What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Back in 1991, when a 35-year-old law professor named Anita Hill accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, it was Joe Biden who got to decide how to handle the allegation. Why does Hill think Biden failed her and all subsequent women who would bring a harassment allegation before the Senate? And what does Biden owe those women now, as he seeks the Democratic nomination for president?Guest: Dahlia Lithwick, writer for Slate and host of the Amicus podcast. Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Anna Martin, with help from Samantha Lee.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At Brigham Young University, students and alumni are forcing a conversation about the severe enforcement of the school’s strict Honor Code. How did BYU’s high standards lead to some students feeling less safe?  Guest: Erin Alberty, reporter for the Salt Lake Tribune.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The NRA is in a financial mess of its own doing. A number of executives, vendors, and contractors have used their positions to enrich themselves, extracting hundreds of millions of dollars from the organization in the process. How did secrecy, poor judgement, and sweetheart deals toss the NRA into an existential crisis?Guest: Mike Spies, reporter at The Trace. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Back in 2014, a mysterious hashtag started trending on Twitter: #EndFathersDay. The accounts tweeting the extremist sentiments appeared to be the accounts of black women. But black feminists on Twitter knew something was amiss. So they got to the bottom of the hashtag—and used their own to fight back.  Guest: Rachelle Hampton, Slate writer.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Immigration judges walk into work everyday knowing that the system they operate in is broken. It has been for decades, through multiple administrations. So what’s the fix? The answer isn’t as radical as you might think.Guest: Judge A. Ashley Tabaddor, immigration judge in Los Angeles and president of the National Association of Immigration Judges. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode April Glaser is joined once again by co-host Siva Vaidhyanathan, director of the Center for Media and Citizenship at the University of Virginia. They start by talking about the Sri Lankan government’s shutdown of Facebook and WhatsApp after the Easter attacks on churches and hotels. Then they talk to Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, a staff writer for Motherboard and producer for CYBER, a Motherboard podcast about hacking. In their conversation Franceschi-Bicchierai talks about the time he corresponded directly with hackers who infiltrated the servers of the Democratic National Committee. Those hackers initially tried to pass themselves off as a lone Romanian hacker named Guccifer 2.0. Then slate writer Rachelle Hampton joins the show to talk about her cover story, The Black Feminists Who Saw the Alt-Right Threat Coming.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Trump administration wants to add a citizenship question to the U.S. Census, and the proposal has former Census directors up in arms. If the Supreme Court votes to allow the citizenship question, what could happen to the nation’s decennial headcount?Guest: NPR correspondent Hansi Lo Wang. Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Anna Martin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For a long time, Brandon Flood kept his criminal history quiet: He worked in the Pennsylvania state government and didn’t want his former convictions to detract from his career success. But now, that history makes him uniquely suited for his new job as secretary of the state’s Board of Pardons. How did he go from submitting his own pardon application to, one year later, leading the body that helps make those clemency decisions?Guest: Brandon Flood, secretary of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You’ve heard the legal argument for starting impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump. Maybe you’ve heard the moral argument supporting impeachment. But what is the political case for impeachment? What could House impeachment proceedings possibly achieve, given that the Senate is controlled by the President’s party?Guest: Jamelle Bouie, New York Times opinion columnist.Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Anna Martin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is Washington to do with a report that is damning, but doesn’t condemn? Slate’s legal team takes a look at the case made by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Guests: Dahlia Lithwick, Jeremy Stahl, and Mark Joseph Stern.Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to whatnext@slate.com. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Anna Martin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.