Introduction

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz are live in Washington, D.C. to discuss the Supreme Court (again) and abortion (again); Donald Trump’s ups and downs in New York courtrooms and Ronna McDaniel’s rise and fall on NBC; and Gallup’s World Happiness Report 2024.

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

Ann E. Marimow and Caroline Kitchener for The Washington Post: Supreme Court skeptical of efforts to restrict access to abortion pill

Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S. 727 (1972)

303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, et al., 600 US _ (2023)

Juhi Doshi for ABC News: What is the Comstock Act? The 151-year-old law mentioned in SCOTUS abortion pill case

SCOTUSblog: Idaho v. United States

Pam Belluck for The New York Times: What to Know About the Federal Law at the Heart of the Latest Supreme Court Abortion Case

Geoff Mulvihill and Kimberlee Kruesi for AP: Which states could have abortion on the ballot in 2024?

The New York Times: Keeping Track of the Trump Criminal Cases and Michael M. Grynbaum and John Koblin: NBC News Cuts Ties With Ronna McDaniel After Network Firestorm

Brian Beutler for Off Message: The Political Economy Of Normalization

Gallup: World Happiness Report 2024

Clare Ansberry for The Wall Street Journal: U.S. No Longer Ranks Among World’s 20 Happiest Countries

The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: The Wall Street Journal: Evan Gershkovich: Updates on the WSJ Reporter Detained in Russia

David: Tim Newcomb for Popular Mechanics: A Controversial Pyramid Isn’t Actually 27,000 Years Old—and Now, the Mystery Deepens and Paul M.M. Cooper for Fall of Civilizations Podcast: Episode 18 Is Out Now!

John: National Archives: From Alexander Hamilton to Jeremiah Wadsworth, [20 August 1787]; John Dickerson for Slate’s Navel Gazing podcast (coming soon); John Dickerson on Court TV (not available); Emily Bazelon on C-SPAN; and David Plotz on C-SPAN: Washington Journal Newspaper Roundtable. 

Listener chatter from Phil Goldstein in Washington, D.C.: The New York Times: Flesh Descending In A Shower.; An Astounding Phenomenon In Kentucky--Fresh Meat Like Mutton Or Venison Falling From A Clear Sky.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David, John, and Emily answer audience questions. See Gina M. Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily talks with Tana French about her book, The Hunter: 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 with special thanks to Patrick Fort for on-site production and Katie Rayford for logistics support 

Research by Julie Huygen

Hosts

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz

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