What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future

Every week, it feels like some new piece of coronavirus information dominates the headlines. Mysterious symptoms, changing government directives. This constant trickle of updates can quickly turn into a flood.How should normal people interpret this deluge of data?Guest: Emily Oster, professor of economics at Brown University and co-founder of COVID-Explained. HostLizzie O’Leary   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yesterday, New York City announced that it would provide 140,000 free antibody tests to residents who want to know if they have been exposed to the coronavirus. And New York isn’t alone: large-scale antibody testing is ramping up around the country.But with faulty tests flooding the market and questions about whether a positive test really confers immunity are antibody tests really worth the bother?Guests: Shannon Palus, staff writer for Slate, and Dr. Natalie E. Dean, assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, the world’s largest tech companies posted their quarterly earnings. And—unlike most other companies in the world—things aren’t looking so bad. With the global economy reeling, and people sheltering indoors, the tech giants have an opportunity to reshape the way we live. Don’t expect them to wait on the sidelines.Guest: Elizabeth Dwoskin, Silicon Valley correspondent at the Washington Post Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are over 60 vaccines for the coronavirus currently in development. Four of them are already being tested in humans. As researchers move at breakneck speed to find a vaccine, they’re debating breaking (or at least bending) the rules that ensure the end product is safe.How do we balance speed with safety in the rush to develop a vaccine?Guest: Dr. Timothy Lahey, an infectious diseases doctor, ethicist, and vaccine researcher at the University of Vermont Medical Center. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before the U.S. can start opening back up, states will need to put systems in place for “contact tracing,” or meticulous tracking of the disease within communities. South Korea’s extensive tracing program has all but eliminated the spread of the virus within its borders. What will it take for the U.S. to do the same?Guests: Raphael Rashid, a freelance journalist, and Dr. Mike Reid, professor at University of California, San FranciscoHostHenry Grabar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As governments around the world try to predict the toll and duration of the coronavirus, they’re turning increasingly to a handful of forecasting models for answers. But many of the leading models differ drastically in their approach and methods. What do we need to know about these forecasts? And what are their limitations?Guest: Jordan Ellenberg, mathematics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.Host: Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, workers at Amazon, Whole Foods, and Instacart have announced mass strikes across the country. Though demand for these services is high, pay and protection is low.What exactly do we owe to the delivery workers at the front lines of the pandemic? And with these companies hiring in record numbers, can the strikes succeed?Guests: Heidi Carrico, founding member of the Gig Workers Collective, and Johana Bhuiyan, tech accountability reporter at the Los Angeles Times. HostLizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work.The United States failed to roll out widespread testing in the early days of the pandemic. Now it faces critical shortages of supplies as it scrambles to track the disease around the country.Until testing is available at scale, Americans won’t be able to return to their normal lives. So: what will it take to solve the country’s testing shortage?Guest: Robert P. Baird, contributor to the New Yorker Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence. Sign up now to listen and support our work.Google has spent the last decade trying to find a foothold in the health care industry. Now they’re partnering with the federal government to build a website that will seek to address the crisis.Can Google be trusted with our medical data?Guest: Mason Marks, law professor at Gonzaga University School of Law and an affiliated fellow at Yale Law School's Information Society Project. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, the superintendent of the Northshore school district near Seattle made a difficult decision. With the coronavirus spreading rapidly in the area, she closed all 34 schools in her district and moved all classes online. But for many schools, remote learning at this scale simply isn’t an option. With new cases appearing around the country, how will schools respond? And what happens when you send millions of students home for weeks on end? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices