What Next – Details, episodes & analysis

While the U.S. was busy capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, someone online was  busy placing bets on prediction markets on the ouster. And these well-timed bets may have netted a still-anonymous someone more than $400,000. Was this a case of kind-of-legal insider trading? Or is America going all-out on its efforts to make everything a casino?

We’re going to be talking to pediatrician Dr. Lauren Hughes about the major changes to the CDC vaccine schedule. We want your questions! Hit us up via email at whatnextTBD@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-582-0091. 

Guest: Alex Kirshner, Slate contributing writer

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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After the Trump administration launched a massive Immigrations and Customs Enforcement operation in Minnesota, protesters gathered to defend immigrant neighbors. Renee Nicole Good, a mother of a six year old, showed up with her wife and dog to film altercations between officers and community members. What happened next changed everything. 

Guest: Jon Collins, senior reporter on the Minnesota Public Radio News race, class and communities team.

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 Ethan Oberman, Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther. 

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If you were to sum up 2025 in a film, which would you pick? The question that nearly wrecked the brain of Slate’s chief movie critic.

Guest: Dana Stevens, Slate’s movie critic.

Dana’s ten best movies of 2025.

Her review of Sinners.

And her review of One Battle After Another.

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.

Over three different trips during the war, this doctor saw the chaos of blast injuries in northern Gaza give way to gunshot wounds suffered at aid-distribution sites in the south. 

Guest:  Dr. Mohammed "Adeel" Khaleel, minimally invasive and complex spinal surgeon with Texas Metroplex Institute for Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Surgery.

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.

This week we look back on some of our favorite stories from a year that had us asking—sometimes with excitement and sometimes with exasperation—"What Next?" This episode originally aired March 21.

A very strange bankruptcy case is coming to a close. Its settlement hinges not on payments rendered or bills neglected, but on the pain of millions of American families who slid into the jaws of the opioid crisis. Now, the people who set off the crisis are about to settle their debts.

Guest: Brian Mann, reporter on addiction for NPR.

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The Food and Drug Administration gave an important thumbs up to lab-grown chicken, which means we could start seeing it in stores as soon as next year. While billions of dollars have been spent developing lab-grown meat, important questions remain: Is the production of it actually greener than raising livestock? Can it be made affordably? Is it healthy? And will anyone eat it?

Guest: Chloe Sorvino, staff writer on food and agriculture at Forbes, and the author of Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed and the Fight for the Future of Meat.

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

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Even in a crazy year for crypto, Sam Bankman-Fried’s story is undeniably the most bananas. And even in the context of the implosion of FTX, getting arrested has got to make this week his worst yet. What charges does SBF face?

Guest: Stacy-Marie Ishmael, managing editor on crypto for Bloomberg News

Host: Lizzie O’Leary

Sponsored by Saks.com. Check out the Holiday Gift Guide on saks.com

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The Reichsbürger movement is the group behind the plot to overthrow the German government that was disrupted last week. Their grievances are both specific to their country—that the German government is illegitimate and the Reich needs to be reestablished—and familiar to right-wing extremist watchers in the U.S.. They have been radicalized by lockdowns, vaccine requirements, and Qanon. How is this American conspiracy exporting itself? 

Guest: Josh Keating, global security reporter at Grid focused on conflict, diplomacy, and foreign policy.

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 Amicus—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.

Sponsored by Saks.com. Check out the Holiday Gift Guide on saks.com

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Since its founding in the 1980s, the Federalist Society has been advancing right-wing judges through the American judicial system. One of their most ardent critics called up a member to talk about how.

Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, Slate senior writer.

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Sponsored by Saks.com. Check out the Holiday Gift Guide on saks.com

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Argentina and Croatia face off in the World Cup semifinals today, and all eyes are on Lionel Messi. At 35, Messi is trying to put a cap on a legendary career and bring a World Cup championship to his home country. 

How did he get to the top of the soccer world? And what will be his legacy if Argentina loses?

Guest: Jasmine Garsd Garcia, host of NPR’s soccer podcast “The Last Cup.” 

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 Amicus—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.

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