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.
Episodes
April 29, 2025 • 28 mins
At his first press conference as head of the Department of Health and Human Services, RFK Jr. gave a glimpse of what the department will look like under his leadership: a smaller overall budget, relitigating settled scientific questions.
Guest: Kiera Butler, senior editor and reporter at Mother Jones and author of Raise: What 4-H Teaches Seven Million Kids and How Its Lessons Could Change Food and Farming Forever.
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April 28, 2025 • 33 mins
The Supreme Court is hearing two cases this month regarding religion in public schools that seem to contradict each other—a public school in Maryland where parents claim books with LGBTQ characters or themes are indoctrination, and a Catholic charter school in Oklahoma arguing it has the right to state funding. Can the court’s religion-friendly majority give them both what they want without falling afoul of the First Amendment?
Gu...
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April 27, 2025 • 29 mins
The Trump administration has already begun cutting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which includes the U.S. National Weather Service. What’s the advantage to understanding the weather less?
Guest: Daniel Swain, weather and climate scientist with the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.
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April 25, 2025 • 31 mins
One of DOGE’s goals is to get government data out of “silos” and make it more easily shared across departments. But there are good reasons for some data to be kept apart.
Guest: Vittoria Elliot, WIRED reporter covering platforms and power.
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April 24, 2025 • 30 mins
The Trump administration’s actions on immigration and firing the federal workforce have drawn condemnation from all sorts of unions—from building trades to graduate students. What happens when labor speaks as one?
Guest: Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL–CIO.
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April 23, 2025 • 30 mins
Why Trump wants to ouster his own appointee, Jerome Powell, from the Fed chair—and why the rest of the world is rooting for Powell to stay put.
Guest: Liz Hoffman, Semafor’s business and finance editor, host of Semafor’s World Economy Summit, and author of Crash Landing: The Inside Story of How the World’s Biggest Companies Survived an Economy on the Brink.
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April 22, 2025 • 30 mins
Preaching for empathy and compassion, Pope Francis was at times seen as an agent of dramatic change in the Catholic Church. Did he succeed? Is that even an answerable question before the world knows his successor?
Guest: David Gibson, director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University
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April 21, 2025 • 29 mins
Some of the nation’s biggest law firms have found themselves in Trump’s crosshairs and have pledged pro-bono legal service to maintain their security clearances and access to government buildings. Others, however, are trying to fight back.
Guest: Ankush Khardori, attorney and former federal prosecutor in the US Justice Department.
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April 20, 2025 • 31 mins
If setting up a baby monitor in the room with your sleeping kids doesn’t allow you to pop out and enjoy the cruise ship, what are they actually good for?
Guest: Stephanie Murray, writer for The Atlantic, the newsletter Family Stuff, who wrote “You’re on Vacation. You Leave Your Kid in Your Hotel Room With a Baby Monitor. What Could Go Wrong?” for Slate.
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April 18, 2025 • 27 mins
This week, the FTC and Meta began a trial to determine if—by adding Instagram and WhatsApp to its portfolio with Facebook over a decade ago—the company became a monopoly in social media. If Meta loses, it could be forced to split up, losing Instagram—and its substantial ad revenue.
Guest: Paresh Dave, senior writer at WIRED.
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April 17, 2025 • 31 mins
In an ongoing opioid epidemic, hospitals drug testing new mothers and their babies has an intuitive logic. But applied unequally, rife with false positives, and prone to disrupting those important early weeks, is it a best practice?
Guest: Shoshana Walter, investigative reporter for The Marshall Project
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April 16, 2025 • 30 mins
In February, Donald Trump and Maine Governor Janet Mills got into a spat over Trump’s executive order on trans athletes, that ended with both parties tersely agreeing to meet in court. Since then, the Trump administration seems to be trying to make an example of the state—cutting off federal funding where it can.
Guest: Callie Ferguson, investigative reporter for the Bangor Daily News.
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April 15, 2025 • 31 mins
On April 7, the Treasury Department and Department of Homeland Security reached an agreement to allow ICE to use confidential tax information to locate undocumented immigrants. Though this group generally pays taxes at a higher rate than comparable U.S. citizens, advocates warn that the IRS-ICE team-up could have a chilling effect. They say it’s likely to endanger the $66 billion in federal tax revenue undocumented immigrants are e...
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April 14, 2025 • 30 mins
Despite what Trump said on the campaign trail, his administration seems to be working right out of Project 2025, where the first goal is to “Restore the family as the centerpiece of American life—and protect our children.” What does this mean in action? It starts with a very specific type of “family.”
Guest: David Graham, Atlantic staff writer and author of the forthcoming book, The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America.
...
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April 13, 2025 • 25 mins
TikTok was on the verge of being sold to a non-Chinese company when Trump rolled out his new tariff plans. Now everything is thrown into uncertainty and the company has until mid-June to find another buyer—or be banned in the United States.
Guest: Sapna Maheshwari, New York Times reporter covering TikTok, technology and emerging media companies.
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April 11, 2025 • 27 mins
The same day Nintendo was officially introducing its latest console, Donald Trump was announcing his new global tariff plan. As a result, gamers were treated to an early preview of what a world bound up in tariffs would look like. Spoiler: It’ll probably cost you a lot more.
Guest: Jason Koebler, a co-founder of 404 Media
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April 10, 2025 • 29 mins
Thousands of “Hands Off!” protestors took to the street over the weekend. While it’s clear they were marching against the actions of Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, what would “hands off” look like? If it’s removing these guys from office, why not tell the people with the power to do it?
Guest: Gabe Garbowit, former Senate staffer, current organizer at citizensimpeachment.com
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April 9, 2025 • 29 mins
Jonathan Majors was an actor on the rise—indie credits, prestige television, a Spike Lee joint, a superhero film. But all of that looked like it was over when Majors was found guilty of assault and harassment in 2023.
Now Majors is back on the promotional circuit for the film “Magazine Dreams.” Is this evidence of the #MeToo movement’s waning power, or is it more of the same from an industry that’s always eager for a man’s redem...
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April 8, 2025 • 33 mins
While Egypt and the Gulf States submit proposals to rebuild Gaza, Israel is moving forward with President Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the war rages on, and Gazans have been struggling to access essentials like food and medical supplies.
Guest: Aya Batrawy, NPR international correspondent based in Dubai.
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April 7, 2025 • 32 mins
Maybe Trump doesn’t care if the economy tanks—maybe he believes he can play it all to his advantage. And maybe, through a lot of pain, this is the only way America’s going to learn its lesson.
Guest: Jonathan Last, editor of The Bulwark
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