This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss where the midterms stand mere weeks out from Election Day, the legal and cultural issues at the heart of the deeply disturbing Cornell University rape case, and the perennial American debate over whether to make Daylight Saving Time permanent.Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: Samuel A. Alito Jr. for The Wall Street Journal: Opinion: Commentary: <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/justice-samuel-alito-even-originalists-make-mistakes-02cedb8c" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Justice Samuel Alito: Even Originalists Make Mistakes</a>John: Hamed Aleaziz, David A. Fahrenthold, Nicholas Nehamas, Tyler Pager, and Niraj Chokshi for The New York Times: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/04/us/politics/kristi-noem-planes-donor.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kristi Noem’s Agency Gave Her Donor a Lucrative Contract Just Before She Left</a>; David Gilmour for Mediaite: <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/abc-news-mysteriously-deletes-report-on-trump-sons-6b-business-dealings/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ABC News Mysteriously Deletes Report on Trump Sons’ ‘$6B’ Business Dealings</a> (original from <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20261007144205/https:/abcnews.com/Politics/trump-sons-investments-won-billions-pentagon-contracts-election/story?id=137049598" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ABC News on Internet Archive</a>); Dana Mattioli, Drew Hinshaw, Rebecca Ballhaus, and Joe Parkinson for The Wall Street Journal: <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/guilfoyle-amex-donor-100-000-0e02cdc3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Exclusive: ‘Honey Please’: Kimberly Guilfoyle Pushed Donor to Wire $100,000 to Her Amex Account</a>; <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Record-Lows-CJ-Green/dp/1538777371/tag=slatmaga-20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Record Lows</a> by CJ Green; Historian <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/tj-stiles.bsky.social/post/3mwjkm5ofuc2q" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">T.J. Stiles on Bluesky</a> on <a href="https://play.history.com/shows/grant" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Grant documentary</a> (also available on <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81698437" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Netflix</a>)David: Acquired Podcast: <a href="https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/costco" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Season 13, Episode 2: Costco</a> (also on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/costco/id1050462261?i=1000625088063" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a>); <a href="https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/lioness/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lioness</a> on Paramount PlusListener chatter from Mark Phillips in Baltimore, Maryland: Katie Bo Lillis and Zachary Cohen for CNN: <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/18/politics/us-military-ai-false-intelligence-china-ship" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Exclusive: US military had close call after using AI for false intelligence report, sources say</a>For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David react to a New York Times list of 100 open scientific questions by coming up with some unanswered questions of their own. Their lists run from the cosmic (is interstellar travel possible?) to the intimate (what is it like to be my dog?) to the unsettling (how much of memory is made up in the moment?).Gabfest is coming to Providence, RI on October 21st. <a href="http://slate.com/gabfestlive" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tickets available now!</a>In the latest <a href="https://slate.com/podcasts/gabfestreads" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gabfest Reads</a>, David Plotz talks with journalist Annie Lowrey about her new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Time-Tax-Government-Wastes-Time_and/dp/0063442558/tag=slatmaga-20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Time Tax: How the Government Wastes Our Time - and How to Fix It</a>, an investigation into the hours Americans lose to broken bureaucracy, from 12-hour tax filings to multiyear waits for housing vouchers and building permits.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 PorzuckiResearch by Emily DittoYou can find the full Political Gabfest <a href="https://slate.com/podcasts/political-gabfest" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">show pages here</a>.Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/political-gabfest/id158004641" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts </a>and <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2oXS9kkKiXdkkCYB3YfqYZ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spotify</a>. Or visit <a href="http://slate.com/gabfestplus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">slate.com/gabfestplus</a> to get access wherever you listen.Find out more about <a href="http://secretfortdc.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">David Plotz&#39;s monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy,</a> the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park. Follow@SlateGabfest on X / <a href="https://twitter.com/SlateGabfest" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/SlateGabfest</a>Slate Political Gabfest on Facebook / <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/</a>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.<hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

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