What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Virginia is in chaos as racist stunts and allegations of sexual assault threaten to upend the political careers of four top state officials. How did we get here? It all started with a debate over an abortion bill. Guest: Anna North, senior reporter for Vox. Read her story on what the nasty politicking has to do with abortion rights. Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Anna Martin Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Inaugurations are ethically dubious in the best of times. So why is the Trump inaugural committee under investigation? Consider the scale of the swindle.Guest: Ilya Marritz, co-host of Trump Inc., a podcast produced by WNYC and ProPublica. Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Anna Martin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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It was a long speech that often meandered from pleas for bipartisanship to accusations of “ridiculous partisan investigations.” What do we make of this state of the union?Plus, it’s anyone’s guess what 'Medicare for All' really means on the 2020 campaign trail.Guests: Jim Newell, Politics Writer at Slate. And, Jordan Weissmann, Slate’s Senior Business and Economics Correspondent.Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Anna Martin Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Larry Krasner promised a sea change when he was elected to serve as Philadelphia’s district attorney. It should surprise no one that his policies are making waves.Guest: Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Chris Palmer. Read his story about Krasner’s first year in office.Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Anna Martin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's a new prosecutor in St. Louis County taking on decades of racial injustice. How will Wesley Bell, buoyed by the political movement after the death of Michael Brown, deliver on his progressive promises?Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Anna Martin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The latest measles outbreak in the Pacific-Northwest is a self-inflicted wound. One that Texans, and Americans alike, should all pay attention to.Guest: Dr. Peter J. Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development.Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Anna Martin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joaquín Guzmán operated in Mexico’s shadows for decades. His trial is shining a spotlight on who the man is and the chaos he sowed on a country . How are Mexicans dealing with the explosive allegations made against former presidents? And what are we all missing by sensationalizing the drug lord's trial?Guest: León Krauze, Columnist for Slate, co-host of Trumpcast, and news anchor for Univision.Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Anna Martin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus discuss a rather terrifying security flaw from Apple, a company that prides itself on keeping information well-protected. A bug was found in the video chat app Facetime that let snoops listen in on someone by calling them on FaceTime, even if the call wasn’t answered. Then, the hosts are joined by Franklin Foer, a staff writer for the Atlantic, former editor in chief of The New Republic, and author of a book about what he calls “the existential threat of big tech.” They talk to him about the recent wave of layoffs in the media—including big cuts at BuzzFeed, HuffPost, and Gannett newspapers— and how those tie into the dominance of companies like Google and Facebook over the way we get information now. Don’t Close My Tabs:April: Pandora’s New Corporate Parents Gave Millions to Trump, GOPWill: Wired: Is Big Tech Merging with Big Brother? Kinda Looks Like It.Podcast production by Max JacobsYou 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 [email protected] 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. This episode is brought to you by Warby Parker. Try their home try-on program for free today at warbyparker.com/ifthen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Howard Schultz's potential independent presidential candidacy has gotten off to a rough start. Why are Democrats and Republicans alike upset about the Starbucks CEO entering the 2020 fray? And will it even matter?Guest: Steve Kornacki, National Political Correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC.Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, and Anna Martin Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More than 1,000 journalists lost their jobs last week. The reason is pretty simple: Big tech is beating digital media to the money. To save journalism, what rules should the public be fighting for?Guest: Will Oremus, Slate’s Senior Technology Writer.Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon, with help from Anna Martin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why it matters that the Supreme Court is taking on a gun rights case now, after keeping its powder dry for years.Guest: Mark Joseph Stern, who covers courts & the law for Slate.Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon, with help from Danielle Hewitt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Venezuelans reached a breaking point, and how a team of savvy politicians orchestrated the break. No one expected the greatest threat of a proxy war to come out of South America -- right?Guests: Ana Vanessa Herrero, reporter for the New York Times. Josh Keating, senior editor of foreign affairs for Slate.Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Senate is readying a vote on two bills to fund the government. The measures aren’t expected to pass, but they might signal the beginning of the end of the shutdown.Guest: Jim Newell, who covers Congress for Slate. Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon, with help from Danielle Hewitt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus discuss news news that the french government has fined Google close to $57 million for violating the new European privacy laws that went into effect in 2018. This comes as news that the Federal Trade Commision here in the US is considering levying a record-breaking fine against Facebook for violations to their users privacy following the Cambridge Analytica mess. Corporate fines may well be a theme this year following the great clean up after the 2016 election went awry And then we’re going to talk about Juul, the multibillion dollar e-cigarette company that is dominating the new industry. It’s been quite the year for Juul. Their offices were raided by the FDA. They at least provisionally agreed to stop selling certain fruity flavors of tobacco clearly popular with kids. They accepted a $12.8 billion dollar investment from Altria, the tobacco company that owns Marlboro. And most recently, announced, the vaping brand launched a new $10 million national TV marketing campaign.To help make sense of the company that controls an estimated 70% of the e-cigarette market we’ll be joined by Nitasha Tiku, a senior writer for Wired.Don’t Close My Tabs:April: Bloomberg: Corporate America Is Getting Ready to Monetize Climate ChangeWill: The Huffington Post: Jack Dorsey Has No Clue What He WantsPodcast 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 [email protected] 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. This episode is brought to you by Slack, the collaboration hub for work. Learn more at Slack.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More and more reform-minded district attorneys are taking office as self-avowed progressive prosecutors. Why don’t some advocates think Kamala Harris deserves the label?Guest: Lara Bazelon, associate professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law, contributing writer for Slate, and author of the book Rectify: The Power of Restorative Justice After Wrongful Conviction. Read her op-ed, “Kamala Harris Was Not a ‘Progressive Prosecutor,’” in the New York Times. Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon, with help from Danielle Hewitt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Mohammed bin Salman’s rise to power has meant for women in Saudi Arabia. Guest: Journalist Sarah Aziza. Read her latest reporting in the New Yorker. Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon, with help from Danielle Hewitt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why aren’t conservatives’ usual tricks working on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? Guest: Slate writer Lili Loofbourow. Read her piece here. Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon, with help from Danielle Hewitt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What makes the Los Angeles teachers’ strike different from the strikes that swept the country last year? In L.A., a robust charter school sector competes with the traditional public schools for funds. Guest: Dana Goldstein, education reporter for the New York Times. Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon, with help from Danielle Hewitt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus discuss news that PG&E, California’s main power provider, plans to file for bankruptcy due to the billions in liability it faces stemming from the deadly wildfires last year. Allegations have been made that PG&E’s power lines and equipment aided in the fires and the company did not adequately address the hazards beforehand. As the home to some of the world most powerful tech companies, California’s economy last year surpassed the UK, but it’s clear that this wealth has not trickled down to help Californian suffering the effects of prolonged drought and longer fire seasons hitting more populated areas. They’ll also talk about a letter sent this week to Microsoft, Amazon and Google from more than 85 civil rights and racial justice groups, including the ACLU. The letter demands that these companies stop building face recognition technology that could be used by the government. We’ve seen employees of these companies voice their concern, but what might we expect from outside pressure?The hosts touch on one of the least discussed themes from last week’s CES conference in Las Vegas: privacy.Then they welcome back Taylor Lorenz, journalist for the Atlantic. Glaser and Oremus talk to her about what social media might look like in 2019. Forget Facebook for a second. Forget Twitter, Snapchat, even YouTube, which was the focus of our conversation with Lorenz last year. They talk to her about what the kids are up to now, like making dance videos on Tik Tok, making Instagram eggs go viral, and making friends in the comments sections of social apps. 21:14 - Interview with Taylor Lorenz.39:30 - Don’t Close My TabsPodcast 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 [email protected] 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.

