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.
26
The FTC’s Merger Shakedown
The agency is trying to stop “censorship” on social platforms by keeping private companies from spending their ad dollars as they see fit.
21 min
27
The Other Iran-Israel War
Cyberattacks are much less explosive, but just as dangerous.
20 min
28
Airlines Are Selling Your Data to the Government
And they don’t want you to know.
22 min
29
We Deport. You Laugh?
Why the White House is memeing its mass deportations.
26 min
30
Summer Travel Tips To Not Get Detained
A guide for digital safety.
24 min
31
New DOGE, New Tricks
Elon may be gone, but Big Balls is staying on.
24 min
32
The Future of the Internet Hinges on Gail Slater
You may be asking, “Who?”
25 min
33
Is Palantir Building a Data Big Brother?
Palantir is laying the groundwork for a central government data system - one that sounds an awful lot like a surveillance state.
26 min
34
So Long, Elon
He came, he sawed, he conq—well, he left.
25 min
35
The Drone Wars
Russia and Ukraine are locked in an arms race that will change war forever.
22 min
36
Crypto's Big Win
Even if you've never touched crypto, you could be burned by the GENIUS Act.
26 min
37
Inside OpenAI's Empire
How the company convinced everyone that AGI is inevitable—and that they need to be the ones who control it.
34 min
38
You’ve Been Deepfaked
How AI generated revenge porn is spreading across the internet.
24 min
39
The Newarkification of Flying
Can we avoid an air travel future that is nasty, brutish, and severely delayed?
26 min
40
Online and Pregnant
A conversation with NYT's critic Amanda Hess about her new book.
30 min
41
Chatbots All The Way Down
Why AI companies are giving you the tech you want, but maybe not the tech you need.
22 min
42
How Elon Wields Power
You can’t run the country like a company. Musk is learning that the hard way.
30 min
43
Marc Andreessen’s New Deal
How the Silicon Valley kingmaker became a Washington mover and shaker.
22 min
44
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
45
The Immigration Data Dragnet
25 min
46
The Baby Monitor Trap
How a device designed to give parents some space demands that they pay more attention than ever.
25 min
47
The U.S. vs Meta
The U.S. alleges Meta has a social media monopoly. Meta claims that in 2025, that's simply not true.
20 min
48
TikTok: Somehow Also Affected by the Tariffs
Like everything else, TikTok finds itself subject to changing winds of one President Trump.
18 min
49
Trump Tariffs Hit Mushroom Kingdom
How Nintendo tried to save their console princess.
20 min
50
Why Wall Street Can’t Quit Elon
Your 401k loves him too.
29 min