What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | How Trump Got Obsessed with Autism

Why would Donald Trump rush to announce that Tylenol is a potential cause of autism, a claim unsupported by the research?

Guest: Dan Diamond, White House reporter for the Washington Post.

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Jimmy Kimmel Got His Job Back. She Didn’t.

The First Amendment prohibits Congress from making laws that abridge freedom of speech or of the press, but in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, it’s clear that it doesn’t take a law to attack those rights.

Guest:  Karen Attiah, former columnist for the Washington Post and former editor of the Post’s Global Opinions section.

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


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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - A Surgeon in Gaza’s “End Game”

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.

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


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Slate Books - How To! | Update: Losing Your ‘Virginity’ at 43

In this mailbag episode of How To!, we get an update from Elizabeth, the 43-year-old listener who contacted us for advice on her plan to have sex for the first time. Then, co-hosts Courtney Martin and Carvell Wallace get listeners’ takes on our most talked-about episodes of the year—and the staff holds an impromptu idea meeting for upcoming episodes.

Links Mentioned: 

My Old Books

Do you have a problem that needs solving? Send us a note at howto@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

The show is produced by Rosemary Belson, with Kevin Bendis and Sophie Summergrad. Our technical director is Merritt Jacob and our supervising producer is Joel Meyer.

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - Trump’s Attack on Visas

American agriculture relies on foreign workers, and they rely on the H-2A visa program to work legally in the United States. Despite a growing number of people applying for visa spots, the Trump administration has proposed cutting the division of the Department of Labor that enforces H-2A rules, leaving workers to choose between being vulnerable to ICE or to exploitation. 

Guest: Max Blau, ProPublica reporter covering health care, the environment, agriculture and immigration.

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


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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - How Big Media Obeys in Advance

Media giants like Paramount and Disney have been swift to capitulate to the Trump administration and the tenacious head of the FCC, Brendan Carr. Why new ownership from the likes of the Ellisons is likely to make things worse.

Guest: Nitish Pahwa, staff writer for business and tech at Slate.

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

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | Is A.I. Taking Your Job?

If you’re hunting for a job, the odds are increasingly likely you’ll have an interview with an artificial intelligence “recruiter.” And why not? It’s also increasingly likely you’ll be working with A.I. anyway. 


Guest: Danielle Abril, technology-in-the-workplace reporter for the Washington Post.


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Slate Books - Gabfest Reads | The Recent Past of Prison Punishment

Emily Bazelon talks with author and Yale professor Judith Resnik about her new book, Impermissible Punishments: How Prison Became a Problem for Democracy. They discuss the history of the prison system’s use of punishments like whipping, how the practice came to an end, and more.

 

Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

 

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

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Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - Free Speech Is The Enemy of Free Speech, Apparently

Dahlia Lithwick talks to First Amendment law professor Mary Anne Franks to explore the inversion of free speech in America this past week, and to trace the ways our assumptions about the First Amendment helped to tip us into this upside-down. Dr. Franks, author of Fearless Speech: Breaking Free from the First Amendment, explains the contradictions inherent in free-speech absolutism, the role of government in suppressing dissent, and the impact of media and entertainment on public discourse. What are we to make of a movement that screamed “jawboning” and “censorship” for a decade, but when handed power enthusiastically enacts actual governmental speech suppression and censorship? And what does the First Amendment mean if the powerful are consistently afforded maximum power in the “marketplace of ideas”?

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - The Discourse | TikTok Ban: The Final Loop?

TikTok—which was supposed to be banned again on Wednesday but, again, isn’t—may be legal once more. The Trump administration says it’s meeting with Xi Jinping Friday to finalize the agreement, which may involve—get this—a wealthy Trump-supporting tech mogul. 


Guest: Nitish Pahwa, staff writer for business and tech at Slate.


This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next TBD—you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

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