UCLA’s Katelyn Ohashi wowed the internet this week with a viral video of her college gymnastics floor routine. As Ohashi’s star rises, the U.S. women’s gymnastics program is imploding. Fans of the sport wonder: What is the price of being world-class?Guest: Slate contributor Rebecca Schumann.Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon, with help from Danielle Hewitt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More than 25 years after serving as Attorney General under George HW Bush, Barr is set to return to the role this week. What should we expect? And what should the senators at the confirmation hearing be asking?Guest: Noah Feldman, professor of constitutional law at Harvard University and columnist at Bloomberg.Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slate’s Fred Kaplan explains how two different Trump advisers, Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, are trying to carry out U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What would a national emergency look like, and why hasn't Trump declared one yet? Dahlia Lithwick has answers. Plus: Was it weird that Ruth Bader Ginsburg wasn't at work this week?Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How could congressional leaders end the current government shutdown? Come to think of it, how could they put an end to shutdowns altogether?Guests: Tom Davis, former Republican congressman from Virginia, and Slate’s Jim Newell.Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus discuss startling new revelations about some of the major phone carriers. The story broke this week in Motherboard titled “I Gave a Bounty Hunter $300. Then He Located Our Phone.” It details how T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T are selling access to customers location data to shady characters like landlords and collection agencies. And speaking of phones, could we finally be witnessing an end to the iPhone’s dominance of the technology industry? Last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook warned about a shortfall in global iPhone revenue. We’ll talk about why that is and what it might mean for Apple’s future.And if you work even remotely adjacent to the tech industry, then you know...this week is the Consumer Electronics Show, or CES—the biggest annual tech expo in the world held in Las Vegas. We’ll be joined by Dieter Bohn, the executive editor of The Verge, from the floor of the show. 17:05 - Interview with Dieter Bohn.35:13 - Don’t Close My TabsDon’t Close My Tabs:Slate: Tunnel VisionNew Statesman America: London's Victorian Hyperloop: the forgotten pneumatic railway beneath the capital's streetsPodcast 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 [email protected] 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.

Advocate Mariame Kaba explains why the Cyntoia Brown story is compelling, complicated, and deeply frustrating -- why it's wrong to portray Cyntoia Brown as a child, why Brown’s story is deeply familiar to black women in America, and why Kaba considers Brown’s crime a radical act of “self-love.”Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jamelle Bouie sees each presidential election like a grand experiment. On today’s show, he shares some of his hypotheses going into the 2020 campaign season. Will the rift grow between President Trump and the establishment GOP? Will Democrat presidential hopefuls continue to propose bold policies unthinkable 10 years ago? Will white Democratic candidates be able to appeal to black and brown Americans without triggering latent racism among voters?Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sending an email to [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show.Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram for updates on the show. Podcast production by Mary Wilson and Jayson De Leon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus introduce some of their favorite interviews from 2018. We have highlights from our conversations with journalist Taylor Lorenz about teen YouTube stars, former head of Facebook’s Newsfeed Adam Mosseri about real-world violence in places like Myanmar, the founder of Data for Black Lives Yeshimabeit Milner on how tech companies might share their data for social justice efforts, author Naomi Klein on cryptocurrency in Puerto Rico following the deadly Hurricane Maria, Senator Mark Warner on how the government might actually regulate the big tech companies, and Paige Panter, a volunteer with the Tech Workers Coalition on how a broad coalition of tech workers are fighting for change.1:21 - Interview with Taylor Lorenz7:57 - Interview with Yeshimabeit Milner15:49 - Interview with Adam Mosseri24:09 - Interview with Naomi Klein30:27 - Interview with Senator Mark Warner38:30 - Interview with Paige PanterPodcast 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 [email protected] 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.

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus will talk reader mail! The hosts take a look at some of your questions and comments from the year, in particular about how your relationship to technology and social media has changed in a year that has been tumultuous for tech companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter.Then, they’ll talk about cybersecurity, hacks, and the sometimes bizarre legal battles that ensue after a big data theft. They’re be joined by Josephine Wolff, a professor of public policy at Rochester Institute of Technology and the author of “You'll see this message when it is too late: The Legal and Economic Aftermath of Cybersecurity Breaches.” They’ll talk to her about some of the most significant breaches in the last decade, how those companies holding that information have been held accountable, and what it means for the everyday user who just wants to shop at Target.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 [email protected] 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. This episode is brought to you by Merrill Lynch. Get started today at ML.com/you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus will talk about how Taylor Swift used face recognition to surveil the crowd at a recent concert, and whether that’s smart, scary, or both. Then they’ll welcome Renée DiResta, an expert on cybersecurity and online misinformation. DiResta is the lead author of a new report to the Senate Intelligence Committee on exactly how Russian operatives weaponized social media in the 2016 election, and why it may be just the beginning of a new era of global information warfare.6:45 - Interview with Renée DiResta26:09 - Don’t Close My TabsDon’t Close My Tabs:Logic: My Stepdad's Huge DatasetThe Pudding: Population MountainsPodcast 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 [email protected] 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.

