What Next | Daily News and Analysis

The problem with the news right now? It’s everywhere. And each day, it can feel like we’re all just mindlessly scrolling. It’s why we created What Next. This short daily show is here to help you make sense of things. When the news feels overwhelming, we’re here to help you answer: What next? Look for new episodes every weekday morning.


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Daily News
News Commentary
Politics
51
Trans and Shut Out in Trump’s America
Clinics for trans youth are closing, incorrect passports have been issued, and trans people are having to make emergency health care plans, even in blue states.
25 min
52
Why The Shelves Aren't Empty (Yet)
It doesn’t mean the economy’s doing all that great.
27 min
53
TBD | Dupes!
Is your skincare/skirt/vacation island as good as the real thing?
29 min
54
TBD | A Colbert Report
How Trump did (and didn't) get Stephen Colbert cancelled.
21 min
55
He Says Gaza Is a Genocide
Why an Israeli-American Holocaust scholar felt he had to speak up.
28 min
56
How Dead Is the Department of Education?
The federal agency can’t be abolished with the stroke of a pen. But it can be put on the austerity path to oblivion.
21 min
57
On Epstein, Democrats Go Low
It’s time to get in the muck.
27 min
58
Getting Anti-Vaxxers To Roll Up Their Sleeves
Those who won’t listen to health officials did listen to their neighbors and classmates.
27 min
59
TBD | When Bots Go Nazi
Grok’s antisemitic posting spree was a glimpse of an unregulated AI future.
25 min
60
Bonus: A Muslim, a Dad, an American
Aymann Ismail stops in to talk about his new book—and a certain mayoral race.
3 min
61
TBD | How The Epstein Files Blew Up MAGAworld
Live by the conspiracy, die by the conspiracy.
25 min
62
Can Trump Bully Russia?
Elon Musk isn’t the only one to fall from Trump’s good graces.
22 min
63
Deported—To a Country You've Never Been To
The Trump administration is using a group of immigrants with criminal convictions as a test case to erode basic rights for everyone.
24 min
64
Behind the Democrats’ Losing Strategy
The opposition party needs to shake off the old campaign plans—and the strategists—of the 90s.
25 min
65
Who Is Trump Promoting For Life?
The rush to stock the federal judiciary with MAGA loyalists.
24 min
66
TBD | When A.I. is Sycophantic
Chatbots want to please - but it’s pushing some into dark places.
19 min
67
TBD | Hot Measles Summer
Why the next few months are crucial for containing the outbreak.
23 min
68
Stage Managing Sex in Hollywood
The position has experienced a boom in the years after #MeToo—but have they really changed Hollywood?
27 min
69
Was the Flash Flooding in Texas Preventable?
The world we’ve been building for isn’t the world we’ll be living in.
21 min
70
Is Trump Running the Fugitive Slave Act Playbook?
The lessons and warnings from a law that failed to avert the Civil War.
20 min
71
The Spectacle of “Alligator Alcatraz” Is the Point
How the new immigration detention facility in Florida became a reality in just over a week.
23 min
72
TBD | How A.I. Lost (and Won) the Big Beautiful...
With a little help from country music.
24 min
73
Bonus: When the Internet Stopped Being Fun
Being online sucks. Let’s touch grass.
4 min
74
TBD | 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
75
One Big Deeply Unpopular Bill
What this sweeping and expensive piece of legislation could cost you.
25 min