Slate News Political Gabfest: What Is The Comstock Act?
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the John Durham report on the FBI investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign; the mifepristone case heard by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the 12-week abortion ban in North Carolina; and the legal showdown between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Disney.
Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:
David Frum for The Atlantic: “A Sinister Flop: Special Counsel John Durham served up not an investigation, but an excuse for future partisan abuses.”
Emily Bazelon for The New York Times: “How a 150-Year-Old Law Against Lewdness Became a Key to the Abortion Fight”
Debra Michals for the National Women’s History Museum: “Margaret Sanger
Stephen Neukam for The Hill: “Rick Scott on Disney-DeSantis feud: ‘Cooler heads have to prevail’”
Will Saletan for The Bulwark: “The Corruption of Lindsey Graham: A case study in the rise of authoritarianism.”
Here are this week’s chatters:
John: Rebecca Morelle and Alison Francis for BBC News: “Titanic: First ever full-sized scans reveal wreck as never seen before”; Lilit Marcus and Sania Farooqui for CNN: “Sherpa breaks record with 27th Mount Everest summit”
Emily: Divide Me By Zero by Lara Vapnyar
David: The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann; join David at a live taping of City Cast DC on Saturday June 3 at 1 p.m., Right Proper Brewing's Brookland production house and tasting room. Tickets are free. RSVP here.
Listener chatter from Jon: “Trappisten verlassen Abtei Engelszell” [Trappists leave Engelszell Abbey]
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David, Emily, and John discuss with The Bulwark’s Will Saletan @saletan his book, “The Corruption of Lindsey Graham: A case study in the rise of authoritarianism.”
In the latest edition of Gabfest Reads, Emily talks with Curtis Sittenfeld @csittenfeld about her book, Romantic Comedy.
Join us for a live taping! Political Gabfest Live in Washington, D.C., Wednesday June 28, 7:30 p.m., Sixth & I, 600 I St. NW. Tickets are on sale now.
Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com or Tweet us @SlateGabfest. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Podcast production by Cheyna Roth
Research by Julie Huygen
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