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

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

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

    Meta Settled. Is it a "Reckoning?"

    2026-09-04 | 27 mins.
    Does Meta’s $17 billion (give or take) settlement address people’s concerns about social media and its impact on teenagers… or is it already too late?

    Guest: Paresh Dave, senior writer for WIRED.

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

    Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.

    Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD.
    Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  • What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future

    A.I. Enshittifies Everything (Still)

    2026-08-28 | 32 mins.
    Through stealing your job or simply tanking the stock market—whichever comes first—the rise of artificial intelligence (companies) is a very futuristic sounding problem. It may have some very old-fashioned sounding solutions however.

    Guest: Cory Doctorow, sci-fi author, journalist, blogger and author of “The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI.”

    This episode originally aired June 26. TBD will be back to regularly scheduled programming next week.

    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 Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.

    Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD.
    Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  • What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future

    Can the Midterms Withstand Prediction Markets?

    2026-08-21 | 33 mins.
    Hundreds of millions of dollars, desperation for insider info, fury and accusations of conspiracy when it doesn’t go your way—is this gambling or elections? Through the magic of prediction markets, it’s both!

    Guest: David Gilbert, reporter at WIRED covering disinformation, online extremism, and how these trends impact people’s lives across the globe.

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

    Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.

    Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD.

    Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  • What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future

    Are Flock Cameras Watching You?

    2026-08-14 | 27 mins.
    In a world where everyone is carrying smartphones and setting up Ring cameras, you could be forgiven for thinking the war is over and the surveillance state won. But Flock cameras being denounced in town halls and smashed on the street have become a place for people to channel their heretofore unseen rage.

    Guest: Joseph Cox, reporter for 404 Media

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

    Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.

    Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD.
    Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  • What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future

    Artificial Intelligence, Very Real Debt

    2026-08-07 | 32 mins.
    Investments in—and among—artificial intelligence companies have pushed the S&P 500 to record highs. It’s also introduced a volatility to the markets that may be unprecedented. Is this growing pains or the wobble before the fall?

    Guest: Ed Elson, co-host of the Prof G Markets and First Time Founders podcasts.

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

    Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.

    Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD.

    Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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About What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future
Every Friday and Sunday, Slate’s popular daily news podcast What Next brings you TBD, a clear-eyed look into the future. From fake news to fake meat, algorithms to augmented reality, Lizzie O’Leary is your guide to the tech industry and the world it’s creating for us to live in. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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