Analysis of Trump, Hunter Biden, and Presidential Norms

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 gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth

Research by Julie Huygen

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