What Next | The Arts of the Deal

Slate News

Slate Podcasts

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.6 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 7 May 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How Donald Trump is attempting to shape the arts to his own liking, from installing himself as head of the Kennedy Center to canceling grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, throwing organizations and projects of all sizes into uncertainty and chaos. Guests: Alisa Solomon, director of the Arts & Culture concentration at the Columbia Journalism School Katy Waldman, staff writer for the New Yorker. 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 Ethan Oberman, Isabel Angell, Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm making a robot head with an Amazon box.
0:03.0	I've painted it silver and Daddy helped me make it.
0:05.0	At Amazon, we're actually using paper bags for more of our deliveries.
0:08.0	And now I'm making a paper hot air balloon
0:11.0	and I even made a little brown basket
0:13.0	and I'm making a dog that looks just like Monty.
0:16.0	Just one of the ways we've reduced the weight of our packaging by more than 40% since 2015,
0:20.0	which is still good for playtime.
0:22.6	Mom, where's the scissors? To learn more, visit aboutamason.com.com.com.
0:28.0	Sustainability. Kate's just off to work after sleeping in the best bed in the business.
0:34.9	And my word, doesn't she look ready for anything? Something about her smile
0:39.0	is just brighter. Her eyes seem glintier and she just feels so much more katier. Of
0:46.6	course it's no surprise really because last night she slept at Premier Inn and she got up to
0:51.4	15% off with Business Booker. Get better sleep for your money. Premier in,
0:57.2	rest easy. T's and C's apply.
1:03.7	This week, when you click on Netflix, you can see an hour and a half window into Washington's political
1:12.3	transformation. Or that's what the streaming service would like you to believe.
1:19.1	Netflix is broadcasting the ceremony for the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American
1:24.9	Humor. This year it was Conan O'Brien getting honored.
1:29.6	And the event was recorded just a few weeks after President Trump appointed himself as the chairman
1:36.0	of the Kennedy Center's board.
1:39.1	It casts something of appall over the whole night.
	...

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