About this episode
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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices