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.
826
The Ohio Trainwreck Blame Game
How a train carrying vinyl chloride opened a new front in the culture war.
25 min
827
Amicus: The “Stop the Steal” Fight That Never E...
A State Supreme Court Justice reveals the long-term toll of calling out the Big Lie.
47 min
828
TBD | The Baby-Sleep Industrial Complex
Is the Snoo a life-saving necessity, or $1700 luxury item for bougie babies?
28 min
829
TBD | What Made the Balloon Drama Pop Off?
Blown cover or just blown off course?
32 min
830
Will Abortion Pills Be Banned?
How far can anti-abortion activists push against FDA-approved medication?
23 min
831
Is Nikki Haley the GOP’s Future?
Can the former governor and ambassador to the UN define herself apart from Donald Trump—without alienating the Republican base?
19 min
832
Why the West Bank Is at a Boiling Point
Tension is rising in the region as one side’s leadership grew more extreme, and the other’s looked more feckless.
23 min
833
The Mass Shooter Database
Perpetrators of these horrific crimes have a lot in common—including deep despair.
24 min
834
TBD | Contraband Tech Behind Bars
Why prisoners risk the consequences to have a cell phone.
28 min
835
TBD | Why Ban TikTok?
If the U.S. wants to protect users, there are better options.
24 min
836
How Florida’s School Censorship Spreads
This culture war didn't start with canceling AP African American Studies. It's not ending there, either.
25 min
837
The Russian “Collaborators”
When Ukraine retakes territory, the social fabric needs to be rebuilt as much as the infrastructure.
26 min
838
His Son Died in Uvalde. He’s Still Fighting.
Brett Cross’s gun control advocacy has taken him to Austin and Washington.
27 min
839
Georgia Takes on Trump
His phone call to Brad Raffensberger seems to be getting painstaking legal scrutiny.
27 min
840
TBD | Did a Twentysomething Con America’s Bigge...
How the start-up “Frank” went from a shiny new acquisition to “a huge mistake” for JP Morgan Chase.
29 min
841
TBD | How COVID Changes Our Immune Systems
The data doesn't tell the whole story.
25 min
842
The Plot Against Pope Francis
The 86-year-old knows there are people in the Vatican working to undo everything he’s done once he’s dead—but he has succession ideas of his own.
24 min
843
The Hysteria Over D.C.’s New Crime Bill
Updating the district’s motley 1901 criminal code patchwork isn’t the “reform” activists have called for—or tough-on-crime types fear.
24 min
844
From Rodney King to Tyre Nichols
After three decades of outrage and activism, why is this still happening?
26 min
845
Who Doesn’t Have Classified Documents?
When everything is secret, then nothing is secret.
25 min
846
TBD | Did A.I. Write This Headline?
No, but Silicon Valley thinks it can.
31 min
847
TBD | Will Google Get Broken Up?
The tech giant's online ad business has printed money for more than a decade. The Justice Department is coming for it.
24 min
848
Election Deniers Shot at Her
A New Mexico state senator woke up to bullet holes in her daughter’s room.
18 min
849
The "Other NRA" Fighting Restaurant Workers
Why the food-service industry is in turmoil—and how it can survive.
28 min
850
Will the Debt Ceiling Cave in This Time?
A divided Congress dusts off an old fight—and for what?
22 min