What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Russia went all in last week, sending troops across the border with Ukraine and raining shells on the country. Experts are saying Putin’s brash invasion of his neighbor is shifting the world order in significant ways. In the face of this aggression, how should NATO respond? Can history serve as a guide?Guest: Fred Kaplan, Slate’s War Stories correspondent.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.

Peter Thiel spent the better part of two decades molding the tech industry in his image. Now, he's leaving Facebook behind and turning his attention to politics. Is Thiel the next kingmaker for the populist right?Max Chafkin, writer for Bloomberg and is the author of The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For seven years, Ukraine has served as a virtual testing ground for a generation of cyber weaponry capable of taking down power grids, networks, and supply chains. With an invasion of Ukraine underway, will these weapons come into play?Guest: Andy Greenberg, senior writer at WIRED and the author of the book Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin's Most Dangerous Hackers Host: Lizzie O'Leary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Earlier this month in Northern California, a militia-backed anti-government group won a recall vote that will effectively give it control over a county’s local government. The recall ousted a Republican politician from his supervisor seat and was preceded by two years of threats and contentious county meetings stemming from pandemic precautions. Could this style of government takeover become a blueprint for other far-right groups nationwide?Guest: Doni Chamberlain is a former newspaper reporter and the founder of A News Cafe, a website covering Shasta County in Northern California..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.

President Vladimir Putin has begun sending Russian soldiers into Ukraine after spending months massing troops on the country’s borders. Why is Putin risking so much to take the Donbas region? And does this latest incursion signal a failure of the west’s foreign policy approach to Russia? Guest: Josh Keating, global security reporter at Grid.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.

Last week, the Remington Arms Company reached a $73 million dollar settlement with the families of nine victims killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre—the largest payout by a gun manufacturer in a mass shooting case. Federal law protects manufacturers from a broad swath of liability in civilian shootings, so the families’ legal team took an interesting tack: they sued under Connecticut’s consumer protection laws and exposed the reckless way Remington marketed their weapons. Guest: @NicoleHockley is co-founder and CEO of Sandy Hook Promise Foundation.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.

Over two years into the pandemic, much of the world remains either unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, or lacking access to mRNA vaccines entirely. How did the leading effort to vaccinate the world go so wrong?Guest: Achal Prabhala, coordinator of the AccessIBSA project and a fellow of the Shuttleworth Foundation, in Bangalore.Host: Lizzie O'Leary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over two years into the pandemic, much of the world remains either unvaccinated, partially vaccinated, or lacking access to mRNA vaccines entirely. How did the leading effort to vaccinate the world go so wrong?Guest: Achal Prabhala, coordinator of the AccessIBSA project and a fellow of the Shuttleworth Foundation, in Bangalore.Host: Lizzie O'Leary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week, California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued Tesla. It accuses the electric vehicle maker of fostering a workplace rife with racism and discrimination.What's happening inside Tesla's Fremont plant?Guest: Dana Hull, reporter for BloombergHost: Lizzie O'Leary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Olympic athletes and commentators were stunned this week to learn that 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva will be allowed to compete in Beijing’s Winter Games, despite testing positive in December for a banned substance. The controversy has kicked up raw feelings about Russia’s history of doping and the fecklessness of Olympics officials to apply rules evenly across countries.   Guest: Justin Peters, Slate correspondent and the author of The Idealist: Aaron Swartz and the Rise of Free Culture on the Internet.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.