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.
601
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
602
Naomi Klein on Disaster Capitalism in Puerto Rico.
People want power, not just electricity.
42 min
603
Bloody Money and Blind Investors
How Theranos Happened.
38 min
604
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
605
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
606
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
607
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
608
The Cost of Online Immunity
The Surprising Controversy Behind a Law to Fight Online Sex Trafficking.
49 min
609
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
610
What Mark Zuckerberg Didn’t Share
Facebook’s CEO played dumb with Congress. It could come back to bite him.
32 min
611
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
612
Alexa, How Do You Really Work?
The man in charge of Amazon’s voice assistant thinks users’ privacy concerns are off-base.
40 min
613
Facebook’s Deepwater Horizon
Inside the data leak that let Cambridge Analytica game our neuroses for Donald Trump.
48 min
614
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
615
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
616
Nietzsche with a 3D Printer
Meet the DIY weapons maker who says gun control is “a fantasy.”
45 min
617
“You Have to Be Heard”
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn says the fight for a free and open internet isn’t over.
43 min
618
How Russian Trolls Went Local
A Deep Dive Into How Russia Gamed Facebook
35 min
619
“Like” Is Too Simple an Emotion
The inventor of Facebook’s iconic button reflects on technology’s unintended consequences.
42 min
620
FISA and Fury
National security expert Marcy Wheeler explains the hypocrisy behind the Nunes Memo
40 min
621
Through The Revolving Door Between Facebook and...
A Former Facebook Employee Says Russia Used Its Ad Tools As Designed
34 min
622
Dudebros Everyday
Journalist Taylor Lorenz takes us inside the cultish, male-dominated world of teen YouTube stars and how they make millions
30 min
623
The Problem With Facebook Is Facebook
Why Facebook and “Meaningful Interactions” Don’t Mix
33 min
624
Live from CES: Our Dumb "Smart" Future
How many laundry folding robots do we really need?
31 min
625
Science Fiction by ABBA
Batterygate, the gig economy, and science-fiction clichés
33 min