What Next | Daily News and Analysis

New abortion restrictions following the repeal of Roe v. Wade have turned some reproductive care into a criminal liability. After a traumatic ectopic pregnancy, one Texas woman is wondering whether state laws delayed her diagnosis and treatment, ultimately leaving her with a ruptured fallopian tube. Guest: Fatima Abdelwahab of Houston, Texas.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 Dear Prudence—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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After decades of dragging their feet on action to slow climate change, the Senate passed what is modeled to be the most impactful climate policy yet. What’s in the Inflation Reduction Act, and how did Democrats finally get the mercurial Joe Manchin on board?Guest: Robinson Meyer, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of the newsletter The Weekly Planet.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 Dear Prudence—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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Afghan women and LGBTQ+ people immediately felt the impact of the Taliban’s return to power last year. But journalists trying to tell their stories could face intense and even violent backlash from the extremist group—like what happened to Lynne O’Donnell. Guest: Lynne O’Donnell, columnist at Foreign Policy and former Afghanistan bureau chief for Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press.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 Dear Prudence—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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With an ongoing labor shortage, companies turn to third-party labor brokers to fill jobs. But with little oversight and a surge of immigrants, the line between “ recruiter” and “ trafficker” gets blurred as vulnerable children are sent to work in dangerous conditions. Guest: Mica Rosenberg, national immigration reporter for Reuters.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 Dear Prudence—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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It makes intuitive sense for companies that develop a technology to hold its intellectual property rights. But in the case of vaccines and medical treatments, IP laws slow down manufacturing and distribution and give private companies the power to make huge decisions that affect public health globally.Guest: Zain Rizvi, researcher for advocacy group Public Citizen, specializing in pharmaceutical innovation and access to medicine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The US has been in a housing shortage for decades. Can it ever be fixed?Guest: Conor DoughertyHost: Emily Peck Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the primaries of purple states like Michigan, Arizona, and Pennsylvania, Trump-backed, far-right candidates have been getting a boost from a surprising source: the Democrats. Calculating that it will give their party the edge in general elections, local and national Dems have spent thousands elevating extremists. But will the strategy pay off? Guest: Jim Newell, senior politics writer for SlateIf 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 Dear Prudence—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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Known as the “Merchant of Death,” Viktor Bout illegally ferried weapons, diamonds, and even UN peacekeepers around the world. The man who wrote the book on Bout thinks it’s time to send him home, if it can free Brittney Griner.Guest: Douglas Farah, co-author of Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes and the Man Who Makes War Possible.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 Dear Prudence—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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following a 2017 state supreme court decision, the right to an abortion is recognized by Kansas’s state constitution. But with some suspect scheduling and seemingly deliberately confusing language, citizens of Kansas are voting today on whether to return control over reproductive healthcare to the state’s deeply Republican legislature.  Guest: Stephen R. McAllister, former U.S. district attorney and University of Kansas law professor.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 Dear Prudence—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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Like many families during the Trump years, the Reffitts fought about politics. But not many families had a son calling the FBI on his father. Now Guy Reffitt is facing a 15-year sentence for domestic terrorism for his actions on Jan. 6 while his loved ones pick up the pieces.Guest: Ilya Marritz, senior reporter at WNYC, co-host of the Wondery podcast “Will be Wild”.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 Dear Prudence—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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.