What Next | Daily News and Analysis - TBD | It's Hot. It's Flooding. Is This the New Normal?

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser look further into the presidential election in Brazil and how tech has played a role. On Sunday, the far right candidate Jair Bolsanaro was elected President, and many have attributed his victory to misinformation that spread like wildfire through WhatsApp in the months leading up to the election.And it’s time again for more gadgets. Apple unveiled a new series of gizmos on Tuesday in Brooklyn: there were big changes to the iPad, Macbook Air, and MacMini. The hosts are also joined by Joan Donovan, the lead researcher at Data & Society, who focuses on hate groups congregate on social media. This conversation, sadly, comes following the horrific terrorist attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh over the weekend. The shooter, Robert Bowers, had been an active user of the free-speech-centric social media platform Gab that has become a kind of digital playpen for neo-Nazi and white supremacists since forming in 2016. Gab went offline Sunday night.5:43 - Interview with Pablo Ortellado15:11 - Interview with Joan Donovan33:41 - Don’t Close My TabsDon’t Close My Tabs: The New York Times: How Google Protected Andy Rubin, the “Father of Android”Frontline: The Facebook Dilemma (Part One)Podcast production by Max JacobsIf Then plugs: You can get updates about what’s coming up next by following us on Twitter @ifthenpod. You can follow Will @WillOremus and April @Aprilaser. If you have a question or comment, you can email us at ifthen@slate.com.If Then is presented by Slate and Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, New America, and Slate. Future Tense explores the ways emerging technologies affect society, policy, and culture. To read more, follow us on Twitter and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

31 Okt 201842min

There's a clause in the 14th amendment that people wanting to change it continue to come back to: "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof." Today on the show, Professor Garrett Epps of The Atlantic joins us to explain why its absurd for Trump to think he can end birthright citizenship with an executive order and, also, why it's not absurd to talk about him wanting to change it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

30 Okt 201812min

Slate’s April Glaser explains the futility of expelling bigots from one social media platform, only to see them find safe harbor on another.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

29 Okt 201815min

While we wait for news on the bomb suspect, a debate between Slate’s Mike Pesca and Mary Harris: Can we blame the potential explosives on provocative political speech?  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

26 Okt 201822min

When it comes to the people we vote for, how corrupt is too corrupt? With Herb Jackson, Washington correspondent for USA Today and The Record. We take a whirlwind tour of the U.S. politicians hitting the campaign trail with a dark cloud hanging over their heads. We land in New Jersey, where Senate Democrats suddenly have to worry about a tighter race. The reason? Their incumbent, Bob Menendez, narrowly escaped corruption charges last year. We’ll be piloting What Next in public for the next several weeks. Tell us what you think: whatnext@slate.com.  Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show, our weekend reading lists, and occasional posts about pita chips.Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon. Engineering by Terence Bernardo.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

25 Okt 201813min

US Cyber Command launched its first cyber operation to deter Russian interference in the 2018 midterm elections, but is it too late? Clint Watts, the author of Messing With the Enemy, "Oh yeah." Today on the show, the continued assault on our information space. Plus, the bomb scares that targeted high-profile Democrats. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

24 Okt 201817min

On this week’s If Then, Will Oremus and April Glaser discuss Elon Musk’s other, other project with their Slate colleague Henry Grabar. Not space travel, not electric cars, but the Boring Company, which is working on a tunneling project in Los Angeles that would bring a new type of transportation to an area plagued by traffic. Musk announced over the weekend that the first tunnel will be open to the public later this year.They’ll also dig into never-ending battle to rid Facebook of disinformation—particularly the kind that can disenfranchise, confuse, or stoke hatred in voters. Last Friday, the Department of Justice unsealed a criminal complaint against a Russian woman accused of running an operation on behalf of the Kremlin-connected Internet Research Agency. The operation had been working to deepen America’s political divisions and muddle its upcoming midterm elections.April and Will are also joined by Kate Black, Global Privacy Officer and Senior Counsel at 23andMe, the genetic testing company. Sites like 23andMe and Ancestry.com have been in the spotlight lately after Senator Elizabeth Warren made public the results of her DNA test in a video last week. And earlier this year, when the capture of the Golden State Killer was aided by a genealogy website. The hosts ask Black about who really owns your data, who gets to see it—and what the company will say if law enforcement comes asking for it.13:45 - Interview with Kate Black23:53 - Don’t Close My TabsDon’t Close My Tabs: The Root: The Wildly Unregulated Practice of Undercover Cops Friending People on FacebookWired: An Alternative History of Silicon Valley DisruptionPodcast production by Max JacobsIf Then plugs: You can get updates about what’s coming up next by following us on Twitter @ifthenpod. You can follow Will @WillOremus and April @Aprilaser. If you have a question or comment, you can email us at ifthen@slate.com.If Then is presented by Slate and Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, New America, and Slate. Future Tense explores the ways emerging technologies affect society, policy, and culture. To read more, follow us on Twitter and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Listen to If Then via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

24 Okt 201832min

Slate senior editor Josh Keating explains why Turkey has seized on the disappearance of a foreign journalist to stick it to Saudi Arabia. And Slate writer Aymann Ismail reconsiders going on hajj.  We’ll be piloting What Next in public for the next several weeks. Tell us what you think: whatnext@slate.com.  Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show, our weekend reading lists, and a picture of a young Aymann Ismail going on “baby hajj.” Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon. Engineering by Terence Bernardo.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

23 Okt 201821min