What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future

Iran's Memes Are Winning

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 07:00:00 GMT

This very online administration is facing push back from Iran in their own home territory: the world of insipid memes, A.I. videos, and online mockery.

Guest: Ali Breland, staff writer for the Atlantic.

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Everyone Is Lying to You For Money

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 07:00:00 GMT

Back in the depths of the pandemic, what was an actor to do? Ben McKenzie started looking into cryptocurrency—and his research yielded both a book and a new documentary. The works are both non-fiction, which is more than McKenzie can say for crypto.

Guest: Ben McKenzie, actor, director of the documentary Everyone Is Lying to You for Money, and co-author of Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Who is Sam Altman Anyway?

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 07:00:00 GMT

If you had as much trouble getting along with other humans as Sam Altman does, you too might be eager to issue in the artificial intelligence revolution.

Guest: Andrew Marantz, staff writer for the New Yorker.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Why OpenAI Bought a Talk Show

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 07:00:00 GMT

As OpenAI prepares for its IPO, the company decided to…pay millions of dollars for a tech talk show? Is this just what rich tech guys like Sam Altman are like now?

Guest: Mike Isaac, tech reporter for the New York Times.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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TBD Tries... Vibe Coding

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 07:00:00 GMT

One of artificial intelligence’s most hyped “abilities” is how it writes computer code. So much so that seemingly anyone can do it. So we figured… why not us?

Guests:

Greg Lavalee, Slate’s Chief Technology Officer.

Clive Thompson, contributing writer for the New York Times

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Why Everyone Is Freaking Out About Private Credit

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 07:00:00 GMT

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, private credit or “shadow banking” grew as an alternative to the regulations and shared risk that institutional banks operate within. What happens if a crisis hits the trillions of dollars that are outside of those guardrails? We may be about to find out.

Guest: Tracy Alloway, co-host of Bloomberg's Odd Lots podcast.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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How to Rein in ICE and A.I.

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 07:00:00 GMT

Artificial intelligence is working its way into every aspect of our lives, including law and immigration enforcement, and the industry is spending millions of dollars to ensure it can continue to do so unregulated. But as evidence of bias appears in this nascent tech, this congresswoman wants to ensure we’re not just recreating our historical biases and problems all over again—which is to say, she wants guardrails.

Guest: Summer Lee, U.S. representative for Pennsylvania’s 12th district.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Social Media’s Big Tobacco Moment

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 07:00:00 GMT

What YouTube and Meta’s loss in the “social media addiction trial” could mean for your feed.

Guest: Ryan Mac, business and technology reporter for the New York Times.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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War Dot Com

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 07:00:00 GMT

Why Palantir cofounder and CEO Alex Karp views working with Western militaries not just as a business opportunity, but as a higher calling.

Guest: Jacob Silverman, journalist and author of “Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley.”

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Hank Green Still Believes

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 07:00:00 GMT

Hank Green recently pulled a “reverse OpenAI” - he took his education platform Complexly and made it a nonprofit. In a world where outrage, A.I. slop and “brain rot” are all heavily incentivized by platforms, Hank explains why he’d rather make content that leans into the complexity of our world.

Guest: Hank Green, YouTuber, half of Vlogbrothers, host of Crash Course and SciShow and founder of VidCon and Complexly.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Why He Sued Roblox

Sun, 15 Mar 2026 07:00:00 GMT

A half dozen state attorneys general have sued the online gaming platform Roblox after multiple investigations found child predators on the site and more than 20 people were arrested for abducting or abusing children they had met via Roblox.

Guest: Mike Hilgers, Nebraska Attorney General.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Are We Ready for A.I. Warfare?

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 07:00:00 GMT

Drone warfare has evolved immensely since Ukraine. The use of artificial intelligence in combat has evolved just since Venezuela.

Guest: Steven Feldstein, political scientist and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Why Hollywood Is Afraid of the Paramount-WBD Deal

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 07:00:00 GMT

How does Paramount, an old-guard studio and media institution, buying Warner Bros., another of the same, change the landscape in Hollywood, on cable, and in news?

Guest: Julia Alexander, media correspondent for Puck News.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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War in Iran, Shockwaves in Markets

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 08:00:00 GMT

When you’re sending troops to war, it seems like there are more important things to consider than how it will impact the stock market. However, it doesn’t seem coincidental that this administration waited until the markets closed on a Friday to launch its attacks on Iran.

Guest: Justin Wolfers, professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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TBD Tries… Wearables

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 08:00:00 GMT

How much would it change your life and approach to health if you had instant access to your quantified biometrics? RFK Jr. and the Department of Health and Human Services have bet the difference would be huge, and loosened regulation on them—leaving TBD no choice but to strap in and give ‘em a try.

Guests:

Nadira Goffe, Slate staff writer.

Mario Aguliar, health tech correspondent for Stat News

Dr. Sandeep Kishore, associate professor at the University of California San Francisco

Dr. Jordana Cohen, associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at University of Pennsylvania.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Anthropic vs. the Pentagon

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 08:00:00 GMT

The Pentagon wants Anthropic to hand over its A.I. with no strings attached. Anthropic doesn’t want its products used to surveil Americans or create autonomous machines of war.

Naturally, the Pentagon is mad - so mad, they’re threatening to invoke the Defense Production Act against them. But who has more leverage here?

Guest: Sheera Frenkel, reporter for the New York Times

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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The Future of Retail is A.I.

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 08:00:00 GMT

You might not think you need artificial intelligence added to your shopping experience. Store employees might not see the point either. So why is it there anyway?

Guest: Mia Sato, reporter at The Verge who covers tech companies, platforms, and users.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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The A.I. Disruption Is Here

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 08:00:00 GMT

Tech companies proudly touting that the imminent artificial intelligence revolution are pushing the stock market to ever higher heights, even as workers wonder what their role will be in this brave new world. But outside of the big A.I. players, the rest of the market seems to be wondering the same thing.

Guest: Emily Peck, co-host of Slate Money and national correspondent at Axios.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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The Senator Going After Data Centers

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 08:00:00 GMT

Data centers are a hot issue - tech companies say they need them, but communities don’t want to be anywhere near them. Senator Van Hollen stops by the show to share his plan to address the rising costs of energy for consumers that data centers create, as well as his thoughts on ICE and the future of the Democratic Party.

Guest: Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Markiplier Goes to Hollywood

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 08:00:00 GMT

Markiplier has been entertaining millions of fans on YouTube for over a decade. But his new movie Iron Lung - which he self-financed, directed, wrote and acted in - was a smash at the box office, not on his YouTube channel. Is it proof that he’s more than a YouTuber? Or is it proof that Hollywood is thinking about the platform and its creators all wrong?

Guest: Mark Fischbach aka Markiplier, YouTuber, filmmaker and director of “Iron Lung.”

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Escape from a Scam Compound

Sun, 08 Feb 2026 08:00:00 GMT

Scamming attempts might seem to just come out of nowhere to suddenly appear in your WhatsApp, but a special economic zone in Laos has emerged as a hotbed of cryptocurrency schemes—where victims of human trafficking are trapped and forced to attempt more crime.

Guest: Andy Greenberg, senior writer for WIRED.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Elon 3.0

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 08:00:00 GMT

He’s discontinuing Tesla’s signature models, taking SpaceX public, and putting more chips on A.I. and robotics. As Elon Musk prepares for his next phase, will he rein in any of his excesses?

And in this week’s Plus segment: Elon in Epstein files.

Guest: Faiz Siddiqui, technology reporter for the Washington Post’s Business Desk, author of “Hubris Maximus: The Shattering of Elon Musk.”

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Why Dictators Take Out the Internet

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 08:00:00 GMT

The Iranian government cut off nearly all internet access on January 8 as part of a crackdown on protestors, an example of why authoritarians attempt internet blackouts—and why they don’t always work the way authoritarians want them to.

Guest: Steve Feldstein, political scientist and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Can Cell Phones Stop ICE?

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 08:00:00 GMT

In the immediate aftermath of the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota, federal authorities presented very different accounts of what happened from what videos from witnesses showed. Did having footage from multiple angles of each shooting make the truth clear?

Guests:

Jake Godin, researcher for Bellingcat.

Julia Angwin, investigative journalist, founder of Proof News and contributing opinion writer for New York Times.

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David Ellison, Eldest Boy

Sun, 25 Jan 2026 08:00:00 GMT

Having already taken over Paramount, David Ellison was vying to add Warner Bros. Discovery to his portfolio. Are his dad’s politics behind his drive to run Hollywood or is there something else going on?

Guest: Reeves Widemann, features writer at New York Magazine.

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The Right’s Minneapolis Outrage Machine

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 08:00:00 GMT

The administration’s justification for their actions in Minneapolis owe a lot to the right-wing influencers—and they seem happy to keep this vicious cycle rolling onto California next.

Guest: Will Sommer, journalist for the Bulwark.

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ChatGPT, MD

Sun, 18 Jan 2026 08:00:00 GMT

Doctors are already using artificial intelligence to take notes while with patients—but are large language models ready to consult?

Guest: Brittany Trang, health tech reporter for Stat News.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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How and Why to Vaccinate Now

Fri, 16 Jan 2026 08:00:00 GMT

Where do you turn for vaccination advice for your kids—or yourself—when the government’s own recommendations can’t be trusted anymore?

Guest: Dr. Lauren Hughes, board-certified pediatrician, science communicator, and author of “The Public Hughesletter.”

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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How Grok Filled X With Deepfake Porn

Sun, 11 Jan 2026 08:00:00 GMT

To kick off the new year, users on X have been asking Grok to nudify people - and kids - at an astonishing rate. And X leadership is egging them on.

Guest: Jason Koebler, founder of 404 Media and host of the 404 Media Podcast

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Betting on Venezuela

Fri, 09 Jan 2026 08:00:00 GMT

While the U.S. was busy capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, someone online was busy placing bets on prediction markets on the ouster. And these well-timed bets may have netted a still-anonymous someone more than $400,000. Was this a case of kind-of-legal insider trading? Or is America going all-out on its efforts to make everything a casino?

We’re going to be talking to pediatrician Dr. Lauren Hughes about the major changes to the CDC vaccine schedule. We want your questions! Hit us up via email at whatnextTBD@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-582-0091.

Guest: Alex Kirshner, Slate contributing writer

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Are We Over the Moon?

Sun, 04 Jan 2026 08:00:00 GMT

The Trump administration wants NASA to land astronauts on the moon by 2027. They also want them to do it with their budget slashed, a leadership carousel and competing views that Mars is more important.

Guest: Joel Achenbach, freelance journalist and author of Moondoggle

If you want to support more of this reporting, in 2026 and beyond, consider signing up for Slate Plus. You’ll enjoy ad-free listening across the Slate network, early access to tickets for live events, and you’ll never hit the paywall on the site. Visit Slate.com/whatnextplus to sign up.

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2025: Dystopian Tech of the Year

Fri, 02 Jan 2026 08:00:00 GMT

Artificial intelligence boosters spent the year wedging the tech into our lives – whether we wanted it or not. But one new product brought A.I. from every app and website into the meatspace, forcing you to face it eye-to-eye.

Guest: Nitish Pahwa, staff writer at Slate covering business and technology

Want more What Next: TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across 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.com/tbdplus to get access wherever you listen.

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2025: The Meme of the Year

Sun, 28 Dec 2025 08:00:00 GMT

With so much online content, it can be hard for a meme to stay in the collective consciousness for more than a few days. But one meme this year managed to capture seemingly everyone’s attention - and challenge the definition of a meme altogether.

Guest: Kate Lindsay, host of Slate’s ICYMI podcast.

We’re on a mission to get 100 people to join Slate Plus before the new year—and we’re even offering a 50-percent-off deal to folks who join us right now. Visit Slate.com/whatnextplus and use the code TBD50 to get a year of Slate Plus for $59.

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Is the A.I. Bubble Bursting? | 2025 in Review

Fri, 26 Dec 2025 08:00:00 GMT

All this week, What Next and What Next: TBD are re-airing some of our favorite conversations from throughout the year and checking back with the people in those conversations to see how things have – or haven’t – changed. This episode originally aired in September.

We’ve been told that artificial intelligence can write, code, generate images—it can do everything…except feasibly turn a profit. But investing in A.I. has nevertheless become a pillar of the U.S. economy. Where is this leading us?

Guest: Ed Zitron, author of the newsletter Where’s Your Ed At and host of the podcast Better Offline.

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We Made a Memecoin | 2025 in Review

Sun, 21 Dec 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Memecoins are a niche type of cryptocurrency with no intrinsic value. But they remain a popular form of crypto, as seen earlier this year with President Trump’s own memecoin. And if it worked for him, then why not our little podcast?

Guests:

Azeem Khan, advisor to UNICEF’s crypto fund and cocreator of the blockchain Morph.

Nitish Pahwa, Slate staff writer covering business and tech.

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Data Center Space Race

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 08:00:00 GMT

While the A.I. boom has created a data center boom, rich guys are turning their computing dreams to the skies. With its impending IPO, SpaceX stands to lead the extraterrestrial data center boom. Will it work out for Elon and company?

Guest: Eric Berger, space reporter at Ars Technica

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Whole Shopping List

Sun, 14 Dec 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Whole Foods based its brand on a certain standard of quality—but there are some things that shoppers nevertheless want. Amazon believes it has found a way to keep the shelves looking like Whole Foods, while getting you the Tide PODS and Cheez-Its you deeply desire.

Guest: Peyton Bigora, staff reporter for Grocery Dive

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Ready for Chatbot Canvassers?

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 08:00:00 GMT

The good news is voters are more persuaded by factual claims than emotional appeals or appeals to fear. But the bad news is that A.I. chatbots, trying to convince you, will keep making factual claims long after it runs out of actual facts.

Guest: David Rand, professor of information science, marketing and psychology at Cornell University

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ChatGOP?

Sun, 07 Dec 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Donald Trump—or at least the tech guys who have his ear—is ready to clear the regulatory runway for A.I. but other Republicans aren’t too sure. Can he bring them around? Or will the bubble burst first?

Guest: Gerrit De Vynck, tech reporter for the Washington Post.

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The AI & Crypto Czar’s Conflicts

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 08:00:00 GMT

A tech mogul who made bank from Paypal with his Stanford buddies and has endeared himself to right-wing politicians and enriched himself the same way? No not him; this one’s South African..no, not him either.

Guest: Ryan Mac, reporter for the New York Times.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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If You Give A.I. a Nuke

Sun, 30 Nov 2025 08:00:00 GMT

As the U.S. upgrades and updates its defense and military systems, the question isn’t whether A.I. will be integrated, but where, how much, and how much decision-making are we ceding to the machine?

Guest: Josh Keating, senior correspondent at Vox and a fellow at the Outrider Foundation where he’s reporting on nuclear weapons and AI.

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Rebroadcast: Dupes!

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Note: This episode was originally published on July 27, 2025.

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

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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The Surveillance Interstate

Sun, 23 Nov 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Tracking a license plate across the country has never been easier, which is good news if your car has been stolen, but in an era of ICE and Border Patrol raids, these warrantless searches feel increasingly invasive—and unconstitutional.

Guest: Joseph Cox, co-founder of 404 Media and host of the 404 Media podcast.

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Crypto Keeps Criming

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Trump promised to stop the “persecution” of the cryptocurrency industry. He did call off the SEC investigations that began under Biden, and pardoned Binance cofounder and ex-CEO Changpeng Zhao. But is the crypto industry ultimately better off because of that?

Guest: David Yaffe-Bellany, tech reporter for the New York Times.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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How Meta Profits Off Fraud

Sun, 16 Nov 2025 08:00:00 GMT

The parent company of Facebook and Instagram, Meta, doesn’t (just) have a scam problem—with 10 percent of its revenue coming from scam ads, and a third of all successful scams in America using a Meta platform at some point, it’s more an interdependence with scammers.

Guest: Jeff Horwitz, tech reporter for Reuters.

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Data Centers on the Ballot

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 08:00:00 GMT

They don’t cut cleanly along party lines, but data centers, and where they get built, became an election issue in Virginia. With so many more data centers to build, are we looking at a new trend?

Guest: Margaret Barthel, reporter covering northern Virginia for WAMU.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Why Tesla Is Paying Elon a Trillion Bucks

Sun, 09 Nov 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Tesla shareholders just approved a trillion dollar (with a t!) pay package for Elon Musk. Is it enough incentive to keep him around the company and away from verbal spats with government officials? Because the whole Musk empire is still reeling from that dalliance.

Guest: Faiz Siddiqui, tech reporter at The Washington Post and author of Hubris Maximus: the Shattering of Elon Musk.

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The Nick Fuentes Problem

Fri, 07 Nov 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Nick Fuentes—an openly antisemitic, openly racist, openly sexist type who once was persona non grata in all but the unseemliest of online spaces—sat down with former Fox News star Tucker Carlson this week, setting off a debate between the “whoa whoa whoa, we’re not Nazis over here” branch of conservatives and the “well now, hold on a minute” wing.

Guest: Ali Breland, staff writer for The Atlantic and author of “The Firewall Against Nick Fuentes Is Crumbling.”

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Why Trump Keeps Pardoning Crypto Criminals

Sun, 02 Nov 2025 08:00:00 GMT

President Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance who had been convicted for violating anti-money laundering laws, after months of Zhao boosting Trump’s own crypto company. The crypto industry has really nailed the path to Trump’s heart: it was something Joe Biden didn’t like, and it feeds directly to the president’s bottom line.

Guest: Alex Kirshner, contributing writer at Slate.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Inside the Goonerverse

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 07:00:00 GMT

One legacy of the internet is the millions of subcultures that it helps flourish. Another is pornography—and lots of it. At a “gooner meet-up,” the two collide.

Guest: Daniel Kolitz, author of “The Goon Squad” for Harper’s Magazine.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Did The Trump Administration Censor Speech?

Sun, 26 Oct 2025 07:00:00 GMT

For years, conservatives claimed that the Biden administration was pressuring tech companies to censor conservative speech with no solid evidence.

In Trump 2.0, the administration is explicitly bragging about doing the very same thing they accused democrats of. What gives?

Guest: Renée DiResta, Associate Research Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown and author of “Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality”

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The AWS Outage is Only the Beginning

Fri, 24 Oct 2025 07:00:00 GMT

This week’s AWS outage illustrates just how fragile and vulnerable our interconnected world really is—and how far we’ve fallen from the vision of a decentralized internet.

Guest: Samanth Subramanian, author of “The Web Beneath the Waves: The Fragile Cables That Connect Our World.”

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Why Bands Are Leaving Spotify

Sun, 19 Oct 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Paying a fraction of a penny per stream and diminishing the value of music were bad enough for Xiu Xiu, but when Spotify owner Daniel Ek announced an investment in a German defense contractor, they decided it was time to take the music back.

Guest: Jamie Stewart, musician in the band Xiu Xiu.

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Inside the MAGA Content Mill

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 07:00:00 GMT

As Trump throws out journalists and outlets that report anything negative about him, he’s limiting access to a group of right-wing influencers who work to further his agenda.

Guest: Makena Kelly, tech and politics writer for WIRED.

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A.I. for Cops

Sun, 12 Oct 2025 07:00:00 GMT

At this very moment, police departments can gather more data than they have time to actually go through — audio and video from crime scenes, cell phone and search data, vast digital dragnets. This is where artificial intelligence comes in…as well as the civil rights questions.

Guest: Gerrit De Vynck, tech reporter for the Washington Post.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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The People Suing ICE

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 07:00:00 GMT

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.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Saudi Arabia Gets into EA’s Games

Sun, 05 Oct 2025 07:00:00 GMT

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

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Who Owns TikTok Now?

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 07:00:00 GMT

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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Trapped in a Tesla

Sun, 28 Sep 2025 07:00:00 GMT

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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How Trump Got Obsessed with Autism

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 07:00:00 GMT

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.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Is A.I. Taking Your Job?

Sun, 21 Sep 2025 07:00:00 GMT

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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The Discourse | TikTok Ban: The Final Loop?

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 07:30:00 GMT

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.

This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next TBD—you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

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A Very Online Shooter

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 07:00:00 GMT

As the Charlie Kirk murder demonstrated, law enforcement, the government, and media all need more internet fluency. But their reactions in the wake of the murder don’t seem to be moving towards a better understanding.

Guest: Ryan Broderick, reporter on online culture, author of the newsletter Garbage Day.

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Her Daughter Killed Herself. Then She Saw the ChatGPT logs.

Sun, 14 Sep 2025 07:00:00 GMT

After their daughter committed suicide, they found her ChatGPT log—and where artificial intelligence helped her write her suicide note.

Guest: Laura Reiley, writer for the Cornell Chronicle.

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You Can't Escape the Charlie Kirk Video

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Graphic, violent videos like the shooting of right-wing pundit Charlie Kirk circulate across social media moments after they happen, finding an audience even among people who have made no effort to seek them out.

Guest: Craig Silverman, journalist and cofounder of Indicator.

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End of an Electric Avenue

Sun, 07 Sep 2025 07:00:00 GMT

An Inflation Reduction Act subsidy for electric vehicles is being shut down by the Trump administration at the end of September, and automakers are preparing for sales of EVs to slow. Can this nascent industry survive?

Guest: Ryan Felton, reporter covering the automotive industry for the Wall Street Journal

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Is the A.I. Bubble Bursting?

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Guest: Ed Zitron, author of the newsletter Where’s Your Ed At and host of the podcast Better Offline.

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A24 Meets A.I.

Sun, 31 Aug 2025 07:00:00 GMT

A24 rose from “small budget indie movie studio” to “one of the most respected brands in cinema” on a reputation for treating filmmakers like auteurs. But as the studio is growing and exploring how to integrate artificial intelligence, it’s at odds with some of the very directors who helped A24 establish itself.

Guest: Alex Barasch, culture editor at the New Yorker

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The Great Celebrity Spotify Playlist Hack

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 07:00:00 GMT

The playlists of dozens of high-level government officials and tech executives were suddenly broadcast to the world on a website called “the Panama Playlists.” But the information wasn’t taken by sophisticated hackers infiltrating any mainframes—it was all already publicly available.

Guest: Mike Isaac, New York Times Silicon Valley correspondent.

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Trump Vs. Cancer Research

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 07:00:00 GMT

President Trump has proposed cutting $2.5 billion from the National Cancer Institute, which in addition to cuts to the National Institutes of Health and research universities almost makes you wonder: whose side is he on in the fight against cancer?

Guest: Angus Chen, cancer reporter for STAT news

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The CDC Under Fire

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Two weeks ago, a gunman fired over 500 bullets at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention building in Atlanta. Between the anti-public health rhetoric coming from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the top, personnel cuts and firings, and now a literal shooting, many employees are reaching their breaking point.

Guest: Lauren Weber, health science accountability reporter for the Washington Post.

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Down the Text-Scam Rabbit Hole

Sun, 17 Aug 2025 07:00:00 GMT

The scam du jour arrives via a text message, offering you a job. What happens when you accept?

Guest: Alex Sammon, Slate features writer.

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Trump Dips into NVIDIA’s Chips

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Jensen Huang, cofounder of NVIDIA, finds himself president of a $4 trillion company, at the forefront of A.I. technology, and, consequently, something of an international diplomat, as he charms President Trump and negotiates to sell his powerful chips to China.

Guest: Amrith Ramkumar, reporter for The Wall Street Journal in Washington covering tech and crypto policy.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Ethan Oberman, Patrick Fort, and Elena Schwartz.

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Here Comes the A.I. Music Slop

Sun, 10 Aug 2025 07:00:00 GMT

It’s hard to make money in the music industry. But if you could flood every streamer with hundreds of “original” songs without having to, you know, write or produce it yourself, there’s money there—and less for everyone else.

Guests:

Chris Molanphy, host of Slate’s Hit Parade podcast.

Kate Knibbs, senior writer at Wired

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What Happened After Meta Fired Its Fact-Checkers

Fri, 08 Aug 2025 07:00:00 GMT

In January, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta was moving from employing professional fact-checkers to letting its users fact-check each other. If you’ve heard that it’s going perfectly, then you, too, have been exposed to misinformation.

Guest: Geoffrey Fowler, tech columnist with the Washington Post

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Ethan Oberman, and Patrick Fort.

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The A.I. Data Center Push That Wasn't

Sun, 03 Aug 2025 07:00:00 GMT

OpenAI’s Sam Altman, flanked by President Trump and Softbank’s Masayoshi Son, announced a hugely ambitious investment in data centers across America to support all the artificial intelligence we’re going to be using. Months in, the project has been scaled back to a single, power-hungry data center in Ohio.

Guest: Berber Jin, reporter covering A.I. for the Wall Street Journal

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The Death of an Online Whisper Network

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 07:00:00 GMT

A shadow app for the dating world had its data hacked and exposed, and it laid bare the perils of creating safe spaces for women online — and of relying on tech companies.

Guest: Kate Lindsay, host of Slate’s ICYMI

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Dupes!

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMT

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

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A Colbert Report

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMT

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.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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When Bots Go Nazi

Sun, 20 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMT

It’s kind of strange that Grok, Elon Musk’s chatbot, went full Nazi a few weeks ago, and is just…still out there. But, then again, how are you supposed to hold an LLM accountable?

Guest: Drew Harwell, technology reporter for the Washington Post

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How The Epstein Files Blew Up MAGAworld

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMT

The MAGA world has been waiting for Jeffrey Epstein’s client list to be released since the first Trump administration. But with those like Kash Patel and Dan Bongino, who stoked interest in the list literally in power, the administration is now saying that no such list exists. For some MAGA fans, this is finally a bridge too far.

Guest: Anna Merlan, senior reporter at Mother Jones.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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When A.I. is Sycophantic

Sun, 13 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMT

He started using ChatGPT to help with spreadsheets. But their relationship took a turn, and before long it was telling him he could leap off a 19-story building and fly.

Guest: Kashmir Hill, features writer at the New York Times.

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Hot Measles Summer

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMT

It’s a record-breaking year for America: we’ve now had the most reported cases of measles since the disease was declared “eradicated” in 2000.

How did public health backslide so hard that it undid decades of progress—and is there any hope we can get back on track?

Guest: Dylan Scott, senior health correspondent at Vox.

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How A.I. Lost (and Won) the Big Beautiful Debate

Sun, 06 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMT

As the One Big Beautiful Bill bounced around Congress, one provision—the 10-year moratorium on states making laws to regulate artificial intelligence—fell out. But AI-fans don’t need to worry, there’s still plenty of industry support in the bill.

Guest: Will Oremus, technology news analysis writer for the Washington Post.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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Rerun: Death of the Weather Forecast?

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMT

This episode was originally published on April 27, 2025.

