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San Francisco’s Self-Driving Mess Dec 11, 2022

Show notes

Self-driving cars and robotaxis are starting to appear on the streets of San Francisco. While we have a whole regulatory system in place for drivers, who’s making sure these new cars are safe?

Guest: David Zipper, Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Taubman Center for State and Local Government

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Let’s Talk, Chatbots Dec 09, 2022

Show notes

Artificial intelligence is growing in leaps and bounds, and everywhere from Big Tech companies like Google to small teams like OpenAI are developing more and more convincing chatbots. Is the world ready for convincing, talking computers?

Guest: Alex Kantrowitz, host of the Big Technology podcast.

Host: Emily Peck

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Can Iran's Protest Movement Survive? Dec 08, 2022

Show notes

Toomaj Salehi, an Iranian rapper known for criticizing the regime with his music, has been arrested by the Iranian government. His friends and family now worry he could face the death penalty.

Guest: Nahayat Tizhoosh, Producer at the CBC.

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.

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What It Took for a Red State to Pause Executions Dec 07, 2022

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Three botched lethal injections in Alabama have once again highlighted the practical complexity and possible illegality of the death penalty. Even states that are adamantly in favor of capital punishment are being stalled on a purely pragmatic level.

Guest: Elizabeth Bruenig, staff writer at The Atlantic

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The Last Senate Race Dec 06, 2022

Show notes

Even after a campaign awash in scandals, gaffes, and the occasional speculation on werewolves vs. vampires, Herschel Walker still can’t be counted out in the run-off election to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate. What can the parties take away from the last race of the 2022 midterms?

Guest: Jim Newell, Senior Politics Writer for Slate.

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Out of Afghanistan Dec 05, 2022

Show notes

The U.S. has welcomed thousands Afghan refugees since pulling out of Afghanistan in 2021. Safe from the Taliban, but without social security numbers,credit ratings, or even sometimes basic English, they have to make a new life relying on a patchwork of volunteers and their wits.

Guests:

Elena MacFarlane, volunteer with the Immigrant and Refugee Outreach Center and assistant Professor in the Johns Hopkins Department of Genetic Medicine.

Lila and Basheer, Afghan refugees living in Maryland.

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Big Tech’s Boogeymen In Washington Dec 04, 2022

Show notes

The Biden administration’s Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission are both staffed with accomplished progressives who are proving more aggressive than their predecessors in either the Trump or Obama eras. But can Big Tech be tamed?

Guest: Leah Nylen, reporter for Bloomberg News

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Twitter's Vulnerabilities, Exposed Dec 02, 2022

Show notes

Dating back to the Arab Spring, Twitter’s potential for real-time organizing has been a selling point. But trying to find information on China’s “Zero COVID” protests reveals just how vulnerable the now-understaffed platform is to manipulation.

Guest: Joseph Menn, cybersecurity reporter for the Washington Post.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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China’s Revolt Against “Zero COVID” Dec 01, 2022

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For nearly three years, people in China have endured their government’s “Zero COVID” policies to prevent cases from overwhelming their hospital system. But after a fire in Urumqi broke out and videos spread of fire rescue having trouble reaching the building, people have taken to the streets in defiance of orders and even gone as far as demanding President Xi Jinping’s resignation.

Guest: Matthew Brazil, co-author of Chinese Communist Espionage: An Intelligence Primer and a fellow at the Jamestown Foundation.

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It Isn't Time to Negotiate in Ukraine...Yet Nov 30, 2022

Show notes

With no clear path to advance and winter settling in, what would it take for Russia to negotiate an exit from Ukraine?

Guest: Fred Kaplan. Slate’s war stories correspondent

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