Slate Technology

Misinformation, disinformation, politics—Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg is not going to shield users from those anymore. What’s behind the abrupt change in direction?Guest: Sheera Frenkel, New York Times tech reporterWant 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 Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode, Candice Lim is joined for the first time by ICYMI’s new co-host. Tune in to hear about their relationship to MuggleNet, Shrimp Jesus, and their most deeply held, but least provable internet conspiracy theory.This podcast is produced by Alexandra Botti, Daisy Rosario, and Candice Lim. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How the FCC and its incoming head, Brenden Carr, could enact Trump’s top policy goal: punishing anyone who says mean stuff about Trump.Guest: Drew FitzGerald, telecom reporter for the Wall Street Journal.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

While Donald J Trump was virtually fuming at his sentencing hearing in Judge Juan Merchan’s New York City courtroom on Friday morning, the nine justices of the US Supreme Court were taking their seats for oral arguments in the so-called TikTok ban case. And while it only took 40 minutes for the president elect’s sentence of an ‘unconditional discharge’ to be pronounced, the arguments over national security, the First Amendment, and an app that 170 million Americans use took a couple of hours longer. Amicus has an analysis of all of it. First, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern discuss whether and how Trump’s sentence matters, and what it tells us about the Supreme Court under Trump 2.0. Next, they’re joined by  Gautam Hans, clinical Professor of Law at Cornell Law School, who specializes in constitutional law, technology law and policy, to discuss why the Supreme Court seemed so very ready to reach right past the First Amendment and grab for national security in order to uphold the TikTok ban.Want more Amicus? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Amicus show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/amicusplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Candice Lim is joined by Slate culture writer Scaachi Koul, the host of Scamfluencers and the author of the upcoming book Sucker Punch (coming out this March). Today, they’re diving into Scaachi’s internet diaries to hear about her most-referenced meme, the internet rule she thinks everyone should follow, and whether there’s hope for the next generation online. But first, they’re discussing Trisha Paytas and Scaachi’s personal beef with Moo Deng.This podcast is produced by Alexandra Botti, Daisy Rosario, and Candice Lim. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will a First Amendment defense keep TikTok running in America? Guest: Emily Baker White, tech reporter for 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.Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Candice Lim is joined by Slate business and tech writer Nitish Pahwa and internet culture writer Steffi Cao to debate, defend, and decide how they’re going to face the internet this year. Each brought a personal query they’re on the fence about, and the remaining panelists will argue both sides before coming to a verdict. For example, should we join Bluesky? How can we resist the urge to fact-check our friends in their Instagram comments? And is it time to delete our texts? But first, they’re debating: does the internet care about analog awards shows, such as the Golden Globes?This podcast is produced by Alexandra Botti, Daisy Rosario, and Candice Lim. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cryptocurrency spent generously on this last election cycle, and now they’ve got their top pick in the White House, and wins across Congress. Where is the industry looking to go with these favorable, regulatory winds? Guest: David Yaffe-Bellany, tech reporter covering the crypto industry for the New York Times.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 Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Candice Lim is joined by media scholars Dr. Jess Maddox and Dr. Jess Rauchberg to discuss the subreddit r/NYCInfluencerSnark: In the early 2020s, influencer snark pages began as a way to contain a growing, unregulated economy where sponcon and diet teas began to thrive. With more money flowing into influencer marketing, a backlash started to emerge on Reddit as followers became anti-fans, then haters. On today’s episode, the doctors discuss their paper (“She’s my bitch eating crackers”) and how r/NYCInfluencerSnark contributes to feminist media scholarship.This podcast is produced by Alexandra Botti, Daisy Rosario and Candice Lim, with production assistance from Vic Whitley-Berry and Kat Hong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Christmas Eve a fracas erupted on X, when Elon Musk posted in favor of H1-B visas for specialized and high-skill workers and was met with anger from the MAGA base who view the visas as a way for immigrants to take American jobs.Guest: Ryan Mac, tech reporter for The New York Times and the coauthor of the book “Character Limit How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter.”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, Ethan Oberman, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices