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What Next | Daily News and Analysis


What Next | Daily News and Analysis

The Death of the Voting Rights Act

Thu, 30 Apr 2026

How Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais ran contrary to the Voting Rights Act—both as written by Congress and as previously interpreted by the Supreme Court. 


Guest: Jay Willis, editor-in-chief of Balls and Strikes.


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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A ‘Michigan Mamdani’?

Wed, 29 Apr 2026

Democrats are starting to let themselves feel a little optimistic about the fall midterms, which is just about time for the fight between the centrists and the slightly-left-of-centrist party wings to get ugly. But a candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan is trying to sidestep another internecine fight by keeping his eye on the goal.


Guest:  Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan Senate candidate, physician, former director of the Wayne County Department of Health, Human, and Veterans Services.


Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.


Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why So Many Believe the WHCD Shooting Was Staged

Tue, 28 Apr 2026

Presidential assassinations have been spawning conspiracy theories since Lincoln. But Saturday’s attempted assassination seems about as straightforward as these things can be—so why does it feel like everyone believes it was staged?


Guest: Will Sommer, author of the False Flag newsletter for The Bulwark and “Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America.”


Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.


Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Jackson: Too Big to Fail

Mon, 27 Apr 2026

The biopic “Michael” solves the third-act problem of Michael Jackson’s life by simply ending before the 1993 lawsuit that alleged child sex abuse, and before his appearance and behavior took a drastic turn. It leaves the King of Pop someone you can love without qualification—but not someone you can understand.


Guest: Aisha Harris, co-host of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast


Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.


Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Mark Zuckerberg Finds Your Perfect Pair of Shoes

Sun, 26 Apr 2026

The era of ads following you around the internet via cookies might be coming to an end. What’s replacing it?


Guest: Sara Fisher, Axios' media correspondent, and media analyst at CNN.


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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.




Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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