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The best of Slate, delivered late
Donald Trump was apparently clued into a plot to steal data from voting machines in Georgia. So why isn’t the DOJ investigating?
Ben Clements and Susan Greenhalgh, who first brought this alleged election crime to the FBI’s attention last year, review the evidence and why there’s no excuse for the Justice Department and FBI to continue to ignore it – it
Speaking of Trump’s various investigations: Trump may have cooked himself in the Mar-a-Lago case, argue Dennis Aftergut and Laurence H. Tribe.
And in case you missed it: Robert Katzberg wrote about a mistake Trump made in the E. Jean Carroll trial that will come back to haunt him again and again. So many crimes to keep track of!
A myth of the big city
We tell ourselves a story about cities: that social norms can be enforced by the watchful eye of a crowd, and that having more people around will keep us safe. It’s the idea that “ordinary people, not the police, create safety and sometimes even enforce the rules,” writes Henry Grabar.
But the killing of Jordan Neely on the New York subway proves that this is a myth, he argues, and confounds liberal assumptions about homeless services as well as conservative delusions about “good Samaritans.”
Royals on the run
Images by Angela Weiss/Getty
What really happened in Harry and Meghan’s ‘near catastrophic’ car chase with ‘aggressive paparazzi’ that allegedly lasted more than two hours? Nadira Goffe summarizes everything we know about the situation so far.
It’s baaack…
Debt ceiling negotiations are bringing back a 1990s version of Biden; then, he supported “welfare reform” and now expresses his support for work requirements in social welfare programs.
It is an alarming position on several levels. Decades of research have shown that work requirements have been completely ineffective at lifting people out of poverty or even encouraging them to find work; in fact, work requirements can make it difficult for people to find and keep jobs. They only work to restrict access to life-saving support and are therefore de facto cuts, which is why Republicans accept them. Importantly, they are also a “non-starter” for House Democrats, according to top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, not to mention a complete repudiation of the president’s position on welfare expansion since only two years
Alexander Sammon looks at what Biden looks like considering selling out poor Americans to make a deal with Kevin McCarthy.
Wow!
Sam Altman, the CEO responsible for ChatGPT, gave self-deprecating and charming testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. But he made a significant mistake, writes Heather Tal Murphy, one that highlights “how complicated this whole AI thing is going to be.”
Plus: Lizzy O’Leary talks to Signal’s president about how narratives of the death of AI hide the real thing we should all be afraid of.
bad blood
Apparently, Taylor Swift’s fans want to kill her new boyfriend. If you haven’t been following along, Heather Schwedel is here to let you know what’s going on. There’s a lot to unpack!
Today, Slate has… CHUTZPAH WITHOUT DIVING*
You know, the kind it would take to misuse campaign funds to buy fancy designer clothes. Not that we would ever do such a thing.
Thank you so much for reading! See you tomorrow.
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