What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the...

Every Friday, 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.

Technology
Tech News
Business News
101
Will A.I. Close Off the Internet?
As A.I. companies are sucking up as much data as they can to train their systems, social platforms are starting to put their most valuable resource behind a paywall.
22 min
102
Will Banning Social Media Help Kids?
What the science says about Utah’s social media ban for teens.
29 min
103
How Gamers Leaked Classified Pentagon Docs
How highly classified documents from the Pentagon ended up in a small Discord server.
30 min
104
Why Flying Is So Bad Now
A series of near misses, antiquated tech and a shortage of airline employees are exposing the cracks in our air travel system.
28 min
105
Wait, TikTok Has a Sister App?
While TikTok is in Washington’s crosshairs, Bytedance has been quietly pushing out Lemon8, a new social media app that promises to marry Instagram and Pinterest. Will it stick?
24 min
106
Seeking Asylum Via App
CBP’s glitchy smartphone app leaves desperate people searching for instructions, wifi and even phones to use it.
33 min
107
When A.I. Denies Your Health Care
A predictive algorithm tucked into Medicare Advantage plans is routinely denying coverage for patients, leaving them with little recourse.
26 min
108
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Woes
Cost cutting, regulators, and Elon’s obsession with Twitter have cast doubt on Tesla’s promise of a fully autonomous vehicle.
29 min
109
The Case Against TikTok
After years of negotiations, and a testy hearing, the government seems set to ban it.
32 min
110
When A.I. Steals Your Voice
Your mom hears you calling in distress, but it’s not really you.
22 min
111
Where Is Silicon Valley Going to Bank Now?
The easiest money is gone for the industry.
25 min
112
Would You Let A.I. Date For You?
Would your personal profile benefit from an impersonal touch?
26 min
113
When Meta Tells Law Enforcement About Your Abor...
What does Big Tech need to do to protect users in Post-Roe America?
22 min
114
The Hollywood Weight Loss Wonder Drug
Are diabetics competing with celebs for Ozempic?
28 min
115
What Would Convince a Lab Leak Skeptic?
Why one virologist doesn’t find the Department of Energy’s assessment convincing.
29 min
116
Is a 25-Year-Old’s Brain Mature?
How the new science of brain development isn’t just changing policy, but how we live.
21 min
117
Why A.I. Says the Darndest Things
Microsoft is working out the kinks of their chatbot in real time, and we're the guinea pigs.
25 min
118
The Baby-Sleep Industrial Complex
Is the Snoo a life-saving necessity, or $1700 luxury item for bougie babies?
28 min
119
What Made the Balloon Drama Pop Off?
Blown cover or just blown off course?
32 min
120
Contraband Tech Behind Bars
Why prisoners risk the consequences to have a cell phone.
28 min
121
Why Ban TikTok?
If the U.S. wants to protect users, there are better options.
24 min
122
Did a Twentysomething Con America’s Biggest Bank?
How the start-up “Frank” went from a shiny new acquisition to “a huge mistake” for JP Morgan Chase.
29 min
123
How COVID Changes Our Immune Systems
The data doesn't tell the whole story.
25 min
124
Did A.I. Write This Headline?
No, but Silicon Valley thinks it can.
31 min
125
Will Google Get Broken Up?
The tech giant's online ad business has printed money for more than a decade. The Justice Department is coming for it.
24 min