This week, Emily Bazelon and David Plotz discuss the recent Supreme Court rulings on emergency abortions and guns with Yale Law School’s Linda Greenhouse and Congressman Jamaal Bowman’s loss in a New York Democratic primary.

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

Supreme Court of the United States: Moyle v. United States; United States v. Rahimi; and Murthy v. Missouri

Greg Stohr, Kimberly Robinson, and Lydia Wheeler for Bloomberg: Supreme Court Poised to Allow Emergency Abortions in Idaho

Amy Howe for SCOTUSblog: Supreme Court appears to allow emergency abortions in Idaho and Supreme Court upholds bar on guns under domestic-violence restraining orders

Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez for The Idaho Capital Sun: Idaho’s OB-GYN exodus throws women in rural towns into a care void

Eleanor Klibanoff for The Texas Tribune: Emergency rooms not required to perform life-saving abortions, federal appeals court rules

Ariane de Vogue, Tierney Sneed, and Devan Cole for CNN: Supreme Court issues report on Dobbs leak but says it hasn’t identified the leaker

Mark Joseph Stern for Slate: Supreme Court Inadvertently Reveals Confounding Late Change in Trump Ballot Ruling and Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern: John Roberts Tried to Clean Up Clarence Thomas’ Mess. He May Have Invited More Chaos.

Linda Greenhouse in The New York Times: The Supreme Court Steps Back From the Edge and How John Roberts Lost His Court

Michael C. Dorf for Dorf on Law: Justice Kavanaugh’s Concurrence in Rahimi Contains a Whopper of an Error (or Worse) and The Hidden Merits Ruling in Murthy v. Missouri

Gregory Krieg for CNN: George Latimer defeats House ‘squad’ member Jamaal Bowman in historic New York Democratic primary

Michelle Goldberg for The New York Times: The War in Gaza Is Splintering the Democratic Party

Ben Davis for The Guardian: The Aipac-funded candidate defeated Jamaal Bowman. But at what cost?

Peter Beinart for The Beinart Notebook: Jamaal Bowman’s Courage

Jon Murray, Seth Klamann, and Nick Coltrain for The Denver Post: Five takeaways from Colorado’s primaries as voters give Lauren Boebert new life, pick a Denver DA and more

Anthony Adragna and Nicholas Wu for Politico: AIPAC offshoot spending heavily to beat Cori Bush in her primary

Colby Itkowitz, Emily Guskin, and Scott Clement for The Washington Post: Trump trusted more than Biden on democracy among key swing-state voters

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: Dismantling Mass Incarceration: A Handbook for Change by Premal Dharia, James Forman, Jr., and Maria Hawilo and Karin Brulliard for The Washington Post: For millionaire and four hunters, a wild Western lawsuit over public land

Linda: Thelma from Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing and Aisha Harris, Bob Mondello, Bedatri D. Choudhury, Liz Metzger, Mike Katzif, and Jessica Reedy for NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour: June Squibb’s ‘Thelma’ is the wrong grandma to mess with

David: Hark and David Plotz for Hark’s The Conversation: Campaign Trail 2024

Listener chatter from William Wagner in Green Bay, Wisconsin: Sam Anderson with illustrations by Gaia Alari for The New York Times: Walnut and Me and Sam Anderson: Animal podcast

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David and Emily talk with Linda Greenhouse about Murthy v. Missouri.

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 [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

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the 2024 presidential debates; a possible warning on social media and another ban of smartphones in schools; and the future and failures of one-party rule.

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

Ashley Lopez for NPR: Biden vs. Trump remains close, so next week’s debate offers them an opportunity

James Oliphant for Reuters: The Biden-Trump presidential debate: what to watch for

Shane Goldmacher and Reid J. Epstein for The New York Times: Trump, Biden and CNN Prepare for a Hostile Debate (With Muted Mics)

Josh Barro for Very Serious: Of Course Biden Should Attack Trump for Being a Convicted Felon

Dr. Vivek H. Murthy in The New York Times: Surgeon General: Why I’m Calling for a Warning Label on Social Media Platforms and Sherry Turkle: Stop Googling. Let’s Talk.

Consider This on NPR: ‘An unfair fight’: The U.S. surgeon general declares war on social media

Howard Blume and Defne Karabatur for The Los Angeles Times: LAUSD approves cellphone ban as Newsom calls for statewide action

Tatum Hunter for The Washington Post: What research actually says about social media and kids’ health

Candice L. Odgers in Nature: The great rewiring: is social media really behind an epidemic of teenage mental illness?

Mitch Daniels in The Washington Post: Indiana is revealing the real consequences of one-party rule

Ballotpedia: State government trifectas

Scott S. Greenberger in NC Newsline: Shared power used to be the norm in state government. Now it’s nearly extinct.

Nicholas Kristof for The New York Times: What Have We Liberals Done to the West Coast?

