$83.6 Million
The verdict came in late in the afternoon on Friday, after the jury only needed a couple hours to decide: The cost of Trump’s defamation of the writer E. Jean Carroll, who he has previously been found liable of sexually abusing, would come to a whopping $83.6 million. The first lesson is that the Trump lawyers really failed their client when they allowed him to swan about the courtroom essentially repeating the offense that had landed him there, Robert Katzberg writes.
Elsewhere:
- Shirin Ali wonders if this is enough to finally shut the former president up, and takes stock of his other impending trials.
- Norman L. Eisen and Joshua Kolb explain why the final amount the jury settled on is a “just-right” kind of Goldilocks number.
- And Dahlia Lithwick talks with Molly Jong-Fast about what it was like inside the courtroom, and what this means for the state of misogyny in America.
Taylor’s Not Alone Here
Last week, A.I. generated nudes of Taylor Swift started spreading around the internet. These deep fakes, and the way they’re deployed against women of any level of fame, aren’t as new as the technology creating them. Scott Nover spoke with researcher Sophie Maddocks, who studies this area, about why this keeps happening and what can be done about it.
Odds Ever in His Favor
The Supreme Court is going to hear the case to remove Donald Trump from Colorado’s ballot—and a lot has to go perfectly for the lawyers compiling the case against him. And yet, even though he’s in a relatively good position here, his lawyers are doing some odd stuff, strategically speaking. Richard L. Hasen breaks it down.
1 in 30,000
When Stuart A. Reid brought his new baby home from the hospital, everything seemed fine. And then the shaking started. Thus began his descent into learning everything he could about the rare genetic disorder she had—and the grappling with what it would mean for their whole family.
Lions Out
How did one of football’s unluckiest franchises manage to blow things this badly? “The Detroit Lions, until now the most likable team left in the NFL playoffs, subjected their fans to one of the worst days of their lives on Sunday,” Alex Kirshner writes, unpacking the team’s brutal swing from a 17-point halftime lead to a loss that ended their season.
Everyone Really Is Sick Right Now
What’s up with that? Are our immune systems still shot from the shut-in days of the pandemic? Are we clocking sickness more? Is it something else? Lizzie O’Leary investigates.
Today, Slate … HAS FOUND A MASSIVE INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE OF FANS
…much like the fascinating and historically accurate—if horrifying!—board games created by Cole Wehrle. Luke Winkie spins through his creations.
Thanks so much for reading, and we’ll see you tomorrow!
