What Next | Daily News and Analysis

We survey this week’s developments: the testimony from Ambassador Bill Taylor, a stunt at the SCIF, and what the founding fathers might have thought of our reticence to impeach. Guests: Dahlia Lithwick and Jim Newell. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the last week, Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg have been under fire for declining to fact-check political ads. But a former insider says this is the wrong debate to be having—and it misses a more fundamental problem: Facebook’s business model itself. Guests: Yael Eisenstat, former head of global elections integrity operations at Facebook and Charlie Warzel, an opinion writer at the New York Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the last week, Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg have been under fire for declining to fact-check political ads. But a former insider says this is the wrong debate to be having—and it misses a more fundamental problem: Facebook’s business model itself. Guests: Yael Eisenstat, former head of global elections integrity operations at Facebook and Charlie Warzel, an opinion writer at the New York Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey If Then listeners! As of now, the new Slate podcast What Next: TBD will be taking over this feed. What Next: TBD is a weekly analysis with host Lizzie O’Leary of how technology is impacting our lives, and where we’re headed. From fake news to fake meat, algorithms to augmented reality, we’ll be examining the often hidden forces shaping our world, and we’ll talk to the people who are studying those forces, impacted by them, and creating them. What Next: TBD is a spinoff from the Slate daily news show What Next. If you’re not already subscribed, go find it in your podcast app: there you’ll find the brilliant Mary Harris every Monday through Thursday to help you make sense of the news, sifting through the frenetic cascade of headlines to go deep on one story at a time. Then you’ll get this show, What Next: TBD, on Fridays. So listen here, or get all of Slate’s morning news in the What Next feed, starting tomorrow, October 25th. See you then! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Syria is in the midst of a civil war, a refugee crisis, a war on terror, and a massive demographic shift. Why does Russia want a piece of it? Guest: Deb Amos, international correspondent for NPR. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gabriel Zucman and his co-authors have become known for releasing these charts that go megaviral. In a new book, Zucman claims to have found that the 400 richest Americans now pay a lower tax rate than the bottom 50 percent of the country. This finding sparked outrage among the public, disagreement within the economics community, and debate among the democratic candidates for president last week.What do you need to know about Gabriel Zucman? And how does he envision fixing taxes in America?Guest: Jordan Weissmann is Slate’s senior business and economics correspondent.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last Thursday, in the city of Culiacán, a massive gun battle between Mexican government forces and the Sinaloa cartel erupted in broad daylight. It was captured on cameras by residents across the city. For hours, residents took shelter as the Mexican forces detained the son of El Chapo, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, and tried to hold off the cartel. When it ended, El Chapo’s son was released. So why did the Mexican government give into the Sinaloa cartel’s demands? And what can be done on both sides of the border to stop such brutal violence?Guest: León Krauze, journalist at Univision and Slate columnistPodcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, Danielle Hewitt, and Mara Silvers.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guest: Alex Thompson, covers the Elizabeth Warren campaign for Politico.Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, Danielle Hewitt, and Mara Silvers.Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One week ago, the White House released a letter effectively stating to House Democrats: no more witnesses, no more documents. This week, witnesses in the impeachment inquiry lined up to testify on Capitol Hill, and a cascade of revelations ensued. How much damage did they do to the president? And how will the White House counterpunch?Guest: Jeremy Stahl, senior editor at SlateSlate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There have been indications of discord at Fox News -- tension between the news division and the more opinion-driven shows on the network. Shepard Smith and Tucker Carlson hashed out their differences on air. And then, Smith submitted his resignation to the network. Is the impeachment inquiry changing the message coming from Fox News?Guest: Justin Peters, writer for Slate Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.