The Slatest for Oct. 20: Trump’s Planned Defense Is Toast

They’re flipping like pancakes over here! Kenneth Chesebro just became the second former member of Trump’s legal team to become a cooperating witness against him. Robert Katzberg explains what that means for Trump’s expected legal strategy.

Plus, from our archives: Of all the Trump RICO case defendants, whose mug shot was the best? Christina Cauterucci carefully weighs them all.

Biden is pushing for a large amount of emergency military aid to Ukraine, Israel, and (to some extent) Taiwan. His budget request also includes humanitarian aid to Gaza—and billions of dollars to bolster security on the U.S. border, to entice America-First Republicans to get on board. Fred Kaplan explains what Biden’s request tells us about how he sees America’s role on the global stage.

Plus: Writing for our sister publication, Foreign Policy, Howard W. French argues that Biden’s tunnel vision on Israel risks alienating a large part of the world.

And What Next: TBD looks at the new ways Hamas has been using social media to wage psychological warfare.

Soon after his companies blew up, Sam Bankman-Fried explained himself in a weird interview with George Stephanopoulos. Nitish Pahwa explains how that’s coming back to haunt him in court.

Fans are getting two distinctly different experiences at Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, and not all of them are happy about it. Heather Schwedel considers why some screenings seem to be much more fun than others.

A new startup says it could transform your sleep—by fabricating lucid dreams with the help of generative A.I. Huh?! Heather Tal Murphy takes a close look at the company’s plans, and whether it seems like they can work.

Yes, that’s right. Heather Schwedel examines how, on this season of Bachelor in Paradise, one cast member’s life-threatening inability to poop has yielded the bravest, most tender moments ever recorded on the show. Really!

… much like many members of Congress, as we end another week without a House speaker! (The frustrating impasse is yielding some, er, creative ideas for getting things moving again.)

We wish you a weekend that is, at the very least, less chaotic and dysfunctional than the U.S. House of Representatives.

Thanks so much for reading, and we’ll see you on Monday.