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
2025: The Meme of the Year
22 min
2
Is the A.I. Bubble Bursting? | 2025 in Review
An “A.I. hater” makes the case.
34 min
3
We Made a Memecoin | 2025 in Review
Because—how hard could it be?
31 min
4
Data Center Space Race
Elon is eyeing two birds with one IPO.
22 min
5
Whole Shopping List
You can’t buy Tide PODS at Whole Foods. Amazon is trying to fix that.
20 min
6
Ready for Chatbot Canvassers?
Democracy dies in Chatbots.
26 min
7
ChatGOP?
How AI is splitting the MAGA coalition.
19 min
8
The AI & Crypto Czar’s Conflicts
David Sacks is making policy in Washington. And it benefits his firm.
22 min
9
If You Give A.I. a Nuke
Don’t worry. Computers can’t decide to drop a bomb. Yet.
24 min
10
Rebroadcast: Dupes!
Is your skincare/skirt/vacation island as good as the real thing?
30 min
11
The Surveillance Interstate
ICE is watching how and where you drive.
27 min
12
Crypto Keeps Criming
Even with a crypto president, these guys can’t stop doing shady stuff.
21 min
13
How Meta Profits Off Fraud
There’s a big financial incentive for Facebook and Instagram to tolerate scammers.
28 min
14
Data Centers on the Ballot
A.I. companies are leading the data-center boom. Voters seem less enthused.
21 min
15
Why Tesla Is Paying Elon a Trillion Bucks
Post-DOGE, Musk’s empire is looking a little shaky, if still extremely lucrative for the man himself.
27 min
16
The Nick Fuentes Problem
What’s the difference between being a party with Nazis and being in a Nazi party?
21 min
17
Why Trump Keeps Pardoning Crypto Criminals
There’s nothing cryptic about the president’s motivation.
27 min
18
Inside the Goonerverse
A very specific (NSFW) online world.
26 min
19
Did The Trump Administration Censor Speech?
Anti-ICE posts and apps flourished online. The Trump administration had them taken down.
28 min
20
The AWS Outage is Only the Beginning
Why a mesh of cloud services and undersea cables make for a very delicate web.
28 min
21
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
22
Inside the MAGA Content Mill
How to make a city full of inflatable frog suits look like it needs the National Guard.
23 min
23
A.I. for Cops
Silicon Valley wants your police department to use artificial intelligence. Do you?
24 min
24
The People Suing ICE
21 min
25
Saudi Arabia Gets into EA’s Games
What state investment in the video game company means for the industry.
20 min