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When Howard County signed a $27 million contract with the start-up Zum, the company promised to modernize the way schools provide transportation. But when the school year started, that’s not what happened.Guest: Daniel Zawodny, covering transportation for the Baltimore Banner and corps member of Report For America.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 TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Emily Bazelon and David Plotz are joined by The Atlantic’s Franklin Foer to discuss Joe Biden’s White House and The Last Politician; the war in Ukraine and the possible meeting of Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin; and Americans’ views on the value of higher education. Join us for Political Gabfest Live in Madison, Wisconsin on October 25! Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future by Franklin FoerSeung Min Kim, Stephen Groves, and Farnoush Amiri for AP: “How Biden and McCarthy struck a debt limit deal and staved off a catastrophe”Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias: “This was Biden’s core promise …”Jasmine Wright for CNN: “Kamala Harris found her voice on abortion rights in the year after Dobbs. Now she’s making it central to her 2024 message”Imtiaz Tyab for CBS News: “Ukraine counteroffensive makes “notable” progress near Zaporizhzhia, but it’s a grinding stalemate elsewhere”Paul Tough for The New York Times Magazine: “Americans Are Losing Faith in the Value of College. Whose Fault Is That?”Ramesh Ponnuru in The Washington Post: “How to restore intellectual diversity on college campuses Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. in The Washington Post: “Could income-share agreements help solve the student debt crisis?”Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber Sarah Wood for U.S. News & World Report: “Paying for Meals at College: What to Know About Costs”Nine Black Robes: Inside the Supreme Court’s Drive to the Right and Its Historic Consequences by Joan Biskupic Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: Richard Fausset and Danny Hakim for The New York Times: “Georgia Judge Says Two Defendants in Trump Case Will Get Early Trial Together” and Sam Gringlas for NPR: “In the Trump Georgia case, conflicting legal strategies complicate the path to trial”Frank: The Dan Patrick Show: “Does Messi Make MLS Appear Inferior?”; How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization by Franklin Foer; Essays on Music by Theodor Adorno; and On Late Style: Music and Literature Against the Grain by Edward W. Said David: One Life: Frederick Douglass at the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.; Michel Martin for NPR’s All Things Considered: “Picture This: Frederick Douglass Was The Most Photographed Man Of His Time”; and NPR: “’What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?’: Descendants Read Frederick Douglass’ Speech”Listener chatter from Nicole Dorn: Jennifer Senior for The Atlantic: “The Ones We Sent Away” For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Frank, Emily, and David discuss the writing of The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future. In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily, David, and John talk with Barbara Kingsolver about her best-selling book, Demon Copperhead.  Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com or X us @SlateGabfest. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna Roth Research by Julie HuygenHostsFranklin Foer, Emily Bazelon, and David Plotz Follow@SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfestSlate Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Math and reading scores plummeted during the year of virtual learning. Kids are now back in the classroom—but they aren’t back on track. What will it take to catch up a generation —and do schools have the will and resources to make it happen?Guest: Alec MacGillis, reporter for ProPublica.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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The problem with a Congress that is statistically so much older than the country it represents is systemic and—like almost everything in Washington—much of the issue can be traced back to money in politics.Guest: Walt Hickey, Deputy editor for data and analysis for Insider who worked on their “Red, White, and Gray” reporting 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 Elena Schwartz, Madeline Ducharme, Anna Phillips, Paige Osburn, and Rob Gunther. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is slated to begin in the state Senate today. Though Paxton’s history of scandals is long and storied, this could be the first time he’s faced accountability—and all it took was leaving taxpayers on the hook for a $3.3 million bill.Guest: Sergio Martinez-Beltran, political reporter with NPR’s The Texas Newsroom, a public radio collaborative.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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In honor Labor Day, What Next proudly presents the opening salvo from our colleagues at One Year: 1955. We'll be back in your feed tomorrow.The Cannon Street All-Stars dreamed of playing in the 1955 Little League World Series. Their biggest obstacle didn’t come on the field. In the year that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a public bus, these Black 12-year-olds became unlikely civil rights pioneers—and faced the wrath of a white society that wasn’t ready to change.Josh Levin is One Year’s editorial director. One Year’s senior producer is Evan Chung.This episode was produced by Kelly Jones and Evan Chung, with additional production by Sophie Summergrad.It was edited by Joel Meyer and Derek John, Slate’s executive producer of narrative podcasts.Merritt Jacob is our senior technical director.Join Slate Plus to get the first three episodes of One Year: 1955 right away—and a bonus 1955 story at the end of the season. Slate Plus members also get to listen to all Slate podcasts without any ads. Sign up now to support One Year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Felix Salmon and Elizabeth Spiers speak with Tom Wright, the author of Billion Dollar Whale to discuss Malaysian fraudster Jho Low. They talk about how he used political connections to live a lavish lifestyle and buy Leonardo DiCaprio an Oscar. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and an additional segment of our show every week. You’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Slate Money. Sign up now at slate.com/moneyplus to help support our work. Podcast production by Patrick Fort. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It wasn’t long ago when social media was a place to go for up-to-the-minute updates in an emergency. But even as internet access is more widespread than ever—and natural disasters more frequent—Twitter and Facebook are less useful than ever. As hubs for news, that era appears over. Guest: Will Oremus, tech reporter for the Washington Post.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 TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers talk about the state of working in the United States three years after the COVID pandemic began. They discuss the latest in the efforts in the SEC’s attempts to litigate cryptocurrencies. And finally, can you be a guilt-free investor? If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and an additional segment of our show every week. You’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Slate Money. Sign up now at slate.com/moneyplus to help support our work. Podcast production by Patrick Fort. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tech editor at Bloomberg Businessweek, Sarah Frier, discusses the increasing popularity of LinkedIn as a social media platform amidst economic uncertainty. They explore the shifting behavior and content on LinkedIn, its revenue growth during the pandemic, and its significance in people's lives.