3 weeks ago
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This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Elon Musk’s dramatic entrance into the fight between Republican factions over details of the Big Beautiful Bill, whether an independent judiciary can survive in the face of new threats, and the implications of Trump’s cruel new travel bans.
Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:
Jordain Carney for Politico: A surprising coalition of GOP senators holds all the megabill leverage
Jacob Bogage and Theodoric Meyer for The Washington Post: Musk rails against Trump tax bill, calling it ‘a disgusting abomination’
Catie Edmondson for The New York Times: Lisa Murkowski Isn’t Using ‘Nice Words’ About Life Under Trump
The Editorial Board of The Wall Street Journal (Opinion): Whose Pork Do You Mean, Elon?
Eric Boehm for Reason: It’s Rand Paul and Elon Musk vs. Donald Trump Over the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’
Ken Thomas, Scott Patterson, and Lindsay Wise for The Wall Street Journal: Trump’s Budget Hawk Takes Over the DOGE Agenda. First Up: The Military.
Brian Barrett for Wired: DOGE Has Achieved Its Final Form
Matthew Yglesias for Slow Boring (Substack): Yes, DOGE failed — and it matters
Zach Schonfeld and Ella Lee for The Hill: Trump unleashes MAGA rebellion on Federalist Society
David French for The New York Times (Opinion): Why Trump Is Mad at the ‘Sleazebag’ Leonard Leo
Damon Root for Reason: Trump’s Attack on the Federalist Society Is a Bad Omen for Originalism
The Editorial Board for The Wall Street Journal (Opinion): Donald Trump vs. His Own Judges
Ed Whelan for National Review: Some Thoughts On Emil Bove’s Third Circuit Nomination
David A. Graham for The Atlantic: The Big Focus On Federal Judges Is Not A Good Sign
NPR Washington Desk, Asma Khalid for NPR: Trump issues new travel ban covering a dozen countries
Hannah Beech for the New York Times: In War-Torn Nations, Trump’s Travel Ban Brings a New Hardship
Munir Ahmed for the Associated Press: Afghans who helped America during the war plead for an exemption from Trump travel ban
Here are this week’s chatters:
Emily: Chris Cameron for the New York Times: Trump Orders Investigation of Biden and His Aides; Matt Brown and Chris Megerian for the Associated Press: Trump orders investigation into Biden’s actions as president, ratcheting up targeting of predecessor; Amanda Seitz and Geoff Mulvihill for the Associated Press: Trump administration revokes guidance requiring hospitals to provide emergency abortions; Reva B. Siegel and Mary Ziegler in Virginia Law Review: Abortion’s New Criminalization – A History-and-Tradition Right to Health-Care Access After Dobbs.
John: The Economist: How to prevent drunken punch-ups; Maya Goldman for Axios: Seniors’ marijuana use reaches new high; Benjamin H. Han, Kevin H. Yang, Charles M. Cleland, et al. in JAMA: Trends in Past-Month Cannabis Use Among Older Adults.
David: Ian Austen for the New York Times: A 355-Year-Old Company That Once Owned One-Third of Canada Is Shutting Down; Heather Whiteside for The Conversation: More than a department store: The long, complicated legacy behind Hudson’s Bay Company; Terina Ria for City Cast Salt Lake: How Julia Reagan Became a Billboard Icon; City Cast Salt Lake Podcast: The Julia Reagan Billboard Debate, Permanent Farmers Market, MomTok Parody (audio 32:00).
Listener chatter from Sam Rutledge in Eugene, Oregon: 2021 Telephone Game; Artist Application for 2025 Telephone Game
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss whether the term “TACO” (“Trump Always Chickens Out”) is a useful way of understanding Trump, and what else might be driving his unpredictable and impulsive actions.
In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily talks with author Susan Dominus about her new book, The Family Dynamic: A Journey into the Mystery of Sibling Success.
Email your chatters, questions, and comments to [email protected]. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Podcast production by Kevin Bendis
Research by Emily Ditto
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