In a Gabfest Special edition, David Plotz, John Dickerson, and Emily Bazelon discuss Donald Trump’s indictment. Here are some notes and references from today’s show: The New York Times: “Live Updates: Trump Likely to Be Arraigned on Tuesday” Slate Political Gabfest: The “Trump Will Be Indicted Next Tuesday” Edition Email your questions and chatters to gabfest@slate.com or Tweet us @SlateGabfest. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna Roth 
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Gabfest Special: What the Trump Indictment Means

Voted “Favorite Political Podcast” by Apple Podcasts listeners. Stephen Colbert says "Everybody should listen to the Slate Political Gabfest." The Gabfest, featuring Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz, is the kind of informal and irreverent discussion Washington journalists have after hours over drinks.

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This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the fallout from Donald Trump’s felony conviction; the spin-up for Hunter Biden’s trial; and the upshot for college speech from campus protests with Charles Homans.   Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Nathaniel Rakich for 538: Trump’s conviction may be hurting him – but it’s early Sarah Longwell in The Atlantic: The Two-Time Trump Voters Who Have Had Enough Dafydd Townley for The Conversation: Trump guilty verdict: the fallout for US democracy Politico Magazine: 22 Experts Predict What the Trump Conviction Will Mean for 2024 and Beyond CBS News: Watch: Biden speaks at D-Day commemoration ceremony Perry Stein for The Washington Post: Gun counts Hunter Biden faces are rarely stand-alone charges and Perry Stein, Devlin Barrett, and Matt Viser: How a fight over immunity unraveled Hunter Biden’s plea deal Cris Barrish for WHYY: Lawyers spar in Wilmington court over whether Hunter Biden ‘knowingly’ lied on federal gun purchase form about drug use Eugene Daniels for Politico: Biden issues a rare statement on his son’s criminal trial Mini Racker for Time: How Hunter Biden’s Scandals Compare to Those of Trump’s Family Members Matthew Yglesias for Vox: Nepotism and the 2020 election, explained Emily Bazelon and Charles Homans for The New York Times: The Battle Over College Speech Will Outlive the Encampments Here & Now on WBUR: Pro-Palestinian protesters at Brown reach deal with university Emma H. Haidar and Cam E. Kettles for The Harvard Crimson: Harvard Will Refrain From Controversial Statements About Public Policy Issues Paul Alivisatos in The Wall Street Journal: Why I Ended the University of Chicago Protest Encampment Greta Reich and Caroline Chen for The Stanford Daily: Pro-Palestine protesters detained following occupation of president’s office, face immediate suspension 
 Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: Liz Goodwin for The Washington Post: Senate Republicans vote against making contraception a federal right and Ellen Wexler for Smithsonian Magazine: The 150-Year-Old Comstock Act Could Transform the Abortion Debate John: Marco Hernandez, Jeffrey Gettleman, Finbarr O’Reilly, and Tim Wallace for The New York Times: What Ukraine Has Lost and Helena Skinner and Emma Ogao for ABC News: Satellite images show devastation in Sudan 1 year since conflict began David: Alina Chan in The New York Times: Why the Pandemic Probably Started in a Lab, in 5 Key Points Listener chatter from Kevin Cassidy in Sawyer, Michigan: Dyartorin Crafts: How to make Leonardo Da Vinci Bridge using popsicle sticks and HeyDadHey: How To Make A Da Vinci Bridge   For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, John, and David talk about changes at the Washington Post and the state of journalism. See Oliver Darcy for CNN: Washington Post abruptly replaces executive editor Sally Buzbee in shakeup, David Folkenflik for NPR: New CEO of ‘The Washington Post’ puts former colleagues in power, and David Bauder for AP: With its top editor abruptly gone, The Washington Post grapples with a hastily announced restructure. See also Edward Helmore for The Guardian: ‘The final act’: fears US journalism crisis could destabilize 2024 election and Jack Shafer for Slate: The New Vanity Press Moguls.    In the next Gabfest Reads, David talks with Sierra Greer about her new book, Annie Bot: A Novel. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)   Podcast production by Cheyna Roth Research by Julie Huygen   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will Trump’s Conviction Help Biden?

