Though their influence on voters seems to be between negligible and nonexistent, presidential debates are still important. And even if their past performances were sometimes hard to watch, it’s good for democracy that Trump and Biden will meet on stage this election cycle. But these debates will be a little different this time…

Guest: Alan Schroeder, Professor Emeritus at the Northeastern University School of Journalism with a focus on presidential elections, author of Presidential Debates: Risky Business on the Campaign Trail.

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What Next: What Are Presidential Debates For?

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Everyone has a different birth experience. 
Obstetricians and midwives are well-known members of the birth team. Along with the pregnant person, they are central to labor and delivery.
Doulas are lesser known, but they can provide essential support for pregnant women and their loved ones. 
On this week’s episode of Well, Now: What to expect when working with a doula with Latham Thomas, founder of Mama Glow.
If you liked this episode, check out: Overcoming a Complicated Pregnancy
Well, Now is hosted by Maya Feller, CDN and Kavita Patel, MD.
Podcast production by Vic Whitley-Berry with editorial oversight by Alicia Montgomery.
Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to wellnow@slate.com.
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Well, Now: How Doulas Make Childbirth Safer For Everyone

“Fecal microbial transplants” treat someone’s unhealthy gut with poop from someone else’s healthy gut, and proponents of FMT claim it can help treat everything from IBS to autism. But if your doctor isn’t ready to fill you up with someone else’s poop, the internet will happily oblige. 

Guest: 
Luke Winkie, Slate staff writer who published “The Poop Broker.”

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What Next TBD: Would You Buy Poop On the Internet?

This week, Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Elizabeth Spiers are joined by Alex Kantrowitz of the Big Technology podcast. They discuss why the Nvidia juggernaut isn’t going to slow down any time soon, the man, myth, and legend of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and whether U.S. texters will embrace WhatsApp and voice memos. In the Plus segment: Which candidate is most TikTok-able?
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Podcast production by Jared Downing and Cheyna Roth.
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Slate Money: Nobody’s Gonna Stop Nvidia

As a jury in Lower Manhattan responded with “guilty” to all 34 felony counts in former President and presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald J. Trump’s hush money trial on Thursday, dozens and dozens more questions began to swirl. Will Trump appeal? On what grounds? Will Justice Juan Merchan sentence Trump to jail time? Will the US Supreme Court intervene? Is the gag order still active and in place? Luckily, we have the perfect guest on Amicus to answer all those questions to the extent that it is humanly and expert lawyerly possible. Ryan Goodman is the Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Professor of Law at New York University School of Law. He served as special counsel to the general counsel of the Department of Defense (2015-16). He is also the founding co-editor-in-chief of the national security online forum, Just Security, a vital resource if you are trying to follow the many trials and appeals of Donald J Trump.
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Amicus: Will the Supreme Court Step Into Trump’s Hush Money Conviction?

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the U.S. Senate seats that might turn from blue to red in 2024; The Fall of Roe with The New York Times’s Elizabeth Dias and Lisa Lerer; and the rise of Lauren Boebert with City Cast Denver’s Bree Davies and Paul Karolyi. 
 
Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter: 2024 CPR Senate Race Ratings
Jonathan Weisman for The New York Times: 10 Senate Races to Watch in 2024
Ben Kamisar for NBC News: Rich people are spending more than ever to run for Congress. A big test is coming in Maryland.
Nate Silver for 538: Are The Democrats Screwed In The Senate After 2024?
The Fall of Roe: The Rise of a New America by Elizabeth Dias and Lisa Lerer and The New York Times Magazine: The Untold Story of the Network That Took Down Roe v. Wade
Ian Ward for Politico: The Group Behind Dobbs Does Not Want to Talk About What Comes Next
Bree Davies and Paul Karolyi for City Cast Denver: Lauren Boebert Can’t Lose
 CBS Colorado: Beto O’Rourke Talks Gun Violence At Aurora Campaign Stop

Here are this week’s chatters:
Emily: Law & Justice Journalism Project: 2024 Fellowship
John: Katie Razzall, Darin Graham, and Larissa Kennelly for BBC News: FBI investigating missing ancient treasures from British Museum and Rebecca Mead for The New Yorker: The British Museum’s Blockbuster Scandals
David: Meilan Solly for Smithsonian Magazine: Giant Pandas Are Coming Back to Washington, D.C.; Maura Judkis and Travis M. Andrews for The Washington Post: Let’s argue about the giant pandas; and Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute: Red panda
 
Listener chatter from Annamarie Smith in Sacramento, California: Sukey Lewis and Julie Small for KQED: On Our Watch: New Folsom
 
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, John, and David talk about pronatalism and the Collins family. See Jenny Kleeman for The Guardian: America’s premier pronatalists on having ‘tons of kids’ to save the world: ‘There are going to be countries of old people starving to death’. See also Luke Munn for The Conversation: Pronatalism is the latest Silicon Valley trend. What is it – and why is it disturbing?; Sarah Jones for Intelligencer: There’s Nothing New About Pronatalism; and The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank by David Plotz.
 
In the next Gabfest Reads, David talks with Sierra Greer about her new book, Annie Bot: A Novel.
 
Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
 
Podcast production by Cheyna Roth
Research by Julie Huygen
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What Next: What Are Presidential Debates For?

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