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.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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The FTC’s Merger Shakedown

Sun, 29 Jun 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Under a normal administration, a merger between two large advertising firms might attract the government’s interest for anti-monopoly reasons. Under this one, the Federal Trade Commission is creating conditions to…ensure that X still gets advertiser dollars?

Guest: Kate Conger, technology reporter for the New York Times.

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The Other Iran-Israel War

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 07:00:00 GMT

In addition to the three-dimensional war of bombs and missiles, Iran and Israel—and the US—are squaring off in a cyber battle. With everything from water infrastructure to banking connected to the internet in some way, how much damage can cyberattacks do?

Guest: Maggie Miller, POLITICO cybersecurity reporter

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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Airlines Are Selling Your Data to the Government

Sun, 22 Jun 2025 07:00:00 GMT

ARC, the data broker owned by the country’s major airlines, has been selling domestic flight data in the US to Customs and Border Protection. But in the contract, they told CBP not to reveal where the data was from… why?

Guest: Joseph Cox, co-founder of 404 Media and the co-host of the 404 Media Podcast.

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We Deport. You Laugh?

Fri, 20 Jun 2025 07:00:00 GMT

The Trump administration's anti-immigration campaign has become defined by distasteful memes that gleefully portray the mass deportations being carried out across the country. It’s impossible to ignore… which is exactly what the administration wants.

Guest: Drew Harwell, tech reporter at the Washington Post.

Podcast production by Patrick Fort.

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Summer Travel Tips To Not Get Detained

Sun, 15 Jun 2025 07:00:00 GMT

A guide to keeping your phone, and your digital life, safe when you’re crossing the border.

Guest: Lily Hay Newman, senior writer for WIRED covering information security.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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New DOGE, New Tricks

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Elon Musk has ridden off into the sunset acrimoniously (maybe), but the Department of Government Efficiency is just getting started. Will DOGE continue wildly cutting or is something even more chaotic coming next?

Guest: Makena Kelly, senior writer at WIRED.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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The Future of the Internet Hinges on Gail Slater

Sun, 08 Jun 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater inherited the government’s antitrust case against Google and is eager to follow it through—but likely not for the same reasons as her predecessors.

Guest: Nancy Scola, reporter and contributing writer at POLITICO.

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Is Palantir Building a Data Big Brother?

Fri, 06 Jun 2025 07:00:00 GMT

One of the goals of DOGE was to get rid of the “silos” that keep government agencies from sharing freely amongst themselves efficiently and instead organize data using tools offered by companies like Palantir. The thing is, a lot of those silos are there by design, and removing them could be a nightmare for privacy advocates.

Guest: Sheera Frenkel, tech reporter for the New York Times.

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So Long, Elon

Sun, 01 Jun 2025 07:00:00 GMT

His time in Washington was brief, but we’ll be picking up the pieces for a long time. What Elon’s exit signals for the future of DOGE, and Musk’s political career.

Guest: Kate Conger, reporter for the New York Times covering X and other technology companies.

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The Drone Wars

Fri, 30 May 2025 07:00:00 GMT

The war between Ukraine and Russia is being fought increasingly via drone —and NATO and US military leadership is training troops for future conflicts that will pit man against machine.

Guest: Jake Epstein, senior defense reporter for Business Insider.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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Crypto's Big Win

Sun, 25 May 2025 07:00:00 GMT

The crypto industry poured tons of money into the last election cycle. Is the GENIUS Act, which has bipartisan support, their big payoff?

Guest: Hilary Allen, professor at American University’s Washington College of Law.

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Inside OpenAI's Empire

Fri, 23 May 2025 07:00:00 GMT

OpenAI started as a non-profit dedicated to building safe A.I. Now, they’re obsessed with building artificial general intelligence by any means necessary - even if they don’t quite know what that is.

Guest: Karen Hao, reporter and author of “Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI”

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You’ve Been Deepfaked

Sun, 18 May 2025 07:00:00 GMT

What do you do when your likeness has been turned into A.I.-generated pornography?—it’s a problem people are already facing. But legislation moving through Congress may cause more problems than it would solve.

Guests:

Joanne Chew, actress and visual artist based in LA.

Samantha Cole, cofounder of 404 media and author of “How Sex Changed the Internet and How the Internet Changed Sex.”

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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The Newarkification of Flying

Fri, 16 May 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Aging equipment and chronically understaffed air traffic control have made flying in and out of Newark’s Liberty International Airport a delay-snarled mess. And the problems there aren’t entirely unique. Will Congress and the Trump administration be the ones to fix it?

Guest: Will Guisbond, staff reporter covering air traffic control for The Air Current

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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Online and Pregnant

Sun, 11 May 2025 07:00:00 GMT

The intimate and extremely personal experience of bringing a child into this world? There’s an app for that…and forums…and so much advice…that contradicts other advice…and a surprising amount of eugenics.

Guest: Amanda Hess, critic at the New York Times and author of the book “Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age.”

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Chatbots All The Way Down

Fri, 09 May 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Why artificial intelligence isn’t waiting for consumer demand.

Guest: Gerrit De Vynck, tech reporter for The Washington Post.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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How Elon Wields Power

Sun, 04 May 2025 07:00:00 GMT

What is it about the way that Elon Musk wields power that led 65 percent of Americans to agree he has too much influence on the federal government?

Guest: Faiz Siddiqui, Washington Post tech reporter and author of “Hubris Maximus: The Shattering of Elon Musk.”

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Marc Andreessen’s New Deal

Fri, 02 May 2025 07:00:00 GMT

What drove Marc Andreessen’s transformation into a political actor, and what is he looking for from having Washington in his thrall?

Guest: Zoe Schiffer, WIRED journalist covering business and Silicon Valley.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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Death of the Weather Forecast?

Sun, 27 Apr 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Guest: Daniel Swain, weather and climate scientist with the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.

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The Immigration Data Dragnet

Fri, 25 Apr 2025 07:00:00 GMT

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.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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The Baby Monitor Trap

Sun, 20 Apr 2025 07:00:00 GMT

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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The U.S. vs Meta

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 07:00:00 GMT

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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TikTok: Somehow Also Affected by the Tariffs

Sun, 13 Apr 2025 07:00:00 GMT

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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Trump Tariffs Hit Mushroom Kingdom

Fri, 11 Apr 2025 07:00:00 GMT

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

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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Why Wall Street Can’t Quit Elon

Sun, 06 Apr 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Elon Musk’s polarizing persona and antics have created a toxic cloud around his companies, particularly Tesla. But despite that, Wall Street can’t seem to quit him. Why?

Guest: Felix Salmon, host of Slate Money and chief financial correspondent for Axios.

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Where DOGE Is Taking Us

Fri, 04 Apr 2025 07:00:00 GMT

This week, DOGE set its sights and scythe on the Department of Health and Human Services, with a goal of cutting 10,000 federal workers, once again raising the question: what’s their endgame here?

Guest: Makena Kelly, senior writer for WIRED

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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This Is Your Brain On Ketamine

Sun, 30 Mar 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Ketamine has gone from a recreational psychedelic to an approved treatment, and it has caught on in Silicon Valley in a big way. Are the long-term effects of using ketamine—recreationally or therapeutically—sufficiently known? Are we witnessing them right now?

Guest: Shayla Love, staff writer for the Atlantic.

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We Made a Memecoin

Fri, 28 Mar 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Guests:

Azeem Khan, advisor to UNICEF’s crypto fund and cocreator of the blockchain Morph.

Nitish Pahwa, Slate staff writer covering business and tech.

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Bezos 2.0

Sun, 23 Mar 2025 07:00:00 GMT

During his first term, President Trump and Jeff Bezos openly sparred with each other. During this second administration, though, it seems like Bezos is trying to endear himself - and his companies - to the White House. So what changed?

Guest: Dana Mattioli, reporter for the Wall Street Journal and the author of The Everything War: Amazon’s Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power.

Special thanks to David Maraniss.

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Trump's War on Scientific Research

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 07:00:00 GMT

The National Institutes of Health is the primary engine of biomedical research around the world, which makes the Trump administration's dramatic cuts to its grant program both confusing and potentially incredibly harmful.

Guest: Katherine J. Wu, staff writer for the Atlantic.

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How Trump Is Trying to Kill Press Freedom

Sun, 16 Mar 2025 07:00:00 GMT

With a Trump-friendly Supreme Court and a contentious relationship with the press, could Donald Trump follow through on his 2016 campaign goal of making it easier to sue media companies for libel—and imperil America’s free press?

Guest: David Enrich, business investigations editor at the New York Times and author of “Murder The Truth.”

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Will Tesla Survive Elon Musk?

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 07:00:00 GMT

The public’s anger towards Elon Musk and DOGE has found an outlet in the form of Musk’s car company Tesla. How long can the company put up with a sinking reputation and stock price?

Guest: Pranshu Verma, tech reporter for the Washington Post.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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Zuckerberg and the Post-Factcheck Era

Sun, 09 Mar 2025 07:00:00 GMT

After the election, Mark Zuckerberg announced that he was doing away with Facebook’s fact-checking apparatus in the US. With content creators getting paid based on reach, and content spreading wider and faster the more extreme it is, is Facebook the perfect environment for misinformation to flourish?

Guest: Craig Silverman, technology reporter for ProPublica.

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From 4Chan to Charlottesville to DOGE

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 08:00:00 GMT

To understand the second Trump administration, you have to understand the internet culture that gave birth to it.

Guest: Elle Reeve, CNN correspondent who reported on the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, VA for Vice News.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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Cracking the Egg Crisis

Sun, 02 Mar 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Everyone’s talking about the price of eggs—so why are they so expensive? And when can we expect—if ever—the price to come back down?

Guests:

Dr. Jada Thompson, associate professor at the University of Arkansas

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The DOGE Resistance

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Federal workers in the U.S. Digital Service resigned in protest over what they viewed as indiscriminate, irresponsible firings coming from the DOGE office. While lawsuits are entering the courts and protests are taking to the streets, will any of this make a difference to the chainsaw-minded leaders of DOGE?

Guest: Ryan Mac, tech reporter at the New York Times and co-author of “Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter.”

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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$Trump

Sun, 23 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

The crypto industry threw its weight and money behind Donald Trump, in hopes of legitimizing the industry. Before his Inauguration Day was over, Donald Trump was already enriching himself via a memecoin, one of the scammier, least legitimate-looking uses of crypto.

Guest: David Yaffe-Bellany, reporter covering cryptocurrency for the New York Times.

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Elon's Endgame

Fri, 21 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

As someone whose companies receive billions of dollars from the government, it’s worth asking why Elon Musk is so zealous about cutting government spending.

Guest: Max Chafkin, features editor and tech reporter at Bloomberg Businessweek and cohost of the Elon, Inc podcast.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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Can You Pay Attention, Please?

Sun, 16 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

The infinite scroll has no purpose other than keeping your attention. But that doesn’t mean it’s value-neutral.

Guest: Chris Hayes, MSNBC news anchor and author of “The Siren's Call: How Attention Became The World's Most Endangered Resource.”

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Is Elon Actually Trying to Buy OpenAI?

Fri, 14 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Is Elon Musk’s $97.4 billion offer to buy OpenAI genuine—or an irresistible opportunity to troll Sam Altman?

Guest: David A. Fahrenthold, investigative reporter for the New York Times

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Why Trump’s Data Purge is a Digital Book Burning

Sun, 09 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Using Github, you can watch as government websites are brought into compliance with Donald Trump’s executive orders. Out goes the word “equity;” in comes “fair.” And health and science data, once publicly available, disappears.

Guest: Jason Koebler, cofounder of 404 Media.

Jeremy Prokop, data science advisor in the Midwest

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Bonus: The Discourse | Why is Elon Musk Cheating at Video Games?

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 08:15:00 GMT

Elon Musk is supposed to be running several companies and a new government department—so why is he also spending money to pretend to be good at video games?

Guest: Drew Harwell, tech reporter for the Washington Post.

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Is Elon Musk Unstoppable?

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

You can’t doubt the enthusiasm of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. You can question the legality of some of their early moves.

Guest: Makena Kelly, senior writer at WIRED.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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The DeepSeek Panic

Sun, 02 Feb 2025 08:00:00 GMT

The artificial intelligence industry was thrown for a loop when the Chinese start-up DeepSeek rolled out a product that was more energy efficient, cheaper to produce, and open source. Where did DeepSeek come from, and are Silicon Valley and Washington right to be panicking?

Guest: Zeyi Yang, senior writer at WIRED.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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RFK Jr. Is a Feature, Not a Bug

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Tapped by Trump for the role of health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. presents himself as someone willing to say what other politicians won’t. But during his Senate confirmation hearings, both Democrats and Republicans questioned his previous statements about vaccines—and questioned whether he even knows what the job he’s trying to get entails. But his nomination signals that maybe it isn’t about vaccines - it’s about wanting to blow up the whole healthcare establishment.

Guest: Dan Diamond, White House correspondent for The Washington Post

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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The A.I. Will See You Now

Sun, 26 Jan 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Artificial intelligence is coming to a doctor’s office near you—if it isn’t already there, working in an administrative role. Are you ready for generative A.I. to help your doctor diagnose you? Is your doctor ready to listen—with the necessary mix of humility and skepticism?

Guest: Geoffrey Fowler, Washington Post tech columnist.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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Bonus: The Discourse | The Bro-ligarchs Take Washington

Fri, 24 Jan 2025 15:01:55 GMT

Choice seats for Donald Trump’s second inauguration were filled with tech founders and CEOs, signaling their importance to this presidential term. Then Elon Musk sent another signal of his own…

Guest: Nitish Pahwa, staff writer for business and tech at Slate.

This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next TBD —you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

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Department of Government Elon

Fri, 24 Jan 2025 08:00:00 GMT

The Department of Government Efficiency was made to Elon Musk’s specifications, right down to its meme-indebted name. Now that DOGE is shaping up to be an actual part of the government, what can it actually accomplish? And isn’t this all a huge conflict of interest for Elon Musk and his many government contracts?

Guest: Teddy Schleifer, New York Times reporter on billionaires.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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As Fires Approached LA, Angelenos Turned to Watch Duty

Sun, 19 Jan 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Looking for up-to-the-minute updates on where the fires are, LA residents have been turning to the app Watch Duty, rather than getting updates directly from the local or state government, or even local media.

Guests:

David Merritt, cofounder and CTO of Watch Duty

Alyssa Jeong Perry, LA-based producer for Slate.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta-Morphosis

Fri, 17 Jan 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Misinformation, disinformation, politics—Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg is not going to shield users from those anymore. What’s behind the abrupt change in direction?

Guest: Sheera Frenkel, New York Times tech reporter

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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Why Tech Is Bending the Knee

Sun, 12 Jan 2025 08:00:00 GMT

How the FCC and its incoming head, Brenden Carr, could enact Trump’s top policy goal: punishing anyone who says mean stuff about Trump.

Guest: Drew FitzGerald, telecom reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

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Will the Supreme Court Save TikTok?

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Will a First Amendment defense keep TikTok running in America?

Guest: Emily Baker White, tech reporter for Forbes.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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Bitcoin Takes the White House

Sun, 05 Jan 2025 08:00:00 GMT

Cryptocurrency spent generously on this last election cycle, and now they’ve got their top pick in the White House, and wins across Congress. Where is the industry looking to go with these favorable, regulatory winds?

Guest: David Yaffe-Bellany, tech reporter covering the crypto industry for the New York Times.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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Musk vs. MAGA

Fri, 03 Jan 2025 08:00:00 GMT

On Christmas Eve a fracas erupted on X, when Elon Musk posted in favor of H1-B visas for specialized and high-skill workers and was met with anger from the MAGA base who view the visas as a way for immigrants to take American jobs.

Guest: Ryan Mac, tech reporter for The New York Times and the coauthor of the book “Character Limit How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter.”

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Ethan Oberman, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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The Cost of Suicide Prevention Software

Sun, 29 Dec 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Between a third and half of American schoolchildren have a form of “mental health monitoring” software on their school devices, which scans for and flags certain keywords.

While intuitively appealing, is it worth the false positives, privacy issues, and compromised trust?

Guest: Ellen Barry, mental health reporter for the New York Times.

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2024 In Review: Would You Buy Poop On the Internet?

Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:00:00 GMT

“Fecal microbial transplants” treat someone’s unhealthy gut with poop from someone else’s healthy gut, and proponents of FMT claim it can help treat everything from IBS to autism. But if your doctor isn’t ready to fill you up with someone else’s poop, the internet will happily oblige.

Guest:

Luke Winkie, Slate staff writer who published “The Poop Broker.”

Disclosure in Podcast Description: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond’s yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond’s YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more.

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Influencer vs. Influencer

Sun, 22 Dec 2024 08:00:00 GMT

One influencer working for Amazon sued another influencer who works for Amazon for creating content that looks too similar to theirs. But with how the algorithms work and reward, was this an inevitability? What does this mean for the economics of the influencer position?

Guest: Mia Sato, reporter covering platforms and communities for The Verge.

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Drones!??!!!?!!!

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Reports of flocks of drones, flying overhead nightly, are coming in from New Jersey down to Maryland. Are they UFOs? Nefarious foreign powers? Something even more pernicious? Something even more banal?

Guest: Jon Ostrower, editor-in-chief of The Air Current.

Ben Mathis-Lilly, Slate senior writer

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The Surveillance State Trump Is Inheriting

Sun, 15 Dec 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Our lives, and our communication in particular, are increasingly conducted over the internet. This means we are increasingly able to be hacked and monitored, by governments, by the police, and more and more by anyone who can get their hands on the available software.

Guest: Ronan Farrow, investigative reporter and producer of the Max documentary “Surveilled.”

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Cheyna Roth, and Ethan Oberman.

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Elon Musk and Trump’s Shadow Transition Team

Fri, 13 Dec 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Elon Musk has been down in Florida with Donald Trump, inviting his fellow rich Silicon Valley friends to stop by and weigh in on the next administration. How could policy and personnel be shaped by this input from successful (if totally inexperienced in government) individuals?

Guest: Teddy Schleifer, covering politics for the New York Times.

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Spotify Trapped

Sun, 08 Dec 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Spotify is shaping listening habits, so much so that musicians are shaping themselves for Spotify. It makes your musical world a little more prescribed, a little smaller.

If it feels like everything’s getting a little stale, how do we get out?

Guest: Tiffany Ng, culture and tech writer.

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The Influencer Administration

Fri, 06 Dec 2024 08:00:00 GMT

From Dr. Oz to RFK Jr. to Donald Trump himself—the incoming administration looks like it will be populated with pitchmen and influencers. Will anyone take steps to divest from their businesses or avoid conflicts of interest—or will everyone just follow Trump’s lead from last time?

Guest: Drew Harwell, tech reporter for the Washington Post.

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When Your Flight’s GPS Gets Spoofed

Sun, 01 Dec 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Anyone stuck in a knotted snarl of interstate clovers knows that GPS is both important and imperfect. But if GPS fails while you’re bringing a 737 in for a landing it could be catastrophic.

Why is “GPS spoofing” on the rise—and how can airlines protect their flights against being caught up in conflict zones.

Guest: Drew FitzGerald, telecom reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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The Post-Election Social Media Wars

Fri, 29 Nov 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Whatever X is, it ain’t the Twitter so many users fell in love with. Since the election, Bluesky has been on the rise, but it’s still only a fraction of the number of users on Twitter—at its peak or even now—or even fellow upstart Threads.

Is Bluesky set to take over the role Twitter used to play, or is it just one of many networks in a Balkanized social media landscape?

Guest: Will Oremus, a technology writer for the Washington Post

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Is Sickle Cell Anemia…Cured?

Sun, 24 Nov 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Last May, a 12-year-old with sickle cell anemia was the first person to receive a new gene therapy to treat the disease. The process is painful, expensive, and still frightening and uncertain, but biomedical researchers are cautiously calling it a “cure.”

Guests:

Gina Kolata, medical reporter for the New York Times

Deb and Keith Cromer, parents to Kendric Cromer, the first person in the world to go through a commercially approved gene therapy for sickle cell anemia.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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What's Google Without Chrome?

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 08:00:00 GMT

The Department of Justice has released its recommendations for how Google’s monopoly on web search should be broken up. Top of their wishlist? Spinning off their web browser Chrome.

But with a new administration coming to the White House, will Google have to comply?

Guest: Leah Nylen, antitrust reporter for Bloomberg News

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The X-odus

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Since Elon Musk took over, Twitter—er, sorry “X”—has been slowly deflating. But given that soon you’ll be getting yelled at by right-wing trolls directly from White House press briefings, and your data is being swept up to train A.I., is there any reason to stay on the site at all anymore?

Guest: Nitish Pahwa, Slate business writer.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Alyssa Jeong Perry.

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The Manosphere That Delivered Trump Back to Power

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Going on Joe Rogan’s podcast didn’t fit into Kamala Harris’s last month of campaigning, which consisted of a careful diet of traditional media and specifically selected appearances. It came up short against Donald Trump’s “get on mic with that guy and his big following” strategy.

Guest: Makena Kelly, senior writer at Wired.

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The Polls Weren’t Wrong

Sun, 10 Nov 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Many folks were surprised at how soundly Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris in the election, especially since they thought the polls made it seem like a coin flip. The problem is, that’s not quite what the polls were saying.

Guest: Tatishe M. Nteta, Provost Professor of Political Science, Director of UMass Poll

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Elon Wins

Fri, 08 Nov 2024 08:00:00 GMT

As Elon Musk channeled his considerable resources towards Donald Trump’s campaign, there was talk about what his role in the new Trump administration would be. If his stint leading Twitter is any indication, the federal government could be in for a bumpy ride.

Guest: Zoë Schiffer, incoming director of business and industry at Wired, author of Extremely Hardcore: Inside Elon Musk’s Twitter.

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u up? Go vote.

Sun, 03 Nov 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Voters in swing states are being subjected to constant political messages—on billboards, commercials and, increasingly, via text messages. But are dozens of “make a plan to vote” texts you’re receiving going to make a difference?

Guest: Jacob Neiheisel, political science professor at the University at Buffalo

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What Elon Wants From Trump

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 07:00:00 GMT

How did Elon Musk go from a poster to someone pumping millions of dollars towards Donald Trump? And what’s he hoping to get for doing so?

Guest: Max Chafkin, Bloomberg Businessweek columnist.

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Facebook for the Dead

Sun, 27 Oct 2024 07:00:00 GMT

He didn’t find his grandfather. But traveling to, photographing, and uploading his grandfather’s memorial stone gave him something else.

Guest: Tony Tran, senior tech editor at Slate and author of the feature “My Weekends with the Dead.”

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Can TikTok Sway this Election?

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 07:00:00 GMT

This election cycle, TikTok has evolved into a news-and-politics delivery mechanism. Will it make a difference?

Guest: Sapna Maheshwari, reporting on TikTok and other tech for the New York Times.

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How Secure Is Our Election?

Sun, 20 Oct 2024 07:00:00 GMT

America’s head of cybersecurity isn’t worried about the election being hacked or the results being tampered with. But this election cycle does have her worried for our democracy.

Guest: Jen Easterly, Director of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

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The Elon-Trump Alliance

Fri, 18 Oct 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Elon Musk went from voting for Hillary to supporting Trump so hard that he may have broken election laws. And with Musk influencing both on X and in campaign finance, Democrats are kicking themselves for letting him go. What will his political and financial support actually amount to this election season?

Guest: Teddy Schleifer, New York Times reporter covering campaign finance and billionaire influence on American politics.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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23andMe...And a Looming Data Disaster

Sun, 13 Oct 2024 07:00:00 GMT

How did 23andMe go from the peak of the double-helix to a death spiral? And if it goes under, is all of the genetic data it collected at risk?

Guest: Kristen V. Brown, staff writer covering health for The Atlantic.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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Trump’s Crypto Gurus

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 07:00:00 GMT

The crypto project “World Liberty Financial,” which was announced on X by Donald Trump, isn’t a cryptocurrency, nor a crypto-exchange, nor is it actually run by any Trumps. The truth is even stranger.

Guest: David Yaffe-Bellany, New York Times reporter

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A.I. Goes Nuclear

Sun, 06 Oct 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Decades ago, Three Mile Island was shut down after a near catastrophic nuclear meltdown. So why is Microsoft paying over a billion dollars to open it back up?

Guest: Matt Reynolds, senior writer at Wired

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Helene Proves Nowhere is Safe

Fri, 04 Oct 2024 07:00:00 GMT

In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the idea of a climate haven has been upended. And as the climate change gets worse every year, fewer places will be safe from its devastation.

Guest: Sarah Kaplan, Washington Post climate reporter covering humanity's response to a warming world.

Keith Campbell, managing editor at the Asheville Watchdog

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American Life is a Highway

Sun, 29 Sep 2024 07:00:00 GMT

America is caught in a vicious cycle of trying to alleviate traffic by expanding and building more highways, only for them to clog right up with more cars. How do you beat the traffic?

Guest: David Zipper, Senior Fellow at the MIT Mobility Initiative who writes about transportation policy.

Public.com+Public Investing: All investing involves risk. Brokerage services for US listed securities, options and bonds in a self-directed brokerage account are offered by Public Investing, member FINRA & SIPC. Not investment advice. Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank.Cryptocurrency trading services are offered by Bakkt Crypto Solutions, LLC (NMLS ID 1828849), which is licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the NYSDFS. Cryptocurrency is highly speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and has the potential for loss of the entire amount of an investment. Cryptocurrency holdings are not protected by the FDIC or SIPC. . See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information.

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Big Tech Fears Her

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Over the last decade, the European Union has been the vanguard regulating Big Tech, and the push has been led by Margrethe Vestager. As she steps down, Vestager is looking both back at the battles she’s fought, and how the fight will continue.

Guest: Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition. the European Commission’s Executive Vice President on a Europe Fit for the Digital Age.

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Trump Called. Laura Loomer Answered.

Sun, 22 Sep 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Given Laura Loomer’s history of saying outright offensive and often bewildering things, how did she get into the Trump campaign’s inner circle?

Guest: Ken Bensinger, New York Times politics reporter.

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Can Instagram Really Keep Kids Safe?

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Instagram’s new default privacy settings for teenagers are designed to keep kids safe from strangers online. It’s a worthy endeavor, but are privacy settings enough? And what about all the other hazards teenagers face on social media?

Guest: Natasha Singer, New York Times tech reporter, focused on how technology is affecting childhood and schooling.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

Public.com+Public Investing Disclosure: Public Investing offers a High-Yield Cash Account where funds from this account are automatically deposited into partner banks where they earn interest and are eligible for FDIC insurance; Public Investing is not a bank. See public.com/#disclosures-main for more information.

