This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Stormy Daniels’s testimony in Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial; marijuana rescheduling; and the media’s role and responsibility in defending democracy.

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:

Josh Gerstein for Politico: Stormy spoke. Trump fumed. Jurors were captivated – but also cringed.

Ivana Saric for Axios: Status of Trump’s criminal cases

Li Zhou for Vox: Marijuana could be classified as a lower-risk drug. Here’s what that means.

Sam Tabachnik for The Denver Post: Black market marijuana grows are popping up faster than law enforcement can take them down. But is legalization the cause?

John Ingold for The Colorado Sun: What have we learned about the arguments for and against legalized marijuana in the past 10 years?

Nathaniel Meyersohn for CNN: The dark side of the sports betting boom

C-SPAN: President Biden Remarks at White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Ben Smith for Semafor: Joe Kahn: ‘The newsroom is not a safe space’

Dan Pfeiffer for Message Box: Why Biden Won’t Do a New York Times Interview and A Response to the Editor of the New York Times

Matthew Yglesias and Brian Beutler for the Politix Podcast: The Times, They Aren’t A Changin’

Charles Homans for The New York Times Magazine: Donald Trump Has Never Sounded Like This

Eli Stokols for Politico: The Petty Feud Between the NYT and the White House

Here are this week’s chatters: 

Emily: Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice by David S. Tatel 

John: Gina Kolata for The New York Times: Locks of Beethoven’s Hair Offer New Clues to the Mystery of His Deafness

David: Randy Yohe for West Virginia Public Broadcasting: W.Va. Gubernatorial Campaign Attack Ads Vilify Transgender Children and Kyndall Cunningham for Vox: The Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar feud, explained

Listener chatter from Justin and Katie in Columbus, Ohio: Keziah Weir for Vanity Fair: The Vatican’s Secret Role in the Science of IVF.   

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David, John, and Emily talk with Emily Lawler, Detroit Free Press. See Emily Lawler for the Detroit Free Press: Voters’ voices in Saginaw County; John Wisely: Legal troubles don’t dampen Trump enthusiasm as he visits Michigan; and Paul Egan: As Trump visits, Michigan bellwether Saginaw County is feeling its political juice. See also Arpan Lobo: Michigan lawmaker says ‘illegal invaders’ landed at DTW. They were NCAA basketball teams.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, John talks with David E. Sanger about his new book, New Cold Wars: China’s Rise, Russia’s Invasion, and America’s Struggle to Defend the West.

Email your chatters, questions, and comments to [email protected]. (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

In this week’s essay, John discusses an onboarding memo for his assistant Laura, and recounts his early days living and working in New York City. 

Notebook Entries:

Notebook 75

Onboard memo for Laura

Notebook 3, page 44. May 1991

June 17 start job. Good stuff

Notebook 3, page 46. May 1991

Tips on buying renting in NYC

Ask about broker

20s and 30s East side. Murry Hill

Live on no major avenue

Interest bearing account for security deposit

Medeco locks

Notebook 4, page 15

Scared standing on 34th and Broadway

$6 cab fare

Notebook 4, page 42

Getting lost in the village

References:

The Little Brown Book of Anecdotes by Clifton Fadiman 

Medeco Locks

“Here is New York” by E.B. White

“Silly Job Interview” - Monty Python 

John Cleese on Creativity in Management

Herbie Hancock: Miles Davis’ Essential Lesson On Mistakes

Want to listen to Navel Gazing uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Navel Gazing and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/navelgazingplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

Email us at [email protected]

Host

John Dickerson

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This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the increasing and increasingly violent campus protests of Israel’s war in Gaza, Emily’s article on How ‘History and Tradition’ Rulings Are Changing American Law, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem’s chances of a vice presidential nomination after killing her dog and writing about it.

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:

April Rubin, Kavya Beheraj, Tory Lysik, and Will Chase for Axios: Mapped: Where pro – Palestinian student protesters have been arrested

Sharon Otterman and Santul Nerkar for The New York Times: As Protests Grow, Universities Choose Different Ways to End Unrest

Mary Harris for Slate’s What Next podcast: Columbia Cracks Down

The University of Chicago: Report on the University’s Role in Political and Social Action

Jonathan Chait for New York’s Intelligencer: Why the Right Loves the Anti-Israel Encampments

Abigail Hauslohner for The Washington Post: House passes antisemitism bill over complaints from First Amendment advocates

Alexander Bolton for The Hill: Democrats split over campus protest crackdown

Emily Bazelon for The New York Times: How ‘History and Tradition’ Rulings Are Changing American Law

Regulations on YouTube

Calvinball on Wikipedia

The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law: A Conversation with Justice Amy Coney Barrett

Ian Millhiser for Vox: The Supreme Court appears poised to rein in its worst decision on guns

Ulysses S. Grant Revealed: President Ulysses S. Grant On The U.S. Constitution

Martin Pengelly for The Guardian: Trump VP contender Kristi Noem writes of killing dog – and goat – in new book

PBS American Experience: Nixon’s Checkers Speech

Marc A. Caputo for The Bulwark: Trump: ‘Marco has this residency problem.’

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: Gal Beckerman for The Atlantic: A Prominent Free-Speech Group Is Fighting for Its Life

John: Sonja Anderson for Smithsonian Magazine: This Newly Deciphered Papyrus Scroll Reveals the Location of Plato’s Grave

David: Kenny Holston for The New York Times: Inside a Navy Submarine Navigating the Arctic

Listener chatter from Christina in Philadelphia: Marina Bolotnikova for Vox: Mega drive-throughs explain everything wrong with American cities; Wikipedia: Third place; Jake Blumgart for The Philadelphia Inquirer: Starbucks plans a new Center City location with no restrooms or seating; and Marin Cogan for Vox: The deadliest road in America.   

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David, John, and Emily talk with Professor Deborah Tuerkheimer about the Harvey Weinstein case in New York. See Hurubie Meko and Maia Coleman for The New York Times: Prosecutors Say They Plan to Retry Harvey Weinstein as Soon as the Fall and Maria Cramer: Here are five takeaways from the overturned conviction. See also Deborah Tuerkheimer for CNN: Reversal in Harvey Weinstein case isn’t the demise of sex crimes prosecution and Credible: Why We Doubt Accusers and Protect Abusers by Deborah Tuerkheimer. 

In the latest Gabfest Reads, John talks with David E. Sanger about his new book, New Cold Wars: China’s Rise, Russia’s Invasion, and America’s Struggle to Defend the West.

Email your chatters, questions, and comments to [email protected]. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth

Research by Julie Huygen

Hosts

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week’s essay, John discusses the art of attention and how to develop the skill of slow-looking.

Notebook Entries:

Notebook 75, page 8. September 2021

1016

Notebook 1, page 54. June 1990

-       Magna carta 1215 at Salisbury

-       Girls skipping

-       The Haunch of Venison

-       Chris

References:

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum

A Little History of the World by E.H Gombrich

Artist Jeff Koons

“The Art of Divination: D.H. Lawrence on the Power of Pure Attention” by Maria Popova for The Marginalian

“Gabfest Reads: A Woman’s Life in Museum Wall Labels” for Political Gabfest 

One Woman Show by Christine Coulson

“Grammy-winning artist Jason Isbell talks about the craft of songwriting and his latest music” for CBS News

A Journey Around My Room by Xavier De Maistre

“Just think: The Challenges of the Disengaged Mind” by Timothy Wilson, et.al for Science

“Our Rodent Selfies, Ourselves” by Emily Anthes for the New York Times

One Man’s Meat by E.B. White

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

Email us at [email protected]

Want to listen to Navel Gazing uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Navel Gazing and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/navelgazingplus to get access wherever you listen.

Host

John Dickerson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the testimony of prosecution witness David Pecker in Donald Trump’s criminal trial, student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, and the Supreme Court argument on presidential immunity. 

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: 

Matthew Haag for The New York Times: David Pecker, Ex-National Enquirer Publisher, Details How He Aided Trump

Richard L. Hasen in the Los Angeles Times: Opinion: Why it’s hard to muster even a ‘meh’ over Trump’s New York criminal trial

J. David Goodman, David Montgomery, Jonathan Wolfe, and Jenna Russell for The New York Times: Campus Protests Over Gaza Intensify Amid Pushback by Universities and Police

Spectator Editorial Board for the Columbia Spectator: Is Columbia in crisis?

