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. Get more of What Next with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of What Next and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or visit slate.com/whatnextplus for access wherever you listen.
Episodes
October 10, 2025 • 25 mins
Though ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services denied their Freedom of Information Act requests, these journalists aren’t giving up without a fight—not until they get their hands on a document that outlines how much information Medicaid is sharing with ICE.
Guest: Joseph Cox, cofounder of 404 Media.
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October 9, 2025 • 26 mins
ICE needs more agents to meet Trump’s promised deportation numbers. But is loosening standards and shortening training time to get more agents on the street a good idea, when ICE’s work is becoming more controversial, confrontational, and dangerous?
Guest: Robert Klemko, Washington Post reporter covering policing and criminal justice reform.
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October 8, 2025 • 30 mins
It’s clear President Trump wants to send troops to Portland, Oregon. But it’s not clear why—especially to people who live there.
Guests:
Isaac Stanley-Becker, staff writer for The Atlantic.
Elizabeth Lopatto, senior reporter at The Verge.
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October 7, 2025 • 29 mins
It’s been two years since Hamas attacked Israel and set off a devastating war. Since then, talks have fallen apart over and over again. Trump says – this time is different. But should anyone believe him?
Guest: Yair Rosenberg, staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of Deep Shtetl, a newsletter about the intersection of politics, culture, and religion.
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October 6, 2025 • 30 mins
The Supreme Court is back in session, and conservative controlled body again has a docket full of cases that look like 6-3 wins for the Trump agenda.
Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, co-host of Amicus, and senior writer covering courts and the law for Slate.
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October 5, 2025 • 23 mins
How one of the largest video game companies was bought for $55 billion by a group that includes Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and Jared Kushner.
Guest: Jason Schreier, Bloomberg reporter
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October 3, 2025 • 28 mins
TikTok exploded to popularity not by giving users what they asked for—but by figuring out what users really were interested in, and serving that.
What happens to this algorithm if Bytedance cedes control of it to the U.S.?
Guest: Emily Baker White, senior writer at Forbes and the author of Every Screen on the Planet: The War Over TikTok
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October 2, 2025 • 33 mins
Donald Trump’s theory of a government shutdown was that it would give him more power to fire federal employees, and cut benefits and healthcare. Of course, if you claim to be an all-powerful executive, aren’t people going to conclude that the shutdown is your fault?
Guest: David Dayen, executive editor of the American Prospect.
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October 1, 2025 • 30 mins
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth summoned the military’s top brass from all over the world for a meeting to announce…they need to shave and get in shape? And then Trump followed with a speech about how he wants to deploy them in American cities and also Joe Biden sucks. Good talk, everybody.
Guest: Idrees Ali, national security correspondent for Reuters.
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September 30, 2025 • 28 mins
The president’s case against James Comey doesn’t look very strong to outside legal observers. But even the most spurious accusation against the former head of the FBI would matter when it comes from the sitting president.
Guest: Ankush Khardori, senior writer for POLITICO Magazine and former federal prosecutor in the US Justice Department.
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September 29, 2025 • 28 mins
With Gaza cut off from food and aid, activists have taken matters into their own hands, and are attempting to circumvent Israel’s blockade themselves via the Mediterranean.
Guest: Zue Jernstedt, member of About Face: Veterans Against the War and participant on the Veterans Boat of the Global Sumud Flotilla.
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September 28, 2025 • 27 mins
When you’re getting out of an Uber, Tesla’s unintuitive door handle can embarrass you. In an emergency, getting out of the car quickly can be the difference between life and death.
Guest: Dana Hull, Bloomberg News reporter covering Tesla and Elon Musk
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September 26, 2025 • 4 mins
The government runs out of money next Tuesday. Trump’s threatened “mass firings” if it shuts down. Earlier this year, Democrats played ball. But now, one Democratic Senator explains why he’s approaching things differently.
Guest: Chris Van Hollen, Democratic Senator from Maryland.
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September 26, 2025 • 32 mins
Why would Donald Trump rush to announce that Tylenol is a potential cause of autism, a claim unsupported by the research?
Guest: Dan Diamond, White House reporter for the Washington Post.
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September 25, 2025 • 27 mins
The First Amendment prohibits Congress from making laws that abridge freedom of speech or of the press, but in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, it’s clear that it doesn’t take a law to attack those rights.
Guest: Karen Attiah, former columnist for the Washington Post and former editor of the Post’s Global Opinions section.
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September 24, 2025 • 33 mins
Over three different trips during the war, this doctor saw the chaos of blast injuries in northern Gaza give way to gunshot wounds suffered at aid-distribution sites in the south.
Guest: Dr. Mohammed "Adeel" Khaleel, minimally invasive and complex spinal surgeon with Texas Metroplex Institute for Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Surgery.
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September 23, 2025 • 31 mins
American agriculture relies on foreign workers, and they rely on the H-2A visa program to work legally in the United States. Despite a growing number of people applying for visa spots, the Trump administration has proposed cutting the division of the Department of Labor that enforces H-2A rules, leaving workers to choose between being vulnerable to ICE or to exploitation.
Guest: Max Blau, ProPublica reporter covering health care,...
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September 22, 2025 • 28 mins
Media giants like Paramount and Disney have been swift to capitulate to the Trump administration and the tenacious head of the FCC, Brendan Carr. Why new ownership from the likes of the Ellisons is likely to make things worse.
Guest: Nitish Pahwa, staff writer for business and tech at Slate.
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September 21, 2025 • 31 mins
If you’re hunting for a job, the odds are increasingly likely you’ll have an interview with an artificial intelligence “recruiter.” And why not? It’s also increasingly likely you’ll be working with A.I. anyway.
Guest: Danielle Abril, technology-in-the-workplace reporter for the Washington Post.
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September 19, 2025 • 4 mins
TikTok—which was supposed to be banned again on Wednesday but, again, isn’t—may be legal once more. The Trump administration says it’s meeting with Xi Jinping Friday to finalize the agreement, which may involve—get this—a wealthy Trump-supporting tech mogul.
Guest: Nitish Pahwa, staff writer for business and tech at Slate.
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