Stay ConnectedEvery Friday, Slate’s popular daily news podcast What Next brings you TBD, a clear-eyed look into the future. From fake news to fake meat, algorithms to augmented reality, Lizzie O’Leary is your guide to the tech industry and the world it’s creating for us to live in.
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After years of being a rare spot of universal, American-government-funded health care, this fall’s new COVID-19 vaccine is hitting the commercial market for the first time. So far, the rollout has been mired by hiccups and confusion.
Guest: Jen Kates, senior vice president at KFF
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Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Anna Philips.
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Amazon evolved from a place to get cheap used books to the “everything store”—one encompassing warehouses, logistics and shipping.
But with the FTC now run by Lina Khan—who wrote the essay ‘Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox” while at Yale Law School—a new contender for “antitrust trial of the century” has begun.
Guest: Leah Nylen, antitrust reporter for Bloomberg
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As other tech companies that rode the pandemic to success started sinking, Instacart managed to stay above water—they turned a profit and even made it to an IPO. But a stubbornly static stock price has some asking if Instacart—and the whole gig economy—hasn’t already peaked.
Guest: Erin Griffith, who reports on tech startups and venture capital for the New York Times
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The sword of regulation, which has been swinging over New York AirBnBs for over a decade, is falling at last. But will new laws for short-term rentals have the effect housing advocates are hoping for? And after many failed efforts, can these laws actually be enforced?
Guest: Heather Tal Murphy, Slate writer covering tech and business.
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The bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act has noble-sounding intentions, but has been called one of the most dangerous bills in years by the digital rights group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Guest: Richard Blumenthal, senior United States senator from Connecticut.
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A trial a decade in the making has started, as the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust case against Google and its unrivaled position as the top search engine begins. Is this the beginning of the government “taking on Big Tech” and the end of Google as we know it?
Guest: Leah Nylen, covering antitrust for Bloomberg.
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COVID’s still here but the public’s appetite for masking, social distancing, or remote learning is long gone. One palatable way to stop the spread: improving air circulation indoors.
Guest: Apoorva Mandavilli, science and global health reporter for the New York Times
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When Howard County signed a $27 million contract with the start-up Zum, the company promised to modernize the way schools provide transportation. But when the school year started, that’s not what happened.
Guest: Daniel Zawodny, covering transportation for the Baltimore Banner and corps member of Report For America.
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It wasn’t long ago when social media was a place to go for up-to-the-minute updates in an emergency. But even as internet access is more widespread than ever—and natural disasters more frequent—Twitter and Facebook are less useful than ever. As hubs for news, that era appears over.
Guest: Will Oremus, tech reporter for the Washington Post.
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As Twitt—sorry, X—continues to go through tumult, an unlikely, long-time player is emerging as the last acceptable place to post.
Guest: Sarah Frier, tech editor at Bloomberg Businessweek.
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Podcast production by Evan Campbell.
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