Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
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A federal judge paused the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. This may not have been a necessary step if the Department of Justice had taken its corporate enforcement mandate more seriously. But under this administration, a proven method has emerged to keep the government out of your business: make it personally profitable for Donald Trump.
Guest: Liz Oyer, Former U.S. Department of Justice Pardon Attorney
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Podcast production by Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort. Video Production by Rob Gunther.
Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD.
Social:
@maryharris on Bluesky
https://bsky.app/profile/maryharris.bsky.social
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If you love What Next, join Slate Plus at slate.com/youtubeplus?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=link&utm_content=What_Next&utm_campaign=show_description&tpcc=youtube-link-show_description-What_Next to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts.
A federal judge paused the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. This may not have been a necessary step if the Department of Justice had taken its corporate enforcement mandate more seriously. But under this administration, a proven method has emerged to keep the government out of your business: make it personally profitable for Donald Trump.
Guest: Liz Oyer, Former U.S. Department of Justice Pardon Attorney
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 Rob Gunther, Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort. Video Production by Rob Gunther.
Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD.
Social:
@maryharris on Bluesky
https://bsky.app/profile/maryharris.bsky.social
Note: Captions are auto-generated by YouTube.
Learn more: slate.com/podcasts/what-next
Follow Slate on Social:
Slate on Twitter - twitter.com/Slate
Slate Podcasts on Twitter - twitter.com/SlatePodcasts
Slate on Facebook: facebook.com/slate
Slate on Instagram: instagram.com/slate










![The Olympic Curler Who Called Out Trump
“I understand why some of the male hockey players wanted to go [to the State of the Union]. It doesn’t mean you’re MAGA or Trump or whatever … but there should have been comments the next day.”
U.S. curler Rich Ruohonen made headlines for his strong words about the Trump administration and ICE’s actions in his home state of Minnesota. The 2026 Olympian—who just made history as the oldest American athlete to ever compete in the Winter Games—spoke with Mary Harris, host of Slate’s What Next podcast, about his public statements, the backlash female athletes have to face for simply existing, and his thoughts about the U.S. men’s hockey team at the State of the Union.
Listen to the full interview now on What Next.
#news #dailynews #podcast #olympics #curling The Olympic Curler Who Called Out Trump](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/l5qhDT6kJfE/mqdefault.jpg)