What If America Went on Strike?

Democrats suffered major losses in local and state elections this week. Are the results a harbinger for the party’s fate heading into the 2022 midterms? Guest: Jim Newell, Slate’s senior politics writer.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 Dear Prudence—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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

4 Nov 202121min

It’s been over four years since white supremacists gathered in a violent and deadly demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia. Now, nine people are suing the organizers and groups involved with the Unite the Right rally as they try to prove the protest was a conspiracy to commit racially-motivated violence. This isn’t the first time white supremacists have been taken to court -- but could this trial spell real consequences?Guest: Kathleen Belew, a historian at the University of Chicago, and the author of Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America and A Field Guide to White Supremacy.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 Dear Prudence—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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

3 Nov 202127min

India Walton won the Democratic primary for Mayor of Buffalo, New York, in June. Her victory put her on track to become the first socialist mayor in the city’s history, and the first nationwide in more than half a century. The only problem is, her opponent - current mayor Byron Brown - refuses to bow out, and is waging a well-funded write-in campaign in the hopes of keeping his post.How has a self-styled socialist gotten so close to running Buffalo? And why are some Democrats standing in her way?Guest: Ross Barkan, a contributing writer to The Nation and the author of The Prince: Andrew Cuomo, Coronavirus, and the Fall of New York.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 Dear Prudence—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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 Nov 202125min

The public scrutiny applied to Facebook has been building for years, as the company grows its user base faster than its ability to regulate its content. But distrust among Facebook employees is also building, as evidenced by the remarkable disclosure of internal Facebook documents by whistleblower Frances Haugen. A crisis of trust could be what undoes Mark Zuckerberg’s plans to dominate the internet of the future.Guest: Steven Levy is editor-at-large at WIRED and author of numerous books, including, most recently, Facebook: The Inside Story. 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 Dear Prudence—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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1 Nov 202128min

The bots aren’t just buying cool sneakers. They’re buying concert tickets. Tickets to basketball games and Broadway shows. At the beginning of the pandemic, they were buying hand sanitizer and face masks. And later, they were booking vaccine reservation spots.Why are bots taking over certain markets? And is there anything we can do to slow them down?Guests: Derreck Johnson, designer at SlateEric Budish, economics professor at the University of ChicagoHost: Seth Stevenson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

29 Okt 202122min

The bots aren’t just buying cool sneakers. They’re buying concert tickets. Tickets to basketball games and Broadway shows. At the beginning of the pandemic, they were buying hand sanitizer and face masks. And later, they were booking vaccine reservation spots.Why are bots taking over certain markets? And is there anything we can do to slow them down?Guests: Derreck Johnson, designer at SlateEric Budish, economics professor at the University of ChicagoHost: Seth Stevenson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

29 Okt 202122min

Last week, five members of Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s Veterans Advisory Council publicly stepped down. In their resignation letter, they claimed that they were just “window dressing for her image” and called her “one of the principal obstacles to progress.” One of those veterans explains why she finally said enough.  Guest: Sylvia González Andersh, former member of Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s Veterans Advisory Council.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 Dear Prudence—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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

28 Okt 202126min

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funds many, if not most, of the world’s global health initiatives, so much so that the Foundation has become one of the most influential deciders of global health policy. With the distribution of vaccines to developing countries all but completely failing, how do we assess the Gates’ culpability? And is it time to imagine another model for global health cooperation?  Guest: Tim Schwab, investigative reporter. 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 Dear Prudence—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.If you've just signed up for Slate Plus because of What Next, fill out this form and you may get some What Next swag! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

27 Okt 202122min