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It’s hard to imagine anyone changing their opinion on Trump based on a new running mate. But there’s more at stake with this pick than just the 2024 election.Guest: Benjy Sarlin, Washington Bureau Chief at SemaforWant more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With gangs controlling much of the capital and the prime minister out of office, what is Haiti’s path to stability? What role should the international community play?  Guest: Harold Isaac, independent journalist in Haiti.Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across 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 Elena Schwartz, Madeline Ducharme, Anna Phillips, Paige Osburn, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization named Covid-19 a pandemic, and public health around the globe changed forever. Countries shut down their borders, businesses closed and furloughed workers, and millions of students went to remote learning. Two years in, more than one million Americans lost their lives.This week on Well, Now we mark this grim anniversary by talking about what we have and haven’t learned about this world-changing virus with one of the epidemiologists who first began sounding the alarm about Covid-19: Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding.Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry with editorial oversight by Alicia Montgomery.Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to wellnow@slate.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beyoncé has announced that the second act of Renaissance will be a country album. “Cowboy Carter” is set for release at the end of March, Women’s History Month. Beyoncé has already made history as the first Black woman to top the country charts with “Texas Hold ‘Em,” and recently received Dolly Parton’s blessing to cover her classic song, Jolene. While Beyoncé may seem to be breaking new ground, much of country music has always been rooted in African American culture, and Black women have been singing country for decades. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by DePaul University Professor Francesca Royster, the author of Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions. They talk about the history of Black women in country music, the racial tension that has kept many African American fans away from the genre, and whether this moment represents a new era for Black country artists. Guest: Professor Francesca Royster, author of Black Country Music: Listening for RevolutionsPodcast production by Kristie Taiwo-MakanjuolaWant more A Word? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/awordplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Private equity firms have been buying up doctors’ offices and hospitals around the country. But if profits are the primary goal, what happens to the cost and quality of healthcare for patients?Guest: Gretchen Morgenson, senior financial reporter for the NBC News Investigative Unit and co-author of “These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs—and Wrecks—America” 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 Anna Phillips. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week: Americans don’t care as much about work. They have better things to do. Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers discuss the prospect of a four-day workweek and what it could mean for the economy. Also: How Liquid Death made water rad as hell, and the uncertain fate of TikTok in America. In the Plus segment: Tanning is back! Producer Cheyna Roth joins the hosts to discuss the rising popularity of tanning salons and self-tan products. 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 regular 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 Jared Downing and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While all eyes and brains are on what SCOTUS thinks about making Trump emperor-king, a lesser known case will be heard Monday that could have a huge impact on how social media can (or cannot) keep election workers safe this year. Murthy v. Missouri arrives at the high court as the result a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana, along with a group of social media users—including some doctors and right-wing commentators—who argued that officials in the Biden administration censored their online speech about COVID-19, the 2020 election, among other issues The plaintiffs don’t claim that the administration directly silenced their speech. Instead, they argue that, by working with social media companies to limit the spread of misinformation, the government unlawfully chilled the free expression of their ideas.Gowri Ramachandran serves as deputy director in the Brennan Center’s Democracy program.The amicus brief filed by her team from the Brennan Center in Murthy draws the Justices attention to another aspect of election disinformation . Ramachandran explains to host Dahlia Lithwick that combating election disinformation has always been important, but it is especially critical now, as election workers struggle to keep on top of voting issues.Later in the show for Slate plus subscribers, Mark Joseph Stern joins to talk about the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals taking a swing at teens’ access to contraception, and a new effort to combat the scourge of judge-shopping.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address and Special Counsel Robert Hur’s congressional testimony; crime and punishment with the Wren Collective’s Jessica Brand; and Congress’s move to ban the Chinese government from TikTok. Join us for Political Gabfest Live in Washington, D.C. on March 27! Tickets are on sale now. Planning to attend? Submit a Listener Chatter to gabfest@slate.com and you might be picked to chatter live.  Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:C-SPAN: 2024 State of the Union Address and Former Special Counsel Hur Testifies on Biden Classified Documents Report, Part 1and Part 2 House Committee on the Judiciary: Recorded Interview: Robert Hur, President Biden Transcript, Date of Interview: October 8, and Date of Interview: October 9Kaitlan Collins for CNN: Fmr. Mar-a-Lago employee who helped move classified docs speaks with CNN Adam Serwer for The Atlantic: How Hur Misled the Country on Biden’s MemoryJack Goldsmith in The New York Times: Jack Smith and Robert Hur Are the Latest Examples of a Failed InstitutionErica Pandey and Russell Contreras for Axios: Blue cities go red with conservative policies on crimeMichael Barbaro and Mike Baker for The New York Times’s The Daily podcast: Oregon Decriminalized Drugs. Voters Now Regret It.Madaleine Rubin for The Texas Tribune: Sean Teare unseats Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg in primary Stefanie Dazio for AP: Progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón advances to runoffJeffrey M. Jones for Gallup: More Americans See U.S. Crime Problem as SeriousStephanie Sy and Shoshana Dubnow for the PBS News Hour: As concerns grown around surging violent crime, the numbers tell a different story David Leonhardt for The New York Times: Should China Own TikTok?CBS News: FBI Director Wray says China targeting U.S. civilian infrastructure, economic securityLaura He for CNN: If the US bans TikTok, China will be getting a taste of its own medicineCBS Mornings: Jon Stewart on why he’s going back to “The Daily Show” anchor deskMike Pence on Fox News: TikTok is digital fentanyl and Congress, Biden must act before it’s too lateJosh Dawsey and Jeff Stein for The Washington Post: How Donald Trump switched to defending TikTokHere are this week’s chatters:Emily: Josh Gerstein for Politico: Federal courts move against ‘judge-shopping’ and John Dickerson and Jessica Levinson for CBS News Prime Time: New rules aim to prevent “judge shopping” in major court casesJohn: Emily Goulet for Philadelphia: Fight Like a Girl: The New Wave of High-School Wrestling and Alex Bellos for The Guardian: He ate all the pi: Japanese man memorises π to 111,700 digitsDavid: Lend A BoxListener chatter from Steven in Queens, New York: New York Times: Soon Finds Mother For His 5 Children; Widower Discovers Six Women Eager to Marry Him and Care for His Brood. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David, John, and Emily talk about marriage proposals. See Caroline Kitchener for The Atlantic: Marriage Proposals Are Stupid; Sadiba Hasan for The New York Times: 10 Great Ways to Pop the Question; and Parija Kavilanz for CNN: After 2023 wraps up, get ready for a spike in marriage proposals. In the latest Gabfest Reads, David talks with Kiley Reid about her book, Come and Get It. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna Roth Research by Julie Huygen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TikTok’s connection to the Chinese government has been a Washington talking point since the Trump administration, but earlier this month lawmakers in the House introduced a bill requiring the app’s parent company to either divest the company into American hands—or be banned.Guest: Emily Baker-White, technology reporter and senior writer at Forbes.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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Mexico’s $10 billion lawsuit against American gun manufacturers and distributors could pave the way for new gun control tactics in the U.S. and abroad. Guest: Champe Barton, reporter for The Trace. 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