to Jon Ossoff calling the president disinterested in doing his job. But an off-hand mention of Trump's “human printer”? That, for some reason, took things way too far.This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you'll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hundreds of millions of dollars, desperation for insider info, fury and accusations of conspiracy when it doesn't go your way—is this gambling or elections? Through the magic of prediction markets, it's both! Guest: David Gilbert, reporter at WIRED covering disinformation, online extremism, and how these trends impact people's lives across the globe.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.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Islamophobia has never gone away. And while it has been wielded as an electoral strategy against Zohran Mamdani, Abdul El-Sayed and even Barack Obama, the shameless nature of the Islamophobia coming from politicians this electoral cycle may be a new low.Guest: Mehdi Hasan, Editor-in-chief and CEO of ZeteoWant more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Silicon Valley overlords, as they'll tell you, aren't huge fans of liberal democracy—and their products that we've integrated into our lives reflect that. As we rely on them more and more, this tension is only going to get worse.Guest: Jill Lepore, author of “The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State”, professor of American History at Harvard, staff writer for The New Yorker.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The situation aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is reportedly dire: broken toilets, shortages of water, rationed, lousy food, little access to laundry, or communication with their families, all while engaged with Iran and its proxies. It's bad enough that at least two crew members have tried jumping overboard. But even though this deployment has been three months longer than usual, over the weekend President Trump said it wasn't “nearly long enough.”Guest: Ian Prasad Philbrick, Slate politics writer and writer of The Slatest newsletter.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A stranger approaching and aiming a gun at you seems like the exact scenario that “Stand Your Ground” laws were made to address. But a case in Florida where the armed strangers were white and the people “standing their ground” were Black demonstrates that the law's' protections and application fall along familiar and unequal lines.Guest: Caroline Light, Senior Lecturer and the Director of Undergraduate Studies in WGS at Harvard, author of Stand Your Ground: A History of America's Love Affair with Lethal Self-Defense.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How much should we know about our politicians? This week we found out that even two of the most scrutinized people in America still have their secrets—be it how our president gets where he's going, or if a certain House member is, in fact, not engaged and is actually...single? This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you'll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a world where everyone is carrying smartphones and setting up Ring cameras, you could be forgiven for thinking the war is over and the surveillance state won. But Flock cameras being denounced in town halls and smashed on the street have become a place for people to channel their heretofore unseen rage. Guest: Joseph Cox, reporter for 404 MediaWant 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.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why Donald Trump's proudly announced executive order on childhood vaccines is a move in the wrong direction—and towards a less healthy, more measle-y America.Guest: Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent, host of the KFF Health News weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?”Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump's success with Gen Z men was one of the many surprises in 2024, but as the second administration has gone on, that support has been plummeting. What would it take for Democrats to win the Zoomers? Guest: Adam Mockler, host of The Adam Mockler Show podcast and YouTube channel.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Any jobs report, by necessity, is going to be vague and subject to revision, but the latest from the Bureau of Labor Statistics paints a pretty clear picture: America hasn't added as many jobs as hoped or expected this summer, and the labor market is looking rough.Guest: Justin Wolfers, professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan and “deputy platypus” at Platypus Economics.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Credible accusations of sexual assault, eventually, led to Graham Platner leaving the Maine Senate race. But Ohio Representative Max Miller is responding to his own allegations with a different tact: the Trump method of ignoring, denying, and staying in.Guest: Jill Filipovic, journalist, lawyer, and author of The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness and OK Boomer, Let's Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The wins, the losses, the wins-that-are-so-close-are-they-REALLY-wins, and more from the primary elections this week, that left us asking, “Can we just get the midterms over with now?”Guest: Jim Newell, Slate senior politics writer.This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you'll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Investments in—and among—artificial intelligence companies have pushed the S&P 500 to record highs. It's also introduced a volatility to the markets that may be unprecedented. Is this growing pains or the wobble before the fall? Guest: Ed Elson, co-host of the Prof G Markets and First Time Founders podcasts.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.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you feel compelled to comment on a famous woman's body, a good rule of thumb to remember is “don't.” But to avoid feeling complicit or like we're normalizing something we know to be harmful, there are discussions to be had—amongst ourselves at least. Is that any better?Guest: Scaachi Koul, Slate senior writer Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Laura Loomer may not have an official position in the White House (or anywhere?) but she nevertheless does have the president's ear—and newfound affinity for Ukraine and its war against Russia.Guest: Ken Bensinger, media and politics reporter for the New York Times.