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.

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

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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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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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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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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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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.

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.

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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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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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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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.

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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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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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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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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.

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

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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

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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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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.

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

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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

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

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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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

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

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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

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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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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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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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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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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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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.

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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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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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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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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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“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 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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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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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. 

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

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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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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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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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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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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 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

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

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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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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.

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

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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

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

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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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“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.”

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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

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

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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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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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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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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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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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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.

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

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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 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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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.

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

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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” 

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

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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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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. 

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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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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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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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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.

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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 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

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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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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 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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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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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

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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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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

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

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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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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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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.

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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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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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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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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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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.

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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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.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 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.

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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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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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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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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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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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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-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’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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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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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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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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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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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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Check out Compiler here: https://link.chtbl.com/compiler?sid=podcast.whatnext.2023

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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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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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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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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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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

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Anna Philips.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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.

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Most pet food is made from the byproducts of the meat that we, humans, eat. Recently, there’s been a rise in high-end pet food products - including things like lab-grown meat - that are touted as sustainable options for your furry friend. But a closer look raises questions about whether or not this food is actually better for the environment.

Guest: Chloe Sorvino, writer for Forbes and the author of the book Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed, and the Fight for the Future of Meat.

Special thanks to Patrick Fort and Garbanzo. 

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In the spring, it looked like TikTok was on the verge of being banned in America. Since then, it’s continued operating business as usual. 

But this week, it was revealed that ByteDance and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States came close to striking a deal that would allow TikTok to continue operating in the U.S. The negotiations give a glimpse into how social media—and by extension speech itself—could be regulated on the internet.

Guest:

Emily Baker-White, tech reporter and senior writer at Forbes

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Sorting through a loved one’s things after they’ve died can be an emotional, difficult chore. But now, added to that, people have to sort through the deceased’s password-protected online presence. 

Guests:

Kate Lindsay, author of the internet culture newsletter Embedded and the article “My Mom Will Email Me After She Dies” in the Atlantic.

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At first, cryptocurrency seemed like the solution to the problems sex workers have had with traditional banks. But as the US moves to regulate the crypto industry, many are finding it hasn’t worked out like they hoped. 

Guests:

Joel Khalili, reporter at Wired

Liara Roux, sex worker, organizer, and writer

You can check out Joel’s reporting in Wired here. 

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When conservative writer Richard Hanania’s old posts, originally published under a pseudonym, came to light, people were shocked at just how racist and reactionary they were. Perhaps less shocking were the tech moguls who were revealed to be supporting him. 

Guest: Anil Dash, technologist and writer, and the head of Glitch

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A “smart gun” is designed to only work in the hands of the gun’s proper owner. With the first smart gun potentially coming to market later this year, can the tech deliver on its promise?

Guests: 

Champe Barton, reporter at The Trace

Kai Kloepfer, founder and CEO of Biofire

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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 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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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

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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

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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

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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

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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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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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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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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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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 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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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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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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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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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 

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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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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

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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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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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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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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

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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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Reddit announced it will start charging companies to use its huge, ever-growing trove of text to train A.I. chatbots. It’s another expense for the fledgling tech and another knock against the “open internet” ideals that Reddit once embodied. 

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

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A new law in Utah that goes into effect next year states that anyone under 18 needs parental permission to use social media. Is it a necessary step to protect children from harms associated with social media, or are we blunting a tool of expression for the youth? 

Guest: Dr. Mitch Prinstein, chief science officer at American Psychological Association

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Discord is a place to share a community online. Most often, it's for gaming. So why did classified intelligence from the Pentagon end up on a small server whose main interests seem to be video games, military equipment and memes? And how?

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

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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U.S. air travel is being strained on all sides—travel demand is back to 2019 levels, but the number of pilots and planes and ground crew hasn’t caught back up, and a rash of close calls are raising safety concerns about America’s aging flying infrastructure.

