What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Whether it’s a phone screen or a coffee machine, why is it so hard to fix our own stuff? And what can we do to make it a bit easier?Guest: Jason Koebler, editor-in-chief of Motherboard and contributor to the CYBER podcastHostLizzie O’Leary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, four officers from the U.S. Capitol Police and D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department testified in front of a bipartisan House select committee investigating the events of January 6. They each gave powerful and emotional statements, describing the harrowing moments the Capitol was attacked. But what can the committee actually do about it? Guest: Jeremy Stahl, senior editor at Slate.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.

On Tuesday morning, Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time, withdrew from the team all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympics citing mental health concerns. Biles’ move shocked most watchers but may reveal a deeper cultural shift happening within USA Gymnastics. Guest: Rebecca Schuman, former gymnast and the author of Schadenfreude, A Love Story.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.

The delta variant is now the most-prevalent strain of COVID-19, causing a handful of so-called “breakthrough” infections in fully-vaccinated people. Unvaccinated people account for 97% of severe cases of the virus. How worried should you be about infections as the delta variant continues to dominate? And is it time to mask up again?Guest: Susan Matthews, Slate’s news director. 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.

The fires raging across the American West are like the climate crisis itself: Too big and too extreme to understand all at once. So today, we’re zooming in on some of the people fighting those fires: crews of incarcerated women. In California, they risk their lives for abysmal pay, and officials are just starting to realize how essential they are to the state’s fire response. Guest: Jaime Lowe, author of Breathing Fire. 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.

This week, Amnesty International and a French journalism nonprofit named Forbidden Stories revealed that technology from a spyware firm called NSO Group is being deployed on a massive scale. The spyware, called Pegasus, gives the user access to every part of a victim’s smartphone -- notes, messages, photos, and recordings. What’s it like for security researchers to see their worst fears about digital spying play out? And what are they worried about next?Guests:John Scott Railton, Senior Researcher at the Citizen Lab at the University of TorontoSiddharth Varadarajan, Founding Editor of the Wire Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Amnesty International and a French journalism nonprofit named Forbidden Stories revealed that technology from a spyware firm called NSO Group is being deployed on a massive scale. The spyware, called Pegasus, gives the user access to every part of a victim’s smartphone -- notes, messages, photos, and recordings. What’s it like for security researchers to see their worst fears about digital spying play out? And what are they worried about next?Guests:John Scott Railton, Senior Researcher at the Citizen Lab at the University of TorontoSiddharth Varadarajan, Founding Editor of the Wire Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has a problem. She’s ready to get beamed up to national political stardom, but she’s polling near the bottom among 2024 GOP presidential hopefuls. What issues can she use to raise her political profile? The answer came swiftly this year: anything and everything. Guest: Joe Sneve, political reporter for the Argus Leader in South Dakota.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.

Six months after the Capitol riot, plea deals from cases against the rioters have begun to trickle in. Will the courts be able to do what Congress couldn’t, and insist on a shared version of events on January 6th? Guest: Zoe Tillman, senior legal reporter at BuzzFeed News.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’s becoming harder to get all Americans vaccinated. While millions of people still get the shots each week, some conservatives are becoming more difficult to convince, and some politicians are increasingly hostile towards the public health departments tasked with helping fight COVID-19. Guests: Michelle Fiscus, former medical director for vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization programs at the Tennessee Department of Health, and Dan Diamond, health policy and politics reporter at The Washington Post. 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.