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Emperor Trump Wants Greenland Jan 12, 2026

Show notes

Is Trump genuinely interested in expanding America’s borders or is this all just to further their mission of “looking tough online”? For the people surprised to suddenly find themselves on America’s bad side, does it matter?

Guest: Jonathan M. Katz, journalist and the author of Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America’s Empireand author of theracket.news newsletter.

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

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

How Grok Filled X With Deepfake Porn Jan 11, 2026

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To kick off the new year, users on X have been asking Grok to nudify people - and kids - at an astonishing rate. And X leadership is egging them on.

Guest: Jason Koebler, founder of 404 Media and host of the 404 Media Podcast

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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Betting on Venezuela Jan 09, 2026

Show notes

While the U.S. was busy capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, someone online was busy placing bets on prediction markets on the ouster. And these well-timed bets may have netted a still-anonymous someone more than $400,000. Was this a case of kind-of-legal insider trading? Or is America going all-out on its efforts to make everything a casino?

We’re going to be talking to pediatrician Dr. Lauren Hughes about the major changes to the CDC vaccine schedule. We want your questions! Hit us up via email at whatnextTBD@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-582-0091.

Guest: Alex Kirshner, Slate contributing writer

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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

Everyone Saw ICE Kill Renee Good Jan 08, 2026

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After the Trump administration launched a massive Immigrations and Customs Enforcement operation in Minnesota, protesters gathered to defend immigrant neighbors. Renee Nicole Good, a mother of a six year old, showed up with her wife and dog to film altercations between officers and community members. What happened next changed everything.

Guest: Jon Collins, senior reporter on the Minnesota Public Radio News race, class and communities team.

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

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

The Scandal That Took Down Tim Walz Jan 07, 2026

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How a mixture of real investigations, wild allegations, evidence of actual fraud, and the right-wing echo chamber ended Tim Walz’s governor campaign in Minnesota.

Guest: Deena Winter, Minneapolis City Hall reporter for the Star Tribune.

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

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

The Jan 6ers: Where Are They Now? Jan 06, 2026

Show notes

The investigation into the 2021 attack on the Capitol was the largest in FBI history. Then Trump came back into office—and started undoing it.

Guest: Ryan Reilly, reporter covering the Justice Department and federal law enforcement for NBC News, author of Sedition Hunters: How January 6th Broke the Justice System.

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

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

Don’t Call It a Regime Change Jan 05, 2026

Show notes

The Trump administration has a handful of answers to the question “Why did the United States pluck Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela?”—it was for narcoterrorism, or payback, or just oil. They’re even less clear about what’s going to happen with the country now.

Guest: Shane Harris, staff writer covering national security and intelligence for the Atlantic.

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

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

Are We Over the Moon? Jan 04, 2026

Show notes

The Trump administration wants NASA to land astronauts on the moon by 2027. They also want them to do it with their budget slashed, a leadership carousel and competing views that Mars is more important.

Guest: Joel Achenbach, freelance journalist and author of Moondoggle

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Bonus: What It’s Going to Take Jan 02, 2026

Show notes

Host Mary Harris appeared on stage a few weeks back to speak in response to a night of “Resistance Theater,” considering how she, as a journalist, is preparing to meet this political moment.

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 —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.

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

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

2025: Dystopian Tech of the Year Jan 02, 2026

Show notes

Artificial intelligence boosters spent the year wedging the tech into our lives – whether we wanted it or not. But one new product brought A.I. from every app and website into the meatspace, forcing you to face it eye-to-eye.

Guest: Nitish Pahwa, staff writer at Slate covering business and technology

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