Slate News

The intimate and extremely personal experience of bringing a child into this world? There’s an app for that…and forums…and so much advice…that contradicts other advice…and a surprising amount of eugenics. Guest: Amanda Hess, critic at the New York Times [https://www.nytimes.com/by/amanda-hess] and author of the book “Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age. [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0385549733/?tag=slatmaga-20]” Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and 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 [http://slate.com/whatnextplus] to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

This week: The UK and the US agreed to the framework for a trade deal. Felix Salmon [https://www.axios.com/authors/fsalmon], Emily Peck [https://www.axios.com/authors/epeck], and Elizabeth Spiers [https://www.elizabethspiers.com/] discuss the details of the agreement and what it means that it includes keeping the 10% baseline tariffs staying in place. Then, Bill Gates has announced that he’s winding down the Gates Foundation and doubling the money he’s giving away. The hosts discuss how this is a reaction to Elon Musk’s slashing of USAID and the state of billionaire philanthropy. And finally, OpenAI has reversed its plan to become a for profit enterprise after public backlash. The hosts discuss implications of the governance structure going forward.  In the Slate Plus episode: Can Trump really put tariffs on Hollywood? 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 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/slate-money/id876523888] and Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/2AgxNbNcUOckZSww9mk8mX]. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Money&utm_source=episode_summary] to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

After Silicon Valley’s yeet to the right after Donald Trump was elected in 2016, and the DOGE-ification of the federal government (read: chaos and abuse as the driving ethos of HR), it felt like high time to delve into the evolving relationship between tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel and the U.S. government. Their influence has massive implications for core constitutional issues such as mass surveillance, privacy, and deregulation. Kara Swisher joins Dahlia Lithwick on this week’s Amicus to highlight the dangers of tech giants' encroachment on government oversight and the implications of AI and cryptocurrency.  This week’s episode concludes with a heartfelt tribute to Justice David Souter who died on Thursday. Dahlia and former Souter Clerk Mary-Rose Papandrea reflect on the late Justice’s humility, judicial philosophy, and the profound loss felt by his former clerks and the legal community. 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 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/amicus-with-dahlia-lithwick-law-justice-and-the-courts/id928790786] and Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/7DpL32jgjwBTah8o9HQkBl]. Or, visit slate.com/amicusplus [https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Amicus&utm_source=show_summary] to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Why artificial intelligence isn’t waiting for consumer demand. Guest: Gerrit De Vynck, tech reporter for The Washington Post [https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/gerrit-de-vynck/]. Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and 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 [http://slate.com/whatnextplus] to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Evan Campbell and Patrick Fort. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

The consequences of Donald Trump’s new tariffs are working their way through the supply chain and soon will start showing up for consumers in the form of empty shelves, higher prices, and potentially even layoffs and a recession.  Guest:  Christopher Mims [https://bsky.app/profile/mims.bsky.social], Wall Street Journal tech reporter [https://www.wsj.com/news/author/christopher-mims] and the author of Arriving Today: From Factory to Front Door---Why Everything Has Changed About How and What We Buy [https://bookshop.org/p/books/arriving-today-from-factory-to-front-door-why-everything-has-changed-about-how-and-what-we-buy-christopher-mims/16550074]. Jessica Berger, CEO of Bundle x Joy [https://bundlexjoy.com/]. 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 [http://slate.com/whatnextplus] to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Ethan Oberman, Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, Isabel Angell, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]