What Next: TBD | How Trump Got Obsessed with Autism

This week: NVIDIA has announced a $100 billion investment in OpenAI to help build out data centers equipped with NVIDIA chips. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck, joined by Bloomberg’s Max Chafkin, examine the complexities of this massive deal and why it might feed the argument that the AI boom is a bubble. Then,Trump has announced a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas.They discuss how the clunky rollout of this plan has caused chaos and what it signals about the administration's immigration goals. And finally, Max explains how a parody of Enron that turned into a memecoin fiasco.  In the Slate Plus episode: Digging into the 0.01% rule Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27 Syys 57min

On today’s episode, hosts Candice Lim and Kate Lindsay are joined by Spitfire News writer Kat Tenbarge to discuss how reactions to Charlie Kirk’s death are prompting us to reexamine free speech. In her piece, “Is anyone going to defend free speech online?” she explains how this right has long been under threat. From legal challenges to biased algorithms, the internet is being censored right before our eyes—but there are still ways we can fight back.  Get more of ICYMI with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of ICYMI and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the ICYMI show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/icymiplus for access wherever you listen. This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, Candice Lim, and Kate Lindsay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27 Syys 52min

The week ended with a Grand Jury Indictment of former FBI Director James Comey for what looks to be a pair of unprovable crimes. Indeed the  US Attorney overseeing the case declined to bring the indictment for that very reason. He’s gone and Donald Trump’s personal insurance lawyer brought the case. Mark Joseph Stern and Dahlia Lithwick discuss what that means for the Justice Department. Then Yale Law School’s professor Justin Driver reminds us that Supreme Court cases don’t just turn into vapors after they come down in June. The Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision from 2023 has fundamentally changed what college campuses look like and has opened the door to Trump Administration attacks on anything that even looks like racial justice efforts on elite campuses and throughout the country. Any one decision causes legal cascades that can and will be used against us. Want more Amicus? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Amicus show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/amicusplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27 Syys 1h 23min

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss how Trump is using the powerful machine of government prosecution to reverse-engineer crimes supposedly committed by enemies, his diatribe against Tylenol at the disastrous press conference on autism, and the echoes of past Red Scares in today’s free speech climate with historian Beverly Gage, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the debate around Trump’s new $100,000 fee for H-1B visa workers: will it score points or be an own goal for US jobs?   In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily 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.   Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)   Podcast production by Cheyna Roth   Research by Emily Ditto You can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here.   Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

25 Syys 1h 10min

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. 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

25 Syys 27min

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

24 Syys 33min

On this week’s episode, Julia and Dana are joined by Slate writer (and Philadelphia native) Nadira Goffe for a conversation rooted in Delaware County about Task, HBO’s new gritty crime drama from the creators of Mare of Easttown.  Next, the hosts give longtime listeners what they’ve been chirping for: a discussion of birding. Specifically, it’s a discussion about the dirtbag, gonzo, totally self-produced and independently released documentary Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching. Finally, they get into the Jimmy Kimmel situation. Why was his show cancelled, then uncancelled, then blacked out from several media markets? What does it mean for the state of free speech and democracy itself? In an exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode, the panel is joined by Dan Kois to delight in Slate’s package on The 25 Best Picture Books of the Past 25 Years. Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com.  Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Endorsements Nadira: In addition to the Explore.org's Fat Bear Week, the work of singer-songwriter KeiyaA who recently released the tracks "stupid prizes" and "take it" from her forthcoming album hooke’s law. Dana: Seeing Stanley Kubrick’s epic Barry Lyndon in its 4K re-release on the best screen you possibly can. Julia: Meghan O'Rourke's New York Times essay "I Teach Creative Writing. This Is What A.I. Is Doing to Students." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

24 Syys 1h 1min