What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Democrats wouldn’t let themselves believe the polls heading into Tuesday’s midterms, and Republicans didn’t seem all that worried about them either. But as returns started coming in Tuesday night, no one could believe their eyes.

Guest: Molly Olmstead, Slate staff writer.

This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.
Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As an electoral issue during the midterms, artificial intelligence was tied up with money in politics, with industry and government in cahoots, and with data centers feeling forced into communities. It was a big winner for Democrats this year, and all of these—plus the implications for employment—are going to be bigger issues in 2028.

Guest: Rob Flaherty, political strategist and founder of Tomorrow Together, a tech-focused political action committee.

Want more What Next TBD? 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 Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme, Patrick Fort and Micah Phillips.
Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Democrats basically got their best-case scenario to play out in the midterms. But that was only the election—so what’s the plan for governing here? A gaggle of Slatesters convenes to discuss live.

Guests:
Jim Newell, Slate’s senior politics writer and author of The Surge newsletter.
Aymann Ismail, Slate senior writer who spent election night at the Abdul El-Sayed watch party in Michigan.
Luke Winkie, Slate staff writer who spent election night with Hasan Piker in West Hollywood.

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 Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.
Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Now we know how effective Trump’s reflecting pool-related closing pitch was.

And join Mary Harris and a team of Slatesters covering the election on Wednesday (11/4) at noon eastern time by signing up here.

Guest: David Faris, professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of It’s Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics.

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 Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.
Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Even factoring in late-breaking stories in Alaska and Michigan and a reflexive distrust—on both sides—of any polls that look good for Democrats, all signs are pointing to a big day for the opposition party. What’s at stake today—and how worried should everyone actually be?
And join Mary Harris and a team of Slatesters covering the election on Wednesday (11/4) at noon eastern time by signing up here.

Guests:
G. Elliott Morris, pollster, journalist, author of Strength in Numbers substack.
Alan Elrod, president & CEO of the Pulaski Institution, columnist and Contributing Editor at Liberal Currents

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 Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.

Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.