What Next - Meh-lania

Conservatives have long complained that teaching American history with slavery and genocide and systemic oppression is just too negative, and the Trump administration has gone as far as attacking the ...

1 Dec 202528min

As the U.S. upgrades and updates its defense and military systems, the question isn’t whether A.I. will be integrated, but where, how much, and how much decision-making are we ceding to the machine?Gu...

30 Nov 202524min

By design –  and also by dint of unbridled, undisciplined extremist exuberance – Donald Trump’s second stint in the White House is thus far a tricky thing to characterize. While many of the administra...

29 Nov 202551min

Note: This episode was originally published on July 27, 2025. There’s an entire economy devoted to seeing what products are trending—clothing, skin care, even Greek Islands—and delivering you a cheape...

28 Nov 202530min

This week: Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee joins  Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck for an in-depth discussion on what exactly the Fed does. They’ll get into how voting and delibera...

28 Nov 202549min

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss what happens when the government is untrustworthy as a strong pattern of DOJ lying under oath emerges, why the NYC mayor-elect and the...

27 Nov 20251h 2min

While the What Next team works their way from preparingfood to sleeping it off, enjoy this episode on fall’s flavorful favorites fromour friends at Decoder Ring. We’ll be back to regular programming o...

27 Nov 202551min

With the release of Wicked: For Good, spectacle is back in theaters and back on the press circuit: Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are again “holding space” along with each other’s individual fingers ...

26 Nov 202525min