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Is Boeing Lost in Space?

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Boeing’s Starliner has now landed successfully—but Butch and Sunny weren’t on it. With a pair of astronauts still stuck on the ISS, when will NASA be ready to bring them back? And how?

Guest: Micah Maidenberg, space business reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

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TikTok Goes to Court

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 07:30:00 GMT

The law has been passed and signed by the president: TikTok’s parent company must sell or divest from the app. But that’s not happening without a legal fight.

Guest: Emily Baker-White, investigative reporter at Forbes.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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The Misguided Buzz About Mosquitoes

Sun, 08 Sep 2024 07:00:00 GMT

An outbreak of eastern equine encephalitis in the northeast made headlines, but as far as mosquito-borne illnesses go, EEE is serious but still rare. What’s getting way too common is the mosquito itself.

Guest: Amesh Adalja, doctor and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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US v. Google… Again

Fri, 06 Sep 2024 07:00:00 GMT

A month after a federal judge declared that Google was operating as a monopoly because of its search engine, the Justice Department has alleged that Google’s ad business was breaking antitrust law as well.

What if Google loses again?

Guest: Leah Nylen, Bloomberg antitrust reporter.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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Telegram's CEO Just Got Arrested. Huh?

Sun, 01 Sep 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Telegram was supposed to be the platform with the freest of free speech, which meant it was also rife with the worst the internet has to offer—"criminal activity” puts it lightly. But are French authorities setting a dangerous precedent with the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov?

Guest: Joseph Menn, tech reporter for the Washington Post covering privacy and security.

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Back To School… Without Phones

Fri, 30 Aug 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Since the pandemic, schools have been reporting that their students are more anxious and having trouble learning. How much does simply removing cell phones from the classroom address these problems?

Guests:

Laura Meckler, national education writer for the Washington Post

Russell Shaw, head of Georgetown Day School and author of “Why We’re Banning Phones at Our School” for the Atlantic.

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Who’s Going to Regulate AI?

Sun, 25 Aug 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Why are national politicians like Nancy Pelosi lining up alongside artificial intelligence companies to oppose safety regulations on this new industry proposed in California’s state legislature?

Guest: Rachael Myrow, senior editor on KQED’s Silicon Valley news desk.

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Crypto Courts the 2024 Vote

Fri, 23 Aug 2024 07:00:00 GMT

The last crypto boom left the industry cash-rich and reputation-poor, so they’re doing what any beleaguered industry does—donating to politicians.

Guest: Zeke Faux, investigative reporter for Bloomberg and author of Number Go Up.

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The Rise of Off-Brand Ozempic

Sun, 18 Aug 2024 07:00:00 GMT

GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are in high demand and short supply. The internet makes it easy for you to have a compounding pharmacy whip you up a batch—but should you?

Guest: Kate Knibbs, senior writer at Wired.

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Elon Musk’s Bully Pulpit

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Since Elon Musk took over Twitter - now X - in 2022, he’s increasingly used it to push his conservative views. A suit against a non-profit brand safety group of advertisers and an exclusive interview with former President Trump show that Elon was never interested in keeping Twitter as a town square, but rather, a soapbox for him to push his political agenda.

Guest: Nitish Pahwa, associate writer for business and tech at Slate

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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Tesla’s Out of Juice. But Are EVs?

Sun, 11 Aug 2024 07:00:00 GMT

The hype has slowed but electric vehicles aren’t going away—once the infrastructure is in place, they’ll go everywhere.

Guests:

Nitish Pahwa, associate writer for business and tech at Slate.

Paula Gardner, business reporter for Bridge Michigan

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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Google’s a Monopoly. What About The Rest?

Fri, 09 Aug 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Should the other Silicon Valley giants be worried following the Department of Justice’s decisive win against Google?

Guest: Leah Nylen, antitrust reporter at Bloomberg

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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If They Can Get Sydney Sweeney They Can Get You

Sun, 04 Aug 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Earlier this month, AT&T was hit by the largest telecom hack ever. Not long after, Sydney Sweeney’s phone number was stolen by criminals, who used it to hack her social media and promote a memecoin. With how much sensitive data telecom companies have on us, why is their security so bad? And how can we protect ourselves?

Guests: Joseph Cox, investigative reporter and cofounder of 404 media.

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Why Are More Young People Getting Cancer?

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 07:00:00 GMT

The age when you need to start being screened for cancers may need to be updated, as rates among younger people are on the rise. New testing methods could make the process a lot easier than, say, a colonoscopy - but they’re not perfect.

Guest: Dylan Scott, senior correspondent and editor for Vox.

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The Panopticon Olympics

Sun, 28 Jul 2024 07:00:00 GMT

How France changed its own laws to have the safest, most pervasively surveilled Olympics ever—and why some are worried the new security system will stay in place long after the games end.

Guests:

Anne Toomey McKenna, professor, author, and expert in electronic surveillance.

Henry Grabar, covering the Olympics in Paris for Slate.

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Is Silicon Valley Trump-Vance Country?

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 07:00:00 GMT

For years, Silicon Valley has felt like a liberal enclave.. This election, a handful of powerful voices like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel are expressing support for the Trump-Vance ticket. Is this a shift in ideologies in Silicon Valley, or just a few of the loudest voices?

Guest: Nitish Pahwa, associate writer for business and tech at Slate.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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The Conspiracy Theory Election

Sun, 21 Jul 2024 07:00:00 GMT

In the hours after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, conspiracy theories started circulating all over social media, often amplified by powerful voices on both sides of the aisle. It shows a complete breakdown of trust in institutions during a critical election.

Guest: Drew Harwell, technology reporter at the Washington Post.

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America’s Tech Trustbuster

Fri, 19 Jul 2024 07:00:00 GMT

The biggest companies in the world are now tech companies, which is why the biggest antitrust, anti-monopoly fights in recent memory are centered around Silicon Valley.

Guest: Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division, U.S. Department of Justice

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The New World of DIY Medical Tests

Sun, 14 Jul 2024 07:00:00 GMT

“Home diagnostics” are a $5 billion industry—and growing. Spurred by social media, people are buying into at-home health tests, without input from their doctors, and often, not even the FDA.

Guest: Elizabeth Dwoskin, reporter for the Washington Post

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Boeing Pleads Guilty

Fri, 12 Jul 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Boeing just pled guilty to felony charges of defrauding the federal government, leading to millions of dollars in fines, and new, external oversight. Is this how the company finally turns it around?

Guest: Oriana Pawlyk, POLITICO’s aviation reporter.

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The Blu-Ray-naissance Is Here. Sort of.

Sun, 07 Jul 2024 07:00:00 GMT

The downsides of the streaming era are coming into focus for movie fans—uncontrollable, changing libraries; lower fidelity; lack of extras and features. Can all of these be solved with a return to physical media?

Guest: Ash Nelson, journalist and author of “The Lost Art of the DVD Extra” for Slate.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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Elon Says Have More Babies

Fri, 05 Jul 2024 07:00:00 GMT

The world’s population has never been bigger, and it’s still growing. but there’s a movement of “pronatalists” who see the slowing birth rate in wealthy, educated populations as a doomsday scenario in the making—and they’ve found their spokesman in one Elon Musk.

Guest: Sophie Alexander, reporter for Bloomberg

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Why Are IUDs Still a Mystery?

Sun, 30 Jun 2024 07:00:00 GMT

The story of IUDs is a story of technology, reproductive rights, shortcomings in communication about women’s health, and politics.

Guest: Mia Armstrong-Lopez, managing editor at ASU Media Enterprise and author of a recent piece on IUDs for Slate.

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Why Extreme Weather Keeps Surprising You

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Saying any one storm or heat wave or weather in general was “caused by climate change” is tricky—summer is, after all, usually pretty hot, and storms happen. But researchers are working on a model that brings “climate change” from abstract into the particular.

Guest: Daniel Swain, climate scientist at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, studying how extreme events are changing on a warming Earth.

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Is Your Phone Tracking Your Driving?

Sun, 23 Jun 2024 07:00:00 GMT

As cars get smarter, automakers - with the help of third-party apps - are leveraging the new data they’re able to collect on people's driving habits to influence drivers’ insurance prices. The problem? Most people aren’t aware their driving is being monitored.

Guest: Kashmir Hill, tech reporter for the New York Times.

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Amazon Wants Your Handprint

Fri, 21 Jun 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Amazon has installed digital palm readers at Whole Foods. The reader scans your palm, collecting biometric data, and links it to your credit card to pay for your groceries. What does exchanging vein mapping for eggs and butter mean for the future of data security and in-person shopping.

Guest: Emily Moore, freelance tech and food journalist

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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The FBI Made a Phone Network. It Was A Trap.

Sun, 16 Jun 2024 07:00:00 GMT

In 2021, one of the largest global law enforcement operations took place. It was all thanks to an encrypted phone service known as Anom, which was secretly run by the FBI.

The program was a wild success. But did the agency take it too far?

Guest: Joseph Cox, investigative reporter for 404 media and author of “Dark Wire, the Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever”

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Apple Goes Intelligent

Fri, 14 Jun 2024 07:00:00 GMT

On Monday, Tim Cook announced Apple was getting into artificial intelligence. Is Apple about to do for A.I. what it did for personal computers and smartphones?

Guest: Gerrit De Vynck, tech reporter for the Washington Post.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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Fee’d Up: A Musician’s Take on Ticketmaster

Sun, 09 Jun 2024 07:00:00 GMT

It’s hard to imagine music fans mourning a break-up of Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation, as a Department of Justice lawsuit requests. But even with this monopolistic middleman out of the way, touring musicians still seem destined to struggle financially.

Guest: Laura Jane Grace, musician

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Anna Phillips.

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The Secret Semiconductor War

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 07:00:00 GMT

How well is the Biden administration coaxing semiconductor companies to build their chips in the United States? Compared to Taiwan, South Korea, Japan…or even mainland China, things are just okay.

Guest: Asa Fitch, reporter for the Wall Street Journal, covering the semiconductor industry.

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Would You Buy Poop On the Internet?

Sun, 02 Jun 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Guest:

Luke Winkie, Slate staff writer who published “The Poop Broker.”

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He’s Suing Big Tech Over Uvalde

Fri, 31 May 2024 07:00:00 GMT

His law firm won a $73 million dollar settlement against Remington on behalf of nine Sandy Hook families. Now he’s filing a lawsuit against the gunmaker Daniel Defense, the video game company Activision, and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, on behalf of families in Uvalde.

Guest: Josh Koskoff, attorney

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Anna Phillips.

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Why Hospitals Keep Getting Hacked

Sun, 26 May 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Last year saw a record number of healthcare hacks with more than 700 separate incidents. And with a subsidiary of United Healthcare forking over a $22 billion ransom this year, the problem isn’t going away. With so much sensitive personal information on file, why aren’t hospitals and their ilk better prepared?

Guest:

Dina Carlisle, president of the local nurses union, OPEIU 40 in Michigan.

Justin Sherman, CEO of Global Cyber Strategies.

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Scarlett Johansson vs OpenAI

Fri, 24 May 2024 07:00:00 GMT

When OpenAI showed a demo for the latest version of ChatGPT —the one that you can chat with, you know, with your voice—one of the voices sounded eerily familiar. And instead of a victory lap, it was a reminder of all of the implications for intellectual property and one’s own basic human likeness that this technology carries with it.

Guest: Sigal Samuel, senior reporter for Vox's Future Perfect and co-host of the Future Perfect podcast.

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The Dark Side of GoFundMe

Sun, 19 May 2024 07:00:00 GMT

In theory, crowdfunding sites offer an opportunity for anyone to give to any cause, including, say, strangers facing huge medical bills. In practice, crowdfunding suffers from many of the same inequities that led to someone needing to crowdfund to begin with.

Guest: Nora Kenworthy, author of Crowded Out: The True Costs of Crowdfunding Healthcare, associate professor at the University of Washington, Bothell.

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Too Stonks Too Furious

Fri, 17 May 2024 07:00:00 GMT

The 2021 subreddit-coordinated effort to raise the price of Gamestop stock was, in some ways, a proof of concept: the little guy can get into the market and make some noise. Because even though that “meme stock” rose and fell, the idea of the meme stock went has changed the way our stock market works.

Guest: Alex Kirshner, contributing writer for Slate.

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Would You Choose Your Child’s Sex?

Sun, 12 May 2024 07:00:00 GMT

The ability to choose the sex of your child through IVF is banned in most of the world. In America, however, parents can—and do—for a price.

Guest: Emi Nietfeld, writer and software engineer, author of “The Parents Who Want Daughters—and Daughters Only” for Slate.

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Meet the Trump Campaign’s A.I. Guy

Fri, 10 May 2024 07:00:00 GMT

You might not know Brad Parscale by name, but you know his work: he was the digital campaign operative behind Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential victory. This election cycle, he’s back—and advising conservatives on how to utilize A.I. in their campaigns.

Guest: Garance Burke, global investigative journalist for the Associated Press.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, Cheyna Roth and Anna Phillips.

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Can California Save Journalism?

Sun, 05 May 2024 07:00:00 GMT

The California Journalism Preservation Act would make companies like Google and Meta pay publishers for the news content appearing in their feeds and search results—and force news organizations to spend that money on their journalists. How have similar laws worked in Canada and Australia? And could it solve journalism’s on-going revenue problem?

Guest: Matt Pearce, former LA Times journalist, the president of Media Guild of the West.

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Bird Flu—It’s in Milk?

Fri, 03 May 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Bird flu isn’t new, you may even remember past outbreaks. But showing up in milk?

Is America ready if it leaps to spreading among humans?

Guest: Katelyn Jetelina, epidemiologist, senior advisor to the CDC

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The Failures of ‘Organic’ Farming

Sun, 28 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT

There are regulations regarding how farm animals are transported, how they’re auctioned, how they’re slaughtered—but when they’re living on the farm? That’s where things get cloudy.

Guest: Annie Lowrey, journalist writing on politics and economic policy for The Atlantic.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Anna Phillips.

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So ... Is TikTok Banned?

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT

The TikTok ban that has been floating around Washington since the last administration has been signed into law. What does that mean for users, creators and the court battles ahead?

Guest:

Louise Matsakis, reporter covering tech and China.

Dillon White, TikToker under the handle @dadchats

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The Internet Archive Endangered

Sun, 21 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT

From the Wayback Machine to the mass-digitization of the history of Aruba, the Internet Archive is a non-profit doing valuable work. But some of its other projects—a pandemic-era lending library and the ongoing digitalization of 78 rpm records—have led to lawsuits now threatening the future of this repository of the past.

Guest: Kate Knibbs, senior writer at Wired.

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What’s Driving Tesla’s Layoffs?

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Tesla’s market cap has dropped. The company had its biggest round of layoffs ever. The Cybertruck doesn’t seem to be taking off. And Elon’s posting through it. Is Tesla in serious trouble?

Guest: Dana Hull, Bloomberg reporter and contributor to the podcast Elon, Inc.

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Is America Ready for Legal Psychedelics?

Sun, 14 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT

How the semi-legalization of marijuana has drawn a road map for legalizing psychedelics—and also provided a list of pitfalls to be avoided.

Guest: Jane C. Hu, science journalist and author of the newsletter The Microdose.

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Does Google Suck Now?

Fri, 12 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Why lately our search engines just don’t seem to deliver results.

Guest: Jason Koebler, cofounder of 404 Media and co-host of the 404 Media Podcast.

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America Needs More Power

Sun, 07 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT

The demand for electricity is surging in the U.S. With increasing amounts of power going towards artificial intelligence, manufacturing and electric vehicles, can the grid keep up?

Guest: Evan Halper, business reporter covering the energy transition for the Washington Post

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Truth Social’s Rocky Week

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Donald Trump got a huge financial boost when Truth Social went public last week—or did he?

Guest: Nitish Pahwa, associate writer on business and tech for Slate.

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The Psychological Toll of Mars

Sun, 31 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT

From science fiction writers to American presidents to Elon Musk, everyone’s eager to send people to Mars. But, even if you could nail the physical aspects, are Earthlings cut out for life on Mars mentally?

Guest: Nathaniel Rich, contributing writer for New York Times magazine.

Kate Greene, author and poet

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Can Boeing Pull Out of This Tailspin?

Fri, 29 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT

How supply chains, the pandemic, and a steady stream of Wall Street money led to a crisis at Boeing.

Guest: Jon Ostrower, editor-in-chief of the website the Air Current.

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The Next Round of the Union Fight

Sun, 24 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT

After organized-labor victories at Amazon, with automakers, and in Hollywood, big corporations are striking back by, among other things, suing the National Labor Relations Board.

Guest: Noam Scheiber, reporter for the New York Times covering working and workers.

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Reddit’s IPO Gamble

Fri, 22 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Despite the blackouts, moderator revolts, and long string of controversies, Reddit remains an active, healthy website. As the site goes public this week, can it remain that way?

Guest: Priya Anand, Bloomberg News tech reporter.

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When Private Equity Gets in to Health Care

Sun, 17 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Private equity firms have been buying up doctors’ offices and hospitals around the country. But if profits are the primary goal, what happens to the cost and quality of healthcare for patients?

Guest: Gretchen Morgenson, senior financial reporter for the NBC News Investigative Unit and co-author of “These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs—and Wrecks—America”

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Anna Phillips.

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Is TikTok Cooked This Time?

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT

TikTok’s connection to the Chinese government has been a Washington talking point since the Trump administration, but earlier this month lawmakers in the House introduced a bill requiring the app’s parent company to either divest the company into American hands—or be banned.

Guest: Emily Baker-White, technology reporter and senior writer at Forbes.

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Instagram’s Pedophile Problem

Sun, 10 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT

As the debate around child safety online rages on, an investigation by The New York Times found a seedy world of pedophiles interacting with child influencer accounts, often run by their parents, on Instagram.

Guest: Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, investigative reporter at the New York Times.

Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across 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.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

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Why TikTok Went Silent

Fri, 08 Mar 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Thousands of songs have disappeared from TikTok in recent months as music giant Universal Music Group, or UMG, has pulled its catalog from the app. UMG claims that TikTok is a music platform, and that TikTok needs to pay more to license its music. TikTok claims they're a marketing platform that helps labels promote their artists. But while the two sides argue over contract negotiations for licensing music on the video platform, many artists are left scrambling.

Guest: Ethan Millman, staff writer at Rolling Stone covering the music industry.

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Google’s Scam Obituary Problem

Sun, 03 Mar 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Why scam obituaries are edging out earnest ones, with the help of artificial intelligence and an adept Google game.

Guest: Mia Sato, reporter for The Verge.

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The Supreme Court Takes on Content Moderation

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Is it censorship for social media platforms to moderate their content, or is censorship when the state tells social media platforms how to moderate their content?

Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, Slate writer on courts and the law.

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Alabama’s IVF Mess

Sun, 25 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Fertility doctors and their patients trying to conceive via in vitro fertilization (IVF) were stopped in their tracks this week, as the Alabama Supreme Court declared that embryos have the same rights as people. The decision has left doctors wondering if they can be sued for carrying out standard IVF procedures, and experts worry the ruling could have ramifications for IVF around the country.

Guest: Dr. Elizabeth Constance, reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialist in Omaha, Nebraska.

Check out Compiler here.

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The Coasts are Sinking

Fri, 23 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Studies have found that, in tiny increments, America’s East Coast is sinking into the ground thanks to climate change. Can a new approach to urban planning mitigate the effect?

Guest: Matt Simon, senior staff writer at Wired.

You can read Matt’s reporting here.

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Apple Vision Pro: The Ultimate Surveillance Device?

Sun, 18 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Apple Vision Pro goggles might be a crime against fashion but with the amount of data they can collect—both on the world around the user and on the users themselves—they have the potential to invade privacy right down to where you’re looking and for how long.

Guest: Geoffrey Fowler, Washington Post tech columnist

Check out Compiler here.

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Warfare Enters the A.I. Era

Fri, 16 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT

The war in Ukraine reordered the priorities of the country’s growing tech sector, and has become a place for foreign companies to test out new tools with less regulation or scrutiny.

Guests: Vera Bergengruen, senior correspondent at Time

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Breaking Up with Dating Apps

Sun, 11 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT

For a while, it seemed like the only place to meet potential partners was through an app—Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, etc. But as the apps are trying to monetize their matchmaking—and some users now with a whole decade of striking out under their belts—old-fashioned meet-cutes-in-bars or, say, debutante balls look more and more appealing.

Guests:

Katherine Lindsay, culture writer and cofounder of Embedded

Rachael Stein, dating-app spelunker

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The NFL’s Concussion Settlement Farce

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT

The NFL's concussion settlement was meant to provide financial support and medical help for players who developed traumatic brain injuries from the sport. So why are so many players denied the help they need?

Guest: Will Hobson, sports reporter for the Washington Post.

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Streaming Is Cable Now

Sun, 04 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT

The number of TV streaming services is going up—and so is the cost and so are the number of ads. Cordcutters are finding themselves back to cable prices and inconveniences. And these changes don’t just impact the TV viewing experience - they impact the types of shows that get made in the first place.

Guest: Alex Cranz, managing editor at the Verge.

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The Taylor Swift Deepfake Saga

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT

For all the promise of the technology, one use-case for artificial intelligence reared its ugly head last week: non-consensual pornographic images. As millions of users saw abusive A.I. generated images of Taylor Swift proliferate across X, the pitfalls of this technology became clear.

Guest: Emanuel Maiberg, journalist and co-founder of 404 Media

Check out Compiler here.

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Why Is Everybody Sick?

Sun, 28 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Are we still paying off our pandemic-induced “immunity debt,” or is there another reason that it feels like we’re all sniffling and coughing and just feeling sick?

Guest: Keren Landman, senior health reporter at Vox

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Are You Ready for the A.I. Election?

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT

In the days leading up to the New Hampshire primary, voters received a robocall purportedly from Joe Biden. Authorities have now determined the call was likely A.I.-generated.

In the era of A.I., how can voters tell what’s real and what’s not? And will the general election be thrown into chaos by artificial intelligence-created disinformation?

Guest: Makena Kelly, senior writer at Wired covering politics and technology

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Paige Osburn and Anna Phillips.

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Have Algorithms Ruined Our Culture?

Sun, 21 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT

How much of our lives—our tastes, preferences and choices—have been fed to us through an interlocking, impersonal network of algorithms?

Guest: Kyle Chayka, staff writer at the New Yorker and author of Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture.

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The Great British Library Hack

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT

When a cyberattack knocked the British Library out of commission in October of last year, a nation's researchers, scholars, students, and bookworms were left high and dry. Months later, the library is starting to come back online in limited capacity, but the attack has laid bare just how fragile our digital systems are.

Guest: Sam Knight, staff writer at the New Yorker

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Is Your Car Tracking You?

Sun, 14 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Covered in cameras, full of microphones, and always eager to use location data, our vehicles are “smartphones on wheels”—and privacy nightmares.

Guest: Kashmir Hill, technology and privacy reporter for the New York Times.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Boeing’s Max Mess

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Shortly after take off from Portland, OR, the plug exit on a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet blew out – causing an uncontrolled decompression of the plane. Now, accident investigators are hard at work, trying to determine what happened in what's the latest catastrophe for the respected commercial airplane provider.

Guest: Jon Ostrower, Editor-in-chief of The Air Current

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Tesla's Cybertruck Problem

Sun, 07 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT

What the Cybertruck says about safety, regulation, and the degree to which Tesla is beholden to the whims of Elon Musk.

Guest: Edward Niedermeyer, author of Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors

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Why the New York Times Sued OpenAI

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT

If A.I. and chatbots are the next wave of innovation, then the New York Times and other media organizations are determined to get paid this time.

Guest: Megan Morrone, technology editor for the Axios AI+ newsletter

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Who’s Afraid of A.I.? | 2023 In Review

Sun, 31 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT

While the What Next: TBD team spends some time with their families during the holidays, we revisit some of 2023’s biggest, strangest, and best stories. Regularly scheduled programming resumes in January.

Artificial intelligence—as it already exists today—is drawing from huge troves of surveillance data and is rife with the biases built into the algorithm, in service of the huge corporations that develop and maintain the systems. The fight for the future doesn’t look like war with Skynet; it’s happening right now on the lines of the Writer’s Guild strike.

Guests:

Meredith Whittaker, president of the Signal Foundation, co-founder of the AI Now Institute at NYU

Originally aired May 12th, 2023

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America’s Killer Car Problem | 2023 In Review

Fri, 29 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT

Pedestrian deaths in America have been rising for the last decade, while dropping in Europe and Japan. What makes the U.S. so dangerous for pedestrians?

Guest: Jessie Singer, author of There Are No Accidents: The Deadly Rise of Injury and Disaster―Who Profits and Who Pays the Price.

Originally aired July 16th, 2023.

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Stephen King Is Just as Confused About Blue Checks as You Are | 2023 In Review

Sun, 24 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT

Twitter’s “blue check” verification went from something you applied for, to something you could pay for, to something you had to pay for…to something that many celebrities wouldn’t even accept for free. Master of horror Stephen King told us he wouldn’t pay for a blue check, but he’s not going to fight it either—he just doesn’t really understand what’s going on. Does anyone at Twitter understand?

Guests:

Alex Heath, deputy editor of The Verge

Jon Favreau, co-founder of Crooked Media, speechwriter for President Barack Obama

Stephen King, author

Originally aired April 28th, 2023.

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Can Hybrid Cars Save Us?

Fri, 22 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT

Without infrastructure to support all-electric vehicles, consumers have increasingly embraced the hybrid. The lower emissions are good—but are they slowing down our transition into an electric future?

Guest: Patrick George, editor-in-chief of InsideEVs.com, contributor to The Atlantic and The Verge.

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The Case Against CLEAR

Sun, 17 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT

Going through airport security is a legal requirement. Is it fair for a private company to interject itself in that process—and cut to the front of the line?

Guest: David Zipper, visiting Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, focused on mobility, cities and technology.

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Shein’s Newest Offering? An IPO

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT

Fast-fashion titan Shein is preparing for its initial public offering, even as questions of sustainability and labor practices linger.

Guest: Jordyn Holman, business reporter covering the retail industry and consumerism for The New York Times

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Musk's War on Free Speech

Sun, 10 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT

Elon Musk is suing Media Matters for reporting that advertisers’ content was showing up right next to posts from newly reinstated Nazis on X, something X’s CEO said was impossible. Media Matters is based in D.C, and X is headquartered in California - so why did Musk choose to file the suit in Texas?

Guest: Liz Dye, columnist at Above the Law, Substacks as Law and Chaos Pod, co-hosts the podcast Opening Arguments.

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Spotify Unwrapped

Fri, 08 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT

Is Spotify’s 2023—ending with layoffs and cancelling critically acclaimed original podcasts—a sign of trouble at the streaming giant, or an adjustment to expectations that’s setting them up for a brighter future?

Guest: Ashley Carman, Bloomberg reporter who covers Spotfiy

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They See You When You’re Shopping

Sun, 03 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT

Though navigating the internet involves spraying your data pretty indiscriminately, you actually have more control over it than you think—it’s just a pain to rein it in.

Guest: Geoffrey Fowler, Washington Post tech columnist.

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A Moral War for A.I.

Fri, 01 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT

Artificial intelligence seems predestined to become a bigger part of our lives. To what extent is the A.I. push being led by Sam Altman and the OpenAI team a cause for concern?

Guest: Karen Hao, journalist, data scientist and contributing writer for the Atlantic.

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The Race (Back) to the Moon

Sun, 26 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT

The first steps on the moon were in the name of “all mankind.” But with more countries—and the private sector—competing to not only return, but to tap into the moon’s resources, we’re going to need some ground rules.

Guest: Chris Davenport reports on NASA and the space industry at the Washington Post.

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.

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Where Scams Are Born

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT

An app for open money laundering, a corridor of massive casinos in the middle of nowhere, and the global scamdemic.

Guest: Cezary Podkul, reporter for Propublica

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Inside OpenAI's Implosion

Tue, 21 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT

OpenAI was the hottest startup in Silicon Valley off the success of ChatGPT. Then, the board fired Sam Altman.

Guest: Mike Isaac, technology reporter at the New York Times.

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Bedbugs Are Back, Baby!

Sun, 19 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT

The bedbug break-out during Paris fashion week this fall was obviously horrifying, but the bad news doesn’t stop there. Bedbugs are on the rise—and on the move.

Guest: Benji Jones, senior environmental reporter at Vox.

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How Deepfake Porn Infected a School

Fri, 17 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT

Girls at a New Jersey high school were early victims of a novel and growing problem: their images were taken from social media without consent to create “deep-fake pornography.”

Guest: Julie Jargon, Wall Street Journal family and tech columnist.

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Will A.I. Take My Job?

Sun, 12 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT

A review website became suddenly flush with new bylines, right as the newsroom was negotiating with management. But information on their new contributors was hard to find—were they people at all, or was this the first clumsy incursion of A.I. into their newsroom?

Guest: Will Sommer, Washington Post media reporter

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Tesla vs. the Swedes

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT

In late October, Tesla mechanics in Sweden began to strike after the company refused to sign a collective agreement. This week, the country's other major unions joined in the fight as well.

Can Sweden’s robust labor culture force Tesla to make concessions?

Guest: Melissa Eddy, Berlin correspondent for the New York Times.

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Sam Bankman-Fraud

Sat, 04 Nov 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty on seven charges of wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering and is facing a 110-year sentence.

Cryptocurrency, itself, has lost an ambassador, a lot of value, and quite a bit of credibility.

Guest: Nitish Pahwa, associate business and tech writer covering the trial for Slate.

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Biden Goes After AI

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Biden’s executive order on A.I. indicates his administration is taking it seriously. Does it go far enough?

Guest: Cecilia Kang, covering technology and policy for the New York Times.

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SBF Takes the Stand

Sat, 28 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT

The man at the center of it all takes the stand in his own defense—but what’s left to say?

Guest: Nitish Pahwa, associate business and tech writer covering the trial for Slate.

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Self-Driving Cars Crash Into Reality

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT

In August, California regulators voted to allow self-driving car companies like Cruise and Waymo to expand their operations and start offering robotaxi services. 2 months later, after a litany of mistakes, Cruise is pulling all of its driverless cars off the road.

Is this an existential threat to the entire AV industry?

Guest: David Zipper, visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School

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Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard Takeover

Sat, 21 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Since Microsoft announced its bid to buy Activision Blizzard last year, regulators around the world sounded the alarm that the merger would suppress competition in the industry.

Now that the deal has officially gone through, should gamers be worried?

Guest: Jason Schreier, covering the video game industry for Bloomberg

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Inside Hamas' Social Media Strategy

Fri, 20 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Since war broke out, Hamas has been efficient in getting its message out on social media - both in providing crucial information to refugees fleeing the area, and in waging psychological warfare. How can platforms meet the need for open lines of communication without spreading propaganda?

Guest: Sheera Frenkel, covering tech for the New York Times

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The $30,000 Zelle Scam

Sat, 14 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Zelle has exploded in popularity as a fast, convenient way to send and receive money. But the story of a couple who was scammed out of a pool shows there are problems with safety on the platform.

Guest: Devin Friedman, journalist and senior correspondent for GQ magazine.

You can read Devin’s piece here.

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The Israel-Hamas War Instantly Broke X

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT

When the Arab Spring was unfolding, Twitter was hailed as a way for on-the-ground reporting to reach the public. But when fighting between Hamas and Israel broke out over the weekend, X became flooded with misinformation.

Guest: Casey Newton, founder and editor of the technology newsletter Platformer.

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The Man Who Turned You Into Data

Sat, 07 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Hank Asher was a lot of things: a Florida condo maven, a drug runner, a DEA informant—and a tech visionary who created the mixed blessing of turning everyone’s online activity into an unshakable shadow profile.

Guest: McKenzie Funk, reporter for Pro Publica and the author of The Hank Show

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Sam Bankman-Fried—and Crypto—on Trial

Fri, 06 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT

As the trial begins, SBF is making the case that what he did is typical in the world of crypto. But when the government paints a much bleaker picture of FTX—one riddled with fraud and deception—what does that say about the industry?

Guest: Nitish Pahwa, associate business and tech writer at Slate.

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Inside Crypto's House of Cards

Sun, 01 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT

The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried marks the end of an era where crypto rose to dizzying, Super-Bowl-commercial heights. Where does the industry go from here?

Guest: Zeke Faux, investigative reporter for Bloomberg and author of Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall.

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Who Will Pay For A COVID Vaccine?

Sat, 30 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT

After years of being a rare spot of universal, American-government-funded health care, this fall’s new COVID-19 vaccine is hitting the commercial market for the first time. So far, the rollout has been mired by hiccups and confusion.

Guest: Jen Kates, senior vice president at KFF

Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Anna Philips.

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Is Amazon a Monopoly?

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Amazon evolved from a place to get cheap used books to the “everything store”—one encompassing warehouses, logistics and shipping.

But with the FTC now run by Lina Khan—who wrote the essay ‘Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox” while at Yale Law School—a new contender for “antitrust trial of the century” has begun.

Guest: Leah Nylen, antitrust reporter for Bloomberg

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What Instacart’s IPO Means for Tech

Sat, 23 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT

As other tech companies that rode the pandemic to success started sinking, Instacart managed to stay above water—they turned a profit and even made it to an IPO. But a stubbornly static stock price has some asking if Instacart—and the whole gig economy—hasn’t already peaked.

Guest: Erin Griffith, who reports on tech startups and venture capital for the New York Times

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Did AirBnB Need to Go?

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT

The sword of regulation, which has been swinging over New York AirBnBs for over a decade, is falling at last. But will new laws for short-term rentals have the effect housing advocates are hoping for? And after many failed efforts, can these laws actually be enforced?

Guest: Heather Tal Murphy, Slate writer covering tech and business.

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Can Politicians Keep Kids Safe Online?

Sat, 16 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT

The bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act has noble-sounding intentions, but has been called one of the most dangerous bills in years by the digital rights group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Guest: Richard Blumenthal, senior United States senator from Connecticut.

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Google Makes Its Case

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT

A trial a decade in the making has started, as the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust case against Google and its unrivaled position as the top search engine begins. Is this the beginning of the government “taking on Big Tech” and the end of Google as we know it?

Guest: Leah Nylen, covering antitrust for Bloomberg.

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Bad Air, Worse Vibes

Sat, 09 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT

COVID’s still here but the public’s appetite for masking, social distancing, or remote learning is long gone. One palatable way to stop the spread: improving air circulation indoors.

Guest: Apoorva Mandavilli, science and global health reporter for the New York Times

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Tech Disrupts the School Bus

Fri, 08 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT

When Howard County signed a $27 million contract with the start-up Zum, the company promised to modernize the way schools provide transportation. But when the school year started, that’s not what happened.

Guest: Daniel Zawodny, covering transportation for the Baltimore Banner and corps member of Report For America.

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Social Media’s Pivot from News

Sun, 03 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT

It wasn’t long ago when social media was a place to go for up-to-the-minute updates in an emergency. But even as internet access is more widespread than ever—and natural disasters more frequent—Twitter and Facebook are less useful than ever. As hubs for news, that era appears over.

Guest: Will Oremus, tech reporter for the Washington Post.

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Is LinkedIn...Cool Now?

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT

As Twitt—sorry, X—continues to go through tumult, an unlikely, long-time player is emerging as the last acceptable place to post.

Guest: Sarah Frier, tech editor at Bloomberg Businessweek.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell.

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The Cost of "Sustainable" Pet Food

Sun, 06 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT

After a quiet spring, COVID is surging back for the fourth consecutive summer. So, is this just life now?

Guest: Katherine Wu, staff writer at the Atlantic

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Tesla's Big Lie

Fri, 04 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Tesla sold a vision of how electric vehicles would work: just like gas-powered cars, but cleaner, better. But as a scandal about misrepresented battery life and driving range unfolds, and the price of their cars remains high, it increasingly looks like the transition will be anything but seamless—if it happens at all.

Guest: Edward Niedermeyer, author of Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors.

You can check out Reuters reporting on Tesla’s range scandal here.

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America’s Downtown Ghost Towns

Sun, 30 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT

It’s 2023 – and less than half of all Americans have returned to the office full time. That means U.S. downtowns from San Francisco to New York are emptier than they’ve been in decades. Offices are actually trending away from policies that mandate returning five days a week. So, how can cities get creative – and develop some new ways to boost the local economy?

Guest: Henry Grabar, Slate staff writer

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Amicus—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.

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Washington vs. A.I.

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT

At a White House summit late last week, some of the biggest names in tech - including Meta, Google and OpenAI - signed “voluntary” commitments to safeguard artificial intelligence. In Congress, Senate Leader Chuck Schumer recently introduced a “legislative framework” for A.I. law… but as they debate and deliberate, the A.I. train continues to move full steam ahead. It’s clear the government’s paying attention, but can they keep up with the technology?

Guest: Makena Kelly, politics reporter at The Verge

Don Beyer, U.S. representative for Virginia's 8th congressional district

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Amicus—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.

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Why Tech Lays Women Off First

Sun, 23 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT

When the tech industry started rounds of layoffs this year, almost half of the people let go were women—even though they make up a much smaller percentage of the workforce. What does this say about women in tech, and efforts to diversify the industry overall?

Guest: Emma Goldberg, a reporter who covers the future of work for the New York Times.

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America’s $5 Trillion Grid Problem

Fri, 21 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT

To keep places like Phoenix habitable, we need to have air-conditioning. But to have air-conditioning, we need a functional, modern electrical grid. With America’s grid already aging—and more demand coming in the form of electric cars and more A/C for hotter weather—what will it take to keep it going as the weather gets more extreme?

Guest: Dr. Joshua Rhodes, research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin studying energy systems and how they interact with our environment, climate, and life.

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America’s Killer Car Problem

Sun, 16 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Pedestrian deaths in America have been rising for the last decade, while dropping in Europe and Japan. What makes the U.S. so dangerous for pedestrians?

Guest: Jessie Singer, author of There Are No Accidents: The Deadly Rise of Injury and Disaster―Who Profits and Who Pays the Price.

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Will UPS Workers Join "Hot Strike Summer?"

Fri, 14 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Contract negotiations between the Teamsters and UPS broke down last week and now a strike looms. With time running out, can both sides reach a deal?

Guest: Noam Scheiber, labor reporter for the New York Times.

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Is Your Son Watching Andrew Tate?

Sun, 09 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Andrew Tate’s gross mix of self-help, toxic masculinity and misogyny captured the minds of young boys on the internet. It also led to indictments in Romania on human trafficking and rape charges.

Guest: Lisa Miller, contributing editor at New York magazine.

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Threads vs. Twitter

Fri, 07 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT

It seems like with each new Musk innovation, a new Twitter replacement appears in response. But Threads is backed by Meta and available in just a few clicks for an Instagram user. Could it be the one?

Guest: Mike Isaac, technology reporter for the New York Times.

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Turning Your Face Into Your Ticket

Sun, 02 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Even if you like the convenience of your phone unlocking after it reads your face, there are reasons to be wary of the TSA bringing facial recognition technology to the airport.

Guest: Geoffrey Fowler, technology columnist for the Washington Post.

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The Never-Ending Cancer Drug Shortage

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT

A shortage of basic chemotherapy drugs to treat cancer is jeopardizing the care of hundreds of thousands of patients. The drugs aren’t expensive, or patented—so where are they?

Guest: Ed Yong, science journalist at The Atlantic.

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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Can Ozempic Cure Addiction?

Sun, 25 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Semaglutide, better known by its brand name Ozempic, has been making headlines as a weight loss drug – despite only having FDA approval to treat diabetes. Now, some say it doesn’t just quell cravings for food – it helps quiet cravings for alcohol, drugs, and other compulsive behaviors. For years, researchers have been studying semaglutide's effectiveness as an addiction cure in animals. What have they found? And – does it actually work?

Guest: Sarah Zhang covers health and medicine for The Atlantic

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Amicus—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.

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The U.S. vs Amazon Prime

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT

On Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon, accusing the online giant of “tricking and trapping people into recurring subscriptions.” The complaint says Amazon “knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in Amazon Prime."

With murmurs of a larger antitrust probe against Amazon just around the corner, how serious is this suit for the tech giant?

Guest: Leah Nylen, antitrust reporter at Bloomberg

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Amicus—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.

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The George Soros Succession

Sun, 18 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT

One son was preparing to take over George Soros’s multi-billion-dollar empire. Then, there was a falling out, and a new heir-apparent was chosen.

Who is Alex Soros? And, as he takes over for one of the most influential figures in American politics, what can we expect from him?

Guest: Gregory Zuckerman, special writer at the Wall Street Journal

Host: Emily Peck

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Reddit’s Rolling Blackouts

Fri, 16 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Across Reddit, thousands of forums have gone “private” and effectively disappeared. Users are protesting the site’s plan to capitalize on its data, which has been enjoyed for free by people making third-party apps for Reddit, as well as some of the world’s biggest companies training their A.I.

Guest: Sarah Needleman, reporter for the Wall Street Journal who writes about interactive entertainment and social media

Host: Emily Peck

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Are You Ready For A.I. Generated Actors?

Sun, 11 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT

As “deep fakes” have demonstrated, it’s getting easier and easier to swap an actor for a digital likeness—something that contributed to the Screen Actors Guild voting to authorize joining the writers on strike.

Guest: Heather Tal Murphy, Slate writer covering tech, business, and A.I.

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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Is Crypto Toast?

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT

This week, the SEC sued Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world, and Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the US. Is it a sign that the glory days of crypto are gone?

Guest: Stacy-Marie Ishmael, managing editor for crypto at Bloomberg News

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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Tech’s Newest Trillion Dollar Company

Sun, 04 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Until recently, Nvidia was a company known for graphics cards—a brand name among gamers but not necessarily the general public. But as part of the A.I. boom, Nvidia’s stock has skyrocketed, putting the company in Silicon Valley’s trillion-dollar valuation class with Apple, Meta, and Alphabet—briefly, at least.

Guest: Don Clark, freelance reporter specializing in chips and enterprise tech.

Host: Emily Peck

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When Your Childhood Was Their Content

Fri, 02 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT

When someone posts a photo of you online without your consent, it should be easy to have it taken down or confront the person who posted it. But what if the poster is your parent, and it’s not just one photo, but your entire childhood that’s readily available online? And as social media algorithms evolve to push content in front of as many people as possible, what happens when a temper tantrum goes viral?

Guest: Kathryn Lindsay, technology and culture writer.

Host: Emily Peck

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The Trouble With TikTok Songs

Sun, 28 May 2023 07:00:00 GMT

How the music streaming business opened the door to billions of dollars in fraud.

Guest: Ashley Carman, Bloomberg News reporter covering the podcasting, music, and audio beat.

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Tweetering on the Glass Cliff

Fri, 26 May 2023 07:00:00 GMT

How Twitter’s new CEO Linda Yaccarino finds herself on the edge of “the glass cliff”: when a woman is sent in to fix a big mess.

Guest: Vittoria Elliot, reporter for Wired, covering platforms and power

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A Tipping Point for Digital Tipping

Sun, 21 May 2023 07:00:00 GMT

From the coffee shop to the salon to the grocery store, Americans feel like they’re being prompted and prodded for tips more than ever—and they’re starting to resent it.

Guest: Kelly Phillips Erb, tax and law reporter for Forbes.

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Why Sports Are All in on Betting

Fri, 19 May 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Out of the smoky backrooms, Vegas and clandestine dens, and straight to your phone—how did gambling on sports go from forbidden to inescapable seemingly overnight?

Guest: John Holden, associate professor at Oklahoma State’s Spears school of business

Check out AWS Insiders here: https://link.chtbl.com/awsinsiders?sid=podcast.whatnexttbd

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Space After NASA

Sun, 14 May 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Space might seem to be heading from the domain of big government programs to a playground for billionaires. But just below the surface, a world of start-ups are getting ready to launch.

Guest:

Ashlee Vance, business columnist and author of When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach.

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Who’s Afraid of A.I.?

Fri, 12 May 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Guests:

Meredith Whittaker, president of the Signal Foundation, co-founder of the AI Now Institute at NYU

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What's Going on at Meta?

Sun, 07 May 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Meta’s reached a sort of mid-life crisis. Between the layoffs, the stagnant metaverse and Facebook’s dwindling profile, does Zuckerberg have a plan here?

Guests:

Naomi Nix, Washington Post reporter

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What the Writers' Strike Is Really About

Fri, 05 May 2023 07:00:00 GMT

When television and screenwriters went on strike in 2007, Netflix had just started offering the option to stream content. This week, the Writer’s Guild of America went on strike to update pay structures for the streaming era—and to get ahead of A.I. and the changes it may bring.

Guests:

Michelle Dean, television writer and journalist

Anousha Sakoui, entertainment industry writer for the Los Angeles Times

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Is Your Uber Drivers' Pay Rigged?

Sun, 30 Apr 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Two gig workers standing side-by-side can be offered the very same job and get offered two different wages. Set by an algorithm and based on calculations that are never explained to the workers themselves, this unequal pay for equal work is already subject to lawsuits that call it a form of price fixing and wage discrimination, but the tech is being tested in other industries.

Guests: Veena Dubal, law professor at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco

Sergio Avedian, senior contributor at The Rideshare Guy

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Stephen King Is Just as Confused About Blue Checks as You Are

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Guests:

Alex Heath, deputy editor of The Verge

Jon Favreau, co-founder of Crooked Media, speechwriter for President Barack Obama

Stephen King, author

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"Crap Apps": Why Weather Apps Suck

Sun, 23 Apr 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Weather apps can be frustrating. And with how much we rely on them to know if we should wear pants or shorts, they'll still leave you in the rain. But as the climate gets wilder, the questions of how to tell people what they need to know—and quickly—can be an issue of life or death.

Guest: Charlie Warzel, staff writer at the Atlantic

Daniel Swain, UCLA climate scientist

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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Will A.I. Close Off the Internet?

When A.I. Denies Your Health Care

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 07:00:00 GMT

As Medicare Advantage plans have increased their reliance on software to determine what their customers require—and, therefore, receive—elderly patients are being denied coverage for care they need. What happens when an algorithm — not a doctor — decides how much care you need and it’s not enough?

Guest: Casey Ross, national technology correspondent at STAT

Host: Emily Peck

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Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Woes

Sun, 26 Mar 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Elon Musk has been promising fully self-driving Teslas to the public for years and the beta version of Full Self-Driving is already in over 300,000 cars. But as a recent recall attests, the software still isn’t ready to take the wheel—and Musk himself may be a big reason why.

Guest: Faiz Siddiqui, tech reporter for the Washington Post

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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The Case Against TikTok

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 07:00:00 GMT

To most of its 150 million American consumers, TikTok is a fun app. To some creators, TikTok is a job and their platform. But to members of the US government, TikTok is a national security risk. As the fight over TikTok’s future comes to Capitol Hill this week, what’s next for the embattled social media platform?

Guest: Emily Baker-White, senior writer, tech reporter at Forbes

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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When A.I. Steals Your Voice

Sun, 19 Mar 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Using just what you’ve posted to social media, generative A.I. can create a “puppet version” of your voice—one that’s close enough to scam your family into paying thousands in, say, bail money. And imitating public officials to create “deep fakes” who say whatever they’re told is even easier.

Guest: Pranshu Verma, tech reporter for the Washington Post.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Where Is Silicon Valley Going to Bank Now?

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 07:00:00 GMT

An Antivax Dog Whistle Goes Viral

Fri, 20 Jan 2023 08:00:00 GMT

The idea that COVID-19 vaccines are linked to sudden deaths among young people has no scientific support, but the theory nevertheless has a lot of traction on social media.

How can public health officials educate the public—especially on subject like vaccines, where their effectiveness renders them effectively invisible?

Guest: Katelyn Jetelina, epidemiologist and data scientist

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Tesla’s No Good, Very Bad Year

Sun, 15 Jan 2023 08:00:00 GMT

Elon Musk was promising an “epic” Q4 at Tesla last year. But 2022 ended closer to what might be considered an “epic fail,” with the stock price down 65 percent. In an uncertain economic environment like this one, how much blame goes to Musk for unloading $40 billion worth of stock and focusing on his shiny new social media network? Or are these just growing pains that every company goes through as they mature?

Guest: Dana Hull, automotive and technology reporter for Bloomberg News in San Francisco

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Why the Feds Want to Kill Noncompetes

Fri, 13 Jan 2023 08:00:00 GMT

You might think of noncompete agreements as mostly limited to highly skilled, highly paid tech workers to protect trade secrets. But one-third of workers bound by noncompetes make $13/hour or less: fast-food workers, security guards, and the like.

Noncompete clauses not only give employers leverage over their employees—both during and after their employment—but studies have shown the agreements are a weight on the economy, which is why the FTC is angling for a federal ban.

Guest: Elizabeth Wilkins, director of the Office of Policy Planning, Federal Trade Commission

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Fri, 09 Dec 2022 08:00:00 GMT

Artificial intelligence is growing in leaps and bounds, and everywhere from Big Tech companies like Google to small teams like OpenAI are developing more and more convincing chatbots. Is the world ready for convincing, talking computers?

Guest: Alex Kantrowitz, host of the Big Technology podcast.

Host: Emily Peck

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Big Tech’s Boogeymen In Washington

Sun, 04 Dec 2022 08:00:00 GMT

The Biden administration’s Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission are both staffed with accomplished progressives who are proving more aggressive than their predecessors in either the Trump or Obama eras. But can Big Tech be tamed?

Guest: Leah Nylen, reporter for Bloomberg News

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Twitter's Vulnerabilities, Exposed

Fri, 02 Dec 2022 08:00:00 GMT

Dating back to the Arab Spring, Twitter’s potential for real-time organizing has been a selling point. But trying to find information on China’s “Zero COVID” protests reveals just how vulnerable the now-understaffed platform is to manipulation.

Guest: Joseph Menn, cybersecurity reporter for the Washington Post.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

Thanks Avast.com! Learn more about Avast One at Avast.com

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The Trap of Buy Now, Pay Later

Sun, 27 Nov 2022 08:00:00 GMT

The option to “buy now and pay later” over installments exploded over the past two years, thanks to people being flush with stimulus cash and shopping online during the pandemic. But is this new, underregulated industry a useful line of credit or another path into debt?

Guest: Paulina Cachero, personal finance reporter for Bloomberg.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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The Next Amazon Union Fight

Fri, 14 Oct 2022 07:00:00 GMT

Following their victory in Staten Island, the Amazon Labor Union is still facing an uphill battle. Both the company and the union are closely watching the organizing vote at a warehouse outside of Albany, NY.

Guest: Noam Scheiber, labor reporter for the New York Times.

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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Fri, 30 Sep 2022 07:00:00 GMT

With disaster relief funds from Hurricane Harvey, Houston's Harris County instituted a mandatory buyout program for residents in flood-prone areas. But some residents didn't want to leave.

Guest: Amal Ahmed, Dolores Mendoza

Host: Mary C. Curtis

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Can Nuclear Power Be Green?

Sun, 25 Sep 2022 07:00:00 GMT

Nuclear technology has become more important than ever, thanks to a global energy crisis and climate change. But it also has a complicated history.

Guest: Joshua Keating

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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The Fight Over Online Speech Headed to the Supreme Court

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 07:00:00 GMT

Conservative lawmakers in Florida and Texas are taking aim at content moderation on social media, with implications that go far beyond just the platforms.

Guest: Mark Joseph Stern

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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The Hidden Abuse Behind Those Spam Texts You're Getting

Sun, 18 Sep 2022 07:00:00 GMT

Sun, 08 May 2022 07:00:00 GMT

Sun, 03 Apr 2022 07:00:00 GMT

For nearly a decade, Margrethe Vestager has led Europe's efforts to rein in big tech. One newspaper article described Vestager as putting the fear of God into Silicon Valley. How is she thinking about fairness in tech in 2022?

Guest: Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for a Europe fit for the Digital Age

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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The White House's Favorite Tech Billionaire

Fri, 01 Apr 2022 07:00:00 GMT

Why did Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt spend over a decade building relationships with the most powerful Democrats in America?

Guest: Alex Thompson, reporter at Politico

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The Cost of Going Off-Grid

Sun, 27 Mar 2022 07:00:00 GMT

Going off-grid can seem appealing in lots of ways. But are there consequences if everyone unplugs from the system? Are there costs we haven’t considered?

Guest: Ivan Penn, renewable energy correspondent for the New York Times

Host: Seth Stevenson

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Why the Zelensky Deepfake Failed

Fri, 25 Mar 2022 07:00:00 GMT

The FBI warned that Russia would use deepfakes to support its invasion of Ukraine. Are they missing the real threat?

Guest: Noah Giansiracusa, professor of math and data science at Bentley University.

Host: Seth Stevenson

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The Startup Delivering Adderall

Sun, 20 Mar 2022 07:00:00 GMT

In just two years, the mental-health startup Cerebral has grown to operate in 50 states, registered more than 200,000 patients, and reached a $4.8 billion valuation. Has it prioritized growth over patient care?

Guest: Caleb Melby

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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Hong Kong’s Covid Crisis

Fri, 18 Mar 2022 07:00:00 GMT

Hong Kong's zero-COVID policy got enviable results, but inadvertently set the stage for disaster. What will it take to change course?

Guest: Dr. Karen Grépin, Associate Professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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How Minnesota Spied On Protesters

Sun, 13 Mar 2022 07:00:00 GMT

When Minnesota's Operation Safety Net, a coordinated effort among nine Minnesota law enforcement agencies, was announced in February 2021, its mission was to ensure the trial of Derek Chauvin would proceed peacefully. It also promised to protect people's right to gather and demonstrate peacefully.

Did Operation Safety Net keep its promise?

Guest: Tate Ryan-Mosley, reporter for MIT Tech review

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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Putin's Internet Crackdown

Fri, 11 Mar 2022 08:00:00 GMT

Vladimir Putin has always regarded the internet with suspicion. Now, with western tech companies pulling out of Russia and control of the war narrative slipping, he sees an opening. Will Putin wall off Russia from the rest of the digital world?

Guests:

Yana Pashaeva, Moscow-based journalist

Justin Sherman, fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative

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When Your Retina Needs a Software Update

Sun, 06 Mar 2022 08:00:00 GMT

Second Sight restored partial vision to hundreds of patients around the world through retinal implants. Then, on the verge of bankruptcy, they abandoned the project. Now, over 300 patients with Second Sight technology in their bodies are asking: what will happen to us?

Guest: Eliza Strickland, senior editor at IEEE Spectrum

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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Ukraine’s Information War

Fri, 04 Mar 2022 08:00:00 GMT

Up against one of the world's most effective propaganda operations, Ukraine has taken control of the online narrative. With Russian troops closing in, how important is winning the information war?

Guest: Casey Newton, writer at Platformer

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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Peter Thiel, Patron of the Populist Right

Sun, 27 Feb 2022 08:00:00 GMT

Peter Thiel spent the better part of two decades molding the tech industry in his image. Now, he's leaving Facebook behind and turning his attention to politics. Is Thiel the next kingmaker for the populist right?

Max Chafkin, writer for Bloomberg and is the author of The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power

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Russia's Other Battlefront

Fri, 25 Feb 2022 08:00:00 GMT

For seven years, Ukraine has served as a virtual testing ground for a generation of cyber weaponry capable of taking down power grids, networks, and supply chains. With an invasion of Ukraine underway, will these weapons come into play?

Guest: Andy Greenberg, senior writer at WIRED and the author of the book Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin's Most Dangerous Hackers

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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The COVAX Fantasy

Sun, 20 Feb 2022 08:00:00 GMT

Over two years into the pandemic, much of the world remains either unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, or lacking access to mRNA vaccines entirely. How did the leading effort to vaccinate the world go so wrong?

Guest: Achal Prabhala, coordinator of the AccessIBSA project and a fellow of the Shuttleworth Foundation, in Bangalore.

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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"Rampant Racism" at Tesla

Fri, 18 Feb 2022 08:00:00 GMT

Last week, California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued Tesla. It accuses the electric vehicle maker of fostering a workplace rife with racism and discrimination.

What's happening inside Tesla's Fremont plant?

Guest: Dana Hull, reporter for Bloomberg

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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Fri, 04 Feb 2022 08:00:00 GMT

For Spotify, the last month has seen a cascade of controversies around its exclusive podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. Is it time for the streaming service to rethink its role as a podcast publisher? And is it even possible to moderate podcast misinformation?

Guest: Evelyn Douek, lecturer at Harvard Law School, and Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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The Downfall of One of the World's Biggest Brains

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 08:00:00 GMT

Ten years ago, IBM made a gamble. Through a monumental advertising and PR campaign, it promised that its AI technology–Watson–would transform the health care industry as we know it. A decade and billions of dollars later, Watson Health is being sold for parts.

What went wrong with IBM’s “moonshot?” And what does Watson’s failure tell us about the promise of AI for health care?

Guest: Casey Ross, national technology correspondent for STAT

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Why Does Matt Damon Want Me to Buy Crypto?

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 09:00:00 GMT

A recent advertisement for crypto.com, featuring Matt Damon, was met with widespread mockery online. But Damon’s ad is only the most visible example of a much broader—and more insidious—trend of celebrity cryptocurrency endorsements. Is the partnership between crypto and Hollywood really dangerous? And what separates the trend from run-of-the-mill salesmanship?

Guests: Jacob Silverman, staff writer for the New Republic and Ben McKenzie, actor, writer, and director.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Where Are The Little Kids' Vaccines?

Fri, 14 Jan 2022 05:00:00 GMT

Today on What Next TBD: What is going on with little kids' vaccines? Why don’t they seem to be a priority for the government or the pharmaceutical companies, while parents are stressed to a breaking point? We discuss with Meg Tirrell, health and science correspondent for CNBC, and co-host of the Readout Loud podcast.

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The Aftermath of Elizabeth Holmes

Fri, 07 Jan 2022 05:00:00 GMT

Elizabeth Holmes was found guilty of defrauding investors this week in federal court. The former CEO, wunderkind, and blood mogul has been the subject of intense legal interest and public fascination ever since her company, Theranos, was beset by scandal in 2015. Today on What Next: TBD we follow-up with Rebecca Jarvis, host of “The Dropout” podcast and ABC News Chief Business, Technology & Economics Correspondent. We dig into the verdict and ask if Silicon Valley will finally confront the elements of its culture that allowed Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos to run wild with investor’s money, and patient’s health. You can listen to “The Dropout: Elizabeth Holmes on Trial” now wherever you get your podcasts.

Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.

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Best of 2021: It’s Time to Talk About U.F.O.s

Fri, 31 Dec 2021 08:00:00 GMT

This episode originally aired in July 2021

Last week, the U.S. government released a new report that attempts to categorize 144 verified sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena, or U.A.P. They could only definitively explain one of them.

The new report signals a shift in the way we think about U.A.P. As technology has advanced and evidence of these encounters have increased, the question has become more urgent: what exactly is happening in our skies?

Guest: Shane Harris, intelligence and national security reporter for the Washington Post

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Best of 2021: Are We Getting COVID Testing All Wrong?

Fri, 24 Dec 2021 08:00:00 GMT

This episode originally aired in September.

In the U.S., the PCR test is the gold standard for COVID testing. Common knowledge would have it that the test is more accurate—and therefore more effective at containing the spread of the disease—than the rapid antigen test.

What if that isn’t quite true?

Guest: Michael Mina, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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The Carbon Capture Fantasy

Fri, 17 Dec 2021 08:00:00 GMT

Using experimental technology to pull gigatons of carbon out of the air and bury it deep beneath the Earth sounds like a bad sci-fi plot point. If things don’t change soon, it also might be one of our only options.

Guest: Clive Thompson, journalist and author of Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Who Online Justice Leaves Behind

Fri, 10 Dec 2021 08:00:00 GMT

The U.S. civil court system doesn’t get as much attention as the criminal courts, but it would be hard to overstate its importance. In 2018, for example, 47 percent of respondents to a Pew survey said they had dealt with the system in one way or another; from eviction proceedings, to debt collection, to child-support modifications.

What happened when the pandemic upended such an important pillar of the justice system? Did new technologies fix existing problems—or just create new ones?

Guest: Qudsiya Naqui, officer at the Pew Charitable Trust

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Did @jack Ruin Twitter?

Fri, 03 Dec 2021 08:00:00 GMT

On Monday, Jack Dorsey stepped down as CEO of Twitter. It’s not the first time he’s left the job.

Is this really the end for the man who guided Twitter through the Trump era? And how will the platform change without him at the helm?

Guest: Nick Bilton, special correspondent at Vanity Fair

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Best of 2021: Inside the Subreddit That Blew Up GameStop

Fri, 26 Nov 2021 10:00:00 GMT

This episode originally aired in January 2021

The story of how GameStop went from the verge of a bankruptcy to a $15 billion market value isn’t an easy one to wrap your head around. But it helps to go back to the beginning; almost three years ago, in a subreddit called r/wallstreetbets.

Guests:

Brandon Kochkodin, reporter at Bloomberg

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Space Junk! (And Space Wars?)

Fri, 19 Nov 2021 08:00:00 GMT

Over the weekend, Russia tested a new weapon—a type of missile that can fly into space and destroy a satellite in orbit.

The test created thousands of pieces of debris, which will hurtle around the Earth’s orbit for years to come. What’s the real risk of the rapid increase in space junk? And is there anything to be done about it?

Guest:

Laura Grego, Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at MIT

Host: Seth Stevenson

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The Kid-Vaccine Holdouts

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 08:00:00 GMT

A recent poll showed that about a third of parents of younger children would get their kids vaccinated, a third would not, and the final third said they wanted to wait and see how the vaccines worked.

Public health officials are asking: what will it take to convince that third group that now is the time to vaccinate?

Guests:

Julie Hamill

Dr. Aaron Carroll, pediatrician and professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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How Schools Surveil Your Kids

Fri, 05 Nov 2021 10:00:00 GMT

In schools across the country, tighter digital controls were put in place to keep kids on task during the pandemic. Are they here to stay?

Guests: Priya Anand, reporter at Bloomberg

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Why Are Bots Buying Sneakers?

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 10:00:00 GMT

The bots aren’t just buying cool sneakers. They’re buying concert tickets. Tickets to basketball games and Broadway shows. At the beginning of the pandemic, they were buying hand sanitizer and face masks. And later, they were booking vaccine reservation spots.

Why are bots taking over certain markets? And is there anything we can do to slow them down?

Guests:

Derreck Johnson, designer at Slate

Eric Budish, economics professor at the University of Chicago

Host: Seth Stevenson

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Honey, I Sold the House to Zillow

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 10:00:00 GMT

Between April and June of this year, Zillow bought nearly 4,000 homes. And they had no intention of holding onto them. The plan was to flip houses, often and at scale, joining the ranks of companies like Opendoor and Offerpad, also known as iBuyers.

So, why did Zillow put their plans on pause last weekend? Can online middlemen really change the way we buy and sell houses?

Guests:

Tony Santos, homeowner

Patrick Clark, reporter at Bloomberg

Host: Henry Grabar

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The Return of Hacktivism

Fri, 15 Oct 2021 10:00:00 GMT

Over the last month, the domain company Epik and the streaming service Twitch have fallen prey to massive-scale hacks. The hackers revealed not just email addresses, but detailed personal information too. For Twitch, it was the entire source code for their site.

But the attackers aren’t holding this data for ransom. In fact, they don’t seem to want much of anything. What’s motivating this new wave of activist hacks? And who suffers?

Guest: Drew Harwell, tech reporter at the Washington Post

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Will the Facebook Whistleblower Make a Difference?

Fri, 08 Oct 2021 10:00:00 GMT

The last month has seen a steady drip of leaked documents from inside Facebook, each seemingly more damning than the next. This week, the whistleblower behind the leaks revealed her identity.

What motivates Frances Haugen? And can she do real damage to the social media giant?

Guest: Jeff Horwitz, tech reporter at the Wall Street Journal.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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What Instagram Does to Teens

Fri, 01 Oct 2021 10:00:00 GMT

Since 2018, internal research teams at Facebook have been studying the effect on Instagram on mental health. Their results couldn’t be more clear: Instagram is causing problems, especially for teen girls.

Why has it taken so long for their research to surface? And what can be done to improve the relationship between kids and the platform?

Guest: Georgia Wells, tech reporter at the Wall Street Journal.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Are We Getting COVID Testing All Wrong?

Fri, 24 Sep 2021 10:00:00 GMT

What if that isn’t quite true?

Guest: Michael Mina, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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China vs. Video Games

Fri, 17 Sep 2021 10:00:00 GMT

Recently, China restricted video game playing to just three hours a week for its young people: 8pm to 9pm, Friday through Sunday.

And that’s not the only change. Over the last few months, private tutors, diehard celebrity fans, and tech giants have all faced fresh restrictions from Beijing. What’s behind this new wave of crackdowns?

Guest: Brenda Goh, technology correspondent for Reuters

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Can This River Be Saved?

Fri, 10 Sep 2021 10:00:00 GMT

The Colorado River Basin is experiencing its 22nd year of drought. Its reservoirs are at their lowest-ever levels. The water stored in the system is at just 40 percent of its capacity. How did the situation on the Colorado become so dire? And what does the shortage mean for the 40 million people who rely on its waters?

Guest: Abrahm Lustgarten, senior investigative reporter at ProPublica

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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The Rush for Ivermectin

Fri, 03 Sep 2021 10:00:00 GMT

A medicine meant to treat parasites is the latest unproven COVID treatment craze. With warnings from the FDA, and prescribers clamping down, some are going to extreme lengths to get their hands on the drug. What’s behind Ivermectin’s sudden rise?

Guest: Brandy Zadrozny, senior reporter for NBC News

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Elizabeth Holmes on Trial

Fri, 27 Aug 2021 10:00:00 GMT

Elizabeth Holmes convinced countless people that her company would change the world. Can she convince 12 jurors that she didn’t intend to deceive her company’s patients and investors?

Guest: Rebecca Jarvis, host of “The Dropout” podcast and ABC News Chief Business, Technology & Economics Correspondent

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Will Booster Shots Make a Difference?

Fri, 20 Aug 2021 10:00:00 GMT

The Biden administration says a third dose of vaccines for all American adults will end the pandemic faster. And experts say there is evidence of waning vaccine effectiveness against mild-to-moderate disease. But globally, what’s the best use of the next available dose?

Guest: Saad Omer, director of the Yale Institute for Global Health.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

This episode was produced by Alyssa Edes.

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What's Taking the FDA So Long?

Fri, 13 Aug 2021 10:00:00 GMT

Experts say that a “fully approved” designation for the vaccines could have sweeping effects. Broader vaccination mandates, inclusion for new age groups, and reassurance for those hesitant to take a vaccine without the designation. As calls for approval grow louder and more urgent, the Food and Drug Administration is yet to give its blessing. What’s happening inside the FDA as they work toward this milestone?

Guest: Sarah Owermohle, health care reporter at Politico

Host:

Lizzie O’Leary

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Can America Fix Its Trains?

Fri, 06 Aug 2021 10:00:00 GMT

America used to be at the vanguard of railroad technology. What went wrong? And can the new infrastructure bill fix our broken system?

Guests: Alon Levy and Eric Goldwyn of the Marron Institute at NYU

Host

Henry Grabar

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I Bought It. Why Can't I Fix It?

Fri, 30 Jul 2021 10:00:00 GMT

Whether it’s a phone screen or a coffee machine, why is it so hard to fix our own stuff? And what can we do to make it a bit easier?

Guest: Jason Koebler, editor-in-chief of Motherboard and contributor to the CYBER podcast

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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How Spyware Mercenaries Hack Your Phone

Fri, 23 Jul 2021 10:00:00 GMT

This week, Amnesty International and a French journalism nonprofit named Forbidden Stories revealed that technology from a spyware firm called NSO Group is being deployed on a massive scale. The spyware, called Pegasus, gives the user access to every part of a victim’s smartphone -- notes, messages, photos, and recordings.

What’s it like for security researchers to see their worst fears about digital spying play out? And what are they worried about next?

Guests:

John Scott Railton, Senior Researcher at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto

Siddharth Varadarajan, Founding Editor of the Wire

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Fri, 28 May 2021 10:00:00 GMT

After years of careful planning and public spats, Apple and Epic—the maker of Fortnite—have spent the last three weeks in court, fighting over the future of mobile gaming. What happens if, for once, Apple loses?

Guest: Elizabeth Lopatto, deputy editor at the Verge

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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The Hackers Who Took Down the Colonial Pipeline

Fri, 21 May 2021 10:00:00 GMT

Last week, a hacker group called DarkSide shut down the Colonial Pipeline, which supplies 45 percent of the fuel consumed on the East Coast. Gas prices skyrocketed, people started hoarding gas, and DarkSide walked away with over $4 million in Bitcoin. How did they do it? And what makes this hack different from those we’ve seen before?

Guest: David Uberti, cybersecurity reporter at the Wall Street Journal

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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How the World’s Great Vaccination Hope Crashed

Fri, 14 May 2021 10:00:00 GMT

The Serum Institute of India was supposed to supply vaccines not just to India, but to the entire Global South. Now, with cases surging, there aren’t nearly enough vaccines for India’s population, not to mention the many countries that are relying on it. How did such a successful institution come up so short? And what are the costs of that failure?

Guest: Samanth Subramanian, senior reporter at Quartz

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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Fri, 16 Apr 2021 10:00:00 GMT

Like countless venture-funded start-ups before it, Substack is “disrupting” the media industry. The newsletter service is siphoning off high-profile talent with a promise of independence and bigger paychecks. But the platform’s influence might reach far beyond the media. Will Substack change the way we think about online creators and their audiences? Can it create a new kind of relationship between them?

Guest:

Charlie Warzel, writer of Galaxy Brain

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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The Rise of the Therapy Apps

Fri, 09 Apr 2021 10:00:00 GMT

Since the start of the pandemic, usage of apps like BetterHelp and Talkspace has skyrocketed. These apps might make mental health care more accessible, but are the products they sell really the same as therapy?

Guest:

Molly Fischer, features writer for the Cut at New York Magazine

Host

Fri, 19 Mar 2021 10:00:00 GMT

Facebook’s failure to contain the spread of dangerous misinformation is no secret. For years, the company has pledged publicly to fix the problem. But in the wake of the Capitol riots, it’s clear that there’s more work to be done. So, why isn’t the social media giant using its powerful AI to contain hate and lies?

Guest:

Karen Hao, senior AI reporter at MIT Technology Review

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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Does Google Actually Want to Hire Black Engineers?

Fri, 12 Mar 2021 11:00:00 GMT

Back in 2014, Google released in-depth diversity data for its workforce for the first time. 1.1 percent of its tech team identified as Black. Six years later, after millions of dollars spent and a much-hyped partnership program with historically Black colleges and universities across the country, that number is up to 2.4 percent.

How did such a promising effort yield such incremental change?

Guest: Nitasha Tiku, tech culture reporter at the Washington Post

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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The Failing Lifeline for Low-Income Americans

Fri, 05 Mar 2021 11:00:00 GMT

The federal Lifeline program was intended to bridge the gap between Americans who could comfortably pay for phone and internet service, and those who couldn’t. But in the midst of the pandemic, Lifeline is falling woefully short.

How did a program meant to help connect low-income Americans with phone and internet service ended up making them second-class digital citizens at the worst possible moment?

Guest:

Tony Romm, senior tech policy reporter at the Washington Post, author of

“How the Federal Lifeline Program Failed Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic”

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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Australia’s Kinda-Sorta Win Over Big Tech

Fri, 26 Feb 2021 11:00:00 GMT

Over the last year, the Australian government has been waging a quiet war against Facebook and Google. Through a new law, it plans to force the big tech companies to pay news outlets in exchange for linking to their sites.

Will this new law have the intended effect? Or will it set a dangerous precedent that cedes even more power over to the tech giants?

Guest:

JR Hennessy, editor at Business Insider Australia

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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Why Texas Went Dark

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 11:00:00 GMT

Over the last week, millions of Texans have been forced to live without power or heat. At least 16 have died since Monday. In a state that’s no stranger to extreme weather and high power demand, how did it all go so wrong?

Guest:

Josh Rhodes, research associate at the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas at Austin

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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How Clubhouse Cracked China’s Firewall

Fri, 12 Feb 2021 11:00:00 GMT

For most of the last year, Clubhouse—the audio-only social media app—has been dominated by conversations about business, branding, and Elon Musk. But as users picked up the app around the globe, something extraordinary happened.

Censors in mainland China overlooked it. And for two weeks in February, it hosted a series of unusual, unfiltered conversations. Han Chinese, Hong Kongers, Taiwanese, and Uighurs all flooded to the app to speak freely about authoritarianism, democracy, and propaganda.

Here’s what happened when the censors looked the other way.

Guest:

Melissa Chan, journalist with the Global Reporting Centre

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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India Turns Off the Internet

Fri, 05 Feb 2021 11:00:00 GMT

Last week, in response to protests by farmers outside New Delhi, India, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi restricted access to the mobile web in areas where the protests were unfolding. The move is the latest in the Indian government’s long history of throttling internet access and censoring speech online.

Why is the Modi government increasingly shutting down the internet and stifling digital dissent? And what does the party’s history of internet shutdowns tell us about India’s future?

Guest:

Pranav Dixit, correspondent for Buzzfeed News

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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Inside the Subreddit That Blew Up GameStop

Fri, 29 Jan 2021 11:00:00 GMT

Guests:

Brandon Kochkodin, reporter at Bloomberg

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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Why the Vaccine Websites Suck

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 11:00:00 GMT

Most people thought developing the vaccine in record time would be the hard part. That, or shipping millions of doses at subzero temperatures to every corner of the country. But nobody--or, almost nobody--guessed that the biggest barrier between U.S. citizens and vaccination would be … online scheduling.

What went wrong with the vaccine websites? And what will it take to get them right?

Guests:

Raphael Lee, director of USDR’s Health Program

Hana Schank, director of Strategy for Public Interest Technology at New America

Jessica Allen

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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Where the Far Right Is Meeting Now

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 11:00:00 GMT

After Facebook and Twitter banned thousands of accounts in the wake of the Capitol riots, fringe groups are flocking to platforms like Signal and Telegram. With the inauguration just days away, and government officials warning of violence, QAnon believers and Stop the Steal protesters are now communicating in encrypted spaces. What, if anything, is being planned?

Guest:

Will Sommer, politics reporter at the Daily Beast

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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Deplatforming the President

Fri, 08 Jan 2021 11:00:00 GMT

This week, in the wake of violent protests at the Capitol, the social media platforms took unprecedented steps to rein in the president. Facebook banned his account at least through Inauguration Day. Twitter removed tweets and locked his account for 12 hours. Will these measures really make a difference? And how is it that two CEOs came to have so much power over the president’s reach?

Guest:

Danielle Citron, professor at UVA Law School and vice president of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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Fri, 13 Nov 2020 10:00:00 GMT

When Barack Obama first won the White House, back in 2008, with Joe Biden as his vice president, the executive branch’s stance towards tech and tech companies was seen as cooperative, progressive, and forward-thinking. This time around, the tech giants can expect a very different relationship.

Will Biden be the president to finally rein in big tech?

Guest: Cecilia Kang, technology reporter at The New York Times

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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How the Gig Economy Won in California

Fri, 06 Nov 2020 10:00:00 GMT

Companies like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash have always argued that their workers are independent contractors, not employees. This distinction has been crucial in their rise from startups to multi-billion-dollar companies.

On Tuesday, Californians sided with these companies by approving Prop 22, a ballot measure that enshrines workers’ non-employee status. Why did progressive Californians side with Big Tech? And will the rest of the country follow California’s lead?

Guest: Sam Harnett, Tech and Labor reporter at KQED

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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The Fight Against Election Day Falsehoods

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 09:00:00 GMT

The 2016 general election changed the way we think about information online and its power to sway results. Four years later, Americans will vote amid a surge of misinformation, collected and distorted to fit political narratives.

What can people and platforms do to protect the truth in this most consequential election?

Guests:

Renee DiResta, Research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory

Justin Hendrix, founder of Tech Policy Press

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A Historic Case Against Google

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 09:00:00 GMT

It’s been 22 years since the federal government last brought a meaningful legal challenge to a big tech company. Back then, when the Justice Department sued Microsoft, the outcome changed the direction of the company for years to come. Now, the Department of Justice is coming for Google. Can the search giant resist this challenge to its role as the gatekeeper of the internet?

Guest: Tony Romm, technology reporter at the Washington Post

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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Fri, 25 Sep 2020 09:00:00 GMT

As of Sept. 24, there are 42 vaccines in clinical trials on humans. At least 92 others are being developed but have not yet gone to trial. For months, the world has tracked the progression of these vaccines closely, with the expectation that once one arrives on the market, we can finally start to go back to normal. But, is that true? Does the world really look much different with an effective vaccine?

Guest: Dr. Paul Offit, professor of pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Host

Celeste Headlee

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Did the Internet Doom a Pregnancy?

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 10:00:00 GMT

For pregnant women in the U.S., there are plenty of reasons to mistrust the medical establishment. Mortality rates are high compared to other western countries, and one-third of women in the U.S. give birth by C-section. It’s no wonder that many women turn to the internet for alternatives.

This week, the story of one woman who was drawn into a network of private Facebook groups dedicated to the idea of ‘freebirth,’ or unassisted birth. And what happens when the misinformation shared in these private groups has real-life consequences.

Guest: Brandy Zadrozny, reporter for NBC News. You can read her reporting on ‘freebirth’ here.

This episode originally aired in March 2020

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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The Great Climate Migration Begins

Fri, 11 Sep 2020 09:00:00 GMT

As the planet warms in the coming decades, many parts of the planet that millions now call home will become uninhabitable. At first, people in these areas will move to the cities, then across international borders. This mass migration is already underway in the hottest parts of the world, and it is likely to accelerate in coming years.

Just how many people will be forced to move? And where will they go?

Guest: Abrahm Lustgarten, senior reporter at ProPublica

Host

Celeste Headlee

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The Limits of Filming Police Brutality

Fri, 04 Sep 2020 10:00:00 GMT

In the wake of the killing of Michael Brown in 2014, and the national protests that followed, many believed that video shared on social media, along with footage from body cameras, would reshape the relationship between police and citizens. Six years later, one thing is clear: It didn’t work. Can viral videos really hold power to account?

And why do we so often put our faith in technological solutions to solve societal problems?

Guests:

Bijan Stephen, reporter at the Verge

Ethan Zuckerman, former director, the Center for Civic Media, MIT

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QAnon Goes Mainstream

Fri, 28 Aug 2020 10:00:00 GMT

Not long ago, the QAnon conspiracy theory seemed to have lost momentum. Social media mentions had decreased. 8chan had gone offline. But since March, fueled by the pandemic and social media giants, the conspiracy has taken on new life.

What’s responsible for the rapid uptake of the movement? And now that QAnon has spilled over to the mainstream, how far can it go?

Guest:

Ali Breland, reporter at Mother Jones

Host

Celeste Headlee

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What Went Wrong With Contact Tracing Apps

Fri, 21 Aug 2020 10:00:00 GMT

In the early days of the pandemic, countries around the world invested heavily in new technologies that would help track the movement of the virus. Now, six months later, contact tracing apps are all but an afterthought in the fight to contain COVID-19. What happened? The U.K. provides some answers. The country put its faith in technology to contain the virus, and paid the price.

Guest:

Gus Hosein, executive director at Privacy International

Host

Celeste Headlee

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How Google Search Sold Out

Fri, 14 Aug 2020 10:00:00 GMT

In the early days of internet search engines, Google set itself apart by providing a simple service. A list of links, inviting you to explore the websites that best matched your query. It was a portal to the rest of the internet. But over the last two decades, that mission has changed.

Does Google search still take you to the best result for your query? Or does it point users back to its own suite of products?

Guest:

Adrianne Jeffries, investigative journalist at The Markup.

Host

Celeste Headlee

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How One Block Got Through It

Fri, 07 Aug 2020 10:00:00 GMT

Over the past five months, city blocks have been slipping away. Bars are closed; restaurants are half-empty; retail is shuttered. As the country returns to varying states of lockdown, how long can these blocks hold on?

This week: how one commercial strip on Chicago’s South Side is weathering the pandemic.

Guests:

Nedra Sims Fears, executive director of the Greater Chatham Initiative

Brian d'Antignac, The Woodshop

Jaidah Wilson-Turnbow, Frances Cocktail Lounge

Zoie Reams, Brown Sugar Bakery

Host

Henry Grabar

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When America Can’t Pay the Rent

Fri, 31 Jul 2020 10:00:00 GMT

For the last four months, federal and state eviction moratoria have kept Americans in their apartments, even if they couldn’t pay rent. Now, with financial relief in question, and moratoria set to expire, the first of the month might look very different for millions of Americans.

Guests:

Emily, a resident of Chicago’s Northwest Side

Mark Durakovic, principal at Kass Management

Peter Hepburn, analyst at Princeton’s Eviction Lab

Host

Henry Grabar

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Fri, 08 May 2020 09:00:00 GMT

Yesterday, New York City announced that it would provide 140,000 free antibody tests to residents who want to know if they have been exposed to the coronavirus. And New York isn’t alone: large-scale antibody testing is ramping up around the country.

But with faulty tests flooding the market and questions about whether a positive test really confers immunity are antibody tests really worth the bother?

Guests: Shannon Palus, staff writer for Slate, and Dr. Natalie E. Dean, assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida.

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How the Crisis Could Embolden Big Tech

Fri, 01 May 2020 09:00:00 GMT

This week, the world’s largest tech companies posted their quarterly earnings. And—unlike most other companies in the world—things aren’t looking so bad. With the global economy reeling, and people sheltering indoors, the tech giants have an opportunity to reshape the way we live. Don’t expect them to wait on the sidelines.

Guest: Elizabeth Dwoskin, Silicon Valley correspondent at the Washington Post

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Can We Really Make a Safe Vaccine in 18 Months?

Fri, 24 Apr 2020 09:00:00 GMT

There are over 60 vaccines for the coronavirus currently in development. Four of them are already being tested in humans. As researchers move at breakneck speed to find a vaccine, they’re debating breaking (or at least bending) the rules that ensure the end product is safe.

How do we balance speed with safety in the rush to develop a vaccine?

Guest: Dr. Timothy Lahey, an infectious diseases doctor, ethicist, and vaccine researcher at the University of Vermont Medical Center.

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Can the U.S. Really Track the Coronavirus?

Fri, 17 Apr 2020 09:00:00 GMT

Before the U.S. can start opening back up, states will need to put systems in place for “contact tracing,” or meticulous tracking of the disease within communities. South Korea’s extensive tracing program has all but eliminated the spread of the virus within its borders. What will it take for the U.S. to do the same?

Guests: Raphael Rashid, a freelance journalist, and Dr. Mike Reid, professor at University of California, San Francisco

Host

Henry Grabar

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The Limits of Coronavirus Predictions

Fri, 10 Apr 2020 09:00:00 GMT

As governments around the world try to predict the toll and duration of the coronavirus, they’re turning increasingly to a handful of forecasting models for answers. But many of the leading models differ drastically in their approach and methods. What do we need to know about these forecasts? And what are their limitations?

Guest: Jordan Ellenberg, mathematics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Risking Your Life for $8.71

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 12:15:42 GMT

This week, workers at Amazon, Whole Foods, and Instacart have announced mass strikes across the country. Though demand for these services is high, pay and protection is low.

What exactly do we owe to the delivery workers at the front lines of the pandemic? And with these companies hiring in record numbers, can the strikes succeed?

Guests: Heidi Carrico, founding member of the Gig Workers Collective, and Johana Bhuiyan, tech accountability reporter at the Los Angeles Times.

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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Where Are All the Tests?

Fri, 27 Mar 2020 09:00:00 GMT

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work.

The United States failed to roll out widespread testing in the early days of the pandemic. Now it faces critical shortages of supplies as it scrambles to track the disease around the country.

Until testing is available at scale, Americans won’t be able to return to their normal lives. So: what will it take to solve the country’s testing shortage?

Guest: Robert P. Baird, contributor to the New Yorker

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Big Tech Eyes the Pandemic

Fri, 20 Mar 2020 09:00:00 GMT

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work.

Google has spent the last decade trying to find a foothold in the health care industry. Now they’re partnering with the federal government to build a website that will seek to address the crisis.

Can Google be trusted with our medical data?

Guest: Mason Marks, law professor at Gonzaga University School of Law and an affiliated fellow at Yale Law School's Information Society Project.

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What If They Close All the Schools?

Fri, 13 Mar 2020 09:00:00 GMT

Last week, the superintendent of the Northshore school district near Seattle made a difficult decision. With the coronavirus spreading rapidly in the area, she closed all 34 schools in her district and moved all classes online. But for many schools, remote learning at this scale simply isn’t an option.

With new cases appearing around the country, how will schools respond? And what happens when you send millions of students home for weeks on end?

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Did the Internet Doom a Pregnancy?

Fri, 06 Mar 2020 10:00:00 GMT

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work.

Guest: Brandy Zadrozny, reporter for NBC News. You can read her reporting on ‘freebirth’ here.

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Did Money Corrupt an A.I. Utopia?

Fri, 28 Feb 2020 10:00:00 GMT

OpenAI was founded in 2015 with a billion dollars and an idealistic mission: Create artificial intelligence that could address humanity’s biggest problems, and do it out in the open. Then came the money problems.

Guest: Karen Hao, senior A.I. reporter at MIT Tech Review

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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Inside Facebook’s Supreme Court

Fri, 21 Feb 2020 10:00:00 GMT

After years of controversial content moderation decisions, from deepfakes to deplatforming, Facebook is trying something new. In January, the social network announced that its new Oversight Board, which will act as a sort of supreme court for controversial content, will begin hearing cases this summer.

Could this independent board change the way we govern speech online?

Guest: Kate Klonick, assistant professor at St. John’s University School of Law, and fellow at the Information Society Project at Yale.

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Coronavirus Tests China's Surveillance State

Fri, 14 Feb 2020 10:00:00 GMT

Over the last month, as coronavirus spread across China, Xi Jinping’s vast surveillance and censorship infrastructure went into high gear. But with outrage growing over the death of a beloved doctor, and surveillance technology under strain, the virus is exposing the limits of the Chinese Communist Party’s techno-authoritarian network.

Guest: Josh Chin, Wall Street Journal reporter covering Chinese politics and tech

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Iowa’s App-ocalypse

Fri, 07 Feb 2020 10:00:00 GMT

On Monday, the Iowa caucuses went off the rails. As the hours stretched into days, and still the results remained unclear, a new piece of election technology was identified as a central cause of the delay.

An app designed to make the election process speedier and more secure had the opposite effect. And its failure is symptomatic of deep-rooted issues in the way the Democratic Party develops and deploys election technology.

So, what exactly went wrong on Monday? And what does it say about the party’s effort to regain its digital edge in 2020?

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Why Is the U.S. Scared of Huawei?

Fri, 31 Jan 2020 10:00:00 GMT

Recently a special delegation of senior Trump administration officials arrived in the U.K. Their mission? To convince prime minister Boris Johnson to bar Huawei from their new 5G network.

Why is the U.S. so keen to influence Britain’s decision on 5G? And now that the U.K is officially withdrawing from the European Union, how will they manage competing pressures from the U.S. and China?

Guest: Dan Sabbagh, defense and security editor at the Guardian.

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Which Tech Companies Are Doing the Most Harm?

Fri, 24 Jan 2020 10:00:00 GMT

Last week, Slate published The Evil List, an expansive attempt to document the most concerning tech companies around the world, according to the experts. Some you’ve heard of, some you probably haven’t, and some you almost certainly use every day. Which of these deserve our attention? And why?

Guests:

Mutale Nkonde, public interest technologist and fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society

Felix Salmon, chief financial correspondent at Axios and host of Slate Money

Lindsey Barrett, staff attorney and teaching fellow at the Institute for Public Representation Communications & Technology Clinic.

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

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The Silicon Valley Dream Was Always a Fantasy

Fri, 17 Jan 2020 10:00:00 GMT

In 2013, Anna Wiener moved from New York to San Francisco to join the city’s booming tech scene. Over the course of four years, she worked at three companies: an e-book startup, a data analytics company, and an open-source software platform. Then, her infatuation with the tech industry took a turn.

On this week’s show, an insider’s perspective on the intoxicating promise and disappointment of Silicon Valley during the mid-decade boom.

Guest: Anna Wiener: author of Uncanny Valley and contributing writer for the New Yorker.

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How Targeted Ads Started Watching Us All

Fri, 10 Jan 2020 10:00:00 GMT

In 2019, for the first time, more advertising money went toward targeted digital ads in the U.S. than on radio, television, cable, magazine, and newspaper ads combined. The moment was the culmination of a decadeslong journey that has completely transformed media, politics, and privacy.

How did the targeted ad come to hold so much power? And what did we lose along the way?

Guest: Siva Vaidhyanathan, professor of media studies at the University of Virginia.

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Do Algorithms Make Sentencing Fairer?

Fri, 03 Jan 2020 10:00:00 GMT

Around the country, states are employing algorithms to help reduce prison populations and predict recidivism. This week, we hear from a Wisconsin judge with serious reservations about the algorithm used in his state. Also: a deep dive into Virginia's risk-assessment algorithm and the surprising results of its implementation.

Guests:

Nicholas McNamara, judge on the circuit court of Dane County, Wisconsin.

Jennifer Doleac, associate professor of economics at Texas A&M and director of the Justice Tech Lab.

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A Landmark Privacy Law Takes Effect. Now What?

Fri, 27 Dec 2019 10:00:00 GMT

On January 1st, a new law will grant Californians the right to see, delete, and stop the sale of personal information collected by tech companies. But the impact of the bill may reach far beyond California. How does this landmark law affect the rest of the country? And will it set the stage for national privacy legislation?

Guest: Hayley Tsukayama, Legislative Activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation

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Ring: Your Doorbell Is Watching

Fri, 20 Dec 2019 10:00:00 GMT

Back in 2013, an entrepreneur named Jamie Siminoff appeared on Shark Tank. He was seeking an investment in a new product he was calling Doorbot, a smart doorbell that would make answering the door more convenient and users’ lives “more connected.”

Six years later, Doorbot is now Ring, an Amazon-owned home-security system that partners with more than 600 police departments around the country. How did Doorbot become Ring? And what are the consequences of placing surveillance cameras on front doors around the country?

Guest: Caroline Haskins, technology reporter at Buzzfeed.

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Inside The Influence Economy

Fri, 13 Dec 2019 10:00:00 GMT

Over the past decade, the world of influencers has grown from a fringe marketing movement to a multibillion-dollar industry. Now, tactics and strategies originally developed by influencers can be found across industries, from health care to politics to higher ed.

What’s behind this meteoric rise? And why do we misunderstand a movement that Taylor Lorenz calls “a fundamental shift in society”?

Guest: Taylor Lorenz, internet culture reporter for the New York Times

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What Is Google After Larry and Sergey?

Fri, 06 Dec 2019 10:00:00 GMT

On Tuesday, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page announced that they are stepping down from their respective roles as president and CEO of Alphabet, Google’s parent company. The move will leave Sundar Pichai in charge of both Google and Alphabet.

With pressure mounting from unhappy employees, antitrust regulators in Europe, and the Trump administration, Pichai takes the helm at a crucial moment in the company’s history. Will he be up to the task?

Guest: Mark Bergen, technology reporter at Bloomberg

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Is TikTok Really a National Security Threat?

Fri, 22 Nov 2019 10:00:00 GMT

TikTok now has over 1.5 billion downloads, putting it in the company of social media giants like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. While all of these companies have faced scrutiny from lawmakers in one form or another, TikTok is getting attention for its Chinese ownership as some fear that Beijing could use data uploaded to the platform for counterintelligence purposes. Is there a real reason to be concerned? Or is this just fearmongering about a geopolitical rival?

Guest: Drew Harwell, technology reporter for the Washington Post.

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How WhatsApp Got Hacked

Fri, 15 Nov 2019 10:00:00 GMT

Recently, Facebook filed a lawsuit against a little-known Israeli spyware firm called NSO Group. Facebook is accusing NSO of supplying technology that enabled a hack of 1,400 WhatsApp accounts.

But NSO’s reach goes far beyond a few thousand phones. Governments around the world purchase its powerful technology. Some use it to “lawfully hack” the devices of criminals and terrorists. But others use it more broadly, tracking the communications of activists, journalists, lawyers, and dissidents.

What does the WhatsApp lawsuit mean for the spyware industry? And why are governments lining up to buy these products?

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The Uber Drivers Who Don’t Want to Be Employees

Fri, 08 Nov 2019 10:00:00 GMT

California recently passed a law that would classify rideshare drivers across the state as employees, rather than contractors. Among many other benefits, they’d be allowed to unionize, collect overtime pay, and take sick leave.

So why are so many drivers against it?

Guest: Harry Campbell, former Uber driver and founder of The Rideshare Guy

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The Price of Automating Aviation

Fri, 01 Nov 2019 09:00:00 GMT

This week, Boeing’s CEO Dennis Muilenburg appeared in front of Congress. He was there to answer questions about what his company knew, and when, before two 737 Max airplanes crashed and claimed the lives of 346 people.

But beyond the planes’ technological failures is another key issue: the way pilots react when automated systems go wrong.

Guest: Jon Ostrower, Editor in Chief of The Air Current

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Inside Facebook's Political Ad Mess

Fri, 25 Oct 2019 09:00:00 GMT

Over the last week, Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg have been under fire for declining to fact-check political ads. But a former insider says this is the wrong debate to be having—and it misses a more fundamental problem: Facebook’s business model itself.

Guests: Yael Eisenstat, former head of global elections integrity operations at Facebook and Charlie Warzel, an opinion writer at the New York Times.

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Announcement: What Next: TBD

Thu, 24 Oct 2019 18:15:00 GMT

Hey If Then listeners! As of now, the new Slate podcast What Next: TBD will be taking over this feed. What Next: TBD is a weekly analysis with host Lizzie O’Leary of how technology is impacting our lives, and where we’re headed. From fake news to fake meat, algorithms to augmented reality, we’ll be examining the often hidden forces shaping our world, and we’ll talk to the people who are studying those forces, impacted by them, and creating them. What Next: TBD is a spinoff from the Slate daily news show What Next. If you’re not already subscribed, go find it in your podcast app: there you’ll find the brilliant Mary Harris every Monday through Thursday to help you make sense of the news, sifting through the frenetic cascade of headlines to go deep on one story at a time. Then you’ll get this show, What Next: TBD, on Fridays. So listen here, or get all of Slate’s morning news in the What Next feed, starting tomorrow, October 25th. See you then!

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Smash Bros Side Hustlers

Wed, 16 Oct 2019 17:00:00 GMT

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The People Who Hold The Internet Together

Wed, 09 Oct 2019 17:00:00 GMT

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What it Takes to Study Online Harassment

Wed, 02 Oct 2019 19:45:00 GMT

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The Surveillance Is Coming From Inside The (Smart) House

Wed, 25 Sep 2019 17:00:00 GMT

Host Shannon Palus talks to Roxanne Leitao, a UK-based designer researching ways to make the smart home gear safer for victims of domestic abuse. They’ll discuss the ways that smart thermostats can be used to gaslight victims, the security measures that can help everyone in a home have agency, and the reason why smart home tech that’s hard to understand is all the more dangerous. They also touch on her other research in designing gig economy platforms that reduce the potential for bias against workers. Podcast production by Justin D. Wright.

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Breaking Away From Google

Wed, 18 Sep 2019 17:00:00 GMT

Host Aaron Mak discusses with journalist Nithin Coca his attempt to abstain from using any Google products in his daily life. They discuss why he did it, the useful alternatives he found for specific apps, the quirks of using different tools abroad, and the surprising benefits he found in starting over. They also speculate on whether or not a normal consumer could sustainably do the same thing, and what that means for the state of the industry.

After the interview, host Aaron Mak joins co-host Shannon Palus for this week’s edition of “Don’t Close My Tabs.” Podcast production by Justin D. Wright.

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The Case For The Vape

Wed, 11 Sep 2019 17:00:00 GMT

Host Shannon Palus discusses how today’s vaping panic is connected to the rise of the cigarette with Jacob Grier, author of the new book The Rediscovery of Tobacco: Smoking, Vaping, and the Creative Destruction of the Cigarette. Grier argues for a nuanced view of tobacco and nicotine’s place in America, and just how much parents should worry if their teen comes home with a Juul. They’ll also discuss why Sweden’s solution for tobacco risk reduction serves as an enviable model.

After the interview Shannon Palus joins co-host Aaron Mak for this week’s edition of “Don’t Close My Tabs.” Podcast production by Justin D. Wright.

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Inside Uber

Wed, 04 Sep 2019 17:00:00 GMT

New York Times technology reporter Mike Issac discusses his new book Super Pumped: The Battle For Uber, which traces Uber’s rapid rise and fall under co-founder Travis Kalanick. He and host Aaron Mak talk about Uber’s fraught relationship with the media, how public perception of the company enabled one of its competitors to stave off extinction, the necessary paranoia required to investigate the company, and how Kalanick’s particular style of leadership helped transform transportation around the world – for better or worse.

After the interview Shannon Palus joins the show for this week’s edition of “Don’t Close My Tabs.” Podcast production by Justin D. Wright.

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Cosmetic Gene Editing Gone Awry

Wed, 28 Aug 2019 16:30:00 GMT

Host Shannon Palus explores a future in which high school girls stay atop the social hierarchy by editing their genes, giving themselves purple eyes, and glittery skin. That’s what fiction author E. Lily Yu imagines 2060 is like in her short story, Zero In Babel, which was published on Slate as part of the Future Tense Fiction Series. Shannon and producer Cameron Drews read and excerpt of the story, and then Shannon speaks to Yu about her creative process.

After the interview Aaron Mak joins the show for this week’s edition of “Don’t Close My Tabs.”

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When Your DNA is Public Information

Wed, 21 Aug 2019 17:31:07 GMT

Aaron Mak learns about how law enforcement is using public genealogy websites to crack cold cases. His guest is Nila Bala, Associate Director of Criminal Justice Policy at the R Street Institute, which is a think tank whose mission is to find solutions to complex policy problems. Bala is also a former public defender. She says while it’s great that criminals are being brought to justice, there should be more rules in place to limit false positives and prevent privacy violations.

After the interview, Shannon Palus joins the show for this week’s edition of Don’t Close My Tabs.

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The Allure of Smart Guns

Wed, 14 Aug 2019 16:30:00 GMT

In this episode Shannon Palus learns about personalized guns, sometimes referred to as “smart” guns. Her guest is Cassandra Crifasi, Deputy Director at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy & Research. More specifically, Crifasi is an epidemiologist focused on policies, procedures, and practices that prevent injury. She says personalized firearms are great for keeping kids and thieves away from guns, but they do nothing to prevent homicides and suicides by gun owners themselves.

After the interview Aaron Mak joins the show for this week’s edition of “Don’t Close My Tabs.”

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China’s Cyber War Against Hong Kong

Wed, 07 Aug 2019 16:30:00 GMT

In this episode Aaron Mak learns about all the ways China is using cyber warfare to disrupt the efforts of protesters in Hong Kong. His guest is Nick Frisch, a fellow at Yale’s Information Society Project and a scholar of media and technology in the Chinese speaking world. Frisch was recently in Hong Kong as a fellow at the Journalism and Media Studies Center at Hong Kong University.

After the interview, Shannon Palus joins the show for this week’s edition of Don’t Close My Tabs.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chemists Spill the Science of Skincare

Wed, 31 Jul 2019 18:45:00 GMT

In this episode Shannon Palus talks to Victoria Fu and Gloria Lu, co-founders of Chemist Confessions. Their goal is to help us all cut through the marketing buzzwords of the skincare industry, and understand some of the actual chemistry behind the products we use.

After the interview, Aaron Mak joins the show for this week’s edition of Don’t Close My Tabs.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why Facebook Can’t Just Create a Currency

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 17:00:00 GMT

In this episode Aaron Mak looks into Facebook’s plan to create a global cryptocurrency called Libra. For an expert opinion, he turns to Chris Brummer, a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center and the host of the podcast Fintech Beat. Brummer testified before the U.S. House of Representatives last week to explain why Facebook is jumping the gun with its proposal.

After the interview, Shannon Palus joins the show for this week’s edition of Don’t Close My Tabs.

Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prime Day Comes but Once a Year

Wed, 17 Jul 2019 17:30:00 GMT

In this episode, Shannon Palus talks about the journalistic ethics of Amazon affiliate links with Jacqui Cheng, former Editor-in-Chief of Wirecutter and current Editor-in-Chief of Music at WQXR in New York. As Cheng explains, it’s possible for news organizations to make money from Amazon links without turning into a shill for a giant company.

After the interview, Shannon talks to Aaron Mak for this week’s edition of Don’t Close My tabs.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ICE’s Reckless Use of Facial Recognition Tech

Wed, 10 Jul 2019 17:30:00 GMT

In this episode, Aaron Mak talks about federal law enforcement's use of facial recognition technology with Jake Laperruque. He’s Senior Counsel at The Constitution Project, which is part of the Project on Government Oversight. According to The Washington Post, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and FBI officials have been partnering with state DMVs to scan through millions of drivers license photos. Jake explains the civil liberties implications of the practice and suggests regulations that might provide some level of oversight.

After the interview, Aaron talks to Slate’s own Shannon Palus for this week’s edition of Don’t Close My Tabs.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Healthcare via Video Chat

Wed, 03 Jul 2019 16:30:00 GMT

In this episode, Shannon Palus explores the growing telehealth industry, where doctors and patients connect via video chat or sometimes just a secure message system. To figure out the benefits and potential drawbacks of telehealth, Shannon talks to Roy Schoenberg, president and CEO of American Well, one of the first big players in the space.

Then Shannon talks to Slate writer Aaron Mak in this week’s edition of Don’t Close My Tabs.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Tech Journalism Took A Critical Turn

Wed, 26 Jun 2019 17:30:00 GMT

In this episode, April Glaser catches up with her former co-host Will Oremus. Then the two of them are joined by Future Tense editor Torie Bosch and New York Times opinion writer Farhad Manjoo to discuss why tech journalism has become far more critical in recent years.

Plus, April and Will discuss futuristic science fiction scenarios on this week’s edition of Don’t Close My Tabs.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When a Scooter Makes More Sense Than a Car

Wed, 19 Jun 2019 16:00:00 GMT

In this episode, guest host Henry Grabar looks at how Zillow is trying to disrupt the real estate business—and why it might work in some cities but not others.

Then Horace Dediu answers Henry’s questions about bikes, scooters, and other miniature contraptions that might replace the automobile in cities.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Driverless Cars Will Actually Work

Thu, 13 Jun 2019 04:00:00 GMT

In this episode April Glaser talks to Chris Urmson, CEO of Aurora, a company that builds the technology for self-driving cars. Urmson offers a timeline for when we might see autonomous vehicles on the road and lists the different hurdles the industry still needs to overcome. According to Urmson, driverless cars shouldn’t require a lot of extra infrastructure or government funding. Instead, they should work within our existing system.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Re-Up: Senator Mark Warner

Wed, 05 Jun 2019 15:23:16 GMT

In this episode, April Glaser revisits an interview with Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee who released a policy paper proposing possible regulations for U.S. social media and technology companies. In the interview, April and her former co-host Will Oremus talk to Senator Warner about what worries him most about the largely unregulated tech industry, which can’t seem to keep our data private and stop muddying our elections. They also ask him what he thinks congress can do to rein in these companies and why lawmakers haven’t been quick to act.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Luxury Bunkers for the End of the World

Wed, 29 May 2019 19:16:34 GMT

In this episode April Glaser is joined by Max Read, an editor and writer at New York Magazine who writes the column Life in Pixels.

First, April and Max talk to Patri Friedman, founder of the Seasteading Institute, which he started in 2008 with seed funding from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. Seasteading is the process of forming new societies on the open ocean, and it’s getting a lot of attention from Silicon Valley.

Then Robert Vicino joins the show to talk about his company, Vivos, which designs and builds high-end bunkers to help people ride out natural disasters and other potential catastrophes. Vicino talks about his clientele and the concerns that drive people to buy fancy underground apartments.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why It’s So Hard to Live in California

Wed, 22 May 2019 18:53:45 GMT

In this episode April Glaser is joined by co-host Kim-Mai Cutler, a partner at Initialized Capital, an early-stage venture firm. She’s also a former full-time journalist at TechCrunch.

First, April and Kim-Mai discuss the lack of affordable housing in California and the political battles that are hindering progress.

Then they talk about the upcoming wildfire season with Faith Kearns from the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Lizzie Johnson from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Designing a Better Facebook

Wed, 15 May 2019 18:00:00 GMT

In this episode, April Glaser is joined by guest co-host Max Read, an editor at New York magazine who covers technology and the internet.

First, April and Max talk about Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes’ apostasy. Last week, Hughes wrote a long op-ed in the New York Times about why he thinks the company that made him so wealthy should be broken up.

Then Katherine Lo joins the hosts to discuss how Facebook’s redesign will change how we communicate on the platform. These days she leads the content moderation team at a nonprofit called Meedan, which works with journalists on disinformation. While we talk a lot about how large social networks are governed—and misgoverned—it’s less frequent that we talk about how these platforms are designed, and how that can lead to toxic behavior.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cyberspace Didn’t Stay Free

Wed, 08 May 2019 17:36:00 GMT

In this episode April Glaser is joined once again by guest co-host Meredith Broussard, a data journalism professor at NYU and author of Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World.

First, historian Mar Hicks joins the show to talk about the tech industry’s long-time aversion to organized labor and how that’s clashing with recent worker actions at major tech companies like Google and Uber.

Then Alexis Madrigal joins the hosts to talk about his recent piece in the Atlantic called “The End of Cyberspace” where he argues that the 90s dream of an unregulated internet is starting to fade. According to Madrigal, it’s time to create a new alluring vision for what cyberspace should be.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Public Education, Facebook-Style

Wed, 01 May 2019 18:17:00 GMT

In this episode April Glaser is joined by co-host Meredith Broussard, a data journalism professor at NYU and author of Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World.

