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Perimenopause’s journey from little-understood phase before menopause to the subject of every ad on social media for women of a certain age was quick—and impossible to imagine without the internet.

Guest: Kate Knibbs, senior writer for WIRED.

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.

Paige Osburn is the senior supervising producer of What Next and What Next TBD.
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This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss what the evidence beyond polling signals for the impending midterm elections, how Trump betrayed Ukraine with his sudden deal over Russian diesel and Starshield restrictions for Ukrainian operations, and how the chilling federal raid on Rep. Ilhan Omar's home is part of the administration's escalating attempt to build a case for stripping her citizenship.

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: Danny Funt for Columbia Journalism Review: ‘I’m Not Going to Have Blood on My Hands’

John: The Human Trafficking Legal Center: On My Side Celebration 2026: Awardees

David: Oliver Kay and Sam Lee for The Athletic: Manchester City guilty of ‘sham payments’ and £900m of financial misstatements, independent commission finds; Adam Clery for The Independent: Explained: The complete timeline of Man City’s 115 charges

Listener chatter from John Kirby in Davis, California: Michelle Starr for ScienceAlert: 150,000 Tons of Radioactive Waste Were Dumped in The Atlantic. Decades Later, It's Visibly Oozing.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the precipitous fall of Kimberly Guilfoyle after the Wall Street Journal reported that she had solicited $100,000 from a Trump donor and why those who've departed the Trump administration are overwhelmingly women.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, David Plotz talks with journalist Annie Lowrey about her new book, The Time Tax: How the Government Wastes Our Time - and How to Fix It, an investigation into the hours Americans lose to broken bureaucracy, from 12-hour tax filings to multiyear waits for housing vouchers and building permits.

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.

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Our current fascists are obsessed with the apocalypse—it drives everything they do, from stoking anti-immigration fervor around the world to wanting to colonize Mars. But why run from our beautiful planet when we can still fight?

Guest: Naomi Klein, co-author of End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World.

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.
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Democrats are excited about the prospect of a blue wave, with their Senate candidates leading races in Texas and Georgia. But beyond the races, there’s a separate issue in those states—how your vote gets counted.

Guest:
Greg Bluestein, Chief Political Reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jessica Huseman, Editorial Director at Votebeat

Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Madeline Thames-Ducharme and Patrick Fort.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Puerto Rico’s debt crisis ballooned into the largest governmental default in U.S. history, Congress stepped in with an unprecedented solution. Felix Salmon is joined by David Skeel, who served as chair on the oversight board that helped the island regain economic stability and detailed the saga of this debt crisis in his book Promise Land. They discuss the ins and outs of government debt, the idea of state bankruptcy, and what lessons can be learned for future legislation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.