This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson and David Plotz discuss the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the international condemnations of Israel’s actions. They also examine how the Trump administration is gaining control of both universities and the judiciary—through settlements with Ivy League institutions and a controversial judicial confirmation.
Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:
Jill Lawless and Danica Kirka for the Associated Press: Starmer says UK will recognize Palestinian state unless Israel agrees ceasefire, ends Gaza suffering
Rawan Sheikh Ahmad, Isabel Kershner and Abu Bakr Bashi for The New York Times: Gazans Are Dying of Starvation
Patrick Kingsley, Ronen Bergman and Natan Odenheimer for The New York Times Magazine: How Netanyahu Prolonged the War in Gaza to Stay in Power
Natan Odenheimer for The New York Times: No Proof Hamas Routinely Stole U.N. Aid, Israeli Military Officials Say
Emily Brooks for The Hill: Greene calls Gaza humanitarian crisis a ‘genocide’
Omer Bartov for The New York Times (Opinion): I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It.
Debora Patta for CBS News: Israel facing global pressure to increase aid flow to Gaza
Alan Blinder for The New York Times: Harvard Will Share Employee Forms With Federal Government
Natalie Andrews, Douglas Belkin and Sara Randazzo for The Wall Street Journal: White House Seeks Payments From Other Universities—Including Harvard—After Columbia Deal Sets Precedent
Laura Meckler, Danielle Douglas-Gabriel and Justine McDaniel for The Wall Street Journal: Columbia agreed to a monitor, stoking fears about independence
Betsy Klein and Ethan Schenker for CNN: Trump administration reaches $50 million deal with Brown University to restore funding
Michael S. Schmidt and Michael C. Bender for The New York Times: University of Virginia President Resigns Under Pressure From Trump Administration
Tiana Headley for Bloomberg (Law): Bove Confirmed to Appeals Court After Whistleblowers Emerge
Ashleigh Fields for The Hill: Senate Democrat: Emil Bove ‘genuinely bad guy’
Jacob Knutson for Democracy Docket: Bondi Escalates Assault on Judiciary With Misconduct Complaint Against Judge
Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein for Politico: Trump admin escalates its war with the courts — this time targeting Judge Boasberg
Asher Boiskin and Henry Liu for The Yale Daily News: Federal Judge James Boasberg ’85 LAW ’90 faces political firestorm over deportation ruling
Here are this week’s chatters:
Emily: Minho Kim for The New York Times: Judge Excoriates Trump Officials for Violations of Laws on Voice of America, “a case to wach”
John: SS Eastland disaster in Chicago river in 1915, an “awful moment in history” and Harriet Shawcross and Dipanjan Sinha for the Economist: Would you pass the world’s toughest exam?
David: retro-futurism in new marvel movie The Fantastic Four
Listener chatter from Sarah Wayland in Riverdale Park, Maryland: Tracy Thompson for Salvation South: Solastalgia; Pleasant memories of places past: that’s nostalgia. But what do you call the grief that comes when the modern world leaves nary a trace of the place that raised you?
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, David, Emily and John discuss the controversy surrounding American Eagle
In the latest Gabfest Reads, David talks with Carl Hiaasen about his new book, Fever Beach, a political satire for the Trump Era.
Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Research by Nora Moses