Minouche Shafik in The Wall Street Journal: Columbia University President: What I Plan to Tell Congress Tomorrow

David Schizer in CNN: Opinion: To combat antisemitism, start by following the law

Michael C. Dorf for Verdict: Federal Antidiscrimination Law Does Not Require Campus Crackdowns

J Oliver Conroy for The Guardian: ‘Media firestorm’: Israel protest at professor’s home sparks heated free-speech debate

C-SPAN: Supreme Court Hears Case on Former President Trump’s Immunity Claim

Ann Marimow for The Washington Post: Supreme Court seems poised to allow Trump trial, but not immediately

Ian Millhiser for Vox: Donald Trump already won the only Supreme Court fight that mattered

Here are this week’s chatters:

John: Stephen Clark for Ars Technica: Recoding Voyager 1—NASA’s interstellar explorer is finally making sense again

Emily: Abbie VanSickle for The Washington Post: Supreme Court Appeals Sharply Divided in Emergency Abortion Case and Angela Palermo for The Spokesman-Review: Idaho has lost 22% of its practicing obstetricians in the last 15 months, report say

David: Exploring a Secret Fort on airbnb; City Cast: Work with us.; and Eve O. Schaub for The Washington Post: Don’t waste your time recycling plastic

Listener chatter from Michael Starr in New York City: Patrick Page in All The Devils Are Here; Richard the Third by Paul Murray Kendall; and Nancy Shute for NPR: No Hunch Here: Richard III Suffered From Scoliosis Instead

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David, John, and Emily talk about a question before the Supreme Court: can a city regulate homelessness? See Amy Howe for SCOTUSblog: Court divided over constitutionality of criminal penalties for homelessness; Esteban L. Hernandez and Meira Gebel for Axios: Supreme Court weighs case that could affect Denver’s approach to homelessness and Alayna Alvarez: Denver’s urban camping ban brings 10 years of turmoil; and Eli Saslow and Todd Heisler for The New York Times: A Sandwich Shop, a Tent City and an American Crisis. 

In the latest Gabfest Reads, John talks with David E. Sanger about his new book, New Cold Wars: China’s Rise, Russia’s Invasion, and America’s Struggle to Defend the West.

Email your chatters, questions, and comments to [email protected]. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth

Research by Julie Huygen

Hosts

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week’s essay, John dives deep into the loss of his beloved dog, George, the essayist’s dilemma, the comfort of quiet mornings, and more.

Notebook Entries:

Notebook 75, page 5. September 5, 2021

I go to the morning alone.

Notebook 75, page 6. September 6, 2021

Phantom nails on the stairs

References:

“Every Dog Is a Rescue Dog” by John Dickerson for The Atlantic

“Oxytocin-gaze positive loop and the coevolution of human-dog bonds” by Miho Nagasawa et.al for Science

Haikus by Jennifer Gurney

“Which Pet Will Make You Happiest?” by Arthur C. Brooks for The Atlantic

“The Family Dog Is in Sync With Your Kids” by Gretchen Reynolds for The New York Times

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

Email us at [email protected]

Want to listen to Navel Gazing uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Navel Gazing and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/navelgazingplus to get access wherever you listen.

Host

John Dickerson

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John Dickerson talks with author David E. Sanger about his new book, New Cold Wars. They discuss how Russia and China came to reach their new levels of power, the role the Middle East and Obama Administration played in all of this, and more.

Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at [email protected]. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Donald Trump’s first criminal trial and the Supreme Court argument on a criminal charge related to another Trump case and talk with The Atlantic’s Mark Leibovich about his profile of Governor Gavin Newsom. 

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:

Norman Eisen for CNN: Don’t call it a ‘hush money’ case

Brian Beutler for the Politix podcast: Alvin Bragg’s Liberal Critics Are Wrong

Ben Protess, Jonah E. Bromwich, Maggie Haberman, and Wesley Parnell for The New York Times: Prosecutors and Defense Lawyers Begin to Seat Jurors for Trump Trial and Maggie Haberman: A Weary Trump Appears to Doze Off in Courtroom Ahead of Criminal Trial

David Bauder for AP: Trump trial: Why can’t Americans see or hear what is going on inside the courtroom?

Ann E. Marimow for The Washington Post: Supreme Court divided over key charge against Jan. 6 rioters and Trump

Michael C. Dorf for Dorf On Law: The Ejusdem is Loose -- SCOTUS Insurrectionist Case Edition

Mark Leibovich for The Atlantic: Gavin Newsom Can’t Help Himself

HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher: Gov. Gavin Newsom

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: Uri Berliner in The Free Press: I’ve Been at NPR for 25 Years. Here’s How We Lost America’s Trust.; David Folkenflik for NPR: NPR editor Uri Berliner resigns with blast at new CEO; Alicia Montgomery for Slate: The Real Story Behind NPR’s Current Problems; A24’s Civil War; and HBO’s The Last of Us

John: The Annie E. Casey Foundation; diversitydatakids.org by Brandeis’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management: Child Opportunity Index (COI); Aliya Schneider for The Philadelphia Inquirer: ‘They’re cheating.’ President Biden floats higher tariffs on Chinese imports in Pittsburgh speech; John Dickerson for Slate’s Navel Gazing podcast; and CBS News Prime Time with John Dickerson

David: Trevor Aaronson, Sam Eifling, and Michael Mooney for Audible’s Hold Fast podcast and Jacques Billeaud for AP: Backpage founder will face Arizona retrial on charges he participated in scheme to sell sex ads

Listener chatter from Josh in Brisbane, Australia: Ross Scott’s website Stop Killing Games

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David, John, and Emily talk with Anna Sale about her podcast, Death, Sex & Money, which is now on Slate. See Death, Sex & Money podcast: A Sociopath’s Guide to Death, Sex, and Money and Patrick Page in All The Devils Are Here. 

In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily talks with Tana French about her book, The Hunter: A Novel.

Email your chatters, questions, and comments to [email protected]. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth

Research by Julie Huygen

Hosts

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week’s essay, John remembers dropping his son off at college, and trying to hold onto moments and feelings while you can. 

Notebook Entries:

Notebook 75, page 6. September 2021:

They chose you.

Notebook 15, page 4. April 2004:

Sitting with Brice by waterfall. Throwing rocks in stream. Loading sand from dump truck and loader and back again.

References:

What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith

Songwriter Nick Cave

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

Email us at [email protected]

Want to listen to Navel Gazing uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Navel Gazing and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/navelgazingplus to get access wherever you listen.

Host

John Dickerson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the revival of Arizona’s 1864 abortion ban; the end of No Labels; and the past and future of presidential debates. 

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:

Mary Jo Pitzl and Reagan Priest for The Arizona Republic: Arizona House GOP halt Democrats’ effort to overturn Civil War era law in chaotic session

Dan Balz for The Washington Post: The Arizona Supreme Court just upended Trump’s gambit on abortion

Jamelle Bouie for The New York Times: The Man Who Snuffed Out Abortion Rights Is Here to Tell You He Is a Moderate

Ramtin Arablouei and Rund Abdelfatah for NPR’s All Things Considered: Abortion was once common practice in America. A small group of doctors changed that

A.O. Sulzberger Jr. for The New York Times: Reagan Says Ban On Abortion May Not Be Needed

David Faris for Slate: Why No Labels Didn’t Stick

Slate’s Political Gabfest: The “No Mugshot” Edition

Thomas B. Edsall for The New York Times: Has No Labels Become a Stalking Horse for Trump?

Michael H. Brown for The Washington Post: Joseph Lieberman, senator and vice-presidential nominee, dies at 82

Here are this week’s chatters: 

Emily: Dartmouth’s Leslie Center for the Humanities: People, Place, Podcasts: Emily Bazelon and Erica Heilman in Conversation and the Rumble Strip podcast 

John: Slate’s Navel Gazing podcast and Rachel Wolfe for The Wall Street Journal: The Calls for Help Coming From Above the Poverty Line

David: Hannah Seo for The New York Times: Is It Better to Brush Your Teeth Before Breakfast or After?

Listener chatter from Mark Phillips in Baltimore, Maryland: Ben Crair for The New Yorker: The Magic of Bird Brains

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David, John, and Emily discuss AI communications with loved ones after they die. See Walter Marsh for The Guardian: Laurie Anderson on making an AI chatbot of Lou Reed: ‘I’m totally, 100%, sadly addicted’ and Ira Glass for This American Life: The Ghost in the Machine. See also Niamn Ancell for Cybernews: These apps could resurrect your relatives using artificial intelligence; Rebecca Carballo for The New York Times: Using A.I. to Talk to the Dead; and Tamara Kneese for Wired: Using Generative AI to Resurrect the Dead Will Create a Burden for the Living.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily talks with Tana French about her book, The Hunter: A Novel.

Email your chatters, questions, and comments to [email protected]. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth

Research by Julie Huygen

Hosts

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices