Slate News

This week: We got confirmation that rumors that Nvidia’s CEO and chairman was having an affair with a Chinese spy. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck dig into all the drama surrounding the Jensen Huang honeypot plot. Then, they discuss the resulting blame game at the White House and what it could all mean for the A.I. market (and try to keep the scandals straight). Finally, Washingtonians voted to keep the tax on income over a million dollars. Is this a wealth tax that could stick?
In the Slate Plus episode: It’s all Grand Theft Auto bay-beeee.

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Podcast production by Jessamine Molli and Cheyna Roth.
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Yes, Democrats won Congress, but they haven’t defeated the Accountability Death Star that is the Roberts court. This week on Amicus, guest host and Slate executive editor Susan Matthews is joined by Court Accountability’s Alex Aronson to discuss the next phase of the fight—and why a few reasonable-looking Supreme Court decisions shouldn’t lull anyone into thinking the justices have changed their stripes.
Aronson expects the court to work on rehabilitating its reputation after the midterms, all the while frustrating congressional oversight. They discuss what separates an investigation from a sternly worded letter, why Leonard Leo’s network remains a formidable foe, and how Democrats can avoid squandering their mandate while waiting for someone to honor a subpoena. Plus: lame-duck judicial confirmations, the Alito-and-Thomas retirement guessing game, and why court reform is vital, but definitely not a silver bullet for rescuing democracy.
Alex Aronson’s piece on what must come next: https://www.contrariannews.org/p/the-roberts-court-is-next
Alex mentioned the following episodes from the Amicus archive:
Kim Lane Scheppele on legal autocracy: https://slate.com/podcasts/amicus/2026/01/scotus-and-project-2025-ushered-in-magas-lawlessness
Niko Bowie and Daphna Renan on ending judicial supremacy:
https://slate.com/podcasts/amicus/2026/07/supreme-court-term-recap-birthright-citizenship-voting-rights
https://slate.com/podcasts/amicus/2026/10/stacey-abrams-ilyse-hogue-and-daphna-renan-on-reclaiming-the-constitution-from-scotus

Want more Amicus? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis. On this week’s bonus episode of Amicus Plus, Jay Willis and Madiba Dennie examine Supreme Court oral arguments this week about a federal prisoner’s fight to sue over alleged abuse—and the consequences of letting federal agents operate with impunity. The justices keep saying Congress can fix it. Could that invitation finally come back to haunt them?
Slate Plus members also get access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Amicus show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/amicusplus to get access wherever you listen.
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Are we in a backlash to the backlash to the backlash in our gender politics? We can learn a lot from the GOP’s past embrace of odious figures like Russell Brand, the voters’ ousting of Rep. Max Miller in Ohio, and Congresswoman Sarah McBride’s recent Stephen Miller roast.

This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.
Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD.
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Between the midterm elections and the ouster of Jensen Huang from Nvidia, the future of artificial intelligence—including how it will be regulated and who gets to participate—has been flipped upside down.

Guest: Robbie Whelan, tech reporter for the Wall Street Journal

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.
Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD.
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This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss what the next two years will look like for Trump, his new chief of staff Stephen Miller, and Congress, the ripple effects of Jensen Huang's resignation from Nvidia on the U.S.-China AI race with guest Matt Sheehan, and how Defense Secretary Hegseth survived an impeachment vote.

Listeners: We want your questions! We're doing an AMA episode this month. Email your burning questions to gabfest@slate.com

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: Adam Liptak for The New York Times: Judge Richard A. Posner Has Died. His Influence in Law Was Beyond Compare.; Larissa MacFarquhar for The New Yorker: The Bench Burner

John: Henry Larson for NPR: World's fastest ocean liner is sunk to break another record: largest artificial reef; CNN: A photo tour of the SS United States

David: David Plotz on LinkedIn: David is Leaving City Cast

Listener chatter from Suley Hussain in Denver, Colorado: Blue Ridge Parkway Association: Experience the Blue Ridge Parkway: “America’s Favorite Drive”; National Park Service: Blue Ridge Parkway; Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation: History & Timeline

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the story of a new charter school in the Bronx that aims to support both students and working parents with expansive operating hours, the potential impacts of this open-weekends model, and what the need for such solutions says about our society.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, John Dickerson interviews Angela Duckworth about her new book, Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best. This new book argues that the most successful people don’t just grind harder; they reshape their circumstances to make success feel automatic.
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.

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Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park.

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