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.
76
TikTok's Shady Deal with the U.S.
Inside the draft of a deal between ByteDance and the U.S. to keep TikTok in the states.
24 min
77
Digital Life After Death
Is the ghost of your online life destined to haunt your friends and family?
23 min
78
How Crypto Fails Sex Workers
Why sex workers turned to crypto, and how crypto turned on them.
22 min
79
Tech's Mask Off Moment
Richard Hanania exposes ugly truths about the power and politics of the tech industry.
26 min
80
Can Smart Guns Save Lives?
Is a gun only you can shoot really safer than a regular firearm?
26 min
81
Another Summer of COVID
COVID infections are up this summer - again. But it's hard to tell just how bad it is.
25 min
82
Tesla's Big Lie
Elon Musk’s most recent scandal may upend the way we think of an electric future.
26 min
83
America’s Downtown Ghost Towns
What happens to those offices when employees don’t “return to work?”
29 min
84
Washington vs. A.I.
The government's starting to focus on regulating A.I. But have they learned from previous efforts to keep an eye on the tech industry?
24 min
85
Why Tech Lays Women Off First
Rounds of layoffs have disproportionately affected women in tech—including those on maternity leave.
27 min
86
America’s $5 Trillion Grid Problem
The electric grid is the only thing making parts of America habitable this summer. It desperately needs a makeover.
24 min
87
America’s Killer Car Problem
U.S. infrastructure doesn't prioritize the lives of pedestrians. Why?
32 min
88
Will UPS Workers Join "Hot Strike Summer?"
It's not just Hollywood—UPS workers may soon be striking too.
29 min
89
Is Your Son Watching Andrew Tate?
How one of the biggest misogynists on the internet infected the mindset of a generation of teenage boys.
33 min
90
Threads vs. Twitter
If your rate limit has been exceeded one too many times, Mark Zuckerberg is here with an alternative.
24 min
91
Turning Your Face Into Your Ticket
Facial recognition tech at the airport is being sold as an opt-in convenience—for now.
20 min
92
The Never-Ending Cancer Drug Shortage
This problem isn't new—and it's completely preventable.
31 min
93
Can Ozempic Cure Addiction?
Some patients claim it "quiets their brain." Researchers have been studying its effect on addiction for years. Does it actually work?
26 min
94
The U.S. vs Amazon Prime
Does Amazon make canceling a Prime subscription unnecessarily difficult? The FTC thinks so.
22 min
95
The George Soros Succession
Life imitates prestige television for George Soros, his sons, and—because of their billions—politics across the world.
24 min
96
Reddit’s Rolling Blackouts
The site wants to monetize its data, but what’s it going to cost?
23 min
97
Are You Ready For A.I. Generated Actors?
The future actors are worried about may be waiting in the wings.
29 min
98
Is Crypto Toast?
Lawsuits against two of the biggest crypto exchanges show exactly what the SEC thinks of the industry.
30 min
99
Tech’s Newest Trillion Dollar Company
Nvidia’s valuation has ballooned off the back of A.I. hype, putting it in league with companies like Apple and Alphabet. Are they here to stay?
20 min
100
When Your Childhood Was Their Content
The first generation to grow up with their entire childhood documented on social media is coming of age—and wondering how to get some privacy.
24 min