The “Seize and Sell” Edition

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss what the so-called “Donroe Doctrine” means for international order after the US military extracted Maduro from Venezuela amid rumblings over Greenland and Cuba, the background and evolving situation in Minnesota after an ICE agent killed a woman during a raid, and how changes to the federal recommended childhood vaccine schedule dangerously denormalize routine vaccines with guest Dr. Josh Sharfstein, Professor of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

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

Meridith McGraw, Benoît Morenne, and Annie Linskey for The Wall Street Journal: Venezuela to Give U.S. Up to 50 Million Barrels of Oil, Trump Says

The Economist: Venezuela presents a big headache for big oil

Gerard Baker for The Wall Street Journal (Opinion): Four Myths About the Capture of Nicolás Maduro

William M. LeoGrande and Peter Kornbluh for Foreign Policy (Analysis): Trump’s Bad Neighbor Policy

Steven Erlanger for The New York Times (News Analysis): Europe and Rest of World Try to Come to Terms With Trump the Imperialist

Michael Schaffer for Politico Magazine: What’s Really Driving Trump’s Moves in Venezuela and Greenland

Bob Bauer and Jack Goldsmith for Executive Functions (Substack): Law and the Venezuela Invasion (video 25:55)

Devon Lum, Robin Stein, and Ainara Tiefenthäler for The New York Times: Videos Contradict Trump Administration Account of ICE Shooting in Minneapolis

Tyler Pager, Reid J. Epstein, and Ernesto Londoño for The New York Times: Gov. Tim Walz Drops Re-election Bid, and Amy Klobuchar May Run Instead

Arthur Jones II for ABC News: HHS freezes $10 billion in child-care funding for 5 Democratic states

Ken Bensinger and Ernesto Londoño for The New York Times: An Intense White House Response From a Single Viral Video

Jonathan Cohn for The Bulwark: The Real Story Behind the Minnesota Welfare Fraud Scandal

Ruy Teixeira for The New York Times (Opinion): Minnesota’s Fraud Should Be a Wake-Up Call for Democrats

Public Health On Call Podcast: Episode 991: HHS Changes Its Pediatric Vaccine Recommendations—Part 1, The Announcement (audio, 16:55 long) and Episode 992: HHS Changes Its Pediatric Vaccine Recommendations—Part 2, Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (audio, 23:19 long)

Chelsea Cirruzzo and Helen Branswell for STAT: Federal health officials slash recommended childhood vaccinations under Trump’s directive

Isabella Cueto for STAT: New vaccine schedule adds near- and long-term risks for children, experts warn

Sheldon Jacobson and Janet A. Jokela for The Hill (Opinion): Why RFK Jr.’s Denmark-style vaccine recommendations won’t work in the US

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: The Bee Sting by Paul Murray; The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

John: Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo; The Culturist (Substack); The Culturist (Substack): 8th Grade Graduation Exam from Rural Kentucky

David: Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution; Netflix: Crip Camp; Joseph Shapiro for NPR: Activist Judy Heumann led a reimagining of what it means to be disabled

Listener chatter from Jillian Taft in Rome, Italy: Francesco Pacifico for The Dial: Are You Enjoying Our Linguine?

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss reports that X chatbot Grok is making nonconsensual sexualized photos of women and children at user prompts, Elon Musk’s reaction, and how to stop it.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, David Plotz talks with Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales about his new book The Seven Rules of Trust: A Blueprint for Building Things That Last. They discuss how Wikipedia’s culture of assuming good faith and shared purpose became a model for building trustworthy digital communities — and what lessons that holds for companies, social media, and politics today.

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.

Bonus Episode

Bonus: Grok is Elon Musk’s Id

Musk’s Grok chatbot makes sexualized images of women and children at user prompts