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.

News
826
TBD | A Tipping Point for Digital Tipping
Why exactly are self-service checkouts asking us to pay more?
28 min
827
TBD: Why Sports Are All in on Betting
The tech that turned sports gambling from an illegal vice to an inescapable cash cow.
24 min
828
North Carolina’s Rush to Restrict Abortion
Its time as a regional outlier in reproductive freedom ends with an overridden veto.
23 min
829
The Roots of Latino White Supremacy
When race cuts across ethnicity.
21 min
830
How Erdogan Stays in Power
What the Turkish president’s history tells us about the upcoming run-off election.
22 min
831
Trump Is Back. Is the Media Ready?
Making the right choice when it comes to good TV vs. good journalism.
23 min
832
TBD | Space After NASA
The passionate weirdos and hedge funds that want to boldly go where only governments have gone before.
30 min
833
TBD | Who’s Afraid of A.I.?
Real harm from A.I. doesn’t have to look like Skynet—it’s already happening.
29 min
834
Debt Ceiling Dinner Theater
Why does America have to keep having this fight?
21 min
835
The Border's New Normal
Can the Biden administration live up to the campaign’s rhetoric when Title 42 lifts?
23 min
836
Why Richard Glossip Has Escaped Execution Nine ...
Inside nearly a decade of delays, stays, and last meals.
24 min
837
Can DeSantis Beat Disney?
What may have started as bluster and rhetoric is now a matter for the courts.
24 min
838
TBD | What's Going on at Meta?
Market instability, bad bets and low morale are putting Silicon Valley's poster child in uncharted territory. Can it claw its way back?
29 min
839
TBD | What the Writers' Strike Is Really About
The WGA is fighting to get ahead of A.I.—and finally catch up with the streaming era.
27 min
840
Charles In Charge
A coronation is a good time to ask of the monarchy “Do we have to?”
21 min
841
America’s Rich History of Gun Control
How “originalist” arguments against gun control distort actual history.
21 min
842
What E. Jean Carroll Is Fighting For
And how Donald Trump’s defense team is trying to sway the jury.
24 min
843
War in Ukraine: The View Behind Closed Doors
The country is bracing for a spring counteroffensive, with still no end to the conflict in sight.
23 min
844
TBD | Is Your Uber Drivers' Pay Rigged?
Same ride. Same route. Different pay.
21 min
845
TBD | Stephen King on Why He's Not Paying Twitter
The horror writer dishes on his confusion about Twitter, Elon Musk, and more.
9 min
846
TBD | Stephen King Is Just as Confused About Bl...
A meltdown over its subscription service reveals Twitter’s wheels coming off.
30 min
847
Fighting for the Right to Die
Her state didn’t allow terminally-ill patients the choice to end their lives—but Vermont did.
23 min
848
The Ballad of Tucker Carlson
How Fox’s most popular host followed his audience - until he was fired.
21 min
849
Beyond Stand Your Ground
How “self-defense” laws create a shoot-first mentality.
23 min
850
Why Evan Gershkovich Went to Russia
His latest appeal was rejected. What happens now?
22 min