In this week’s essay, John discusses instinct versus obligation, his daughter’s wit, how he has changed since episode one, and more.   Notebook Entries: Notebook 58, page 10. September 16, 2021 “You don’t measure your life the way you measure your writing.” - Nan 
 Notebook 75, page 46-47. September 2021 When your dog dies and son goes to college and you are confronted with your life’s work it all boils down to one alarm: the clock is ticking. If a scream is better than a thesis, I was hearing some kind of scream, but what was the thesis? 
 References: Everything Is Copy – HBODocs   The Power of Regret – Daniel Pink 
 The Mezzanine – Nicholson Baker  “The Creative Process” – James Baldwin Slouching Towards Bethlehem – Joan Didion “Three Paths Toward the Meaning of Life” - Arthur Brooks for The Atlantic 
 Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Email us at navelgazingpodcast@gmail.com   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Dickerson’s Navel Gazing: The Meaning Behind All This Navel Gazing

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the U.S. Senate seats that might turn from blue to red in 2024; The Fall of Roe with The New York Times’s Elizabeth Dias and Lisa Lerer; and the rise of Lauren Boebert with City Cast Denver’s Bree Davies and Paul Karolyi.    Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter: 2024 CPR Senate Race Ratings Jonathan Weisman for The New York Times: 10 Senate Races to Watch in 2024 Ben Kamisar for NBC News: Rich people are spending more than ever to run for Congress. A big test is coming in Maryland. Nate Silver for 538: Are The Democrats Screwed In The Senate After 2024? The Fall of Roe: The Rise of a New America by Elizabeth Dias and Lisa Lerer and The New York Times Magazine: The Untold Story of the Network That Took Down Roe v. Wade Ian Ward for Politico: The Group Behind Dobbs Does Not Want to Talk About What Comes Next Bree Davies and Paul Karolyi for City Cast Denver: Lauren Boebert Can’t Lose  CBS Colorado: Beto O’Rourke Talks Gun Violence At Aurora Campaign Stop 
 Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: Law & Justice Journalism Project: 2024 Fellowship John: Katie Razzall, Darin Graham, and Larissa Kennelly for BBC News: FBI investigating missing ancient treasures from British Museum and Rebecca Mead for The New Yorker: The British Museum’s Blockbuster Scandals David: Meilan Solly for Smithsonian Magazine: Giant Pandas Are Coming Back to Washington, D.C.; Maura Judkis and Travis M. Andrews for The Washington Post: Let’s argue about the giant pandas; and Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute: Red panda   Listener chatter from Annamarie Smith in Sacramento, California: Sukey Lewis and Julie Small for KQED: On Our Watch: New Folsom   For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, John, and David talk about pronatalism and the Collins family. See Jenny Kleeman for The Guardian: America’s premier pronatalists on having ‘tons of kids’ to save the world: ‘There are going to be countries of old people starving to death’. See also Luke Munn for The Conversation: Pronatalism is the latest Silicon Valley trend. What is it – and why is it disturbing?; Sarah Jones for Intelligencer: There’s Nothing New About Pronatalism; and The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank by David Plotz.   In the next Gabfest Reads, David talks with Sierra Greer about her new book, Annie Bot: A Novel.   Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)   Podcast production by Cheyna Roth Research by Julie Huygen   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump is Convicted! Plus, Who is Winning The Senate?

In this week’s essay, John discusses Mothers’s Day, playing tennis with the Attorney General, medical scares, and more   Notebook Entries: Notebook 19, page 16. April 2011 Is it possible, through applied thought, to become systematic in an approach to life? If you were to do that how would you proceed?  
 Notebook 16, page 6. July 26, 2005 “I’m here with a bunch of midshipmen and wondering what there is to do around here.” - Boy trying to hit on a girl working @ The Reef in Castine, ME. 
 Notebook 15, page 30. September 2004 Head problems: Sunday 9/5 morning Tuesday 9/7 evening Wednesday 9/8 before lunch 
 Notebook 22, page 22. April 24, 2014 Question:  What did you want to be when you were a kid? 
What do you want to be now?
Why the difference?

