Supreme Court’s Mail-In Voting Ruling Opens Door to Chaos

This week, John Dickerson, David Plotz, and guest host Juliette Kayyem discuss this week’s Supreme Court ruling allowing the Trump administration to move forward for now with his order restricting mail-in voting, the likely effects of trade wars with Canada and Iran, and what we humans can do about safety as A.I. models rapidly get more sophisticated and autonomous. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Zach Montague for The New York Times: Judge Allows Postal Service Effort to Restrict Mail Voting, for Now Amy Howe for SCOTUSblog: Supreme Court allows Trump administration to move forward with order imposing restrictions on mail-in voting Nicholas Riccardi for Associated Press: Nothing changes yet with the Supreme Court’s order on elections. But it could open door to ‘chaos’ Ian Millhiser for Vox: The Supreme Court just revived Trump’s attempt to sabotage the 2026 election The Editorial Board for The Wall Street Journal: Opinion: Trump, Mail Ballots and the Supreme Court Megan Crepeau for Bloomberg Law: Postal Service Violated Mail-In Ballot Injunction, Judge Finds Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling for The New Republic: Trump Is Tightening His Corrupt Grip on the U.S. Postal Service Paul Vieira for The Wall Street Journal: Canada Hits Back at U.S. With Tariffs Targeting Midterm Hot Spots The Economist: Mark Carney must beware an all-out trade war Matt Gurney for The Bulwark: The Trade War Trump Can’t Win World Economic Forum: Davos 2026: Special address by Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada Vivian Salama for The Atlantic: The Latest Empty Threat Against Iran The Editorial Board of The Wall Street Journal: Opinion: Trump Unleashes Scott Bessent on Iran John Dickerson on Substack: He Alone Did it. Nate Soares for The New York Times: Opinion: Guest Essay: If You Weren’t Worried About A.I., You Should Be After the Past Few Weeks Karen Weise for The New York Times: Bill Gates Warns A.I. Is More Dangerous Than Big Tech Will Admit Jen Easterly for The New York Times: Opinion: Guest Essay: The Warning Lights Are Blinking Again Cecilia Kang and Eli Tan for The New York Times: Meta to Pay Up to $17.1 Billion in Landmark Settlement Over Social Media Addiction Claims Cal Newport, Deep Questions Podcast: Has AI “Gone Rogue”? Let’s Look Closer…| Tech Decoded Here are this week’s chatters: Juliette: Early Warning with Juliette Kayyem (Substack); The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter–And How to Make the Most of Them Now by Meg Jay, Ph.D. John: JohnDickerson.com (Substack); Variety Jones in Dublin; Ordinary Abundance David: Podcast: Your City Could Be Better with David Plotz; Elizabeth Heubeck for Education Week: Cursive Is Making a Comeback. It Won’t Be Without Challenges; Tim Walker for NEA Today: Why Cursive is Back in the Classroom Listener chatter from Matt and Chloé in Ottawa, Canada: Métis Nation-Saskatchewan: Taanishi aen Ishinihkaashooyen Li Pchi Bufloo? (What’s Your Name, Little Buffalo?); @metisnationsask on Instagram For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, John, David, and guest host Juliette Kayyem discuss the newest drama enveloping semi-royals Prince Harry and Meghan after they announced an impending move back to the UK. 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 Kevin Bendis 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.