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
New DOGE, New Tricks
Elon may be gone, but Big Balls is staying on.
24 min
27
The Future of the Internet Hinges on Gail Slater
You may be asking, “Who?”
25 min
28
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
29
So Long, Elon
He came, he sawed, he conq—well, he left.
25 min
30
The Drone Wars
Russia and Ukraine are locked in an arms race that will change war forever.
22 min
31
Crypto's Big Win
Even if you've never touched crypto, you could be burned by the GENIUS Act.
26 min
32
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
33
You’ve Been Deepfaked
How AI generated revenge porn is spreading across the internet.
24 min
34
The Newarkification of Flying
Can we avoid an air travel future that is nasty, brutish, and severely delayed?
26 min
35
Online and Pregnant
A conversation with NYT's critic Amanda Hess about her new book.
30 min
36
Chatbots All The Way Down
Why AI companies are giving you the tech you want, but maybe not the tech you need.
22 min
37
How Elon Wields Power
You can’t run the country like a company. Musk is learning that the hard way.
30 min
38
Marc Andreessen’s New Deal
How the Silicon Valley kingmaker became a Washington mover and shaker.
22 min
39
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
40
The Immigration Data Dragnet
25 min
41
The Baby Monitor Trap
How a device designed to give parents some space demands that they pay more attention than ever.
25 min
42
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
43
TikTok: Somehow Also Affected by the Tariffs
Like everything else, TikTok finds itself subject to changing winds of one President Trump.
18 min
44
Trump Tariffs Hit Mushroom Kingdom
How Nintendo tried to save their console princess.
20 min
45
Why Wall Street Can’t Quit Elon
Your 401k loves him too.
29 min
46
Where DOGE Is Taking Us
What happens when you run the government like how Elon Musk runs a business?
24 min
47
This Is Your Brain On Ketamine
And Silicon Valley's too.
22 min
48
We Made a Memecoin
Because—how hard could it be?
27 min
49
Bezos 2.0
How the Amazon founder went from Trump critic to Trump donor.
25 min
50
Trump's War on Scientific Research
Cutting NIH grants–even temporarily–could have repercussions for years to come.
26 min