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.
76
Social Media’s Pivot from News
When it comes to natural disasters, getting the latest news via Twitter or Facebook is, well, disastrous.
25 min
77
Is LinkedIn...Cool Now?
Personal posts, influencers, and cultural cachet, all in a surprising place.
23 min
78
The Cost of "Sustainable" Pet Food
There's been a rise in high-end pet food, marketed as a healthy, environmentally-friendly option for our pets. The reality is much more complicated.
24 min
79
TikTok's Shady Deal with the U.S.
Inside the draft of a deal between ByteDance and the U.S. to keep TikTok in the states.
24 min
80
Digital Life After Death
Is the ghost of your online life destined to haunt your friends and family?
23 min
81
How Crypto Fails Sex Workers
Why sex workers turned to crypto, and how crypto turned on them.
22 min
82
Tech's Mask Off Moment
Richard Hanania exposes ugly truths about the power and politics of the tech industry.
26 min
83
Can Smart Guns Save Lives?
Is a gun only you can shoot really safer than a regular firearm?
26 min
84
Another Summer of COVID
COVID infections are up this summer - again. But it's hard to tell just how bad it is.
25 min
85
Tesla's Big Lie
Elon Musk’s most recent scandal may upend the way we think of an electric future.
26 min
86
America’s Downtown Ghost Towns
What happens to those offices when employees don’t “return to work?”
29 min
87
Washington vs. A.I.
The government's starting to focus on regulating A.I. But have they learned from previous efforts to keep an eye on the tech industry?
24 min
88
Why Tech Lays Women Off First
Rounds of layoffs have disproportionately affected women in tech—including those on maternity leave.
27 min
89
America’s $5 Trillion Grid Problem
The electric grid is the only thing making parts of America habitable this summer. It desperately needs a makeover.
24 min
90
America’s Killer Car Problem
U.S. infrastructure doesn't prioritize the lives of pedestrians. Why?
32 min
91
Will UPS Workers Join "Hot Strike Summer?"
It's not just Hollywood—UPS workers may soon be striking too.
29 min
92
Is Your Son Watching Andrew Tate?
How one of the biggest misogynists on the internet infected the mindset of a generation of teenage boys.
33 min
93
Threads vs. Twitter
If your rate limit has been exceeded one too many times, Mark Zuckerberg is here with an alternative.
24 min
94
Turning Your Face Into Your Ticket
Facial recognition tech at the airport is being sold as an opt-in convenience—for now.
20 min
95
The Never-Ending Cancer Drug Shortage
This problem isn't new—and it's completely preventable.
31 min
96
Can Ozempic Cure Addiction?
Some patients claim it "quiets their brain." Researchers have been studying its effect on addiction for years. Does it actually work?
26 min
97
The U.S. vs Amazon Prime
Does Amazon make canceling a Prime subscription unnecessarily difficult? The FTC thinks so.
22 min
98
The George Soros Succession
Life imitates prestige television for George Soros, his sons, and—because of their billions—politics across the world.
24 min
99
Reddit’s Rolling Blackouts
The site wants to monetize its data, but what’s it going to cost?
23 min
100
Are You Ready For A.I. Generated Actors?
The future actors are worried about may be waiting in the wings.
29 min