What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Venezuela has lost about a fifth of its population since its economic collapse in 2014. Roughly 6.8 million people have fled the country, creating one of the largest refugee crises in the world. Why does Venezuela’s free-fall continue? And how is the U.S. government responding to increasing numbers of Venezuelan refugees?Guest: Cindy Arnson, a distinguished fellow at The Wilson Center and former director of its Latin American Program.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. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Longtermism, the idea that positively influencing the future is a key moral priority of our time, is hot in Silicon Valley. But does it miss the bigger picture?Guests: William MacAskill, Robert WrightHost: Lizzie O'LearyThanks Avast.com! Learn more about Avast One at Avast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With disaster relief funds from Hurricane Harvey, Houston's Harris County instituted a mandatory buyout program for residents in flood-prone areas. But some residents didn't want to leave.Guest: Amal Ahmed, Dolores MendozaHost: Mary C. Curtis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, Robert Sarver, the owner of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, announced he would be selling both teams. The decision came after ESPN revealed nearly two decades of harassing behavior by Sarver, and after the NBA slapped him with a one-year suspension and $10 million fine. How was Sarver’s bullying able to go unchecked for so long? Does his departure signal a positive step forward for professional U.S. basketball, or a continuation of the status quo?Guest: Amira Rose Davis, assistant professor of Black studies at the University of Texas at Austin, and co-host of the feminist sports podcast, Burn It All Down.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. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What began as a revolt in the wake of an overstep by Iran’s morality police has evolved into a mass movement calling for “death to the dictator.” Protests in Iran are nothing new, but these demonstrations strike at the heart of the Islamic Republic’s repressive regime. Could the nascent movement change a sclerotic regime? Guest: Gissou Nia, Director of the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Litigation Project. 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. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Elena Schwartz, Carmel Delshad, and Madeline Ducharme, with help from Anna Phillips and Jared Downing.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For decades, the conventional wisdom surrounding the midterm elections has been that the party in the White House will lose the seats in the House, Senate, or both. Earlier this year, skyrocketing gas prices and Biden’s sinking approval rating portended misfortune for Democrats, particularly those in swing districts. But now, the fall of Roe and some snappy social media campaigns have shaken up most politicos’ predictions.Guest: Amy Walter, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Cook Political Report.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. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2022 midterms are about to happen, but many Republicans still cling to the big lies that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election, or that Joe Biden could have only won through massive fraud. How do you hold an election when a large number of voters, officials, and even candidates are convinced the whole thing is rigged? How do you fight misinformation when it rolls into town like a circus?Guests: Annie Gowen, Midwest correspondent for the Washington Post.Robyn Holmes, county clerk, Otero County, New MexicoIf 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. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nuclear technology has become more important than ever, thanks to a global energy crisis and climate change. But it also has a complicated history.Guest: Joshua KeatingHost: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Conservative lawmakers in Florida and Texas are taking aim at content moderation on social media, with implications that go far beyond just the platforms.Guest: Mark Joseph SternHost: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Hurricane Maria hit in 2017, it destroyed Puerto Rico’s power grid, leaving vast swathes of the island in the dark and claiming almost 3,000 lives. $9.5 billion was set aside to rejuvenate the island’s power grid and the government-run utility company was taken over by a private one. But five years later, before Hurricane Fiona even hit, the island lost electricity. How could this happen—again? Guest: Gloria Gonzalez is the Deputy Energy Editor at POLITICOIf 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. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices