What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Public schools have become hotly debated—what’s on the curriculum and what isn’t; which books are allowed and which aren’t. But one voice frequently missing from these debates is that of the people most affected: students. One high school senior in Idaho decided to speak up by running for school board, and he won by unseating an incumbent who had been endorsed by right-wing extremists. Guest: Shiva Rajbandari, senior at Boise High School and recently elected member to the Boise School District Board of TrusteesIf 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 Amicus—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

An obsession with Hunter Biden’s laptop has been written off as the byproduct of a right-wing media bubble—but the reality is that what you don’t know can hurt you. It’s past time for Democrats and their supporters to confront some uncomfortable facts.Guest: Olivia Nuzzi, Washington Correspondent for New York magazine.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 Amicus—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

For years anti-abortion activists have argued that Roe v. Wade wasn’t just immoral, it was federal overreach, and abortion laws should be written on the state level. Only months after Roe’s overturn, district courts are hearing cases that demonstrate why that won’t work—and Republican senators are proposing a national ban on abortions after 15 weeks.Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, senior writer covering courts and the law for Slate. 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 Amicus—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

Victims of a new and high tech kind of human trafficking are forced to scam people all around the world.Guest: Cezary PodkulHost: Lizzie O'LearyHuman Trafficking’s Newest Abuse: Forcing Victims Into Cyberscamming Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A small parish in Louisiana tried to get affordable, fast internet. An incumbent ISP stopped them.Guest: Issie Lapowsky, Wanda ManningHost: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the many things laid bare by COVID-19 was the importance of public health messaging—and the many ways it can fail. So when monkeypox began spreading in the U.S., the White House found someone who understands just how important it is to know your audience. Guest: Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, White House National Monkeypox Response Deputy Coordinator and former director of the CDC Division of HIV Prevention.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 Amicus—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

A Ukrainian counteroffensive has pushed Russian forces back to the east surprisingly quickly and effectively. Military experts are now wondering if Ukraine will win the war outright and avoid the stalemate that seemed likely only a few weeks ago. But if Vladamir Putin starts to feel the heat both in the field and from citizens at home, what is he capable of? And lacking a mechanism to remove their leader from office, what can Russians do? Guest: Fred Kaplan is Slate’s war stories correspondent and author of The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War.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 Amicus—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 United Kingdom is saddled with an energy crisis, a pandemic-weary national health service, and continued economic fallout from Brexit. For now, the country is observing an official mourning period, after losing its longest-serving monarch. But soon it will be time for King Charles and newly-installed Prime Minister Liz Truss to show what they’ll do to lead the U.K. through what’s expected to be a grim winter. Guest: Charlotte Ivers, political correspondent for Times Radio, and columnist for the Sunday Times.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 Amicus—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

Unions have won more elections in 2022 than they have in nearly 20 years, and they’re making in-roads in high-turnover, retail and service jobs like Starbucks, Chipotle and Amazon. As corporate leaders close down stores, fire union stalwarts, and stall bargaining, unionized workers fear they may never get a contract. Guest: Rani Molla, senior correspondent at Recode covering business, technology, and the future of work.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 Amicus—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

An inside look at the rise of YouTube into a social media behemoth.Guests: Mark Bergen and Claire StapletonHost: Lizzie O'Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices