A Fox Guarding the Henhouse at the Interior Department?

The rightward shift of the Republican Party is kind of like global warming: Each political ecosystem is feeling it differently. In Kansas, lifelong Republicans are finding themselves without a habitat.  Guests: Barbara Bollier Kansas state senator, and Patrick Miller, political science professor at the University of Kansas.  Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to whatnext@slate.com. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show. Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

7 Jan 201919min

No big deal. Did you see What Next mentioned in the New York Times? We'll be back with more shows in January. Until then, these are some of our favorite episodes: The Gun-Owning Doctors Changing the Gun Debate, Nov. 15th Sins of the Fathers, Nov. 14th The Wildfires to Come, Nov. 13th Talk to you soon.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 Dec 20181min

Sen. Jeff Flake is demanding legislation to protect the Mueller probe. High-profile conservatives are peeling off from the Federalist Society to stand up to the Trump administration. Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick explains why she thinks this is a pivotal moment for the Trump administration and its discontents.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

17 Nov 201822min

This week doctors from all over America took to social media with the hashtag #ThisIsMyLane (or #ThisIsOurLane). They sent pictures of themselves in blood-drenched scrubs and shared stories of treating victims of gun violence. Much of this was in response to the NRA after a tweet they sent last Wednesday. Today on the show we talk to Dr. Brendan Campbell – a pediatric surgeon at Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford, CT. He has treated victims of gun violence for more than a decade. This week, he and his fellow colleagues released a new paper in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons recommending new ways to think about gun safety. Not only as doctors who have seen the damage that a gun can do, but because they own guns themselves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

16 Nov 201829min

Survivors of Catholic clergy sexual abuse have gone after the church in a piecemeal fashion. But the Roman Catholic Church’s cover-up of child sexual abuse goes back decades, and experts say it reaches the upper echelons of church leadership. What would it take to go after the Vatican? We talk to someone who’s tried it: Marci Hamilton, a professor and founder of Child USA.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

14 Nov 201820min

Stephen Pyne has made fire his life’s work. He put them out for 15 summers and has thought about them ever since. Today on the show – the conversation we’re not having about wildfires and why despite the devastation in California this week, he remains hopeful that we can figure this out. Here’s how you can help the victims of the California wildfires. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

14 Nov 201818min

Rick Hasen, founder of the Election Law Blog, explains how we got here: Shrinking away from the hard election reforms, ignoring the easy reforms, and enacting short-sighted remedies. Hasen is a professor at UC Irvine and a Slate contributor.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

12 Nov 201821min

Just as he was getting kicked out the door, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions wanted to do one last thing: strongly limit the strength and use of consent decrees moving forward. It’s a move that deals a significant blow to the Department of Justice’s ability to reign in police abuse across the country. Today on the show: what is a consent decree? And what happens in one small town in Louisiana when Jeff Sessions takes office and decides to turn a blind eye to its abuses? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 Nov 201819min