What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future

Why Are More Young People Getting Cancer?

02 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The age when you need to start being screened for cancers may need to be updated, as rates among younger people are on the rise. New testing methods c...

The Panopticon Olympics

28 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How France changed its own laws to have the safest, most pervasively surveilled Olympics ever—and why some are worried the new security system will ...

Is Silicon Valley Trump-Vance Country?

26 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For years, Silicon Valley has felt like a liberal enclave.. This election, a handful of powerful voices like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel are expressing ...

The Conspiracy Theory Election

21 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the hours after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, conspiracy theories started circulating all over social media, often amplified by powerf...

America’s Tech Trustbuster

19 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The biggest companies in the world are now tech companies, which is why the biggest antitrust, anti-monopoly fights in recent memory are centered arou...

The New World of DIY Medical Tests

14 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

“Home diagnostics” are a $5 billion industry—and growing. Spurred by social media, people are buying into at-home health tests, without input fr...

Boeing Pleads Guilty

12 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Boeing just pled guilty to felony charges of defrauding the federal government, leading to millions of dollars in fines, and new, external oversight. ...

The Blu-Ray-naissance Is Here. Sort of.

07 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The downsides of the streaming era are coming into focus for movie fans—uncontrollable, changing libraries; lower fidelity; lack of extras and featu...

Elon Says Have More Babies

05 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The world’s population has never been bigger, and it’s still growing. but there’s a movement of “pronatalists” who see the slowing birth rat...

Why Are IUDs Still a Mystery?

30 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The story of IUDs is a story of technology, reproductive rights, shortcomings in communication about women’s health, and politics.  Guest: Mia Ar...

Why Extreme Weather Keeps Surprising You

28 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Saying any one storm or heat wave or weather in general was “caused by climate change” is tricky—summer is, after all, usually pretty hot, and s...

Is Your Phone Tracking Your Driving?

23 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As cars get smarter, automakers - with the help of third-party apps - are leveraging the new data they’re able to collect on people's driving habits...

Amazon Wants Your Handprint

21 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Amazon has installed digital palm readers at Whole Foods. The reader scans your palm, collecting biometric data, and links it to your credit card to p...

The FBI Made a Phone Network. It Was A Trap.

16 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 2021, one of the largest global law enforcement operations took place. It was all thanks to an encrypted phone service known as Anom, which was sec...

Apple Goes Intelligent

14 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On Monday, Tim Cook announced Apple was getting into artificial intelligence. Is Apple about to do for A.I. what it did for personal computers and sma...

Fee’d Up: A Musician’s Take on Ticketmaster

09 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s hard to imagine music fans mourning a break-up of Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation, as a Department of Justice lawsuit requests....

The Secret Semiconductor War

07 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How well is the Biden administration coaxing semiconductor companies to build their chips in the United States? Compared to Taiwan, South Korea, Japan...

Would You Buy Poop On the Internet?

02 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

“Fecal microbial transplants” treat someone’s unhealthy gut with poop from someone else’s healthy gut, and proponents of FMT claim it can help...

He’s Suing Big Tech Over Uvalde

31 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

His law firm won a $73 million dollar settlement against Remington on behalf of nine Sandy Hook families. Now he’s filing a lawsuit against the gunm...

Why Hospitals Keep Getting Hacked

26 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Last year saw a record number of healthcare hacks with more than 700 separate incidents. And with a subsidiary of United Healthcare forking over a $22...

Scarlett Johansson vs OpenAI

24 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When OpenAI showed a demo for the latest version of ChatGPT —the one that you can chat with, you know, with your voice—one of the voices sounded e...

The Dark Side of GoFundMe

19 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In theory, crowdfunding sites offer an opportunity for anyone to give to any cause, including, say, strangers facing huge medical bills. In practice, ...

Too Stonks Too Furious

17 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The 2021 subreddit-coordinated effort to raise the price of Gamestop stock was, in some ways, a proof of concept: the little guy can get into the mark...

Would You Choose Your Child’s Sex?

12 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The ability to choose the sex of your child through IVF is banned in most of the world. In America, however, parents can—and do—for a price. Gues...

Meet the Trump Campaign’s A.I. Guy

10 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

You might not know Brad Parscale by name, but you know his work: he was the digital campaign operative behind Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential victo...

Can California Save Journalism?

05 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The California Journalism Preservation Act would make companies like Google and Meta pay publishers for the news content appearing in their feeds and ...

Bird Flu—It’s in Milk?

03 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Bird flu isn’t new, you may even remember past outbreaks. But showing up in milk?  Is America ready if it leaps to spreading among humans? Guest:...

The Failures of ‘Organic’ Farming

28 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There are regulations regarding how farm animals are transported, how they’re auctioned, how they’re slaughtered—but when they’re living on th...

So ... Is TikTok Banned?

26 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The TikTok ban that has been floating around Washington since the last administration has been signed into law. What does that mean for users, creator...

The Internet Archive Endangered

21 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

From the Wayback Machine to the mass-digitization of the history of Aruba, the Internet Archive is a non-profit doing valuable work. But some of its o...

What’s Driving Tesla’s Layoffs?

19 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tesla’s market cap has dropped. The company had its biggest round of layoffs ever. The Cybertruck doesn’t seem to be taking off. And Elon’s post...

Is America Ready for Legal Psychedelics?

14 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How the semi-legalization of marijuana has drawn a road map for legalizing psychedelics—and also provided a list of pitfalls to be avoided.  Guest...

Does Google Suck Now?

12 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Why lately our search engines just don’t seem to deliver results.  Guest: Jason Koebler, cofounder of 404 Media and co-host of the 404 Media Podca...

America Needs More Power

07 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The demand for electricity is surging in the U.S. With increasing amounts of power going towards artificial intelligence, manufacturing and electric v...

Truth Social’s Rocky Week

05 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump got a huge financial boost when Truth Social went public last week—or did he? Guest: Nitish Pahwa, associate writer on business and te...

The Psychological Toll of Mars

31 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

From science fiction writers to American presidents to Elon Musk, everyone’s eager to send people to Mars. But, even if you could nail the physical ...

Can Boeing Pull Out of This Tailspin?

29 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How supply chains, the pandemic, and a steady stream of Wall Street money led to a crisis at Boeing. Guest: Jon Ostrower, editor-in-chief of the webs...

The Next Round of the Union Fight

24 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After organized-labor victories at Amazon, with automakers, and in Hollywood, big corporations are striking back by, among other things, suing the Nat...

Reddit’s IPO Gamble

22 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Despite the blackouts, moderator revolts, and long string of controversies, Reddit remains an active, healthy website. As the site goes public this we...

When Private Equity Gets in to Health Care

17 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Private equity firms have been buying up doctors’ offices and hospitals around the country. But if profits are the primary goal, what happens to the...

Is TikTok Cooked This Time?

15 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

TikTok’s connection to the Chinese government has been a Washington talking point since the Trump administration, but earlier this month lawmakers i...

Instagram’s Pedophile Problem

10 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As the debate around child safety online rages on, an investigation by The New York Times found a seedy world of pedophiles interacting with child inf...

Why TikTok Went Silent

08 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Thousands of songs have disappeared from TikTok in recent months as music giant Universal Music Group, or UMG, has pulled its catalog from the app. UM...

Google’s Scam Obituary Problem

03 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Why scam obituaries are edging out earnest ones, with the help of artificial intelligence and an adept Google game. Guest: Mia Sato, reporter for The...

The Supreme Court Takes on Content Moderation

01 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Is it censorship for social media platforms to moderate their content, or is censorship when the state tells social media platforms how to moderate th...

Alabama’s IVF Mess

25 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Fertility doctors and their patients trying to conceive via in vitro fertilization (IVF) were stopped in their tracks this week, as the Alabama Suprem...

The Coasts are Sinking

23 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Studies have found that, in tiny increments, America’s East Coast is sinking into the ground thanks to climate change. Can a new approach to urban p...

Apple Vision Pro: The Ultimate Surveillance Device?

18 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Apple Vision Pro goggles might be a crime against fashion but with the amount of data they can collect—both on the world around the user and on the ...

Warfare Enters the A.I. Era

16 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The war in Ukraine reordered the priorities of the country’s growing tech sector, and has become a place for foreign companies to test out new tools...

Breaking Up with Dating Apps

11 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For a while, it seemed like the only place to meet potential partners was through an app—Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, etc. But as the apps are trying to m...

The NFL’s Concussion Settlement Farce

09 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The NFL's concussion settlement was meant to provide financial support and medical help for players who developed traumatic brain injuries from the sp...

Streaming Is Cable Now

04 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The number of TV streaming services is going up—and so is the cost and so are the number of ads. Cordcutters are finding themselves back to cable pr...

The Taylor Swift Deepfake Saga

02 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For all the promise of the technology, one use-case for artificial intelligence reared its ugly head last week: non-consensual pornographic images. As...

Why Is Everybody Sick?

28 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Are we still paying off our pandemic-induced “immunity debt,” or is there another reason that it feels like we’re all sniffling and coughing and...

Are You Ready for the A.I. Election?

26 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the days leading up to the New Hampshire primary, voters received a robocall purportedly from Joe Biden. Authorities have now determined the call w...

Have Algorithms Ruined Our Culture?

21 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How much of our lives—our tastes, preferences and choices—have been fed to us through an interlocking, impersonal network of algorithms?  Guest:...

The Great British Library Hack

19 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When a cyberattack knocked the British Library out of commission in October of last year, a nation's researchers, scholars, students, and bookworms we...

Is Your Car Tracking You?

14 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Covered in cameras, full of microphones, and always eager to use location data, our vehicles are “smartphones on wheels”—and privacy nightmares....

Boeing’s Max Mess

12 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Shortly after take off from Portland, OR, the plug exit on a Boeing 737 Max 9 jet blew out – causing an uncontrolled decompression of the plane. Now...

Tesla's Cybertruck Problem

07 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What the Cybertruck says about safety, regulation, and the degree to which Tesla is beholden to the whims of Elon Musk.  Guest: Edward Niedermeyer, ...

Why the New York Times Sued OpenAI

05 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If A.I. and chatbots are the next wave of innovation, then the New York Times and other media organizations are determined to get paid this time.   ...

Who’s Afraid of A.I.? | 2023 In Review

31 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

While the What Next: TBD team spends some time with their families during the holidays, we revisit some of 2023’s biggest, strangest, and best stori...

America’s Killer Car Problem | 2023 In Review

29 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

While the What Next: TBD team spends some time with their families during the holidays, we revisit some of 2023’s biggest, strangest, and best stori...

Stephen King Is Just as Confused About Blue Checks as You Are | 2023 In Review

24 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

While the What Next: TBD team spends some time with their families during the holidays, we revisit some of 2023’s biggest, strangest, and best stori...

Can Hybrid Cars Save Us?

22 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Without infrastructure to support all-electric vehicles, consumers have increasingly embraced the hybrid. The lower emissions are good—but are they ...

The Case Against CLEAR

17 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Going through airport security is a legal requirement. Is it fair for a private company to interject itself in that process—and cut to the front of ...

Shein’s Newest Offering? An IPO

15 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Fast-fashion titan Shein is preparing for its initial public offering, even as questions of sustainability and labor practices linger.  Guest: Jordy...

Musk's War on Free Speech

10 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Elon Musk is suing Media Matters for reporting that advertisers’ content was showing up right next to posts from newly reinstated Nazis on X, someth...

Spotify Unwrapped

08 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Is Spotify’s 2023—ending with layoffs and cancelling critically acclaimed original podcasts—a sign of trouble at the streaming giant, or an adju...

They See You When You’re Shopping

03 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Though navigating the internet involves spraying your data pretty indiscriminately, you actually have more control over it than you think—it’s jus...

A Moral War for A.I.

01 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Artificial intelligence seems predestined to become a bigger part of our lives. To what extent is the A.I. push being led by Sam Altman and the OpenAI...

The Race (Back) to the Moon

26 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The first steps on the moon were in the name of “all mankind.” But with more countries—and the private sector—competing to not only return, bu...

Where Scams Are Born

24 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

An app for open money laundering, a corridor of massive casinos in the middle of nowhere, and the global scamdemic.  Guest: Cezary Podkul, reporter ...

Inside OpenAI's Implosion

21 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

OpenAI was the hottest startup in Silicon Valley off the success of ChatGPT. Then, the board fired Sam Altman.  Guest: Mike Isaac, technology report...

Bedbugs Are Back, Baby!

