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Technology coverage from Slate.

  • 24 minutes 28 seconds
    What Next: TBD | Whole Shopping List

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

    Guest: Peyton Bigora, staff reporter for Grocery Dive

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    Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.


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    14 December 2025, 8:00 am
  • 39 minutes 4 seconds
    ICYMI | How “Millennial Cringe” Became “Millennial Optimism”

    On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by Gen Z expert and After School writer Casey Lewis to talk about how Gen Z TikTok users are switching up on Millennials. After years of mocking the generation for being “cringe” online, now people are longing to return to the 2010s and the culture that came with it. But were Millennials really as “optimistic” as the fancams make it seem? And what does Gen Z have, if anything, to be nostalgic about? 

    This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.

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    13 December 2025, 9:30 am
  • 30 minutes 8 seconds
    What Next: TBD | Ready for Chatbot Canvassers?

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


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


    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.

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    12 December 2025, 8:00 am
  • 31 minutes 40 seconds
    What Next | His Mom Got Deported. Then He Went Viral.

    Today’s TikTok influencers share every aspect of their lives: from their morning routines, to getting ready to go out, to their parents being detained and eventually deported by ICE.

    Guest:  Tony Vara, TikTok creator @itonyvara

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

    Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

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    11 December 2025, 10:20 am
  • 53 minutes 13 seconds
    ICYMI | Shopping on Etsy Sucks Now

    On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by senior reporter at Bloomberg Businessweek, Amanda Mull, to talk about how the enshittification of online shopping came for Etsy. The platform used to be a thoughtful reprieve from the cheap, mass-produced products on Amazon, but now it’s plagued by a number of the same problems. With cheap junk and AI allegations abound, where can the Shein and Temu-haters go to actually find what they’re shopping for?

    This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.

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    10 December 2025, 9:30 am
  • 23 minutes 22 seconds
    What Next: TBD | ChatGOP?

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


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


    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.

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    7 December 2025, 8:00 am
  • 59 minutes 14 seconds
    ICYMI | Okay. Let’s Talk About "Everyone" Getting Skinny

    On today’s episode, host Kate Lindsay is joined by culture writer Mikala Jamison to talk about the rise in online concern about celebrities’ bodies. Mikala writes the newsletter Body Type, and her forthcoming book The Forever Project details her recovery from an eating disorder. Following the premiere of movies like Wicked: For Good, fan concern and speculation about celebrity bodies has culminated in a larger discussion about the return of “this is in.” But did “thin” really ever go away? And what is the right way, if any, to talk about it?

    This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.

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    6 December 2025, 9:30 am
  • 25 minutes 46 seconds
    What Next: TBD | The AI & Crypto Czar’s Conflicts

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

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

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

    Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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    5 December 2025, 8:00 am
  • 50 minutes 39 seconds
    ICYMI | “Danish Deception” or Danish Delusion?

    On today’s episode host Kate Lindsay is joined by senior supervising producer Daisy Rosario to unpack the 25-part TikTok saga titled the “Danish Deception.” After a former Bachelor contestant came forward with a story about her scamming ex, TikTok turned on her instead. Why didn’t Onyeka get the Reesa Teesa treatment? And who is the real villain of this story?

    This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.

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    3 December 2025, 9:30 am
  • 28 minutes 21 seconds
    What Next: TBD | If You Give A.I. a Nuke

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

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


    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.

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    30 November 2025, 8:00 am
  • 50 minutes 33 seconds
    ICYMI | Everyone Online Is Going Analog

    On today’s episode host Kate Lindsay is joined by creator and social media manager Carmen Vicente to chat about the rise of offline hobbies, and how crafts, DVDs, and something called an “analog bag” are being used as acts of rebellion against an overly plugged-in society. But does this really mean the beginning of the end of social media? Probably not. Instead, Carmen shares how apps as we know them are about to change. 

    This podcast is produced by Vic Whitley-Berry, Daisy Rosario, and Kate Lindsay.

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    29 November 2025, 9:30 am
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