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What Next | Daily News and Analysis


What Next | Daily News and Analysis

TBD | Betting on Venezuela

Fri, 09 Jan 2026
While the U.S. was busy capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, someone online was  busy placing bets on prediction markets on the ouster. And these well-timed bets may have netted a still-anonymous someone more than $400,000. Was this a case of kind-of-legal insider trading? Or is America going all-out on its efforts to make everything a casino?

We’re going to be talking to pediatrician Dr. Lauren Hughes about the major changes to the CDC vaccine schedule. We want your questions! Hit us up via email at whatnextTBD@slate.com or leave us a voicemail at 646-582-0091. 

Guest: Alex Kirshner, Slate contributing writer

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.
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Everyone Saw ICE Kill Renee Good

Thu, 08 Jan 2026
After the Trump administration launched a massive Immigrations and Customs Enforcement operation in Minnesota, protesters gathered to defend immigrant neighbors. Renee Nicole Good, a mother of a six year old, showed up with her wife and dog to film altercations between officers and community members. What happened next changed everything. 

Guest: Jon Collins, senior reporter on the Minnesota Public Radio News race, class and communities team.

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Podcast production by Ethan Oberman, Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther. 




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The Scandal That Took Down Tim Walz

Wed, 07 Jan 2026
How a mixture of real investigations, wild allegations, evidence of actual fraud, and the right-wing echo chamber ended Tim Walz’s governor campaign in Minnesota.

Guest: Deena Winter, Minneapolis City Hall reporter for the Star Tribune. 

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.


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The Jan 6ers: Where Are They Now?

Tue, 06 Jan 2026
The investigation into the 2021 attack on the Capitol was the largest in FBI history. Then Trump came back into office—and started undoing it. 

Guest: Ryan Reilly, reporter covering the Justice Department and federal law enforcement for NBC News, author of Sedition Hunters: How January 6th Broke the Justice System.

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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.
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Don’t Call It a Regime Change

Mon, 05 Jan 2026
The Trump administration has a handful of answers to the question “Why did the United States pluck Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela?”—it was for narcoterrorism, or payback, or just oil. They’re even less clear about what’s going to happen with the country now.

Guest: Shane Harris, staff writer covering national security and intelligence for the Atlantic. 

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 to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.




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