19 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The bedbug break-out during Paris fashion week this fall was obviously horrifying, but the bad news doesn’t stop there. Bedbugs are on the rise—an...

How Deepfake Porn Infected a School

17 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Girls at a New Jersey high school were early victims of a novel and growing problem: their images were taken from social media without consent to crea...

Will A.I. Take My Job?

12 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A review website became suddenly flush with new bylines, right as the newsroom was negotiating with management. But information on their new contribut...

Tesla vs. the Swedes

10 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In late October, Tesla mechanics in Sweden began to strike after the company refused to sign a collective agreement. This week, the country's other ma...

Sam Bankman-Fraud

04 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty on seven charges of wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering and is facing a 110-year sentence.  Cryptocurrenc...

Biden Goes After AI

03 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Biden’s executive order on A.I. indicates his administration is taking it seriously. Does it go far enough?  Guest: Cecilia Kang, covering technol...

SBF Takes the Stand

28 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The man at the center of it all takes the stand in his own defense—but what’s left to say? Guest: Nitish Pahwa, associate business and tech write...

Self-Driving Cars Crash Into Reality

27 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In August, California regulators voted to allow self-driving car companies like Cruise and Waymo to expand their operations and start offering robotax...

Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard Takeover

21 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Since Microsoft announced its bid to buy Activision Blizzard last year, regulators around the world sounded the alarm that the merger would suppress c...

Inside Hamas' Social Media Strategy

20 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Since war broke out, Hamas has been efficient in getting its message out on social media - both in providing crucial information to refugees fleeing t...

The $30,000 Zelle Scam

14 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Zelle has exploded in popularity as a fast, convenient way to send and receive money. But the story of a couple who was scammed out of a pool shows th...

The Israel-Hamas War Instantly Broke X

13 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When the Arab Spring was unfolding, Twitter was hailed as a way for on-the-ground reporting to reach the public. But when fighting between Hamas and I...

The Man Who Turned You Into Data

07 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Hank Asher was a lot of things: a Florida condo maven, a drug runner, a DEA informant—and a tech visionary who created the mixed blessing of turning...

Sam Bankman-Fried—and Crypto—on Trial

06 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As the trial begins, SBF is making the case that what he did is typical in the world of crypto. But when the government paints a much bleaker picture ...

Inside Crypto's House of Cards

01 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried marks the end of an era where crypto rose to dizzying, Super-Bowl-commercial heights. Where does the industry go from h...

Who Will Pay For A COVID Vaccine?

30 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After years of being a rare spot of universal, American-government-funded health care, this fall’s new COVID-19 vaccine is hitting the commercial ma...

Is Amazon a Monopoly?

29 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Amazon evolved from a place to get cheap used books to the “everything store”—one encompassing warehouses, logistics and shipping.  But with t...

What Instacart’s IPO Means for Tech

23 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As other tech companies that rode the pandemic to success started sinking, Instacart managed to stay above water—they turned a profit and even made ...

Did AirBnB Need to Go?

22 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The sword of regulation, which has been swinging over New York AirBnBs for over a decade, is falling at last. But will new laws for short-term rentals...

Can Politicians Keep Kids Safe Online?

16 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act has noble-sounding intentions, but has been called one of the most dangerous bills in years by the digital right...

Google Makes Its Case

15 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A trial a decade in the making has started, as the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust case against Google and its unrivaled position as the top sea...

Bad Air, Worse Vibes

09 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

COVID’s still here but the public’s appetite for masking, social distancing, or remote learning is long gone. One palatable way to stop the spread...

Tech Disrupts the School Bus

08 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Howard County signed a $27 million contract with the start-up Zum, the company promised to modernize the way schools provide transportation. But ...

Social Media’s Pivot from News

03 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It wasn’t long ago when social media was a place to go for up-to-the-minute updates in an emergency. But even as internet access is more widespread ...

Is LinkedIn...Cool Now?

01 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As Twitt—sorry, X—continues to go through tumult, an unlikely, long-time player is emerging as the last acceptable place to post. Guest: Sarah Fr...

The Cost of "Sustainable" Pet Food

27 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Most pet food is made from the byproducts of the meat that we, humans, eat. Recently, there’s been a rise in high-end pet food products - including ...