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Episodes
July 27, 2025 • 36 mins
There’s an entire economy devoted to seeing what products are trending—clothing, skin care, even Greek Islands—and delivering you a cheaper knock-off to buy.
Guest: Mia Sato, reporter for The Verge
Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sig...
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July 26, 2025 • 46 mins
Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay investigate the disappearance of SylvanianDrama. The creator behind the account gained millions of followers for role-playing salacious narratives with the fuzzy Calico Critters children’s toys, but a copyright lawsuit from the brand itself has threatened the future of the account. Fans of SylvanianDrama are in an uproar, but the story isn’t black and white. Instead, it’s a warning for all of us about h...
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July 25, 2025 • 66 mins
When Kendrick Lamar took the Super Bowl halftime stage in 2025 and had the stadium chanting along to “Not Like Us,” it was clear: Diss tracks had gone stratospheric.
The Kendrick vs. Drake beef echoes legendary rap rivalries like Biggie vs. Tupac and Jay-Z vs. Nas—but diss tracks stretch back through a century of American pop to the Tin Pan Alley era. Vaudeville singer Eddie Cantor, James Brown, John Lennon, Carly Simon, Kool Moe ...
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July 25, 2025 • 28 mins
Was the Late Show too unprofitable, or too political?
Guest: Eric Deggans, NPR TV critic and media analyst, Knight Chair, Journalism and Media Ethics, Washington & Lee University.
Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.c...
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July 24, 2025 • 42 mins
This week, a listener faces an agonizing parenting dilemma: Their beloved dog is old and undergoing risky surgery—and they’re not sure how honest to be with their child about what might happen. Should you keep things upbeat and hopeful? Or give your kid a soft landing pad in case the worst comes true? The hosts unpack how to talk about death when it’s still a maybe, not a certainty.
Then in triumphs and fails, Lucy dives a little ...
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July 23, 2025 • 46 mins
Kate Lindsay and Candice Lim break down everything that’s happened since a software CEO was caught in a suspicious position with his co-worker at a Coldplay concert. From Chris Martin’s viral dialogue to the dearth of content emerging from this story, they run through the tenets of a monocultural moment and debunk the misinformation that has transpired alongside this scandal.
Get more of ICYMI with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive b...
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July 23, 2025 • 66 mins
Disinfect your groceries and mind the 5G, on this week’s show Steve, Dana, and guest host Sam Adams dive into the dread-inducing world of Ari Aster’s Eddington. Starring Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal, the neo-Western explores the conspiracy-brained, mentally unstable summer of 2020 when COVID brews unrest in a small town. Like said town, the panel is divided.
Next, they talk about why one of the biggest selling musical acts of ...
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July 23, 2025 • 63 mins
Outward is going on a little summer break, in the meantime we’re leaving you with a delightfully queer episode of Slate’s Hit Parade with Chris Molanphy:
Little Richard was rock ‘n’ roll’s flamboyant architect. Lesley Gore sang that no one owned her. Sylvester was a gender-fluid icon who helped define disco. Freddie Mercury made rock operatic, and George Michael demanded freedom.
What all of these LGBTQ artists had in common was ...
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July 22, 2025 • 44 mins
Our series on embracing your inner antihero continues with a look at superheroes who definitely don’t wear capes: ethical haters. Slate culture writer Scaachi Koul sits down with How To!’s Carvell Wallace for a conversation about the power of haterade—and why “hating up” distinguishes ethical haters from run-of-the-mill, establishment negativity.
Links Mentioned:
Sucker Punch by Scaachi Koul
Scaachi’s Substack, Hater Nation
Ba...
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July 22, 2025 • 38 mins
Brendan Paul co-owns the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, which claims to be the site of the world's first Elvis-themed wedding. Dressed in sparkly jumpsuits, Brendan marries sometimes as many as 75 people a day—in back to back 15-minute appointments. But while his portrayal of Elvis is generally a jovialone, his view on The King's life isn't entirely one of reverence. "That loneliness, that despair, that unsatisfied inside,"...
