What Next | The Spectacle of “Alligator Alcatraz” Is the Point

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4 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 July 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Built in just eight days, Donald Trump and Kristi Noem toured “Alligator Alcatraz,” a migrant detention facility built on a disused airstrip in the Florida Everglades. Even before Trump touched down in South Florida, branded merchandise was being sold. Soon after he headed back to Washington, the first detainees were brought in. Guest: Sommer Brugal, Miami reporter for Axios. 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, 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	Oh, that's my prime delivery.
0:01.6	What, already?
0:02.7	Only one thing can match the buzz of Prime's fast delivery.
0:06.2	And that's the buzz of Prime's entertainment.
0:09.0	What are we watching?
0:09.7	Heads of state, that new action comedy with Idris Elber as the Prime Minister,
0:13.3	John Sina as the president, and Prianka Chopra Jonas,
0:15.9	as their only hope.
0:17.0	It looks like a blast.
0:18.3	From fast delivery to explosive entertainment, it's on Prime.
0:22.5	For only $899 a month, join now. Content includes limited ads, subscription or to renews.
0:27.5	For more information, go to amazon.com.uk.U.K. slash prime.
0:36.7	Last week, I watched President Trump's trip to the Florida Everglades, so you don't have to.
0:43.3	President Trump traveled to Florida today to inspect the side of a controversial new migrant detention center.
0:48.9	Newscasters said he was there to visit a new detention facility.
0:52.2	But that's a pretty grand name for what he showed TV cameras.
0:56.5	Tense, set up on an airstrip in the middle of a swamp.
1:00.8	Inside were bunk beds behind Chainlink.
1:04.4	Surrounded by dangerous wildlife and oppressive heat,
1:07.6	the administration is calling the facility Alligator Alcatraz.
1:14.5	Can I just take a point of privilege here? Because I want to say I hate this name. Aligator Alcatraz
1:21.1	sounds like a late night movie on the sci-fi channel. It's enough to make you forget that this is
	...

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