Podcast Episodes

What Next TBD: Honey, I Sold the House to Zillow

Between April and June of this year, Zillow bought nearly 4,000 homes. And they had no intention of holding onto them. The plan was to flip houses, often and at scale, joining the ranks of companies …

Published on 4 years, 1 month ago

What Next TBD: The Return of Hacktivism

Over the last month, the domain company Epik and the streaming service Twitch have fallen prey to massive-scale hacks. The hackers revealed not just email addresses, but detailed personal information…

Published on 4 years, 2 months ago

What Next TBD: Will the Facebook Whistleblower Make a Difference?

The last month has seen a steady drip of leaked documents from inside Facebook, each seemingly more damning than the next. This week, the whistleblower behind the leaks revealed her identity.

What mot…

Published on 4 years, 2 months ago

What Next TBD: What Instagram Does to Teens

Since 2018, internal research teams at Facebook have been studying the effect on Instagram on mental health. Their results couldn’t be more clear: Instagram is causing problems, especially for teen g…

Published on 4 years, 2 months ago

What Next TBD: Are We Getting COVID Testing All Wrong?

In the U.S., the PCR test is the gold standard for COVID testing. Common knowledge would have it that the test is more accurate—and therefore more effective at containing the spread of the dease—than…

Published on 4 years, 2 months ago

What Next TBD: China vs. Video Games

Recently, China restricted video game playing to just three hours a week for its young people: 8pm to 9pm, Friday through Sunday.

And that’s not the only change. Over the last few months, private tuto…

Published on 4 years, 2 months ago

What Next: TBD: Will Booster Shots Make a Difference?

Hey Secret History fans! We thought you might like this episode of What Next: TBD. What Next is Slate’s daily news show. And every Friday, What Next: TBD turns the news of the present into a glimpse …

Published on 4 years, 3 months ago

Introducing: Thrilling Tales of Modern Capitalism

Hey Secret History listeners! We'd like to introduce a new show from Slate, Thrilling Tales of Modern Capitalism. Each episode dives into the history of a brand that shapes the way we live and work. …

Published on 5 years, 6 months ago

Introducing Cautionary Tales

Hello, Secret History fans! Here's an episode of another show we think you might like: Cautionary Tales from Pushkin Industries.

Learning from our mistakes can be hard. Learning from other people’s m…

Published on 5 years, 11 months ago

Introducing What Next: TBD

Hey Secret History of the Future fans! We're excited to introduce you to another show we think you'll like. It's called What Next: TBD, and it's a weekly show about tech, power, and the future. Secre…

Published on 6 years ago