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What Next - Trump’s South Africa Fixation Feb 12, 2025

Show notes

Among his recent executive orders, Donald Trump moved to halt aid to South Africa over a land law and extended political asylum to South Africa’s white Afrikaner population.

Where does Trump’s seemingly spotty understanding of South Africa come from? How could having close advisors who grew up in apartheid-era South Africa, like Elon Musk, influence him?

Guest: Chris McGreal, writer for The Guardian US who reported from South Africa during the end of apartheid.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Rob Gunther, and Ethan Oberman.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Next - The GOP Can't Quit "Stop the Steal" Feb 11, 2025

Show notes

As Donald Trump has demonstrated, losing an election is no reason to admit you lost an election. In fact, in North Carolina, the Republican challenger, who lost a race for the state’s Supreme Court, is testing a bold new strategy of disqualifying ballots until he gets the result he wants. And if he succeeds, it could start a trend.

Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, Slate senior writer covering courts and the law.

Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Ethan Oberman, and Rob Gunther.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Next - Lessons From Hungary Feb 10, 2025

Show notes

Donald Trump has a lot of similarities—and something of a bromance—with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. And those who wish to resist Trump’s Orbán-like, right-wing strongman tendencies could learn something from the resistance in Hungary.

Guest: Gábor Scheiring, former member of the Hungarian parliament and assistant professor of comparative politics at Georgetown University Qatar.

Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - Why Trump’s Data Purge is a Digital Book Burning Feb 09, 2025

Show notes

Using Github, you can watch as government websites are brought into compliance with Donald Trump’s executive orders. Out goes the word “equity;” in comes “fair.” And health and science data, once publicly available, disappears.

Guest: Jason Koebler, cofounder of 404 Media.

Jeremy Prokop, data science advisor in the Midwest

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Slate Money - The Trade War That Never Was Feb 08, 2025

Show notes

This week: Trump almost started a trade war with our nearest neighbors. Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers explain why Trump’s trade war with Canada and Mexico not happening is still newsworthy. Then, Felix breaks down why Trump’s plan for a US sovereign wealth fund makes no sense. And finally, Kalshi seems to have found a loophole by offering event contracts on the Super Bowl even in states where sports betting is illegal. The hosts discuss the distinctions between betting and trading futures, and how each are affected by their respective regulating entities.

In the Slate Plus episode: Egg Watch 2025 gets its own episode.

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Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Trying To Undo A Coup, In The Courts Feb 08, 2025

Show notes

DOGE is running wild in the District of Columbia. Chaos reigns supreme. Trump 2.0 has been frightening and it’s all been happening so fast. But there are lots of people fighting back, as they try to slow the damage. And the courts are exactly where the pushback has been most fierce. One of the teams of people leading the charge includes former Judge Nancy Gertner, one of the many legal professionals suing the Trump administration. Judge Gertner's case is about the list of rank and file FBI agents threatened with retribution and the public disclosure of their names, because they did their jobs and prosecuted January 6th cases. Gertner is involved with a slew of cases from the State Democracy Defenders Fund. She talks with host Dahlia Lithwick about the many wins against the administration in court this past week, and whether they matter. Next, Slate senior writer Mark Joseph Stern joins Dahlia to update us on the DOGE litigation and the Birthright Citizenship cases.

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What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - Bonus: The Discourse | Why is Elon Musk Cheating at Video Games? Feb 07, 2025

Show notes

Elon Musk is supposed to be running several companies and a new government department—so why is he also spending money to pretend to be good at video games?

Guest: Drew Harwell, tech reporter for the Washington Post.

This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next TBD—you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

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What Next - TBD Bonus: The Discourse | Why is Elon Musk Cheating at Video Games? Feb 07, 2025

Show notes

Elon Musk is supposed to be running several companies and a new government department—so why is he also spending money to pretend to be good at video games?

Guest: Drew Harwell, tech reporter for the Washington Post.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Next - TBD | Is Elon Musk Unstoppable? Feb 07, 2025

Show notes

You can’t doubt the enthusiasm of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. You can question the legality of some of their early moves.

Guest: Makena Kelly, senior writer at WIRED.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - Is Elon Musk Unstoppable? Feb 07, 2025

Show notes

You can’t doubt the enthusiasm of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. You can question the legality of some of their early moves.

Guest: Makena Kelly, senior writer at WIRED.