1,589 episodes

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

What Next | Daily News and Analysis Slate Podcasts

    • News
    • 4.3 • 2.2K Ratings

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

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

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

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

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

    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

    Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

    Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Anna Phillips.
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 23 min
    TBD | The Secret Semiconductor War

    TBD | The Secret Semiconductor War

    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.

    Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 23 min
    The Hollywood Strikes Are Over. No One's Back To Work.

    The Hollywood Strikes Are Over. No One's Back To Work.

    After waiting for two strikes to resolve, film and television crews across Hollywood were hungry to return to work. But the work has been slow to come back. As a number of crew union contracts expire at the end of July, how strong is their negotiating position?

    Guests: 
    Diane Haithman, Senior Entertainment Business Reporter, TheWrap
    Diego Mariscal, IATSE local 80 dolly grip

    Want more What Next? 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.

    Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 23 min
    Rafah Under Fire

    Rafah Under Fire

    Days after Israeli airstrikes hit Rafah, President Biden touted a potential ceasefire agreement. How far away is the end of the war? And how does Gaza rebuild after this?

    Guest: Tariq Kenney-Shawa, U.S. policy fellow at Al-Shabaka and an editor and fact-checker for AJ+.


    Want more What Next? 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.
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 29 min
    It’s Supreme Court Blockbuster Season

    It’s Supreme Court Blockbuster Season

    It will be another chaotic June at the Supreme Court, as the nine justices race to deliver decisions impacting gun rights, abortion, presidential immunity, and more—all before summer vacation.

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

    Want more What Next? 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.


    Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 29 min
    Election Workers in the Crosshairs

    Election Workers in the Crosshairs

    She was a city clerk for Rochester Hills, Michigan. After Trump lost the state, the threats started coming.

    Guest: Tina Barton, Senior Elections Expert, The Elections Group


    Want more What Next? 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.
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 30 min

Customer Reviews

4.3 out of 5
2.2K Ratings

2.2K Ratings

╭∩╮(ಠتಠ)╭∩╮ ,

V good for social studies

My social studies teacher has us bring in a new current event to class every day, and this is useful, as well as very fun to listen to, too. Great for a teenaged Marxist with no awareness, like ever! It helps me to figure out what’s happening in this got mess of a country. It’s very nice to have this entertaining thing to listen to, especially because ADHD makes it hard to focus on reading sometimes, though. Also, for all the guys in the comments complaining about ads, you can skip them when you got to the transcript and click through them (unless I’m so disconnected from other people that I don’t even realize that’s a feature exclusive to premium or Apple plus or whatever it’s called). Thank you to Slate Media for producing this! Love and hugs, -Sebastian Moon ☆

Amadeo Bordiga ,

Inexcusable Choice to Platform Hate

The episode for the week of May 27th, which came out two days after Israel launched a missile attack that burned more than 30 displaced people living in tents alive in Rafah, features an interview with a young, sympathetic IDF reservist who casually drops lines like “They [Palestinians] started this, so why should I care?” She gets no *meaningful* pushback from Mary Harris, the host (someone who knows perfectly well what the Nakba is and when it happened).

You could do this interview if you were critical, called out the Hasbara, and also chose to platform Palestinian victims of genocide. But Mary Harris did none of that, which suggests to me she feels a connection to one side and not the other. I don’t want to keep listening to a podcast that supports settler colonialism and genocide.

wanttofind ,

Thank you so much for the Columbia story

I was deeply moved listening to the interview with Columbia classics professor Joe Howley. My daughter - apolitical and a student at Barnard- has been drawn into these debates reluctantly as a result of the courageous action of students and faculty. Thank you so much for lifting up Howleys voice. There is so much more to education than classes, exams and graduation ceremonies. 🙏🏼

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