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
Inside the Goonerverse
A very specific (NSFW) online world.
26 min
2
Did The Trump Administration Censor Speech?
Anti-ICE posts and apps flourished online. The Trump administration had them taken down.
28 min
3
The AWS Outage is Only the Beginning
Why a mesh of cloud services and undersea cables make for a very delicate web.
28 min
4
Why Bands Are Leaving Spotify
Xiu Xiu explains their decision to leave the streaming platform following Daniel Ek's investments in defense tech.
17 min
5
Inside the MAGA Content Mill
How to make a city full of inflatable frog suits look like it needs the National Guard.
23 min
6
A.I. for Cops
Silicon Valley wants your police department to use artificial intelligence. Do you?
24 min
7
The People Suing ICE
21 min
8
Saudi Arabia Gets into EA’s Games
What state investment in the video game company means for the industry.
20 min
9
Who Owns TikTok Now?
25 min
10
Trapped in a Tesla
Teslas are trapping passengers inside after crashes. Regulators are starting to notice.
24 min
11
How Trump Got Obsessed with Autism
Thanks to RFK Jr., Trump can capitalize on an issue he’s cared about for decades.
28 min
12
Is A.I. Taking Your Job?
For young workers, it might be time to worry.
27 min
13
The Discourse | TikTok Ban: The Final Loop?
4 min
14
A Very Online Shooter
The memes that came before, and the memes that were made after.
32 min
15
Her Daughter Killed Herself. Then She Saw the C...
Should A.I. have warned someone?
31 min
16
You Can't Escape the Charlie Kirk Video
Content moderation is dead, algorithms are designed to serve you horrific videos - is this the future of life online?
32 min
17
End of an Electric Avenue
Are Americans ready and willing to pay full-price for an electric vehicle?
20 min
18
Is the A.I. Bubble Bursting?
An “A.I. hater” makes the case.
31 min
19
A24 Meets A.I.
Risk alienating your “auteurs”—or risk being left behind?
22 min
20
The Great Celebrity Spotify Playlist Hack
What the “Panama Playlists” revealed, other than JD Vance’s taste.
23 min
21
Trump Vs. Cancer Research
Wait, it’s ‘Vs. Cancer,’ right? No? Wow.
26 min
22
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
23
Down the Text-Scam Rabbit Hole
Ever wondered what happens if you accept one of those SPAM-text job offers?
29 min
24
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
25
Here Comes the A.I. Music Slop
No singer, no songwriter, all slop…but paid equally.
26 min