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Technology coverage from Slate.

  • 27 minutes 7 seconds
    What Next TBD | Is Elon Actually Trying to Buy OpenAI?

    Is Elon Musk’s $97.4 billion offer to buy OpenAI genuine—or an irresistible opportunity to troll Sam Altman?


    Guest: David A. Fahrenthold, investigative 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.

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    14 February 2025, 8:00 am
  • 40 minutes 7 seconds
    ICYMI: The Brilliance of “Montoya, Por Favor”

    Kate Lindsay and Candice Lim dive into two internet stories they can’t stop thinking about. First, they explain how Montoya from Temptation Island became 2025’s crash-out king and created one of the first great international memes of the year. Then, they recap the journey of Onijah Andrew Robinson, an American who spent months in Pakistan after a catfish-gone-wrong, and used local media to become TikTok’s latest obsession.

    This podcast is produced by Alexandra Botti, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay.

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    12 February 2025, 8:00 am
  • 29 minutes 50 seconds
    What Next TBD | Why Trump’s Data Purge is a Digital Book Burning

    Using Github, you can watch as government websites are brought into compliance with Donald Trump’s executive orders. Out goes the word “equity;” in comes “fair.” And health and science data, once publicly available, disappears.


    Guest: Jason Koebler, cofounder of 404 Media.


    Jeremy Prokop, data science advisor in the Midwest


    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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    9 February 2025, 8:00 am
  • 35 minutes
    ICYMI: The TikTokification of Sports

    Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay are not the world’s biggest sports fans, but are now more tuned in than ever thanks to TikTok. In today’s episode, the pair talk about how everything from fancams to fashion is giving audiences new entry points to a typically masculine space. But what happens when trends start to outway tackles? When followers start coming before free throws?

    This podcast is produced by Alexandra Botti, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay.

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    8 February 2025, 8:00 am
  • 30 minutes 3 seconds
    What Next TBD | Is Elon Musk Unstoppable?

    You can’t doubt the enthusiasm of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. You can question the legality of some of their early moves. 


    Guest: Makena Kelly, senior writer at WIRED


    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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    7 February 2025, 8:00 am
  • 49 minutes 54 seconds
    ICYMI: Will Memes Save 2025?

    Episode notes: Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay are joined by meme historian and researcher Aidan Walker, whose Substack travels into the depths of meme lore. 2025 is off to a rocky start for several reasons, but the panel wonders if memes may provide a solution for getting through the year. Memes are a coping mechanism, especially for those who like dark humor in difficult times. And some memes help us make sense of the world at its most chaotic. From Distracted Boyfriend to Math Lady to Doge, ICYMI is walking through the history, layers, and positives of meme culture in our daily lives. 

    This podcast is produced by Alexandra Botti, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay.

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    5 February 2025, 8:00 am
  • 45 minutes 29 seconds
    Slate Money | Money Talks: Capitalism Extremists In the Trump 2.0 Era

    In this Money Talks: Historian Quinn Slobodian’s 2023 book Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy explored the dark reality that many extremists seek a purely capitalist society free of democracy. Now, with the Silicon Valley elite playing such a large role in Trump’s second term, Quinn's work is more relevant than ever. In this episode, Quinn joins Felix Salmon to discuss the relationship between radical tech billionaires and the Trump administration, and its potential consequences for our democracy.


    Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen.


    Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

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    4 February 2025, 10:00 am
  • 28 minutes 57 seconds
    What Next TBD | The DeepSeek Panic

    The artificial intelligence industry was thrown for a loop when the Chinese start-up DeepSeek rolled out a product that was more energy efficient, cheaper to produce, and open source. Where did DeepSeek come from, and are Silicon Valley and Washington right to be panicking? 


    Guest: Zeyi Yang, senior writer at WIRED.


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


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

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    2 February 2025, 8:00 am
  • 53 minutes 57 seconds
    Slate Money | The Federal Employee ‘Buyout’ Makes No Sense

    This week: The Trump administration offered a resignation deal to millions of federal employees. Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss why this plan seems like a bad idea – for everyone. Then, Invidia’s stock dropped this week when Deepseek proved AI can be done cheaper. But is this just steam engines and Jevons paradox all over again? Finally, the bookstore is back. The hosts discuss the recent success of Barnes & Noble and why they, and other bookstores, are the unexpected winners of the digital media age.


    In the Slate Plus episode: CVS has a new way of locking up their stuff.


    Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen.


    Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

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    1 February 2025, 10:00 am
  • 37 minutes 55 seconds
    ICYMI: So You’ve Fallen For A Smear Campaign

    Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay, still recovering from Justin Baldoni’s leaked voice memo to Blake Lively, dive into the online war being waged between the two It Ends With Us actors. They explore how this is the latest scheme in what seems to be a playbook for PR teams to tear down women online, and ask how we can avoid falling victim to the trap.

    This podcast is produced by Alexandra Botti, Daisy Rosario, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay, with production assistance from A.C. Valdez.

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    1 February 2025, 8:00 am
  • 30 minutes 26 seconds
    What Next TBD | RFK Jr. Is a Feature, Not a Bug

    Tapped by Trump for the role of health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. presents himself as someone willing to say what other politicians won’t. But during his Senate confirmation hearings, both Democrats and Republicans questioned his previous statements about vaccines—and questioned whether he even knows what the job he’s trying to get entails. But his nomination signals that maybe it isn’t about vaccines - it’s about wanting to blow up the whole healthcare establishment. 


    Guest: Dan Diamond, White House correspondent 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.


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

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    31 January 2025, 8:00 am
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