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.
376
The COVAX Fantasy
How a plan to vaccinate the world came undone.
25 min
377
"Rampant Racism" at Tesla
What's happening inside Elon Musk's Fremont plant?
18 min
378
The Rise of a Fast Fashion Juggernaut
Shein isn’t just changing the fast fashion industry. It’s changing the way Americans shop.
15 min
379
How Safe is the Metaverse?
For early adopters, there’s a dark underbelly to Meta’s new world.
22 min
380
The Code That Runs Your Life
COBOL is 60 years old and still propping up the world’s financial and healthcare institutions.
17 min
381
Spotify’s Joe Rogan Mess
For the Swedish streaming service, the Experience has been a wakeup call.
20 min
382
The Downfall of One of the World's Biggest Brains
IBM’s Watson was supposed to transform health care. Last week, it was sold off for scrap.
21 min
383
Why Does Matt Damon Want Me to Buy Crypto?
A former teen star unpacks the hottest Hollywood hustle.
14 min
384
Where Are The Little Kids' Vaccines?
Why don’t they seem to be a priority for the government or the pharmaceutical companies, while parents are stressed to a breaking point?
20 min
385
The Aftermath of Elizabeth Holmes
Elizabeth Holmes was found guilty of defrauding investors this week in federal court.
23 min
386
Best of 2021: It’s Time to Talk About U.F.O.s
A new report shows that the government is changing its tune on unidentified aerial phenomena.
21 min
387
Best of 2021: Are We Getting COVID Testing All...
It may be time to reimagine how we use tests in the U.S.
26 min
388
The Carbon Capture Fantasy
The IPCC says we may need to pull carbon out of the atmosphere to keep the planet from overheating. That won’t be easy.
23 min
389
Who Online Justice Leaves Behind
The courts’ arrival in the modern era came with some unexpected tradeoffs.
15 min
390
Did @jack Ruin Twitter?
In the post-Dorsey era, Twitter will try to grow as large as its competitors. Is that a good thing?
14 min
391
Best of 2021: Inside the Subreddit That Blew Up...
How an irreverent band of Reddit investors cost Wall Street millions.
20 min
392
Space Junk! (And Space Wars?)
Is space a battlefront, a garbage dump, or both?
19 min
393
The Kid-Vaccine Holdouts
Many vaccinated parents aren’t ready to take their younger children in for a COVID shot. What’s holding them back?
21 min
394
How Schools Surveil Your Kids
A startup named GoGuardian is changing the way teachers monitor their students online.
18 min
395
Why Are Bots Buying Sneakers?
When algorithms start buying up products, there’s something wrong with the system.
22 min
396
Honey, I Sold the House to Zillow
Why are tech companies flipping houses?
16 min
397
The Return of Hacktivism
Massive data dumps from inside Twitch and Epik may signal a new era in the world of moralistic hacking.
19 min
398
Will the Facebook Whistleblower Make a Difference?
Frances Haugen thinks we’re talking about Facebook all wrong.
21 min
399
What Instagram Does to Teens
A leaked internal report concludes, “we make body issues worse for one in three teen girls.”
19 min
400
Are We Getting COVID Testing All Wrong?
It may be time to reimagine how we use tests in the U.S.
25 min