This week, John Dickerson and David Plotz are joined by Juliette Kayyem to discuss how Elon Musk and DOGE are endangering Americans; the Trump administration’s attacks on universities and the arrest of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil; and the politics of the measles outbreak centered on West Texas.
Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:
Juliette Kayyem for The Atlantic: Is DOGE Sure It Wants to Fire These People?
Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart for Reuters: US military cancels climate change studies that Pentagon chief calls ‘crap’
Haley Britzky for CNN: Officials and experts warn that Pentagon plans to cut climate programs will hurt national security
Emily Mae Czachor for CBS News: Job cuts at NOAA drive concerns about extreme weather forecasts, as climate change worsens natural disasters
Isaac Stanley-Becker for The Atlantic: The FAA’s Troubles Are More Serious Than You Know
David Shepardson for Reuters: US FAA says 240 flights disrupted by explosion of Musk’s SpaceX Starship
Vimal Patel for The New York Times: More Universities Are Choosing to Stay Neutral on the Biggest Issues
Stephanie Saul for the New York Times: Yale Suspends Scholar After A.I.-Powered News Site Accuses Her of Terrorist Link
Matthew Boas for Lawfare: How to Lose a Green Card
Michelle Goldberg for the New York Times: This Is the Greatest Threat to Free Speech Since the Red Scare
Adam Serwer for The Atlantic: Mahmoud Khalil’s Detention is a Trial Run
Jack Nicastro for Reason: Is it Constitutional To Deport Immigrants for Political Speech?
William McGurn for The Wall Street Journal (Opinion): The Arrest of Columbia’s Mahmoud Khalil
Beth Mole for Ars Technica: Texas measles outbreak spills into third state as cases reach 258
Jessica Winter for The New Yorker: The Dangers of R.F.K., Jr.,’s, Measles Response
Katherine J. Wu for The Atlantic: America Is Botching Measles
Sumathi Reddy for The Wall Street Journal: In Rural Texas, a Measles Outbreak Hasn’t Swayed Vaccine Skeptics
The Editorial Board for The Wall Street Journal (Opinion): Measles and School Vaccine Exemptions
The Editorial Board for The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Opinion): Measles is spreading. DC is waffling. Texas must get serious about public health
Teddy Rosenbluth, Alexandra Ostasiewicz, Christina Thornell and Laura Salaberry for The New York Times: Did Covid Open the Door to a Measles Outbreak? [Video, 2:50 long]
Here are this week’s chatters:
Juliette: Lorne Cook, David McHugh, and Rob Gillies for AP News: Canada and the EU swiftly retaliate against Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs; Scott Neuman and Willem Marx for NPR: What Greenland’s elections mean for the island – and the U.S.; Mary Beth Sheridan and Leila Miller for the Washington Post: How Mexico’s president became the world’s leading Trump whisperer; Luke McGee for Foreign Policy: Europe Wonders if Trump Can Be Trusted With Intelligence; Rob Shapiro for McSweeney’s: So You’re Trying to Rationalize Rooting for USA Hockey As Our Country Turns Into an Autocracy.
John: Jesse Newman and Laura Cooper for the Wall Street Journal: Shoppers Are Skimping on Cigarettes, Doritos and Twinkies
David: Matthew Yglesias for Slow Boring (Substack): Trump is lying about dead people and Social Security
Listener chatter from Kassi in Denver: Friends of Big Bear Valley, FOBBV Cam (YouTube), Big Bear Bald Eagle Live Nest Cam 1(YouTube), FOBBV Official Group (Facebook)
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, John and David are joined by Juliette Kayyem to discuss taking your kids to work: great, weird, terrible, or all of the above?
In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily talks with author Rich Benjamin about his new book, Talk to Me: Lessons From a Family Forged by History.
Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Research by Emily Ditto
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Bonus Episode