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.
1
End of an Electric Avenue
Are Americans ready and willing to pay full-price for an electric vehicle?
20 min
2
Is the A.I. Bubble Bursting?
An “A.I. hater” makes the case.
31 min
3
A24 Meets A.I.
Risk alienating your “auteurs”—or risk being left behind?
22 min
4
The Great Celebrity Spotify Playlist Hack
What the “Panama Playlists” revealed, other than JD Vance’s taste.
23 min
5
Trump Vs. Cancer Research
Wait, it’s ‘Vs. Cancer,’ right? No? Wow.
26 min
6
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
7
Down the Text-Scam Rabbit Hole
Ever wondered what happens if you accept one of those SPAM-text job offers?
29 min
8
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
9
Here Comes the A.I. Music Slop
No singer, no songwriter, all slop…but paid equally.
26 min
10
What Happened After Meta Fired Its Fact-Checkers
The truth is, Zuckerberg’s new system isn’t working very well.
25 min
11
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
12
The Death of an Online Whisper Network
Your safety? There isn’t an app for that.
25 min
13
Dupes!
Is your skincare/skirt/vacation island as good as the real thing?
29 min
14
A Colbert Report
How Trump did (and didn't) get Stephen Colbert cancelled.
21 min
15
When Bots Go Nazi
Grok’s antisemitic posting spree was a glimpse of an unregulated AI future.
25 min
16
How The Epstein Files Blew Up MAGAworld
Live by the conspiracy, die by the conspiracy.
25 min
17
When A.I. is Sycophantic
Chatbots want to please - but it’s pushing some into dark places.
19 min
18
Hot Measles Summer
Why the next few months are crucial for containing the outbreak.
23 min
19
How A.I. Lost (and Won) the Big Beautiful Debate
With a little help from country music.
24 min
20
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
21
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
22
The Other Iran-Israel War
Cyberattacks are much less explosive, but just as dangerous.
20 min
23
Airlines Are Selling Your Data to the Government
And they don’t want you to know.
22 min
24
We Deport. You Laugh?
Why the White House is memeing its mass deportations.
26 min
25
Summer Travel Tips To Not Get Detained
A guide for digital safety.
24 min