 Notebook 9. 1995 “That’s just the ticket the doctor ordered” 
 Notebook 13. 2001 “Free as a clam” 
 Notebook 17, page 67. December 2006 The man sitting next to me has a face on the boil and garlic and old booze on his breath. When he sleeps, he sighs. For this leg of the flight I am wrapped in his breathy gumbo. 
 Notebook 15, page 7. April 2004 “In all these there are messages for those who use their reason.” - Quran quotation 
 Notebook 15, page 80. 2005 Would like to meet her. 
 Notebook 54. July 26, 2020 “Writing requires a reader. You can’t do it alone.” - John Cheever 
 Notebook 15, page 71. 2005 In the light of sobriety not sure what this means 
 Notebook 13. March 2001 Yesterday I played tennis with John Ashcroft the atty. general of the U.S. 
 Notebook 13, page 108. December 11, 2001 Anne just called. There is one little heartbeat beating in her today. Everything is okay for this hurdle. I must say, I was really worried. 
 Notebook 20, page 10. December 24, 2013 “Sometimes Dad says weird stuff, just ignore him” - Anne to kids about me 
 Notebook 15, page 84. “Life goes on,” Hayawi says. “We are in the middle of a war [in Iraq] and we still smoke the water pipe.” 
 Notebook 45, page 24. April 16, 2019 Our savior lives by the manner in which we live. 
 Notebook 19, page 23. 2011 People on their mobile phones in England say goodbye a lot: “Cheers, alright then, speak to you soon, ta.” (That’s four ways of saying goodbye). Amelia tells the story of a man who thanked a ticket-taker by saying “Ta, magical, cheers.” 
 References: Disaster on the Penobscot - John Henry Fay for Naval History Magazine One Man’s Meat by E.B. White The House at Allen Cove I E.B. White House Tour - New England Magazine Little Plastic Castle - Ani Defranco “Two Years of War: Taking Stock” - Anthony Shadid for the Washington Post   Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Email us at navelgazingpodcast@gmail.com   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Dickerson’s Navel Gazing: Time Travel Via an Assortment of Journal Entries

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s right-wing flag-flying; David Leonhardt’s take on A New Centrism; and OpenAI’s use – or not – of Scarlett Johansson’s voice.    Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Jodi Kantor for The New York Times: At Justice Alito’s House, a ‘Stop the Steal’ Symbol on Display; Jodi Kantor, Aric Toler, and Julie Tate: Another Provocative Flag Was Flown at Another Alito Home; Jodi Kantor and Abbie VanSickle: Display at Alito’s Home Renews Questions of Supreme Court’s Impartiality; and Abbie VanSickle: What Do Judicial Rules Say About Alito and a ‘Stop the Steal’ Symbol? V: The Original Mini Series on Prime Video  Mark Sherman for AP: Roberts, Trump spar in extraordinary scrap over judges and Mark Sherman and Lindsay Whitehurst: Supreme Court Justices Barrett and Sotomayor, ideological opposites, unite to promote civility David Leonhardt for The New York Times: The Rise of a New Centrism and A New Centrism Is Rising in Washington John Dickerson for Gabfest Reads and New Cold Wars: China’s Rise, Russia’s Invasion, and America’s Struggle to Defend the Westby David E. Sanger Bobby Allyn for NPR: Scarlett Johansson says she is ‘shocked, angered’ over new ChatGPT voice Nitasha Tiku for The Washington Post: OpenAI didn’t copy Scarlett Johansson’s voice for ChatGPT, records show and Molly Roberts: Scarlett Johansson’s ChatGPT face-off confirms our fears about AI Midler v. Ford Motor Co., 849 F.2d 460 (9th Cir. 1988) on Justia Blake Brittain for Reuters: New York Times denies OpenAI’s ‘hacking’ claim in copyright fight Michael Sainato for The Guardian: Consultant behind deepfaked Biden robocall indicated for Democratic primary scheme Her by Warner Bros. Pictures 
 Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: Hacks on Max  John: Lauren Aratani for The Guardian: Majority of Americans wrongly believe US is in recession – and most blame Biden David: 99% Invisible: Towers of Silence   Listener chatter from Aaron Tax in Washington, D.C.: Andrea Sachs for The Washington Post: A beloved alley cat now lives in the Watergate. Was she kidnapped, or rescued?     For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, John, and David talk about Republican politicians’ answers to the question: will you accept the results of the 2024 presidential election? See Alec Hernandez for NBC News: Here’s what top Trump VP picks say about the 2020 election results – and whether they’ll accept the 2024 outcome; Justin Green for Axios: Listen to Republicans on whether they’ll accept 2024 election results; and Patrick Svitek for The Washington Post: Top Republicans, led by Trump, refuse to commit to accept 2024 election results.   In the next Gabfest Reads, David talks with Sierra Greer about her new book, Annie Bot: A Novel.   Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)   Podcast production by Cheyna Roth Research by Julie Huygen   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gabfest Special: What the Trump Indictment Means

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