This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the 2023 election results and Democratic wins in Ohio, Virginia, and Kentucky; President Joe Biden’s numbers in recent polls and the youth vote; and U.S. v. Rahimi at the Supreme Court, the 2nd Amendment and gun control, and the history and tradition test. And you can be a part of the show: submit your Conundrum atslate.com/conundrum. 

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:

Lisa Lerer and Shane Goldmacher for The New York Times: “Abortion Rights Fuel Big Democratic Wins, and Hopes for 2024”

Molly Olmstead for Slate: “Sean Hannity Had Quite the Takeaway About Abortion After Tuesday’s Elections" 

Kate Zernike for The New York Times: “Ohio Vote Continues a Winning Streak for Abortion Rights”

Laura Vozzella for The Washington Post: “Democratic wins in Virginia could deflate Youngkin’s White House buzz”

Hannah Knowles and Dylan Wells for The Washington Post: “Democrat Andy Beshear wins reelection for governor in Kentucky” 

Matthew Yglesias for Slow Boring: “23 thoughts on the 2023 midterms”

John Dickerson for The Atlantic Festival 2023: “Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro on Leading a Key Swing State”

Shane Goldmacher for The New York Times: “Trump Leads in 5 Critical States as Voters Blast Biden, Times/Siena Poll Finds“

Jonathan Swan, Ruth Igielnik, and Maggie Haberman for The New York Times: “Trump Indictments Haven’t Sunk His Campaign, but a Conviction Might”

Nate Cohn for The New York Times: “Why Biden Is Behind, and How He Could Come Back”

Philip Bump for The Washington Post: “Are young voters actually split between Trump and Biden?”

Daniel A. Cox for the AEI Survey Center on American Life: “Why are Young Voters So Down on Joe Biden?”

Pew Research Center’s Beyond Red Vs. Blue: The Political Typology: “Outsider Left”

Sudiksha Kochi for USA Today: “Former Obama adviser Axelrod says Biden should consider dropping out of 2024”

Robert Barnes for The Washington Post: “Court seems likely to allow gun bans for those under protective orders”

Jordan Smith for The Intercept: “In Overturning Roe, Radical Supreme Court Declares War on the 14th Amendment”

Thomas Jefferson: “To James Madison From Thomas Jefferson, 6 September 1789”

Ulysses S. Grant Revealed: “President Ulysses S. Grant On The U.S. Constitution”

Michael Barbaro and Jonah E. Bromwich for The New York Times’s The Daily podcast: “The Trumps Take the Stand”

Here are this week’s chatters:

John: Reuters: “Napoleon’s hat heading to auction in France”; Marielle Brie: “Napoleon Bonaparte’s Bicorne Hat”; and Kai McNamee for NPR: “Lost French love letters from the 1750s reveal what life was like during wartime”

Emily: Liberty Puzzles

David: Jessica Sidman for Washingtonian: “Why Is Dallas on the Cover of This DC Guidebook?”

Listener chatter from Sheila McIntyre: Sophie Mann-Shafir for The Provincetown Independent: “TPRTA Misled Members on Voter Registration; Town Meeting Postponed”

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, John, and David talk about the trial testimony by the Trump family – Donald, Donald, Jr., Eric, and Ivanka – in the civil case of New York v. Trump. 

In the latest Gabfest Reads, David talks with Kristi Coulter about her book, Exit Interview: The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career.

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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