This week, David Plotz, John Dickerson, and Emily Bazelon discuss the $787.5 million settlement of the Dominion Voting v. Fox News defamation lawsuit; the political game being played with raising the U.S. debt ceiling; and the Russian detention of American journalist Evan Gershkovich.  Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Jim Rutenberg and Katie Robertson for the New York Times: “A $787.5 Million Settlement and Embarrassing Disclosures: The Costs of Airing a Lie” Matthew Iglesias for Slow Boring: “Medicaid work requirements are cruel and pointless” Paul Krugman for the New York Times: “A Few Ways Out of the Debt Ceiling Mess” Freedom House Report: “Freedom in the World 2023: Marking 50 Years in the Struggle for Democracy” John Dickerson for CBS News Prime Time: “U.S. ambassador says she visited detained Wall Street Journal reporter” Drew Hinshaw, Joe Parkinson, and Brett Forrest for the Wall Street Journal: “’You Are Completely Alone’: Inside the Infamous Russian Prison Holding Evan Gershkovich” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “What Everyone Should Know about the Shingles Vaccine (Shingrix)” “Pelosi in the House” HBO documentary  Carrie Blazina and Drew Desilver for the Pew Research Center: “House gets younger, Senate gets older: A look at the age and generation of lawmakers in the 118th Congress”  Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: Julie Bosman, Mitch Smith, Jesse McKinley, and Jay Root for the New York Times: “Hundreds of Miles Apart, Separate Shootings Follow Wrong Turns” and Timothy Bella for the Washington Post: “Cheerleaders leaving practice were shot after one got in wrong car, teen says” John: Ellie Zolfagharifard for the Daily Mail: “’Here there be robots’: Artist draws stunning medieval map of Mars showing off its huge craters and vast canyons”; Mars and its Canals by Percival Lowell; and Kaushik Patowary for Amusing Planet: “How Astronomer Percival Lowell Mistook His Own Eye For Spokes on Venus” David: City Cast DC podcast: “D.C.’s Rat-Hunting Dogs And Other Rat Solutions” (Host Bridget Todd, Producer Julia Karron)  Listener chatter from Nancy Hall: Joe Mahr and Megan Crepeau for the Chicago Tribune: “Stalled Justice: Delays in the Cook County courts” For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, John, and David discuss the dilemma posed by the months-long absence of Dianne Feinstein from the U.S. Senate. In the next Gabfest Reads, David talks with Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri about her latest book, Alexandra Petri’s US History: Important American Documents (I Made Up).  Email your questions and chatters to gabfest@slate.com or tweet us @SlateGabfest. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Jared Downing. Research by Julie Huygen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, David Plotz, John Dickerson, and Emily Bazelon discuss the $787.5 million settlement of the Dominion Voting v. Fox News defamation lawsuit; the political game being played with raising the U.S. debt ceiling; and the Russian detention of American journalist Evan Gershkovich.  Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Jim Rutenberg and Katie Robertson for the New York Times: “A $787.5 Million Settlement and Embarrassing Disclosures: The Costs of Airing a Lie” Matthew Iglesias for Slow Boring: “Medicaid work requirements are cruel and pointless” Paul Krugman for the New York Times: “A Few Ways Out of the Debt Ceiling Mess” Freedom House Report: “Freedom in the World 2023: Marking 50 Years in the Struggle for Democracy” John Dickerson for CBS News Prime Time: “U.S. ambassador says she visited detained Wall Street Journal reporter” Drew Hinshaw, Joe Parkinson, and Brett Forrest for the Wall Street Journal: “’You Are Completely Alone’: Inside the Infamous Russian Prison Holding Evan Gershkovich” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “What Everyone Should Know about the Shingles Vaccine (Shingrix)” “Pelosi in the House” HBO documentary  Carrie Blazina and Drew Desilver for the Pew Research Center: “House gets younger, Senate gets older: A look at the age and generation of lawmakers in the 118th Congress”  Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: Julie Bosman, Mitch Smith, Jesse McKinley, and Jay Root for the New York Times: “Hundreds of Miles Apart, Separate Shootings Follow Wrong Turns” and Timothy Bella for the Washington Post: “Cheerleaders leaving practice were shot after one got in wrong car, teen says” John: Ellie Zolfagharifard for the Daily Mail: “’Here there be robots’: Artist draws stunning medieval map of Mars showing off its huge craters and vast canyons”; Mars and its Canals by Percival Lowell; and Kaushik Patowary for Amusing Planet: “How Astronomer Percival Lowell Mistook His Own Eye For Spokes on Venus” David: City Cast DC podcast: “D.C.’s Rat-Hunting Dogs And Other Rat Solutions” (Host Bridget Todd, Producer Julia Karron)  Listener chatter from Nancy Hall: Joe Mahr and Megan Crepeau for the Chicago Tribune: “Stalled Justice: Delays in the Cook County courts” For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, John, and David discuss the dilemma posed by the months-long absence of Dianne Feinstein from the U.S. Senate. In the next Gabfest Reads, David talks with Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri about her latest book, Alexandra Petri’s US History: Important American Documents (I Made Up).  Email your questions and chatters to gabfest@slate.com or tweet us @SlateGabfest. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Jared Downing. Research by Julie Huygen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices