This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss whether Trump is as unpopular as polls suggest and what this means for the midterms, the causes and consequences of the riots in France with Paris-based journalist Rachel Donadio, and how a seemingly trivial courtroom fight over the fate of the East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, D.C. is an important illustration of the lawlessness that defines Trumpism.
Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:
Nate Cohn for The New York Times: Democrats Have a Wide Lead in Our New Poll as Trump Slides
Aaron Pellish for Politico: ‘A warning sign for polling’: Why one GOP pollster thinks a blue wave may fall short
Kevin Rector and Brittny Mejia for Los Angeles Times: Feds arrest alleged noncitizen voters in California amid broader election fight with state
Jonathan Chait for The Atlantic: This Is Not a Cycle of Retribution
Alex Gangitano and Scott Waldman for Politico: ‘France should serve as a wakeup call’: Republicans find a closing message in Paris riots
Amanda Carpenter for The Bulwark: Trump’s Election Interference Is Underway
Madeleine May for CBS News: Federal agents knock on doors to track down possible noncitizen voters ahead of midterms
Philip Elliott for Time: ’We Now Deserve to Lose’: Ramaswamy Ad Deepens GOP Panic in Ohio
Ellen Francis for The Washington Post: Riots leave France divided as Macron enters his final stretch
Katya Adler for the BBC: Katya Adler: France divided over who to blame for riots and what to learn from them
The Economist: Expect violent protests to erupt in France again
Steven Erlanger for The New York Times: News Analysis: It’s Not Just France. Europe’s Political Center Is Crumbling.
Lionel Laurent for Bloomberg: Opinion: Liberte, Egalite, Misery? Why France is Burning
Bret Stephens for The New York Times: Opinion: France Comes Unglued, Again
Zach Montague for The New York Times: Judge Clashes with Justice Department About Trump’s Golf Course Plan
Steve Vladeck for One First (Substack): 258. DOJ and the East Potomac Golf Links
Paul Waldman for MS NOW: Opinion: How Trump’s golf course renovation turned into an attack on the rule of law
Niall Stanage for The Hill: Analysis: The Memo: Trump plan for golf course becomes battle over court’s power
Here are this week’s chatters:
Emily: Owen Dahlkamp for Politico: Exclusive: Anthropic quietly pitches its own AI safety bill to lawmakers; Sophie Hurwitz for Mother Jones: Anthropic’s AI Safety Bill Has an Alarming Threshold for Government Action
John: Erica Pandey for Axios: The dad who gave 22 kids a home
David: Alex Horton and Dan Lamothe for The Washington Post: Exclusive: Hegseth wanted Eisenhower’s globe for his office. His staff broke it.
Listener chatter from Aaron Tax in Washington, D.C.: Jason Fuller, Christopher Intagliata, and Patrick Jarenwattananon for NPR: ’The 101 Plays Itself’: This computer program treats the interstate into music; The 101 Plays Itself
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss investigative journalist Bob Woodward’s upcoming memoir, Secrets: A Reporter’s Memoir, excerpted in The New Yorker this week. They explore how Woodward’s relationship with friend and key source Dick Darman collapsed, journalistic ethics, and whether reporters can really be friends with sources.
In the latest Gabfest Reads, John Dickerson interviews Angela Duckworth about her new book, Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best. This new book argues that the most successful people don’t just grind harder; they reshape their circumstances to make success feel automatic.
Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Podcast production by Nina Porzucki
Research by Emily Ditto
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Find out more about David Plotz’s monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park.