Ah high summer—time for Emmy nominations, giant aquatic mammals to take over seaside towns, and Democrats to point fingers as they frantically try to swap out candidates at the last minute. 

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

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.

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

If you’ve seen ads for Trump Accounts for kids, but also know anything about Donald Trump, you might be wondering “Free $1,000 per baby? Okay, what’s the catch?” It’s a classic. 

Guest: Justin Wolfers, Professor of Economics and Public Policy, University of Michigan, and founder of Platypus Economics.

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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.

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

How are supporters and voters reacting to the sexual assault allegations that have brought an end to Graham Platner’s Senate campaign?

Guests:

Lorry Fleming, Maine voter. 

Emma Vigeland, co-host of The Majority Report with Sam Seder.

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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.

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

It was the red card—and subsequent White House phone call—heard ‘round the world. After USMNT striker Folarin Balogun was dealt a red card, President Trump gave FIFA head Gianni Infantino a ring. Suddenly, Balogun’s one-game suspension was revoked. It wasn’t enough to keep USMNT from losing against Belgium 4-1… but it was enough to ruin the World Cup vibes and make the United States, once again, the world’s villain. 

Guest: Joon Lee is an independent sports journalist. His work can be found on his Youtube channel: @iamjoonlee.

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

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For two years, Alex Jones has been battling The Onion for control of Infowars. And, despite still being in a legal gray zone, it’s finally launched – with creative director, comedian, and chief Jones impersonator Tim Heidecker at the helm. 

Guest: Tim Heidecker

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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.

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

Union leader Dave Regan has spent decades wielding California’s ballot system against the healthcare industry. Now, he’s the man behind California’s billionaire tax — a one-time, 5 percent tax proposal that has “unleashed a political earthquake” and pissed off everyone from Elon Musk to Gavin Newsom. 

Guest: Dave Regan, president of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW)

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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.

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

WARNING: This episode spoils Toy Story 5.

Right on the heels of two new directors with two fresh new films, comes a five-installment franchise: Toy Story 5. But the consensus is split on this big screen screentime critique.

Guest: Sam Adams, Slate senior writer and editor.

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

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.

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

Thanks for joining us during the holidays. White our team is taking a break, we want to share a series with you that we think you’ll love. It’s called Diving In. 

Getting food delivered should be simple — but somehow it's gotten outrageously expensive. Economist Justin Wolfers breaks down why food delivery apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub make it nearly impossible to compare prices, and why that's no accident. 

Subscribe on YouTube https://youtube.com/platypuseconomics

Subscribe on Substack https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com

Follow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfers

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Well, the movement to change society so it stops heating up the world didn’t take, so now we need to figure out how to change society to deal with a hotter planet. That means new forms of insurance, new models for construction and—yes, looking at you, Europe—more air conditioning.

Guest: Jeff Goodell, contributing writer at Rolling Stone and the author of the book The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet.

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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.

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

The Supreme Court wrapped up a year of giving Trump and the Republican Party nearly everything they could want. And even in the final, birthright citizenship case, what is remarkable is not that Trump lost, but how close he came to winning that one too.

Guest: Jay Willis, editor-in-chief at Balls and Strikes. 

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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.

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The Gilded Age has nothing on the present when it comes to a huge—and growing—portion of wealth being controlled by a smaller and smaller group of men—and they’re doing their best to keep it that way. Must everything that goes up come down?

Guest: Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize-winning economist and professor at City University of New York’s Graduate Center.

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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.

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