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July 21, 2025 • 61 mins
Hosts Alex Kirshner, Ben Lindbergh, and Lindsay Gibbs discuss the brilliant (but boringly calm) Scottie Scheffler, who racked up yet another victory at the Open Championship at Royal Portrush. The hosts then welcome Front Office Sports writer Annie Costabile to examine the WNBA’s All-Star weekend. They also get into the MLB All-Star game’s swing-off finale.
On the bonus episode available exclusively for Slate Plus members, the pan...
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July 21, 2025 • 36 mins
This week on Care & Feeding, a listener writes in with a question that tugs at the heart: Their five-year-old daughter—an only child, growing up in a rural area—is asking for a sibling. But more than that, she’s asking for connection, companionship, someone to play with. The hosts unpack the emotional weight behind the ask, and explore how parents can foster deep social bonds for solo kids—especially when playdates, cousins, and ne...
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July 19, 2025 • 30 mins
David Plotz talks with author Carl Hiaasen about his new book, Fever Beach. Fever Beach is a political satire that follows a couple of dimwitted white supremacists, a corrupt congressman, and the people that try to take them all down. They discuss the real-life racist event Hiaasen witnessed that inspired a central scene in the novel, how Matt Gaetz factors into the book, Hiaasen’s next moves, and more.
Tweet us your questions ...
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July 19, 2025 • 65 mins
Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay are joined by New York Times reporter and former ICYMI host Madison Malone Kircher to break down the internet history of Jojo Siwa. The 22-year-old got her start on Dance Moms over ten years ago, and has gone on to be a singer, performer, and serial reality TV show contestant. During this time she came out as queer, and attempted to have her own Miley Cyrus Bangerz rebrand. Now, with a new single and a ...
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July 18, 2025 • 60 mins
When Kendrick Lamar took the Super Bowl halftime stage in 2025 and had the stadium chanting along to “Not Like Us”, it was clear: diss tracks had gone stratospheric.
The Kendrick vs. Drake beef echoes legendary rap rivalries like Biggie vs. Tupac and Jay Z vs. Nas—but diss tracks stretch back through a century of American pop, long before hip-hop, all the way to the days of Tin Pan Alley. From Eddie Cantor and James Brown, to John...
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July 16, 2025 • 52 mins
Kate Lindsay and Candice Lim parse through the annoying practice of logging in and downloading apps. From hiking in the woods to brushing our teeth, it seems like we can’t do anything online these days without being prompted to make an account or download an app. Why do tech companies pressure us to log in all the time? And if we log out, why do they shame us into downloading apps for fast food places and refrigerators? But first, ...
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July 16, 2025 • 50 mins
In this episode we’re opening our mailbag to answer three fascinating questions from our listeners. How did “ass,” a word for donkeys and butts, become what linguists call an “intensifier” for just about everything? How do pharmaceuticals get their wacky names? And why do we all seem to think that aliens from outer space would travel to Earth just to kidnap our cows?
In this episode, you’ll hear from linguistics professor Nicole H...
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July 16, 2025 • 62 mins
On this week’s show, Dana and Steve are joined by guest host Isaac Butler to talk truth, justice, and the American way via James Gunn’s Superman. They discuss the latest incarnation of the man of steel and the cultural discourse he’s generating that has become as volatile as kryptonite itself.
Next, they hop to another cultural lightning rod: Lena Dunham. They get into her new series Too Much which she created with her husband Lui...
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July 15, 2025 • 43 mins
Jordan is mired in a bitter war over off-leash pups at an unofficial dog park. With pro-leash forces deploying fake signage, ambush videos, and questionable zip-tie tactics in a campaign of shame aimed at her fellow dog owners, Jordan is ready to take matters into her own hands. In this first installment of How To’s guide to becoming an antihero, Courtney Martin brings on writer, storyteller, and comedian Matthew Dicks to counsel J...
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July 15, 2025 • 56 mins
Silvia Camila Muñoz and Bradley Bartell had been married for less than a year when ICE stopped them at the airport on the way back from their honeymoon in Puerto Rico. Silvia Camila came to the United States in 2019 to work at a Wisconsin waterpark for one season. The pandemic caused her to overstay her visa and continue to work without authorization. That’s when she met Bradley, a local factory worker, and a Trump supporter.
In ...
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