First they talk about the history of Silicon Valley’s decades-long quest to replace teachers with computers. Then the hosts have a conversation with Nellie Bowles, tech reporter for the New York Times, about a Kansas town that’s struggling with the implementation of Summit Learning, a personalized web-based education program funded by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan.

Also joining the show is Tom Henning, a parent in Kansas who pulled his son out of his local public school after Summit Learning was adopted. Henning discusses how he and other parents organized to try to bring human-centered learning back to their schools, citing the physical and emotional problems their kids came home with after being stuck in front of a computer all day.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unmasking The Russians Who Hacked The DNC

Wed, 24 Apr 2019 17:42:00 GMT

In this episode April Glaser is joined once again by co-host Siva Vaidhyanathan, director of the Center for Media and Citizenship at the University of Virginia. They start by talking about the Sri Lankan government’s shutdown of Facebook and WhatsApp after the Easter attacks on churches and hotels.

Then they talk to Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, a staff writer for Motherboard and producer for CYBER, a Motherboard podcast about hacking. In their conversation Franceschi-Bicchierai talks about the time he corresponded directly with hackers who infiltrated the servers of the Democratic National Committee. Those hackers initially tried to pass themselves off as a lone Romanian hacker named Guccifer 2.0.

Then slate writer Rachelle Hampton joins the show to talk about her cover story, The Black Feminists Who Saw the Alt-Right Threat Coming.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Happened To WikiLeaks

Wed, 17 Apr 2019 19:08:20 GMT

In this episode April Glaser is joined by guest host Siva Vaidhyanathan, director of the Center for Media and Citizenship at the University of Virginia and author of several books about social media and the internet, including a recent one on Facebook, “Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy.”

First they talk about the ongoing elections in India and how fake news and propaganda on Facebook and WhatsApp is wreaking havoc on an electoral process that’s otherwise celebrated for working quite well in the world’s largest democracy. Then they discuss Uber’s recent IPO filing and the litany of ways the company’s reliance on a contractor workforce and business in only a handful of major cities could destabilize the rideshare company’s hopes of ever being profitable.

After that, author and WIRED writer Andy Greenberg joins the show to talk about the recent indictment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, threats the case poses to press freedom, and how Assange’s ideology has been much more fluid than his alleged co-conspirator, Chelsea Manning. Greenberg is the author of This Machine Kills Secrets: Julian Assange, the Cypherpunks, and Their Fight to Empower Whistleblowers.

This episode of IF Then is brought to you by LinkedIn. Post a job today at LinkedIn.com/IFTHEN and get fifty dollars off your first job post.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fake Meat Designed for Carnivores

Wed, 10 Apr 2019 16:38:01 GMT

April Glaser is joined by Gizmodo investigative reporter, Kashmir Hill, to talk about an ambitious British proposal to regulate content on social media sites. Then they discuss Airbnb’s efforts to kick White Nationalists off its platform ahead of a national summit in Tennessee.

After that they talk to Pat Brown, CEO and founder of Impossible Foods, about his company’s eerily realistic fake meat products and his vision for a more environmentally sustainable food system.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Local News Brought to You by Big Tech

Wed, 03 Apr 2019 18:04:30 GMT

April Glaser and Will Oremus discuss a recent report in Bloomberg that says executives at YouTube ignored employees who raised concerns about the spread of harmful videos. The company’s algorithm often recommends conspiracy videos, which lead viewers down rabbit holes they might not otherwise explore.

Then journalism professor Emily Bell talks about Google and Facebook’s recent efforts to revive the local news industry. Since the tech giants are partially complicit in harming local news in the first place, Bell says it’s akin to asking a bull that broke everything in a China shop to come back and piece things back together.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Uber and Lyft Drivers Strike

Wed, 27 Mar 2019 19:18:53 GMT

Aprill Glaser and Will Oremus kick off the episode by talking about Apple’s plan to be the ultimate middleman--with new offerings announced this week of streaming video, games, and more. Then April offers an update on efforts in Congress to restore net neutrality.

After that Veena Dubal, a law professor at UC Hastings, talks about worker strikes at Uber and Lyft and then sheds light on a California case that reclassifies most gig workers as employees instead of contractors.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Livestreaming A Massacre

Wed, 20 Mar 2019 19:20:47 GMT

On today’s show, April Glaser and Will Oremus first talk to two researchers who’ve uncovered new information about the way the U.S. government trains its facial recognition software. According to their findings, the government uses photos of immigrants, children, and even deceased prisoners to train their programs.

Then NBC News reporter Ben Collins talks about the role of online extremism in last week’s New Zealand attacks, specifically with regard to Facebook and other platforms that allow live broadcasting. Collins also discusses how the shooter left a manifesto riddled with white supremacist signals from online communities and the difficulty of reporting on these racist communities without broadening their reach.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Your Social Media Photos Are Helping to Build the Surveillance State

Wed, 13 Mar 2019 19:31:05 GMT

On today’s show, April Glaser kicks things off by talking about Facebook’s long-overdue crackdown on anti-vaccination groups. The social media platform announced it will stop allowing advertisements that peddle misinformation about vaccines, and they’ll make anti-vaxxer groups and pages harder to find. What took them so long?

Then Will Oremus talks to Olivia Solon, Editor of Tech Investigations at NBC, about facial recognition technology, and how some companies are collecting online photos without getting explicit permission from photographers or subjects.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How To Trust A VPN

Wed, 06 Mar 2019 20:50:00 GMT

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus take a look at an increasingly popular online privacy tool--that has some serious trust issues of its own. We’re talking about VPNs, or virtual private networks, and why the average user might have a very hard time figuring out which one to trust.

The hosts will also look at privacy blunder number one billion from our friends at Facebook. This one involves two factor authentication, a feature to ostensibly help keep your account safer that turns out to be another good way for Facebook to keep track of you, wherever you go. Mark Zuckerberg told Congress, “you own your data”--but once you give Facebook your phone number, good luck ever taking it back.

1:11 - Interview with Will Oremus

24:00 - Don’t Close My Tabs

Stories discussed on the show:

Slate: Do You Trust Your VPN? Are You Sure?

Don’t Close My Tabs:

April: Wired: Are Men at Google Paid Less than Women? Not Really.

Will: Instagram: Nathan W Pyle

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Empathy at Scale

Wed, 27 Feb 2019 21:07:53 GMT

On today’s show, host April Glaser looks at the continuing battle between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commision. Earlier this week, the SEC asked a judge to hold Musk in contempt for tweets he’s made about Tesla’s performance. The SEC says Musk violated a settlement he reached with the commission last year, which required him to have his tweets reviewed before sending them.

Then, Will Oremus speaks with journalist Casey Newton about an investigation he published this week on the tech site The Verge. The article is headlined, “The Trauma Floor: The secret lives of Facebook moderators in America.” Newton talked to current and former employees of a moderation facility in Arizona that contracts with Facebook, about the working conditions there. And, in particular, the psychological toll of scrutinizing hundreds of Facebook posts each day that feature extreme violence, hate speech, and conspiracy theories.

5:57 - Interview with Casey Newton

23:23 - Don’t Close My Tabs

Stories discussed on the show:

CNN: SEC Asks Judge to Hold Musk in Contempt

The Verge: The Trauma Floor: The secret lives of Facebook moderators in America

Wired: The Laborers Who Keep Dick Pics and Beheadings Out of Your Facebook Feed

Don’t Close My Tabs:

April: Mercury News: Facebook, Google Bikes Lead to Tensions with Neighbors

Will: Vox: How a coat on Amazon took over a neighborhood — and then the internet

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

f Then is presented by Slate and Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, New America, and Slate. Future Tense explores the ways emerging technologies affect society, policy, and culture. To read more, follow us on Twitter and sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can Palantir Be Used For Good?

Wed, 20 Feb 2019 19:39:56 GMT

On today’s show, host Will Oremus looks at the fallout from Amazon’s announcement last week that they’re abandoning plans for a new headquarters in New York City. Some celebrated it as a victory; others mourned a missed opportunity; still others were mad that Amazon took its ball and went home, rather than negotiating a fairer deal.

Then, April Glaser talks with Faine Greenwood from the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, where she focuses on the role of drones and data intensive foreign aid projects. Her latest piece for Slate is headlined “Why Humanitarians Are Worried About Palantir’s New Partnership With the U.N.”

6:02 - Interview with Faine Greenwood

23:15 - Don’t Close My Tabs

Stories discussed on the show:

Slate: New York’s Anti-Amazon Movement Is Now a Blueprint for Critics of Big Tech

Slate: Why Humanitarians Are Worried About Palantir’s New Partnership With the U.N.

Don’t Close My Tabs:

April: The New Yorker: Private Mossad for Hire

Will: Wired: AR Will Spark The Next Big Tech Platform-Call It Mirrorworld

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then is presented by Slate and Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, New America, and Slate. Future Tense explores the ways emerging technologies affect society, policy, and culture. To read more, follow us on Twitter and sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeff Bezos’s Privacy Complexifier

Wed, 13 Feb 2019 20:33:45 GMT

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus talk about the implications from last week’s bizarre, but also serious, showdown between Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and American Media INC, the owner of the Trump-friendly National Enquirer. Bezos claimed the Enquirer was blackmailing him by threatening to release private and quite racy photos between him and the woman he was having an affair with. Bezos stood up to the alleged extortion by publishing his account of the situation, complete with threatening emails from AMI.

At the same time Bezos was fighting for his own privacy, his company was making a deal that could have serious privacy implications for the rest of us. This week, Amazon announced it was acquiring Eero, the mesh WiFi router startup. To sort through this mesh, the hosts are joined by Stacey Higginbotham, who writes all about the internet of things. They ask her about what this move means for smart home users’ privacy, and where we should draw the line on what in our home should be smart, and what should be...well, dumb.

8:08 - Interview with Stacey Higginbotham

21:15 - Don’t Close My Tabs

Don’t Close My Tabs:

April: The Baffler: The Whitest News You Know

Will: The New Republic: The False Promise of Silicon Valley’s Quest to Save the World

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Court-Records Paywall Scam

Wed, 06 Feb 2019 18:50:00 GMT

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Media Layoffs Are Trending

Wed, 30 Jan 2019 21:25:00 GMT

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus discuss a rather terrifying security flaw from Apple, a company that prides itself on keeping information well-protected. A bug was found in the video chat app Facetime that let snoops listen in on someone by calling them on FaceTime, even if the call wasn’t answered.

Then, the hosts are joined by Franklin Foer, a staff writer for the Atlantic, former editor in chief of The New Republic, and author of a book about what he calls “the existential threat of big tech.” They talk to him about the recent wave of layoffs in the media—including big cuts at BuzzFeed, HuffPost, and Gannett newspapers— and how those tie into the dominance of companies like Google and Facebook over the way we get information now.

Don’t Close My Tabs:

April: Pandora’s New Corporate Parents Gave Millions to Trump, GOP

Will: Wired: Is Big Tech Merging with Big Brother? Kinda Looks Like It.

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

This episode is brought to you by Warby Parker. Try their home try-on program for free today at warbyparker.com/ifthen.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Juul Heist

Wed, 23 Jan 2019 21:14:04 GMT

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus discuss news news that the french government has fined Google close to $57 million for violating the new European privacy laws that went into effect in 2018. This comes as news that the Federal Trade Commision here in the US is considering levying a record-breaking fine against Facebook for violations to their users privacy following the Cambridge Analytica mess. Corporate fines may well be a theme this year following the great clean up after the 2016 election went awry

And then we’re going to talk about Juul, the multibillion dollar e-cigarette company that is dominating the new industry. It’s been quite the year for Juul. Their offices were raided by the FDA. They at least provisionally agreed to stop selling certain fruity flavors of tobacco clearly popular with kids. They accepted a $12.8 billion dollar investment from Altria, the tobacco company that owns Marlboro. And most recently, announced, the vaping brand launched a new $10 million national TV marketing campaign.

To help make sense of the company that controls an estimated 70% of the e-cigarette market we’ll be joined by Nitasha Tiku, a senior writer for Wired.

Don’t Close My Tabs:

April: Bloomberg: Corporate America Is Getting Ready to Monetize Climate Change

Will: The Huffington Post: Jack Dorsey Has No Clue What He Wants

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

This episode is brought to you by Slack, the collaboration hub for work. Learn more at Slack.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wed, 26 Dec 2018 20:00:00 GMT

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus will talk reader mail! The hosts take a look at some of your questions and comments from the year, in particular about how your relationship to technology and social media has changed in a year that has been tumultuous for tech companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter.

Then, they’ll talk about cybersecurity, hacks, and the sometimes bizarre legal battles that ensue after a big data theft. They’re be joined by Josephine Wolff, a professor of public policy at Rochester Institute of Technology and the author of “You'll see this message when it is too late: The Legal and Economic Aftermath of Cybersecurity Breaches.” They’ll talk to her about some of the most significant breaches in the last decade, how those companies holding that information have been held accountable, and what it means for the everyday user who just wants to shop at Target.

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

This episode is brought to you by Merrill Lynch. Get started today at ML.com/you.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Information World War

Wed, 19 Dec 2018 20:56:00 GMT

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus will talk about how Taylor Swift used face recognition to surveil the crowd at a recent concert, and whether that’s smart, scary, or both.

Then they’ll welcome Renée DiResta, an expert on cybersecurity and online misinformation. DiResta is the lead author of a new report to the Senate Intelligence Committee on exactly how Russian operatives weaponized social media in the 2016 election, and why it may be just the beginning of a new era of global information warfare.

6:45 - Interview with Renée DiResta26:09 - Don’t Close My Tabs

Don’t Close My Tabs:

Logic: My Stepdad's Huge Dataset

The Pudding: Population Mountains

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Warehouse Workers Bring Amazon To The Table

Wed, 12 Dec 2018 20:23:25 GMT

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus discuss the latest round of “Tech CEO Goes to Washington.” On Tuesday morning, that CEO was Google’s Sundar Pichai, who appeared before the House Judiciary Committee and was asked about data privacy, location tracking, Google’s plans in China, and of course, Republicans’ favorite tech topic: conservative bias. We’ll talk about what we learned from this hearing as well as what we wish Congress might’ve asked the Google CEO.

Then April speaks with two people who have been working to organize workers in Amazon fulfilment centers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. One is a founder with Awood, Nimo Omar. She’s been organizing with the primarily East African communities that work in the Amazon warehouses on a campaign to collectively advocate for better working conditions.

We’ll also be joined by a worker at one of those Amazon fulfillment centers in the Minneapolis area, WIlliam Stolz. We’ll ask him about his job at the warehouse and why he’s joining his fellow workers in organizing for change for change at the fulfillment centers.

15:45 - Interview with Nimo Omar & William Stolz

37:13 - Don’t Close My Tabs

Don’t Close My Tabs:

Pew Research: Social media outpaces print newspapers in the U.S. as a news source

The Baffler: Streambait Pop

Slate: Roma Is the Culmination of Everything Alfonso Cuarón Has Ever Done

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Civil Rights Group Targeted By Facebook

Wed, 05 Dec 2018 20:17:47 GMT

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus discuss the news that Tumblr will soon be banning all adult content on its site -- this in response to some instances of child pornography that got it suspended from Apple’s App Store. Hundreds of thousands of Tumblr users are upset, and the plan appears to be backfiring.

Then we’re excited to bring you a pair of interviews today, with two people who have emerged as leading critics of Facebook—one from the outside, and one from within, right before he left the company. We’ll talk first with former Facebook employee Mark S. Luckie about what he calls Facebook’s “black people problem.” Those words came from a memo that he wrote shortly before leaving the company last month, and which he published to the world after he left.

Then we’ll talk with someone who’s been thinking through problems at Facebook for many years--and recently discovered that his organization was also a target of the company’s controversial “opposition research” PR campaign. Rashad Robinson is the president of Color of Change, a progressive civil rights group that was among several nonprofits Facebook tried to discredit by highlighting their ties to the liberal financier George Soros. In the wake of that story, Robinson met last week with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.

8:15 - Interview with Mark Luckie

16:00 - Interview with Rashad Robinson

35:20 - Don’t Close My Tabs

Don’t Close My Tabs:

The New York Times: Philippine Journalist, a Thorn to Duterte, Turns Herself In to Face Charges

Twitter: Natasha Vianna

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tomorrow's Children, Edited.

Wed, 28 Nov 2018 19:21:00 GMT

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus discuss the ongoing fallout at Facebook over the company’s decision to hire a conservative PR firm to surface opposition research in order to attack Facebook’s nonprofit critics by highlighting their funding ties to the liberal financier George Soros, playing into an untrue and anti-Semitic popular right wing trope. As internal and external turmoil continues to rile major American technology companies, their employee are organizing for serious change. Hosts dig into what that’s accomplished so far and what continued employee pressure and mounting labor actions means down the line.

Then, an interview with Antonio Regalado, a senior editor at the MIT Technology Review, on a story he broke Sunday night: the very first gene-edited babies were born this month in China. The trio discuss the history of gene-editing technology and the debate about using it on humans. To some, gene-editing is a form of medicine, like a vaccination. To others, it’s a form of enhancement. How easy is this to do? And will we have a future where the health of tomorrow’s children, or those whose parents can afford it, will be determined before their children are even born?

14:13 - Interview with Antonio Regalado32:02 - Don’t Close My Tabs

Don’t Close My Tabs:

The New Yorker: Exploding Mojitos: The First “Sonic Attacks” Targeting American Diplomats in Cuba May Have Taken Place Thirty Years Ago

The New York Times: A Business with No End

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Facebook's Former Security Chief on What Went Wrong

Wed, 21 Nov 2018 15:24:43 GMT

On today’s show, host Will Oremus will discuss the fallout from last week’s New York Times expose about Facebook with the company’s former Security Chief Alex Stamos.

The Times story was headlined “Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook’s Leaders Leaned Out in Crisis.” Stamos has been at the center of this story both as a critic and an advocate. The story has revolved partly around reports that Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg stifled or downplayed his revelations that their platform was still not free from Russian meddling months after the 2016 election. We’ll get his side of the story, as well as his perspective on Facebook’s missteps, and what he thinks the public and the media get wrong about the company. We’ll also talk about what some solutions to its problems might look like, including, potentially, government regulations.

2:15 - Interview with Alex Stamos37:53 - Don’t Close My Tabs

Don’t Close My Tabs:

Slate: Trapped in the Fire Zone

The New York Times: Are You Sitting Down? Standing Desks Are Overrated.

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amazon's Prime Real Estate

Wed, 14 Nov 2018 21:16:24 GMT

On today’s show, host Will Oremus will talk about the employee uprising at Google, and the changes that it and other tech companies have made to their sexual harassment policies in response. Joining him is Caroline O’Donovan, senior technology reporter for BuzzFeed News, who was there to cover the employee walkouts in person and has continued to report on the fallout from them.

And then, a story that has been making headlines for months, and finally reached its culmination this week with a big announcement. That would be Amazon’s HQ2 contest—or maybe now it’s HQ2.5, or HQ2 and 3, HQ2a and HQ2b. Whatever you call it, we’ll talk about the company’s decision to open not one but two new headquarters. One will be in Arlington, Virginia, just outside DC. And the other in Long Island City, just across the East River from Manhattan. That, of course, prompted an outcry from critics around the country, not to mention all the cities that weren’t chosen. Here to help Will make sense of all this will be Tim Bartik, a Senior economist at the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. He’s done some fascinating research on the incentives that cities offer to companies to try to get them to locate there--and whether it really pays off for their residents in the long run.

2:47 - Interview with Caroline O’Donovan14:32 - Interview with Tim Bartik32:00 - Don’t Close My Tabs

Don’t Close My Tabs:

The Atlantic: The Problem with Feedback

GoFundMe: How To Help Those Impacted By The Fires In California

Chico Enterprise Record: How You Can Help Camp Fire Victims

Twitter: Martha McSally For Senate (Concession Video)

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wed, 10 Oct 2018 20:39:40 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser discuss the latest data spill in Silicon Valley: It’s Google this time. And it’s time to talk gadgets again. This week Facebook announced its second foray into the hardware space with the Portal and Portal Plus—essentially a smart display for making video calls, equipped with an AI camera and Amazon Alexa. Meanwhile, Google launched a new smart display called the Google Home Hub, a new tablet that shares a name with the hosts’ employer, and a new phone that’s interesting for both its camera and the AI built in.

The hosts are also joined by tech attorney and privacy expert Tiffany C. Li. She teaches a course at Yale about the changing rights to privacy throughout history. They talk to her about what privacy rights we really have, whose interests are served by U.S. privacy law, and the difference between government and corporate surveillance.

19:16 - Interview with Tiffany Li34:45 - Don’t Close My Tabs

Don’t Close My Tabs:

IPCC Report

Bloomberg: The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fact And Fiction on Wikipedia

Wed, 03 Oct 2018 20:30:14 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk about the announcement that Amazon would raise the minimum wage for its US workers to 15 dollars an hour. While Jeff Bezos may be receiving praise for the move this week, another enigmatic tech CEO is facing retribution. Elon Musk has agreed to settle with the SEC following tweets he made about potentially taking the company private and will step down from Tesla’s board.

Net neutrality is also back in the news: California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill on Sunday to implement net neutrality protections in the state starting next year. But within 30 minutes of Brown’s signing, the Justice Department announced it would be suing the state of California to prevent circumventing the federal net neutrality repeal.

And the headaches continue for Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook... Last week it was announced that a massive security breach to the social media site allowed for hackers to take control of upwards of 50 million accounts. Facebook does not yet know who the culprits are.

The hosts are then joined by Katherine Maher, the executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation, best known for, well, Wikipedia: the fifth most popular website on the planet. Maher talks to Will and April about how it all works; how a community of millions of volunteer editors are able to pull fact from fiction, how a site dedicated to trying to be correct deals with false news, how it deals with harassment within its editor community, its changing relationship with Google, and why diversity is important in writing the web’s massive nonprofit encyclopedia.

17:04 - Interview with Katherine Maher47:15 - Don’t Close My Tabs

Don’t Close My Tabs:

Slate: The Temptation of Apple News

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reshuffling the Podcasting Deck

Wed, 26 Sep 2018 20:44:37 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk about the recent announcement that Instagram’s founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, would be leaving the company - at least in part due to clashes with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over the company’s future.

They also discuss tech talks on capitol hill this week between the justice department and federal and state law enforcement on political bias, antitrust, and privacy on social media -- as well as a hearing in the Senate scheduled for Wednesday on how technology companies use and misuse consumer data.

Then, the hosts spend the rest of the podcast talking about...podcasts. The last couple weeks have witnessed some dramatic changes in the podcast industry (including right here at the Slate Group). Last week Buzzfeed axed it’s entire podcast department, a very popular and groundbreaking arm of the media company. Meanwhile, Vox Media did just the opposite, announcing they’d be doubling their podcast output this fall. To help make sense of all this, April and Will are joined by media writer Nick Quah, who pens the weekly newsletter Hot Pod, which is considered required reading for many in the podcast industry.

15:41 - Interview with Nick Quah

34:36 - Don’t Close My Tabs

Don’t Close My Tabs:

okayplayer: The Secret History of Outkast’s ‘Speakerboxxx/The Love Below:’ the Last Truly Great Double Album

The New Yorker: How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump

The Guardian: ‘Sorry I’m Scuba Diving’” Salesforce CEO Criticized Over Response to Border Contract Backlash

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tech Barons Are the New Media Barons

Wed, 19 Sep 2018 20:26:06 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk about a literal moonshot. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has announced the first private customer who is signed up for a trip around earth’s moon, possibly as early as 2023—and he’ll be bringing some surprising passengers. Meanwhile,the Justice Department is investigating Musk’s other company, Tesla, over an ill-advised tweet. Next, Will and April discuss a new Twitter feature that brings back the classic, reverse-chronological timeline.

The hosts are then joined by Margaret Sullivan, the media columnist for the Washington Post and former public editor of the New York Times. They’ll talk to her about the trend of tech barons buying media companies. That’s what Salesforce founder and CEO Marc Benioff did this past weekend with his $190 million purchase of Time Magazine. Sullivan knows abit about tech titans buying media companies--her employer, the Washington Post, was bought by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in 2013, and she worked for Warren Buffett at the Buffalo News. We’ll talk to her about what this sale might mean for the future of Time, and the growing entanglements between big tech and journalism.

13:34 - Interview with Margaret Sullivan33:33 - Don’t Close My Tabs

Don’t Close My Tabs:

Slate: Why Did the New York Review of Books Publish that Jian Ghomeshi Essay?

Engagdet: Why PayPal’s Crackdown on ASMR Creators Should Worry You

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If Then Presents: The Secret History of The Future

Sun, 16 Sep 2018 09:00:00 GMT

Technology continues to change the way we live and work. Which is why The Secret History of The Future—the new technology show from Slate and The Economists—is digging through the past to find lessons for our future. Subscribe to Secret History of the Future via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

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Special Report: Apple’s New (Old) Gizmos

Thu, 13 Sep 2018 10:00:00 GMT

We have a special bonus If Then! On Wednesday afternoon Apple held its big annual event full of new and expensive gadgets. We wanted to help you make sense of what happened, and what it means. Host Will Oremus is joined by journalist and Slate contributor Christina Bonnington, who covers emerging technology and consumer technology. They talk through new phones, new watches, and all the things Apple is taking away from their original products.

Stories discussed on the show:

Slate: Why Apple’s Not Giving Us Another Small iPhone Anytime Soon

Slate: Everything We Know About The Three New iPhones

Slate: Apple’s Devices Are Pulling Us Into Our Own Personal Clouds

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Google’s Real Biases

Wed, 12 Sep 2018 18:51:36 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser discuss California’s landmark decision to eliminate cash bail for defendants in criminal cases--and the controversial algorithmic “risk assessment” system that will partially replace it. They also hash out a fresh debate over who gets to fact-check the news that appears in your Facebook feed following an outcry in media circles on Tuesday, after Facebook flagged a story in the liberal outlet ThinkProgress as “false”--all because the conservative Weekly Standard had taken issue with its headline.

The hosts are then joined by Professor Safiya Umoja Noble, author of Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. Lately, media coverage - and congressional hearings - have focused on potential anti-conservative bias among the big tech companies, but professor’s Noble’s work suggests we may actually have a much different problem.

17:50 - Interview with Safiya Umoja Noble36:36 - Don’t Close My Tabs

Don’t Close My Tabs:

Anatomy of an AI System by Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler

The New Yorker: Can Mark Zuckerberg Fix Facebook Before it Breaks Democracy?

