What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the...
Every Friday and Sunday, Slate’s popular daily news podcast What Next brings you TBD, a clear-eyed look into the future. From fake news to fake meat, algorithms to augmented reality, Lizzie O’Leary is your guide to the tech industry and the world it’s creating for us to live in.
51
Where Scams Are Born
A corridor of shady casinos in remote parts of Asia are fueling a global “scamdemic.”
26 min
52
Inside OpenAI's Implosion
Sam Altman is out—or is he?—oh yeah, he is. Wait or..?
28 min
53
Bedbugs Are Back, Baby!
How do you feel about Thanksgiving travel now?
22 min
54
How Deepfake Porn Infected a School
Once an image is on the internet, it’s out of your control—just ask the girls at Westfield High.
21 min
55
Will A.I. Take My Job?
A newsroom finds itself wondering if these mysterious new contributors are even real people.
18 min
56
Tesla vs. the Swedes
The “move fast and break stuff” mentality has hit an organized labor stronghold.
23 min
57
Sam Bankman-Fraud
The disgraced crypto mogul faces up to 110 years behind bars. Will the industry ever recover?
27 min
58
Biden Goes After AI
What the new executive orders on artificial intelligence will—and won’t—address.
28 min
59
SBF Takes the Stand
It’s a high risk move, but he’s running out of options.
22 min
60
Self-Driving Cars Crash Into Reality
After numerous mistakes, Cruise has pulled all of its driverless cars off the road.
26 min
61
Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard Takeover
After a fight with regulators, Microsoft officially owns Activision Blizzard, the studio behind Call of Duty. Will gamers pay the price?
24 min
62
Inside Hamas' Social Media Strategy
Since war broke out, Hamas has been using social media to spread its message in ways we’ve never seen.
24 min
63
The $30,000 Zelle Scam
What can you do when you lose $30,000 to a Zelle scammer?
22 min
64
The Israel-Hamas War Instantly Broke X
The global town square is in ruins. Where do we go from here?
30 min
65
The Man Who Turned You Into Data
How Hank Asher created the systems that track everything about you.
24 min
66
Sam Bankman-Fried—and Crypto—on Trial
The government says FTX was a house of cards. SBF says it was just business.
29 min
67
Inside Crypto's House of Cards
This week, Sam Bankman-Fried goes on trial. The entire crypto industry will be watching.
31 min
68
Who Will Pay For A COVID Vaccine?
The government is no longer footing the bill for the COVID vaccine. What does that mean for access?
27 min
69
Is Amazon a Monopoly?
How the FTC’s case against the e-commerce giant could change everything about how you shop.
25 min
70
What Instacart’s IPO Means for Tech
After years of post-pandemic turmoil, Instacart managed to do something rare in the gig economy - turn a profit.
23 min
71
Did AirBnB Need to Go?
Short-term rentals are getting blamed for a lack of affordable housing. Is that fair?
21 min
72
Can Politicians Keep Kids Safe Online?
At a time when lawmakers operate from wildly different standards of children’s “safety”, who can be trusted to regulate the internet?
27 min
73
Google Makes Its Case
The U.S. claims that Google monopolized search. Google claims that competition is just “a click away.”
29 min
74
Bad Air, Worse Vibes
Between COVID and now wildfire smoke, the case for improving school ventilation makes itself. So what’s the hold-up?
17 min
75
Tech Disrupts the School Bus
A Silicon Valley start-up promised to modernize school transportation. Instead, it stranded thousands of students.
24 min