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

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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While TikTok’s parent company, Bytedance, is fighting to keep its flagship app from being banned in the United States, it’s also pushing a new app into the marketplace—Lemon8. One part Pinterest, one part Instagram and a dash of its sister app, Lemon8 is most likely saddled with the same security concerns that led lawmakers to consider banning TikTok.

Guest: Sapna Maheshwari, business reporter for the New York Times.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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CBP One, U.S. Customs and Border Protection's app that is supposed to make crossing the border more efficient, is littered with bugs. But even a perfectly functional smartphone app would pose problems for people seeking asylum on the southern U.S. border. 

Guest: Arelis Hernández, Washington Post reporter

Gia Del Pino, director of communications at the Kino Border Initiative

Felicia Rangel Samponaro, director of the Sidewalk School

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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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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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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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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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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The economy is doing well almost every but in tech, where headlines about layoffs have been replaced with news about Silicon Valley Bank’s demise. The collapse of “the central artery for the tech industry” looks like the end of an era. Where do venture capitalists, start-ups—and the industry writ large—go now?

Guest: Priya Anand, reporter at Bloomberg covering venture capital and start-ups.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort.

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The online dating world can be brutal and repetitive—just the kind of thing you might want to automate. But, in one tech writer’s experience, artificial intelligence isn’t ready to make real connections—at least, not without a lot of help.

Guest: Heather Tal Murphy, covers business and technology at Slate

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Just weeks before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a Nebraska woman and her daughter were charged with performing an illegal abortion, thanks to information that law enforcement uncovered by going through their Facebook accounts. 

Guest: Johana Bhuiyan, senior reporter on tech and surveillance for The Guardian

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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The diabetes medication Ozempic has exploded in popularity, particularly amongst those in Hollywood looking to lose a few extra pounds. But a silver bullet for weight loss leads to a number of questions: Is “buying weight loss” via injection somehow worse than diet and exercise? Are so many people buying and using this drug that people who need it for its intended purpose are missing out? What happened to body positivity? 

Guest: Matthew Schneier, feature writer for New York Magazine.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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It was reported this week that the U.S. Department of Energy now believes, “with low confidence,” that the COVID-19 virus came from a lab. But is there enough evidence for the “lab leak theory” to convince those who believe the virus emerged from animals in a wet market?

Guest: Angela Rasmussen, virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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New understandings of how our brains develop are changing how the law considers who is mature and who isn’t. But If our brains are still developing, when can the law treat us like adults? 

Guest: Jane C. Hu, independent science journalist.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Microsoft has been testing out their new artificial intelligence on their long-ridiculed search engine Bing. The results? A chatbot that lies brazenly and confidently, and has a penchant for manipulation. What are the risks and rewards of letting bots loose on the world?

Guest: Drew Harwell, Washington Post tech reporter covering artificial intelligence 

Host: Emily Peck

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The tech-laden, luxury bassinet “Snoo” has been presented as preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, helping babies sleep longer, and a totally reasonable way to spend $1,700. Is any of that true?

Guest: Kate Taylor, senior features correspondent for Business Insider

John Collins, Lizzie’s husband.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Come to think of it, a giant balloon seems like a pretty conspicuous way to spy on another country. So what was that Chinese spy balloon doing above the U.S.—and what have American planes been shooting down since?

Guest: Shane Harris, Washington Post reporter covering intelligence and national security. 

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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It’s hard to put a number on it but judging from the number of videos emerging online, there are more and more contraband cell phones finding their way into the hands of people in prison, who use them to record TikTok dances, take online courses, and alert the outside world to what’s happening on the inside.

Guest: Keri Blakinger, criminal justice reporter at the Los Angeles Times, author of Corrections in Ink.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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TikTok was banned on government agency devices in December; several schools and universities have banned it on their devices and wifi networks, and the governor of Texas unveiled a plan to ban it in the state. Can “Project Texas” stem the anti-TikTok tide? And would banning the app actually achieve…anything?

Guest: Louise Matsakis, reporter for Semafor covering tech and China

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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JP Morgan Chase is getting an education on FAFSA and financial aid–which would’ve been helpful before they acquired a now, quite dubious seeming start-up.

Guest: Ron Lieber, New York Times journalist, author of the “Your Money” column.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Last fall it seemed like everyone got sick—not just with COVID, but from a slew of respiratory diseases, from the mild to the severe. Researchers are trying to untangle how our immune systems have changed in the COVID era, and if we’re paying back an “immunity debt” or are victims of “immunity theft.” 

Guest: Tim Requarth, contributing writer to Slate. 

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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The proliferation of chatbots and A.I.-generated art has consumers and tech companies alike convinced that artificial intelligence is ready to be integrated into consumer electronics, products, homes, and across industry. In fact, it’s already in progress. What’s the worst that can happen?

Guest: Will Oremus, technology reporter for the Washington Post

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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The U.S. Department of Justice announced this week that it is suing Google over its ad technology. What do they contend Google has been doing? And does this mean Alphabet is headed for a Bell Telecom-style bust-up?

Guest: Leah Nylen, reporter covering antitrust for Bloomberg News

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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It can feel very personal to have your Facebook or Instagram page hacked—they’re your pictures and your friends after all. But Meta, the social media parent company, handles hacks with anything but a personal touch. 

Guest: Kirstin Grind, investigative reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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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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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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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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Roughly 95 percent of advanced semiconductor chip manufacturing happens in Taiwan, leaving the U.S. vulnerable to supply chain shocks and national security threats. Is the Biden administration’s $280 billion bill, signed in August last year, enough to boost domestic chip manufacturing?

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

Host: Emily Peck

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Over the holidays, thousands of passengers were left stranded or delayed when Southwest Airline’s outdated re-booking software broke down. Who can be held accountable, and why don’t airlines invest more in their own infrastructure? 

Guest: Heather Tal Murphy, business and technology reporter for Slate.

Host: Mary C. Curtis

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At the beginning of World War II, the greatest threat to the American war effort wasn’t the Nazis or the Japanese—it was runaway inflation. The man in charge of stopping it was the country’s “price czar,” Leon Henderson. In 1942, he controlled how much coffee ordinary people could drink and how many tires they could buy. Those rules made him a nationwide villain. But would they save the country?

One Year is produced by Evan Chung, Sophie Summergrad, Sam Kim, and Josh Levin.

Derek John is senior supervising producer of narrative podcasts and Merritt Jacob is senior technical director.

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The Food and Drug Administration gave an important thumbs up to lab-grown chicken, which means we could start seeing it in stores as soon as next year. While billions of dollars have been spent developing lab-grown meat, important questions remain: Is the production of it actually greener than raising livestock? Can it be made affordably? Is it healthy? And will anyone eat it?

Guest: Chloe Sorvino, staff writer on food and agriculture at Forbes, and the author of Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed and the Fight for the Future of Meat.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Even in a crazy year for crypto, Sam Bankman-Fried’s story is undeniably the most bananas. And even in the context of the implosion of FTX, getting arrested has got to make this week his worst yet. What charges does SBF face?

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

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

Sponsored by Saks.com. Check out the Holiday Gift Guide on saks.com

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Self-driving cars and robotaxis are starting to appear on the streets of San Francisco. While we have a whole regulatory system in place for drivers, who’s making sure these new cars are safe?

Guest: David Zipper, Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Taubman Center for State and Local Government

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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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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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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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

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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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After decades as America’s booming industry, tens of thousands of tech workers have been laid off in November alone. Is the venture-capital, low-interest-rate wind leaving the sails temporary or is this the end of the hunt for “the next big thing?”

Guest: Timothy B. Lee, reporter for Full Stack Economics covering labor markets, technology, and housing.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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At this year’s annual UN conference on climate change, they are discussing “climate reparations,” wherein the rich countries that grew their wealth burning fossil fuels pay money to poorer and more vulnerable countries. It sounds sensible, but is the UN capable of administering something like this? And how much money are we talking here?

Guest: Vijay Vaitheeswaran, global energy and climate innovation editor at The Economist.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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.

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