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play. or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How The Future Of Music Streaming Will Sound

Wed, 05 Sep 2018 19:51:17 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser are joined once again by their Slate colleague Mark Joseph Stern to make sense of a what a Kavanaugh-court might mean for the internet going forward.

They are also joined by music and technology writer David Turner, who pens the weekly newsletter Penny Fractions, which is all about the economics and culture of music streaming. They’ll talk to him about how streaming works for artists and if there’s anything they can do to push back against the streaming giants like Spotify, Apple, and YouTube. And they’ll also talk about some of the surprising ways in which streaming is changing music itself.

13:24 - Interview with David Turner33:57 - Don’t Close My Tabs

Don’t Close My Tabs:

The New York Times: How Much Hotter Is Your Hometown Than When You Were Born

BuzzFeed News: How Duterte Used Facebook to Fuel the Philippine Drug War

The New Yorker: The Shaming of Geoffrey Owens and the Inability to See Actors as Laborers Too

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Twitter Without the Nazis

Wed, 29 Aug 2018 19:38:33 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser discuss reports that big tech companies are lobbying in favor of a national privacy law. They’ll talk about what their motivations are. (Hint: It’s not just altruism or civic duty.)

The hosts are also joined by Eugen Rochko, the founder of Mastodon, a social network that’s becoming an increasingly popular alternative to Twitter. Rochko likes to say that you can join Mastodon if you want social networking without the Nazis and white supremacists. We talk to him about exactly how it works, and the daunting obstacles that every social networking startup faces.

15:00 - Interview with Eugen Rochko31:00 - Don’t Close My Tabs

Don’t Close My Tabs:

NBC News: Secret message board drives 'pizzagate'-style harassment campaign of small businesses

The Information: Waymo’s Big Ambitions Slowed By Tech Trouble

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Google’s Secret Censorship Project

Wed, 22 Aug 2018 18:10:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk about a new Russian hacking report--this time, targeting conservatives. And it’s been a busy news week (as always) for Facebook, with reports on massive changes to its ad targeting and a heretofore secret plan to rate the credibility of its own users.

Then, April is joined by Ryan Gallagher, a U.K. based investigative journalist at the Intercept, where he reports on digital security and state surveillance. Earlier this month Ryan broke a story on Dragonfly, a secretive Google search engine for China that would censor certain websites banned by the Chinese government. The vast majority of Google’s employees, including founder and board member Sergey Brin reportedly was unaware of this project until Gallagher broke the story. Now, many Googlers are livid.

19:25 - Interview with Ryan Gallagher

Don’t Close My Tabs:

RadioLab: “Post No Evil”

Jezebel: How a Woman Disappears from the History Books

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Making Sense of Elon Musk

Wed, 15 Aug 2018 19:47:58 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk about how Google has been tracking and storing your location—even after you’ve asked it not to. Then they review some of the disturbing security news out of DEF CON, the annual hacker conference in Las Vegas, including a demonstration in which an 11-year-old managed to hack a voting machine in minutes.

The hosts are joined by Dana Hull, a reporter for Bloomberg News, who covers the electric-car company Tesla and the space transportation company SpaceX. What those companies have in common, of course, is their CEO, the enigmatic Elon Musk. Will and April ask her what to make of Musk’s latest machinations, including his surprise bid to turn Tesla back into a private company.

Don’t Close My Tabs:

Huffington Post:The Story Behind the Story That Created a Political Nightmare for Facebook

The Washington Post: A Small-Town Couple Left Behind a Stolen Painting Worth Over 100 Million Dollars - And a Big Mystery

Podcast production by Max Jacobs

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Embracing Deplorable Status

Wed, 08 Aug 2018 19:00:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser discuss why a bunch of the big tech platforms—Facebook, YouTube, Apple—are suddenly banning the far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his media empire Infowars. They also talk about the latest Wells Fargo foreclosure scandal where a computer glitch led to hundreds of wrongful foreclosures. The hosts are then joined by William Sommer, tech reporter with the Daily Beast who follows QAnon and other right-wing conspiracy theories closely. He’ll help us understand how this fringe thinking tumbled into mainstream attention. The interview with Will Sommer starts at 17:54.

Don’t Close My Tabs:

New York Times: Phone Calls From New York City Jails Will Soon Be Free

Wed, 11 Jul 2018 19:07:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk to Dr. Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a professor of political science and policy at George Mason University and an expert on immigration and security at the U.S.-Mexico border. They discuss how technology contractors benefit from working with the government to carry out its immigration policies — while others suffer from the ever-broadening surveillance state. And they examine the concept of a “virtual border wall,” and what that might look like in reality.

The hosts are then joined by Brian Brackeen, CEO of a face recognition company called Kairos. Kairos provides face recognition technology to businesses, but Brackeen warns that putting that same kind of software and data in the hands of law enforcement is a very bad idea. Oremus and Glaser ask him why that is, and what he sees as the more appropriate uses for a controversial cutting-edge technology.

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

If Then plugs:

Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wed, 13 Jun 2018 20:13:50 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus is joined by guest co-host Maya Kosoff from Vanity Fair. They discuss the electric scooters that are suddenly wreaking havoc on city streets—and why Silicon Valley venture capitalists are swooning over them. They also discuss the layoffs at Tesla, and what they might mean for the electric-car company and its workers.

Later, Will is joined by journalist Sarah Kessler of Quartz. Her new book is called “Gigged: The End of the Job and the Future of Work,” and it looks at the so-called gig economy from the human side. She talked to people around the country who are trying to make ends meet on services like Uber, Amazon Turk, and Taskrabbit.

On Tabs this week, the hosts discuss Palmer Luckey’s proposed surveillance border wall, and why you probably shouldn’t let foreign governments help you cool down your computer.

Don’t Close My Tabs

Slate: Why the Gift Bags at the North Korea Summit Could Pose a Cybersecurity Threat

Wired: Inside Palmer Lucky’s Bid to Build a Border Wall

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

If Then plugs:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Naomi Klein on Disaster Capitalism in Puerto Rico.

Wed, 06 Jun 2018 19:18:18 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk about how Microsoft is buying GitHub, Google is ending its Pentagon contract, and all the news from Apple’s developer conference on Monday—including the company’s effort to engineer a less addictive iPhone.

April is joined by journalist, author, and activist Naomi Klein to discuss her new book The Battle for Paradise about how corporations and politicians are trying to cash in on the chance to rebuild Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria’s destructive sweep through the island last fall. Some of the people descending on the island: blockchain enthusiasts hoping to build a “Crypto Island” of their own.

On ‘Tabs’ this week, the hosts discuss Silicon Valley’s relative silence on local elections and some listener mail about politicians who won’t stop texting us.

Don’t Close My Tabs

New York Times: Tech Was Supposed to Get Political. It’s Hanging Back in This Election.

Listener mail!

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

If Then plugs:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bloody Money and Blind Investors

Wed, 30 May 2018 20:42:30 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk about GDPR, Europe’s sweeping new online privacy legislation that took effect last Friday. They explain why it triggered an avalanche of emails to your inbox, and what it means for the tech industry.

The hosts are joined by John Carreyrou, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter with the Wall Street Journal. His new book, Bad Blood, chronicles his investigation into Theranos, the now-disgraced blood-testing startup, which sold faulty machines that may have put patients’ lives in danger. Carreyrou fills in some fascinating details in this bizarre story, and reflects on what it tells us about Silicon Valley—and whether it could happen again.

On ‘Tabs’ this week, Will digs into Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s attacks on the media and his idea to fix journalism by rating the credibility of individual journalists. April discusses the New York Times story about how Googlers’ quest to help stray cats has gone awry.

Don’t Close My Tabs

The Daily Beast: What It’s Like When Elon Musk’s Twitter Mob Comes After You

The New York Times: As Google Feeds Cats, Owl Lovers Cry Foul

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

If Then plugs:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Google’s Chokehold on the Web

Wed, 23 May 2018 19:34:31 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk about about a privacy invasion that’s arguably scarier than Cambridge Analytica, and why it’s not getting nearly the same amount of attention. It involves your cellphone, and its ability to track where you are at all times.

The hosts are then joined by Luther Lowe, the senior VP of public policy for Yelp, a company that has had some major beef with Google’s allegedly anti-competitive behavior. They’ll talk about how Google got so big, and whether or not federal regulators might start taking action.

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

If Then plugs:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Swamp

Wed, 16 May 2018 20:00:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk about about an unexpected move by President Trump that could save the Chinese electronics maker ZTE. Also in the news is Project Maven, a Pentagon project to build AI for drones, which Google has been working on. This week it was reported that around a dozen Google employees quit over the company’s involvement in the project.

The hosts discuss what one Apple blogger calls “one of the biggest design screwups in Apple history,” which has led to a class-action lawsuit. And they break down a major vulnerability in email encryption.

Later, April and Will are joined by antitrust expert Gene Kimmelman. He’s the president and CEO of Public Knowledge, a nonprofit that focuses on tech policy research and advocacy. He formerly served as the Chief Counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division under President Obama, during which time the NBC/Comcast merger was approved. They talk to him about AT&T’s antitrust trial with the DOJ as the company attempts to acquire Time Warner for $85 billion. If approved, that deal could reshape the future of how people connect to the internet, how they get their news and entertainment, and the future of mega-mergers proposed under Trump. And then there’s the recent revelation that AT&T hired Trump attorney Michael Cohen as a consultant last year.

Don’t Close My Tabs

The Guardian: Black Activist Jailed for His Facebook Posts Speaks Out About Secret FBI Surveillance

The Verge: UK Newsstands Will Sell “Porn Passes” to verify Ages Under New Laws

The Telegraph: Newsagents and Corner Shops To Sell “Porn Pass” Access Codes To Allow Adults To Visit X-rated Sites

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

If Then plugs:

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Baby, You Can Self-Drive My Car

Wed, 09 May 2018 21:05:26 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk about the hedge fund that’s gutting the newsrooms of local newspapers across the country—and racking up huge profits. They also discuss the futuristic news out of Google’s annual developer conference, including an AI that can hold a conversation and book you a dinner reservation.

Oremus is joined by Professor Raj Rajkumar, a self-driving car expert who serves as co-director of Carnegie Mellon’s autonomous driving research lab. They discuss the future of self-driving cars, but also the current moment—how today’s technology stacks up to human drivers in terms of safety, and what’s behind the recent spate of crashes.

Don’t Close My Tabs

The New York Times: Yes, It’s Bad. Robocalls, And Their Scams, Are Surging.

The Atlantic: I’m not Black, I’m Kanye

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

If Then plugs:

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Why an E-Waste Recycler Is Going to Prison

Wed, 02 May 2018 19:05:50 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser talk about Facebook’s big privacy changes and its foray into online dating, as Glaser reports from the company’s annual developer conference in San Jose. Oremus takes a listener’s question about the Golden State Killer case and the questions it raises about the privacy of our DNA.

Oremus is joined by Eric Lundgren, a pioneer in e-waste recycling who is awaiting a 15-month prison sentence for distributing CDs that allow people to reinstall Microsoft Windows on used Dell computers. Lundgren insists he’s not a criminal, and that the real crime is how tech companies drive sales of new products by discouraging people from fixing up their old ones.

And on this week’s “Don’t Close My Tabs,” Slate tech reporter Heather Schwedel joins Oremus as they share stories about “Moviepass movies” and Google’s increasingly divided internal culture.

Timestamps:

1:47 News: Golden State Killer and DNA Tech

5:55 News: April dispatches from F8, Facebook’s Annual Developer Conference

16:09 Interview: Eric Lundgren, the e-waste recycler on why he’s going to prison

35:04 Don’t Close My Tabs

Don’t Close My Tabs

The Cut: The Distinct Pleasure of the “MoviePass Movie”

The Wall Street Journal: Google Vs. Google: How Nonstop Political Arguments Rule It’s Workplace

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

If Then plugs:

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The Cost of Online Immunity

Wed, 25 Apr 2018 17:53:07 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus talk about a somewhat surprising speech from the antitrust chief of Trump’s DOJ. They bring you up to date on a big new data privacy bill in Congress, and Mike Nuñez, a journalist for Mashable, joins the show to discuss how his reporting on alleged liberal bias at Facebook has sparked a somewhat bizarre Congressional inquiry.

The hosts are also joined by Dr. Mary Anne Franks, a professor of law at the University of Miami Law School, where she teaches criminal law, First Amendment law, and Technology policy. They speak about the massively important Communications Decency Act, which was just amended to allow victims of sex trafficking to sue websites that knowingly facilitate it.

And as always, “Don’t Close My Tabs,” the Sean Hannity/Jeff Bezos edition.

Timestamps:

1:40 DOJ Antitrust Speech

6:15 New data privacy bill

11:13 Diamond and Silk on Capitol Hill: phone call with Mashable’s Michael Nuñez

20:55 Zillow clarification regarding last week’s show

22:14 Interview: Professor Mary Anne Franks on amending the CDA to fight sex trafficking

44: 08 Don’t Close My Tabs

Don’t Close My Tabs Links:

KQED: How Sean Hannity Began His Path to Punditry on Santa Barbara Community Radio

Washingtonian: Here Are the Floor Plans for Jeff Bezos’s $23 Million DC Home

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

If Then plugs:

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What If Facebook Used Data For Black Lives?

Wed, 18 Apr 2018 19:00:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus talk about trouble at Tesla: the company has suspended production of the Model 3, the car that will make or break its business. The hosts also dig into the news about the real estate site Zillow, which is expanding its business in a surprising new way--and why its stock is tumbling.

The hosts are also joined by Yeshimabeit Milner - founder and executive director of Data for Black Lives. You might’ve seen her piece earlier this month on Medium entitled “An Open Letter to Facebook from the Data for Black Lives Movement: Give Black researchers, data scientists and Black communities access to our data.” They talk to her about what questions she has for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg following his two congressional hearings last week in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data spill and everything else the company has been grappling with over the past couple years.

Don’t Close My Tabs

SF Chronicle: SF’s Scooter Conflict: City Attorney Orders Cease-and-Desist Order to Companies

The Wall Street Journal: You Think Discovering a Computer Virus is Hard? Try Naming One.

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

If Then plugs:

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What Mark Zuckerberg Didn’t Share

Thu, 12 Apr 2018 22:23:42 GMT

Will Congress let Mark Zuckerberg get away with under-sharing? On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus break down the Facebook chief’s trip to Washington to testify before Congress on the Cambridge Analytica scandal. They review the most amusing and revealing moments from his 10-hour testimony.

The hosts also analyze Zuckerberg’s evasion strategy and discuss whether members of Congress were buying it. And they look ahead to what regulation might be brewing that could affect Facebook and other Internet companies. Finally, Don’t Close My Tabs: their picks for the best stories and Twitter threads on the Web this week.

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus take a deep look into gerrymandering and the highly specialized mapping technology that has allowed for political parties - especially the GOP since 2010 - to drastically change the way political districts are drawn and controlled. The hosts are joined by David Daley, a senior fellow at FairVote and the author of Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind the Secret Plan to Steal America's Democracy. This interview was recorded on March 13th, so no news or tabs this week, but we’ll be back to our regular schedule next week.

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

If Then plugs:

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What Keeps Facebook Up at Night

Wed, 14 Mar 2018 19:00:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus discuss Elon Musk’s plan to… colonize Mars? They explain how sanctuary cities may unwittingly be sharing data with ICE through police surveillance tech. And Facebook VP Adam Mosseri, head of the news feed, joins the show for a wide-ranging interview. He explains how his team thinks about its responsibility to inform the public, and how they tackle complex problems ranging from fake news in the United States to Facebook-fueled hate campaigns in Myanmar.

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

If Then plugs:

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Wed, 14 Feb 2018 20:00:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus lamentthe anticlimactic end to Waymo and Uber’s court drama, explain why teens are pissed at Snapchat, and examine John Perry Barlow’s contributions to the internet we know today. The hosts are joined by Justin Rosenstein, co-founder of Asana and the former Facebooker behind the like button, to talk about the distraction crisis and whether Silicon Valley can solve a problem it created.

Don’t Close My Tabs:

The Robot Dog That Can Open a Door Is Even More Impressive Than It Looks

Candy Heart Messages Written by a Neural Network

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

If Then plugs:

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FISA and Fury

Wed, 07 Feb 2018 20:00:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus talk about a new anti-tech lobbying group formed by ex-employees of Facebook and Google, the big trial that’s happening this week in San Francisco that involves Waymo accusing Uber of stealing trade secrets in a winner-take-all race for self-driving supremacy. The hosts are also joined by Marcy Wheeler, an independent journalist and long time expert on the ins and outs of FISA and mass digital surveillance. And as always, Don’t Close My Tabs, the hosts’ picks for best on the Web this week.

Don’t Close My Tabs:

New York Times: Making a Crypto Utopia in Puerto Rico

New York Times: A Driver’s Suicide Reveals the Dark Side of the Gig Economy

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

If Then plugs:

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Through The Revolving Door Between Facebook and Democrats

Wed, 31 Jan 2018 21:00:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus talk about about a clever effort to restore net neutrality in Montana and New York. They also discuss Facebook’s latest news feed tweaks: this time it’s trying to resuscitate the local news economy by putting more stories from local sources in your feed. The hosts are joined by Dipayan Ghosh, a former privacy and policy advisor to Facebook, the Obama Administration, and Hillary Clinton’s campaign - to talk about his recent report on how digital advertising technologies lend themselves to disinformation campaigns, and what the government can do about it. And as always, Don’t Close My Tabs, their picks for best on the web this week.

Don’t Close My Tabs:

The Guardian: Fitness Tracking App Strava Gives Away Location of Secret US Army Bases

The New York Times: The Follower Factory

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

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Dudebros Everyday

Wed, 24 Jan 2018 20:00:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus talk about Facebook’s fraught plan to rate the media and the cool yet creepy Amazon store that automatically bills you for your purchases. The hosts are joined by Daily Beast technology and culture reporter Taylor Lorenz to talk about the incredible fame, wealth, and influence of young YouTube stars—and their startling business savvy. And, as always, Don’t Close My Tabs: Netflix’s price hike and an inside scoop on last year’s bizarre blow-up by the CEO of HQ Trivia.

Don’t Close My Tabs:

The Washington Post: Netflix raised its prices, and we kept subscribing anywayThe Daily Beast: CEO of HQ, the Hottest App Going: If You Run This Profile, We’ll Fire Our Host

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

If Then plugs:

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The Problem With Facebook Is Facebook

Wed, 17 Jan 2018 21:00:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus talk about the Senate’s stand on net neutrality and why Congress is set to renew a major piece of internet government mass surveillance legislation. The hosts are joined by Siva Vaidhyanathan, a professor of Media Studies at University of Virginia, to talk about Facebook’s big news feed changes and what they might mean for the way we read the news and talk to one another online. And on Don’t Close My Tabs: Google’s gorilla problem and “authentic” Instagram ads.

Don’t Close My Tabs:

The Verge: Google ‘fixed’ its racist algorithm by removing gorillas from its image-labeling tech

The Atlantic: The Strange Brands in Your Instagram Feed

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

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Live from CES: Our Dumb "Smart" Future

Wed, 10 Jan 2018 20:00:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus are at CES, the huge trade show put on by the Consumer Technology Association in Las Vegas. They talk about all the weird, wonderful, and unnecessary gadgets and tech they seen so far the convention, like the laundry folding robots that might not be very good at folding laundry, bizarre tech for your pets, drones and self driving cars, smart mirrors, and even a smart couch. The hosts will talk about the cybersecurity concerns surrounding Intel and how they’ve handled the situation so far, and the big battle between Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s new AI assistants.

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Science Fiction by ABBA

Wed, 03 Jan 2018 20:07:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus talk about a key detail in the new tax plan that could have a huge effect on gig workers in the tech sector—and maybe even robots. They also discuss Apple’s “batterygate” iPhone situation, what happened, and what can we take from their unusual apology? The hosts are also joined by Slate’s Future Tense editor Torie Bosch to talk about the anthology she co-edited What Future: The Year’s Best Ideas to Reclaim, Reanimate & Reinvent Our Future.

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

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What’s a Firefox?

Wed, 20 Dec 2017 20:00:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus talk with the executive director of Mozilla about how Firefox competes with Chrome and the biggest threats to the Open Web. They break down the fallout from the FCC’s 3-2 vote to kill net neutrality and what it means for mega-mergers like Fox and Disney. And they speculate on the motivations behind Uber’s misdeeds, why Apple’s AirPods are sold out, and why the Koch brothers are trying to kill municipal broadband.

Stories discussed on the show:

BuzzFeed: Uber Accused Of Espionage, Bribery, Hacking, And More In Bombshell Letter

Slate: The Fight for the Open Internet Isn’t Over

Mozilla: Privacy Not Included: A Guide to Make Shopping for Connected Gifts Safer, Easier, and Way More Fun

If Then’s “Don’t Close My Tabs” recommendations:

MacRumors: Apple is Currently Sold Out of AirPods Until January

Wired: KOCH BROTHERS ARE CITIES' NEW OBSTACLE TO BUILDING BROADBAND

Podcast production by Laura Flynn.

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Beanie Babies for Geeks

Wed, 13 Dec 2017 20:28:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus talk a little about why everyone is freaking out about Bitcoin. And in the run up to Thursday’s critical net neutrality decision from the FCC, the hosts speak with Columbia law professor Tim Wu - who actually coined the term net neutrality - about why it’s so crucial to save it, and what we might expect from legal challenges stemming from Thursday’s FCC announcement.

If Then’s “Don’t Close My Tabs” recommendations:

TechCrunch: Patreon’s New Service Fee Spurs Concerns that Creators will Lose Patrons

Slate: Netflix Releases Rare Ratings Info to Mock Obsessive Fans of its Own Movie

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

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The Ellen Pao Effect

Wed, 06 Dec 2017 19:45:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser talks with Ellen Pao about sexism in Silicon Valley and why the tech industry hasn’t experienced the same fallout over accusations of sexual harassment and assault as the media and entertainment business. Pao discusses what gives her hope for tech and describes what she’s witnessed as CEO and founder of Project Include, a nonprofit organization dedicated to diversity in tech. They also discuss her time as interim CEO of Reddit and what platforms should do to combat hate speech and harassment on their sites.

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Antitrust Superstar

Wed, 29 Nov 2017 20:00:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus discuss how bots messed up the net neutrality comment process and whether that gives advocates a last chance to preserve an open Internet. They also examine YouTube’s ongoing problems airing disturbing videos involving children and why its moderation algorithms don’t work. Then the hosts speak with Lina Khan, legal policy director of the Open Markets Institute and a fellow at Yale Law school, about AT&T’s now-troubled attempt to merge with Time Warner, and the DoJ’s unusual antitrust challenge. Lastly, as always, Don’t Close My Tabs: April and Will’s picks for best tech stories on the web this week.

If Then’s “Don’t Close My Tabs” recommendations:

NY Mag: Tumblr Founder David Karp is Stepping Down

Stanford Politics: How Peter Thiel and the Stanford Review Built a Silicon Valley Empire

Podcast production by Max Jacobs.

You can get updates about what’s coming up next by following us on twitter @ifthenpod. You can follow Will at @WillOremus, and April is @Aprilaser. If you have a question or comment for us, you can email as well at ifthen@slate.com.

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Hack Friday

Wed, 22 Nov 2017 20:00:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus talk about changes to net neutrality that were announced this week. They also talk a little about the digital media bubble and if it’s real, and April will also tell us about how living with a robot is going. We also have Black friday special for you - the hosts will talk with Brian Krebs, an expert on cybercrime - about everything retailers and consumers should know before the big day.

And lastly, Don’t Close My Tabs - Will and April’s picks for best on the web this week.

April’s Tab:https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/12/the-making-of-an-american-nazi/544119/

Will’s Tab - https://www.thedailybeast.com/ceo-of-hq-the-hottest-app-going-if-you-run-this-profile-well-fire-our-host

You can get updates about what’s coming up next by following us on twitter @ifthenpod. You can follow Will @WillOremus and April is @Aprilaser. If you have a question or comment for us, you can email as well at ifthen@slate.com.

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Leaving Zen on the Table

Wed, 15 Nov 2017 10:10:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus discuss some recent tech news, like the head-scratching revelation that WikiLeaks actually sent Donald Trump, Jr. Direct Messages on Twitter before and after the election, and a speech by Senator Al Franken that suggests we should regulate big tech companies more like utilities. The hosts are also joined by T. Dalton Brown from Dopamine Labs, the cofounder of an interesting and controversial startup whose mission is to help other companies make their apps and online platforms more addictive, by playing on our cognitive biases and psychological weaknesses.

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You Can’t Hardcode Community

Wed, 08 Nov 2017 09:16:00 GMT

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus discuss the news that YouTube has been showing disturbing videos to kids and why this might be a symptom of a much deeper problem for Internet companies. They also talk about the recent revelations from the Paradise Papers and how new details pertain to companies like Twitter and Apple. The hosts are also joined by Mercer University Professor Whitney Phillips. She’s the author of “This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture.”

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Trash Moths to the Trash Flame

Thu, 02 Nov 2017 18:16:00 GMT

Hosts and Slate journalists April Glaser and Will Oremus are excited to bring you this new weekly podcast: If Then.

The hosts start by talking through some of the most interesting tech news of the week (we promise it's not just tech geeks fawning over their smart watches).

They dig into the big story this week - how Facebook, Twitter, and Google all took a trip to congress this week to testify at three different hearings about how russian operatives used their platforms to interfere in the 2016 election--and help secure Trump’s victory. What did these companies know was happening, and what they could have done to stop it?

The hosts are also joined by author and former Facebook Product Manager Antonio García Martínez (@antoniogm) to talk about what he thinks the role of these powerful tech companies is now that we know more about what happened in the run up to the presidential election.

And to end the show - "Don't Close My Tabs" - a look into some of the best things seen online this week, as recommended by your show hosts.

Please hit that subscribe button if you don't so already! And...maybe leave us a comment? We're trying to spread word of the show and that will help us out!

See you back here next Wednesday!

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Coming Nov. 2, Slate's New Tech Show IF THEN

Fri, 27 Oct 2017 15:58:00 GMT

If Then: a podcast about technology, society, and power. Each week, Slate‘s April Glaser and Will Oremus take you on a lively tour of the tech news that actually matters, from fake news in your Facebook feed to the algorithms that want your job to the Uber drivers who want a job with benefits. With news-making interviews of key tech-industry figures, fascinating academics, and top tech journalists, they explore not only how the technology that’s shaping our world works, but the ideas, ideologies, incentives, and biases that underlie it. And guess what: They don’t always agree.

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