A Midterm Convention Built on GOP Panic

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss why Republicans are holding an unusual midterm convention and what it says about the state of the race at the homestretch, talk about the new book Profiles in Cowardice: A Study of Collaboration in the Trump Era with author Jacob Weisberg, and reflect on memories and historical consequences on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Stephen Fowler for NPR: The 2026 midterm general election season is upon us. Here’s what to watch Tim Balk for The New York Times: As the Sprint to the Midterms Begins, Here Are 6 Advantages For …Democrats, Republicans Jonathan Martin for Politico Magazine: The Republican Party’s Midterm Nightmare Is Taking Shape Natalie Andrews, Alex Leary, and Sabrina Rodriguez for The Wall Street Journal: Republicans’ Midterms Strategy Will Test Trump’s Political Power as Polling Sags Myah Ward and Samuel Benson for Politico: Behind the GOP convention: An immigration fight Sarah Longwell for The Atlantic: Voters Have a Message for Democrats Jacob Weisberg for The New York Review of Books: The Dartmouth Exception Jacob Weisberg for The New Yorker: George W. Bush’s Code of Silence Peter Baker for The New York Times: Analysis: At Home and Abroad, Deference to Trump Turns Increasingly to Defiance Gerald F. Seib for The Wall Street Journal: Essay: How the Unity of 9/11 Sowed the Seeds of America’s Deep Political Division Jason Lange for Reuters: 25 years after 9/11, Americans fear domestic extremists more than foreign attacks, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds Colin P. Clarke and Clara Broekaert for Foreign Policy: Analysis: 25 Years After 9/11, What Are We Failing to Imagine Now? Carroll Doherty for The Dispatch: Why America’s Post-September 11 Unity Was So Special Sally Goldenberg and Nina Agrawal for The New York Times: After 9/11, Documents Suggest, New Yorkers Were Misled About Air Quality Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: Hansi Lo Wang for NPR: Trump officials propose sweeping changes to the census that would reshape voting maps; Data Are Made, Not Found: A Story of Politics, Power, and the Civil Servants Who Saved the US Census by danah boyd; Charity and Sylvia by Tillie Walden John: Associated Press: US Attorney confirms no meth was found in van of Texas man shot by immigration officers; Kristen Wong for Sports Illustrated: At His Highest Moment, Frances Tiafoe Rose Even Higher. His Viral U.S. Open Hug Is Why We Love Sports. David: Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) - Official Trailer (HD) (2:56 long on YouTube) Listener chatter from Adam Forkner in Boston, Massachusetts: Dave Epstein for The Boston Globe: What my Maine dock taught me about the threat of invasive marine life looming in the Persian Gulf; Tamburri, M.N., Carlton, J.T., Blakeslee, A.M.H. et al. Closure of the Strait of Hormuz may trigger a bioinvasion super-spreader event. Biol Invasions 28, 177 (2026). For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss this week’s big AI story, a researcher’s resignation from Anthropic and his dire warnings about AI’s imminent dangers to humanity, with guest Nathan Calvin, general counsel at Encode. They discuss the exponential pace of AI development, what the big companies are or are not doing to protect humans from apocalypse, and the simultaneous governmental and industry cooperation that could help manage risks. In the latest Gabfest Reads, David Plotz talks with John Lanchester about his new novel, Look What You Made Me Do, a darkly funny psychological thriller about two couples in modern-day London whose lives collide in a story of infidelity, obsession, and revenge. The book explores the performance of niceness, class, intergenerational frictions and how technology makes vengeance not just possible but almost exceedingly easy in the modern age. 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 Porzucki Research by Emily Ditto You can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here. 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 Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen. Find out more about David Plotz’s monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park.