What Next Plus
The problem with the news right now? It’s everywhere. And each day, it can feel like we’re all just mindlessly scrolling. It’s why we created What Next. This short daily show is here to help you make sense of things. When the news feels overwhelming, we’re here to help you answer: What next? Look for new episodes every weekday morning.
51
TBD | The Discourse: The Coldplay Scandal Coupl...
Yes, they did a stupid thing. No, this shouldn't be national news.
17 min
52
TBD | A Colbert Report
How Trump did (and didn't) get Stephen Colbert cancelled.
21 min
53
He Says Gaza Is a Genocide
Why an Israeli-American Holocaust scholar felt he had to speak up.
28 min
54
How Dead Is the Department of Education?
The federal agency can’t be abolished with the stroke of a pen. But it can be put on the austerity path to oblivion.
21 min
55
On Epstein, Democrats Go Low
It’s time to get in the muck.
27 min
56
Getting Anti-Vaxxers To Roll Up Their Sleeves
Those who won’t listen to health officials did listen to their neighbors and classmates.
27 min
57
TBD | When Bots Go Nazi
Grok’s antisemitic posting spree was a glimpse of an unregulated AI future.
25 min
58
Bonus: A Muslim, a Dad, an American
Aymann Ismail stops in to talk about his new book—and a certain mayoral race.
24 min
59
TBD | How The Epstein Files Blew Up MAGAworld
Live by the conspiracy, die by the conspiracy.
25 min
60
Can Trump Bully Russia?
Elon Musk isn’t the only one to fall from Trump’s good graces.
22 min
61
Deported—To a Country You've Never Been To
The Trump administration is using a group of immigrants with criminal convictions as a test case to erode basic rights for everyone.
24 min
62
Behind the Democrats’ Losing Strategy
The opposition party needs to shake off the old campaign plans—and the strategists—of the 90s.
25 min
63
Who Is Trump Promoting For Life?
The rush to stock the federal judiciary with MAGA loyalists.
24 min
64
TBD | When A.I. is Sycophantic
Chatbots want to please - but it’s pushing some into dark places.
19 min
65
TBD | The Discourse: The Right Stuff (For Mars)
Who’s ready for the Red Planet?
12 min
66
TBD | Hot Measles Summer
Why the next few months are crucial for containing the outbreak.
23 min
67
Stage Managing Sex in Hollywood
The position has experienced a boom in the years after #MeToo—but have they really changed Hollywood?
27 min
68
Was the Flash Flooding in Texas Preventable?
The world we’ve been building for isn’t the world we’ll be living in.
21 min
69
Is Trump Running the Fugitive Slave Act Playbook?
The lessons and warnings from a law that failed to avert the Civil War.
20 min
70
The Spectacle of “Alligator Alcatraz” Is the Point
How the new immigration detention facility in Florida became a reality in just over a week.
23 min
71
TBD | How A.I. Lost (and Won) the Big Beautiful...
With a little help from country music.
24 min
72
Bonus: When the Internet Stopped Being Fun
Being online sucks. Let’s touch grass.
17 min
73
TBD | Rerun: Death of the Weather Forecast?
Climate and weather aren’t the same thing, but the Trump administration would have you understand neither one.
23 min
74
One Big Deeply Unpopular Bill
What this sweeping and expensive piece of legislation could cost you.
25 min
75
Is This the End of NPR and PBS?
The Trump administration’s plan to kill public broadcasting is going to hurt rural America most—will any Congressional Republicans step up?
26 min