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More Democrats than ever are suspicious of big money in politics and against unconditional American military support for Israel. The prominent lobbying group AIPAC sits right where these issues intersect, and it has become a bogeyman in primary races across the country this year.Guest: Peter Beinart, editor-at-large for Jewish Currents, author of the Beinart Notebook Substack. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Roiling like a wine-dark sea since the casting was announced, controversies surrounding Christopher Nolan's “The Odyssey” didn't stop with the film's release. But what turned a summer blockbuster into an IMAX-sized lightning rod? Guest: Sam Adams, Slate writer and senior editor covering culture. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As part of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Cory Booker had questions for Todd Blanche—and made space for Jeffrey Epstein survivors. Guest: Cory Booker, US Senator for New Jersey, member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Foreign Relations Committee, Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you'll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is a department for wonks, by wonks. But under the dual pressures of the changing nature of work—like the growing gig economy—and an administration that doesn't accept bad news, should next week's jobs report be taken with a grain of salt? Guest: Ben Casselman, chief economics correspondent for The New York Times.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the heels of the success of GLP-1s like Ozempic, other peptide treatments are flooding the marketplace—and advertising spaces. But even as the Trump administration's FDA discusses approving more treatments and the businesses selling them proliferate, many peptides are sitting in a legal and medical gray area. So how real - and safe - is this peptide hype?Guest: Kate Knibbs, senior writer at WIRED.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The US can't leave Iran in charge of the Strait of Hormuz, but it can't wrestle control away without committing ground troops—but it also can't keep going on like this. So where does that leave everyone?Guest: Josh Keating, senior correspondent covering foreign affairs at Vox. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the wake of the success among members of the Democratic Socialists of America, The Atlantic's Jonathan Chait has turned in a series of articles that call the group anti-democratic, against the Democratic Party, and unnecessary or even a hindrance to accomplishing policy goals like universal health care. On the other hand, he thinks DSA member Zohran Mamdani is doing a pretty good job as mayor so far. So what's at the root of Chait's problem with the DSA? And what policy position is he completely on board with? Guest: Jonathan Chait, staff writer at The Atlantic.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate 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 Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the immediate aftermath of Charlie Kirk's murder, the NFL was holding moments of silence, Ezra Klein was waxing about how he was ‘practicing politics the right way,” and criticizing Kirk online could get you fired. Now, as the trial of Tyler Robinson, Kirk's alleged killer, begins, something has replaced that reverence. Guest: Will Sommer, senior reporter for the Bulwark and writer of False Flag, a newsletter about the online culture and communities now running our country. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why are kids getting faster? Is it the shoes? Also, running the Boston Marathon is obviously a huge accomplishment, but if you ran the 2013 Boston Marathon, you should lead with that and not save it for an interview years after you meet someone.Guest: Rob Gunther, producer for Slate's What Next.This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you'll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Steve Witkoff is a real estate investor, an attorney, and now America's Special Envoy to the Middle East. It may seem like a weird career shift for Witkoff, but he's such an outlier that the famously transactional Donald Trump treats him like an actual friend.Guest: Andrea Bernstein, investigative reporter and the co-host of four podcasts, including Trump Inc.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.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the weekend, Andrew and Tristan Tate were arrested in Florida after British prosecutors brought new charges of rape and sex-trafficking, which were added to charges from May 2025 and an on-going civil case. With 59 charges, for actions dating back over a decade, how were the Tates able to evade court for so long—and what does it mean that their popularity continued to grow even as the allegations became public?Guest: Heidi Blake, investigative reporter at The New Yorker. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A federal judge paused the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. This may not have been a necessary step if the Department of Justice had taken its corporate enforcement mandate more seriously. But under this administration, a proven method has emerged to keep the government out of your business: make it personally profitable for Donald Trump.Guest: Liz Oyer, Former U.S. Department of Justice Pardon AttorneyWant more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Donald Trump seizes on an idea, he can riff on it nigh infinitely in any direction, which is why his fairly short and contained primetime speech on election security last week seemed so out of character. Why does Trump seem so determined to keep spinning his wheels on the likely-dead SAVE Act? How much damage can he do before the midterm elections this fall?Guest: Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A month after a pair of devastating earthquakes and more than six months after the US absconded with their president, how are the people of Venezuela faring under—wait, who's actually in charge?Guest: Josh Partlow, staff writer at The AtlanticWant more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ah, New York—where it's hot, loud, and the air is barely breathable. So it's not especially surprising that Governor Kathy Hochul is opting out of adding to all of that and announcing a moratorium on building new data centers in the state. Guest: Nitish Pahwa, Slate staff writerThis episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you'll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.