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.
526
Embracing Deplorable Status
A conversation with the Daily Beast’s Will Sommer on QAnon, Pizzagate, and why so many Trump supporters are falling for online conspiracy theories.
43 min
527
Flying Cars Are Only A Few Years Away
The former head of “urban aviation” at Uber says they’re coming--the question is how soon.
37 min
528
This Is How Fake News Spreads
The press has to cover "fake news." That helps it take hold.
38 min
529
How a Top Twitter Exec Tackles Trolls
Vijaya Gadde explains why harassers must go, but conspiracy theorists can stay.
46 min
530
The Surveillance State's Eyes at the U.S. Border
29 min
531
The Supreme Court in the Cyber Age
Will this new Supreme Court Justice also be scared of the internet?
37 min
532
Tech Workers Fight Back
How The Tech Workers Coalition Organizes Employees To Demand Better.
39 min
533
Should Tech Companies Take a Stand Against Fami...
Big Tech came out strong against the travel ban. Will it fight as hard to end family separation at the border?
27 min
534
The Failed Promise of the Gig Economy
Author Sarah Kessler explains how the “future of work” has helped computer programmers—and failed those who need it most.
35 min
535
Naomi Klein on Disaster Capitalism in Puerto Rico.
People want power, not just electricity.
42 min
536
Bloody Money and Blind Investors
How Theranos Happened.
38 min
537
Google’s Chokehold on the Web
A Yelp executive explains his yearslong battle with the internet giant over how it ranks your search results.
37 min
538
Welcome to the Swamp
A former DoJ antitrust official says the problems with the AT&T/Time Warner merger run much deeper than Michael Cohen.
49 min
539
Baby, You Can Self-Drive My Car
Are Self-Driving Cars Really Safer Than Human Drivers? Not yet, says a professor who builds them.
38 min
540
Why an E-Waste Recycler Is Going to Prison
“I’m not a criminal,” insists Eric Lundgren, who has devoted his life to salvaging used electronics.
44 min
541
The Cost of Online Immunity
The Surprising Controversy Behind a Law to Fight Online Sex Trafficking.
49 min
542
What If Facebook Used Data For Black Lives?
The Founder of Data 4 Black Lives on how tech companies can use their data as a tool of oppression—or a force for racial justice.
42 min
543
What Mark Zuckerberg Didn’t Share
Facebook’s CEO played dumb with Congress. It could come back to bite him.
32 min
544
Congress Called. They Want Our Data Back.
A preview of the Mark Zuckerberg hearings with some of the lawmakers who will be questioning him.
30 min
545
Alexa, How Do You Really Work?
The man in charge of Amazon’s voice assistant thinks users’ privacy concerns are off-base.
40 min
546
Facebook’s Deepwater Horizon
Inside the data leak that let Cambridge Analytica game our neuroses for Donald Trump.
48 min
547
The Tech That Draws Your District
An expert on gerrymandering explains the tech behind the mapmaking that helped the GOP take control of Congress.
24 min
548
What Keeps Facebook Up at Night
The head of Facebook’s news feed on Myanmar’s deadly crisis, the challenge of local news, and the downsides of transparency.
39 min
549
Nietzsche with a 3D Printer
Meet the DIY weapons maker who says gun control is “a fantasy.”
45 min
550
“You Have to Be Heard”
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn says the fight for a free and open internet isn’t over.
43 min