Here are this week’s chatters:

John: Liquor.com: Vesper; The New York Times: John Hurt in ‘Krapp’s Last Tape’; and John Hurt in The Guardian: Krapp’s Last Tape: John Hurt on Samuel Beckett’s loner hero

Emily: The Innocence Project: Texas Seeks Execution Date for Robert Roberson, An Innocent Man Wrongly Convicted Under Debunked Shaken Baby Hypothesis

David: Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, Georgetown University: The Vocation of Journalists in a Time of Testing; Washington City Paper: Paper, Cut; and Bruce Weber and Ashley Southall for The New York Times: David Carr, Times Critic and Champion of Media, Dies at 58

Listener chatter from Tristan Hinderliter in Long Island City, New York: Samantha Pearson for The Wall Street Journal: Even Hardened Convicts Are No Match for These Guard Geese

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David, Emily, and John talk about the Brat Pack: then and now. See Hulu: Brats and David Blum for New York Magazine: Hollywood’s Brat Pack. See also RHINO: John Parr – St. Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion) (Official Music Video) and Comedy Bites Vintage: Don’t You Forget About Me (Final Scene) The Breakfast Club.

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 [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

David Plotz talks with author Sierra Greer about her new book, Annie Bot. They discuss how much discomfort Annie (a “Cuddle Bunny” type of robot) can feel, how the story of a robot is really about the right to control a body, 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 President Biden’s new asylum policy; the recent European Parliament elections with The Atlantic’s Anne Applebaum; and the jammed congestion pricing in New York City.

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

Corvid Research: Help, I’ve found a baby crow!

Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Hamed Aleaziz for The New York Times: In Shift, Biden Issues Order Allowing Temporary Border Closure to Migrants and Miriam Jordan: Biden Opens a New Back Door on Immigration

Matthew Yglesias for Slow Boring: Biden is doing the right thing on asylum

Matt Collette for Vox: Our identity crisis on immigration

Alex Nowrasteh for the Cato Institute: The Most Common Arguments Against Immigration and Why They’re Wrong

Statista: U.S. immigration/migration – statistics & facts

Andres Triay, Robert Legare, Nicole Sganga, Pat Milton, and Camilo Montoya-Galvez for CBS News: ICE arrests 8 with suspected ISIS ties

BBC: What is the UK’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda? and Nick Beake and Kostas Kallergis: Greece boat disaster: BBC investigation casts doubt on coastguard’s claims

Anthony Faiola, Imogen Piper, Joyce Sohyun Lee, Klaas van Dijken, Maud Jullien, and May Bulman for The Washington Post: With Europe’s support, North African nations push migrants to the desert

Anne Applebaum for The Atlantic: Trump Is Not America’s Le Pen

Sam Jones for The Guardian: EU elections 2024: how did key countries vote and what does it mean?

CBS News: NYC Comptroller Brad Lander announces legal challenge to congestion pricing pause

Michelle Kaske, Laura Nahmias, and Zach Williams for Bloomberg: New York Governor Shocks Manhattan With Halt to Congestion Pricing

Lauren Sforza for The Hill: Murphy says ‘the biggest policy mistake of the past 50 years in New Jersey’ was Christie’s decision to cancel Gateway tunnel project

The Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: Curt Anderson for WJHG: Florida jury finds Chiquita Brands liable for Colombia deaths, must pay $38.3M to family members 

John: Well, This Is Me: A Cartoon Collection from the New Yorker’s Asher Perlman by Asher Perlman and Taylor Orth for YouGov: In-flight drama: Where Americans sit on airline etiquette

David: City Cast Nashville and Hey Nashville; City Cast Austin and Hey Austin; Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi; Dartmouth: 2024 Commencement Address by Roger Federer at Dartmouth; Maxi 4 NBA: Michael Jordan I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career.; and Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis—Lessons from a Master by Brad Gilbert and Steve Jamison 

Listener chatter from Jason Anderson in Chicago, Illinois: Neil Steinberg for the Chicago Sun-Times: Sorry, Ken Griffin – Chicagoans will call the Museum of Science and Industry what they please

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, John, and David talk about Hunter Biden’s conviction. See Jonathan Lemire for Politico: Biden’s team was waiting for a Hunter verdict. That didn’t make it easier when it arrived. and Abby Phillip for CNN: Hear how conservatives reacted to Hunter Biden’s conviction. See also Perry Stein for The Washington Post: Gun counts Hunter Biden faces are rarely stand-alone charges and John Miller for CNN: Meanwhile, Trump said during pre-sentencing interview he had a gun in Florida, weeks after his conviction.

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 [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

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 [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 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 [email protected]

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

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 [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 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? 

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 [email protected]

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

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 [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

Emily Bazelon talks with authors Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy, about their new book, Our Kindred Creatures: How Americans Came to Feel the Way They Do About Animals. They discuss the evolution of animal treatment in America, moral duties to animals, and how to care about more animals than our pets. 

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