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus discuss the latest round of “Tech CEO Goes to Washington.” On Tuesday morning, that CEO was Google’s Sundar Pichai, who appeared before the House Judiciary Committee and was asked about data privacy, location tracking, Google’s plans in China, and of course, Republicans’ favorite tech topic: conservative bias. We’ll talk about what we learned from this hearing as well as what we wish Congress might’ve asked the Google CEO.Then April speaks with two people who have been working to organize workers in Amazon fulfilment centers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. One is a founder with Awood, Nimo Omar. She’s been organizing with the primarily East African communities that work in the Amazon warehouses on a campaign to collectively advocate for better working conditions. We’ll also be joined by a worker at one of those Amazon fulfillment centers in the Minneapolis area, WIlliam Stolz. We’ll ask him about his job at the warehouse and why he’s joining his fellow workers in organizing for change for change at the fulfillment centers. 15:45 - Interview with Nimo Omar & William Stolz37:13 - Don’t Close My TabsDon’t Close My Tabs:Pew Research: Social media outpaces print newspapers in the U.S. as a news sourceThe Baffler: Streambait PopSlate: Roma Is the Culmination of Everything Alfonso Cuarón Has Ever DonePodcast 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 [email protected] 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.

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. 15thSins of the Fathers, Nov. 14thThe Wildfires to Come, Nov. 13thTalk to you soon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus discuss the news that Tumblr will soon be banning all adult content on its site -- this in response to some instances of child pornography that got it suspended from Apple’s App Store. Hundreds of thousands of Tumblr users are upset, and the plan appears to be backfiring.Then we’re excited to bring you a pair of interviews today, with two people who have emerged as leading critics of Facebook—one from the outside, and one from within, right before he left the company. We’ll talk first with former Facebook employee Mark S. Luckie about what he calls Facebook’s “black people problem.” Those words came from a memo that he wrote shortly before leaving the company last month, and which he published to the world after he left. Then we’ll talk with someone who’s been thinking through problems at Facebook for many years--and recently discovered that his organization was also a target of the company’s controversial “opposition research” PR campaign. Rashad Robinson is the president of Color of Change, a progressive civil rights group that was among several nonprofits Facebook tried to discredit by highlighting their ties to the liberal financier George Soros. In the wake of that story, Robinson met last week with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. 8:15 - Interview with Mark Luckie16:00 - Interview with Rashad Robinson35:20 - Don’t Close My TabsDon’t Close My Tabs:The New York Times: Philippine Journalist, a Thorn to Duterte, Turns Herself In to Face ChargesTwitter: Natasha ViannaPodcast 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 [email protected] 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.

On today’s show, hosts April Glaser and Will Oremus discuss the ongoing fallout at Facebook over the company’s decision to hire a conservative PR firm to surface opposition research in order to attack Facebook’s nonprofit critics by highlighting their funding ties to the liberal financier George Soros, playing into an untrue and anti-Semitic popular right wing trope. As internal and external turmoil continues to rile major American technology companies, their employee are organizing for serious change. Hosts dig into what that’s accomplished so far and what continued employee pressure and mounting labor actions means down the line.Then, an interview with Antonio Regalado, a senior editor at the MIT Technology Review, on a story he broke Sunday night: the very first gene-edited babies were born this month in China. The trio discuss the history of gene-editing technology and the debate about using it on humans. To some, gene-editing is a form of medicine, like a vaccination. To others, it’s a form of enhancement. How easy is this to do? And will we have a future where the health of tomorrow’s children, or those whose parents can afford it, will be determined before their children are even born?14:13 - Interview with Antonio Regalado32:02 - Don’t Close My TabsDon’t Close My Tabs:The New Yorker: Exploding Mojitos: The First “Sonic Attacks” Targeting American Diplomats in Cuba May Have Taken Place Thirty Years AgoThe New York Times: A Business with No EndPodcast 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 [email protected] 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.

On today’s show, host Will Oremus will discuss the fallout from last week’s New York Times expose about Facebook with the company’s former Security Chief Alex Stamos. The Times story was headlined “Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook’s Leaders Leaned Out in Crisis.” Stamos has been at the center of this story both as a critic and an advocate. The story has revolved partly around reports that Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg stifled or downplayed his revelations that their platform was still not free from Russian meddling months after the 2016 election. We’ll get his side of the story, as well as his perspective on Facebook’s missteps, and what he thinks the public and the media get wrong about the company. We’ll also talk about what some solutions to its problems might look like, including, potentially, government regulations.2:15 - Interview with Alex Stamos37:53 - Don’t Close My TabsDon’t Close My Tabs:Slate: Trapped in the Fire ZoneThe New York Times: Are You Sitting Down? Standing Desks Are Overrated. 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 [email protected] 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.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s show, host Will Oremus will talk about the employee uprising at Google, and the changes that it and other tech companies have made to their sexual harassment policies in response. Joining him is Caroline O’Donovan, senior technology reporter for BuzzFeed News, who was there to cover the employee walkouts in person and has continued to report on the fallout from them.And then, a story that has been making headlines for months, and finally reached its culmination this week with a big announcement. That would be Amazon’s HQ2 contest—or maybe now it’s HQ2.5, or HQ2 and 3, HQ2a and HQ2b. Whatever you call it, we’ll talk about the company’s decision to open not one but two new headquarters. One will be in Arlington, Virginia, just outside DC. And the other in Long Island City, just across the East River from Manhattan. That, of course, prompted an outcry from critics around the country, not to mention all the cities that weren’t chosen. Here to help Will make sense of all this will be Tim Bartik, a Senior economist at the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. He’s done some fascinating research on the incentives that cities offer to companies to try to get them to locate there--and whether it really pays off for their residents in the long run.2:47 - Interview with Caroline O’Donovan14:32 - Interview with Tim Bartik32:00 - Don’t Close My TabsDon’t Close My Tabs:The Atlantic: The Problem with FeedbackGoFundMe: How To Help Those Impacted By The Fires In CaliforniaChico Enterprise Record: How You Can Help Camp Fire VictimsTwitter: Martha McSally For Senate (Concession Video)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 [email protected] 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.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ben Wittes of Lawfare and the Brookings Institution tells us four things to watch for in the wake of the ouster of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. For more from Wittes on this, check out the latest episode of The Lawfare Podcast. Plus, Mary McCord, who used to lead the National Security Division at the Department of Justice, explains why she remains hopeful that her old agency can keep its blinders on and stay above politics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Democrats ran all sorts of different campaigns and won (or lost) in all sorts of different ways. Is there a lesson they could take from the midterms and carry into the next election? Plus, how did racism figure into the Florida and Georgia governor’s races? Jamelle Bouie joins the show to nurse our election hangover. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alfredo Corchado calls in from the border to talk about voter enthusiasm in his area. Amy Walter from the Cook Political Report shares her tips for watching election night returns. Slate’s Molly Olmstead explains why she’ll be eyeing the teacher candidates tonight. The Root’s Jason Johnson is our man in Atlanta following the Georgia gubernatorial contest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With less than 36 hours to go until the final voting deadline for the midterm elections, it's important to know what's at stake. Amy Walter, a host on The Takeaway and National Editor of the Cook Political Report, knows that each election tells us a story and this one is no different. She joined us today to talk about what signals and trends she's looking out for and what that means for our future as a country and how we understand ourselves. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will Oremus and April Glaser are bringing you a special episode of If Then, all about the midterm elections and the role of Silicon Valley and online media in our beloved democratic process. We’re going to start with a roundtable with two extra tech journalists, Kevin Roose from the New York Times and Paris Martineau of Wired who have been reporting on issues of online speech, misinformation, and election interference this year.Then we’ll have an interview with one of the country’s top experts on election security and voting systems. He’s the former White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer: Ed Felten. We’ll talk to him about the problems that could rear their heads this cycle… namely with the very very outdated tech that we use to cast our ballots. Some of the voting machines we rely on are well over a decade old and are extremely vulnerable to hacking -- but here we are. And we’ll end our show with a very special Don’t Close My Tabs where we take a look at the best way to watch the results come in on Tuesday night. 2:00 - Roundtable with Paris Martineau and Kevin Roose31:22 - Interview with Ed Felten49:01 - Don’t Close My TabsPodcast 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 [email protected] 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.

Daryl Johnson tried to warn Homeland Security about the growing momentum behind right-wing extremists. He was not well-received. On Friday’s show, how the actions of the Obama and Trump administrations fueled far-right violence. Plus, there’s election shadiness happening in Kansas. Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern explains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.