Author: Slate Podcasts

A jury recently found Greenpeace liable for more than $660 million in damages to the company behind the Dakota Access pipeline for its role in the Standing Rock protests. 

But the ramifications extend far beyond Greenpeace. As protests against various Trump administration policies heat up across the country, what does this lawsuit say about how opponents can weaponize the courts to criminalize protesters?

Guest: Alleen Brown, independent investigative reporter, editor at Drilled

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

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The Trump administration bombed three Iranian nuclear sites. While the Pentagon says these facilities are severely damaged, a diplomatic end to the conflict and a nuclear disarmament agreement feel less possible than ever.

Guests:

⁠Gregory Gause⁠, Visiting Scholar at the ⁠Middle East Institute⁠ and ⁠Professor Emeritus of International Affairs⁠ for the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University 

⁠David Faris⁠, ⁠political science professor⁠ at Roosevelt University, ⁠contributing writer⁠ for Slate.

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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ARC, the data broker owned by the country’s major airlines, has been selling domestic flight data in the US to Customs and Border Protection. But in the contract, they told CBP not to reveal where the data was from… why? 

Guest: Joseph Cox, co-founder of 404 Media and the co-host of the 404 Media Podcast. 

Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and 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.

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America’s most machismo and gas-guzzling car, the Hummer, has been relaunched as an electric vehicle. But who is this electrified megatruck really for?

Guest: Alex Sammon, Slate features writer

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

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The Trump administration's anti-immigration campaign has become defined by distasteful memes that gleefully portray the mass deportations being carried out across the country. It’s impossible to ignore… which is exactly what the administration wants. 

Guest: Drew Harwell, tech reporter at the Washington Post.  

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Podcast production by Patrick Fort. 

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As What Next celebrates Juneteenth, please enjoy this episode ⁠from our colleagues at Hit Parade⁠. What Next will be back in your feed on Monday.

Little Richard was rock ‘n’ roll’s flamboyant architect. Lesley Gore sang that no one owned her. Sylvester was a gender-fluid icon who helped define disco. Freddie Mercury made rock operatic, and George Michael demanded freedom.

What all of these LGBTQ artists had in common was bold hitmaking—and fear of being fully out of the closet. For decades, queer acts topped the charts while cloaking their true identities and paving the way for today’s more openly queer stars.

For Pride Month, join Chris Molanphy as he traces the hidden history of queer hitmakers on the charts—including those that managed to be both out and No. 1, right up through our modern age of Lil Nas X and Chappell Roan. It’s a celebration of these artists’ quest to feel… mighty real.

Want more Hit Parade? Join Slate Plus to unlock monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of “The Bridge,” and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen.

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As the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem has made herself the official face of the Trump administration’s military crackdowns on protesters in Los Angeles, raids in majority-Democratic cities, and the deportations of student activists. How has she been able to consolidate so much power so quickly?

Guest: Seth Tupper, Editor-in-Chief of the South Dakota Searchlight

Ahilan Arulanantham, Co-Director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law

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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