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 Discourse | TikTok Ban: The Final Loop?
4 min
27
A Very Online Shooter
The memes that came before, and the memes that were made after.
32 min
28
Her Daughter Killed Herself. Then She Saw the C...
Should A.I. have warned someone?
31 min
29
You Can't Escape the Charlie Kirk Video
Content moderation is dead, algorithms are designed to serve you horrific videos - is this the future of life online?
32 min
30
End of an Electric Avenue
Are Americans ready and willing to pay full-price for an electric vehicle?
20 min
31
Is the A.I. Bubble Bursting?
An “A.I. hater” makes the case.
31 min
32
A24 Meets A.I.
Risk alienating your “auteurs”—or risk being left behind?
22 min
33
The Great Celebrity Spotify Playlist Hack
What the “Panama Playlists” revealed, other than JD Vance’s taste.
23 min
34
Trump Vs. Cancer Research
Wait, it’s ‘Vs. Cancer,’ right? No? Wow.
26 min
35
The CDC Under Fire
A widespread suspicion of public health—something HHS head RFK Jr. does nothing to tamp down—has metastasized into something much more dangerous.
21 min
36
Down the Text-Scam Rabbit Hole
Ever wondered what happens if you accept one of those SPAM-text job offers?
29 min
37
Trump Dips into NVIDIA’s Chips
Trump takes a page from China’s book of “state capitalism” with a dubiously legal export fee.
23 min
38
Here Comes the A.I. Music Slop
No singer, no songwriter, all slop…but paid equally.
26 min
39
What Happened After Meta Fired Its Fact-Checkers
The truth is, Zuckerberg’s new system isn’t working very well.
25 min
40
The A.I. Data Center Push That Wasn't
The Trump administration touted Stargate as a 500 billion dollar investment in American data centers. So far, it hasn't panned out.
24 min
41
The Death of an Online Whisper Network
Your safety? There isn’t an app for that.
25 min
42
Dupes!
Is your skincare/skirt/vacation island as good as the real thing?
29 min
43
A Colbert Report
How Trump did (and didn't) get Stephen Colbert cancelled.
21 min
44
When Bots Go Nazi
Grok’s antisemitic posting spree was a glimpse of an unregulated AI future.
25 min
45
How The Epstein Files Blew Up MAGAworld
Live by the conspiracy, die by the conspiracy.
25 min
46
When A.I. is Sycophantic
Chatbots want to please - but it’s pushing some into dark places.
19 min
47
Hot Measles Summer
Why the next few months are crucial for containing the outbreak.
23 min
48
How A.I. Lost (and Won) the Big Beautiful Debate
With a little help from country music.
24 min
49
Rerun: 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
50
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