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For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, the hosts discuss the political fight over school lunches. Slate Plus members get an ad-free version of this podcast with bonus segments. Visit slate.com/gabfestplus and try it free for two weeks.

On this week’s Slate Political Gabfest, John Dickerson, Annie Lowrey, and David Plotz discuss the politicization of Ebola, the consequences of a GOP Senate, and Amazon’s cutthroat business tactics.

Here are some of the links and references mentioned during this week's show:

• President Obama has ruled out declaring a travel ban to West African countries affected by Ebola. This is probably a wise decision, as a ban would actually make it harder to track and contain the disease.
• Many GOP Senate candidates such as Sen. Pat Roberts and Thom Tillis are using Ebola to raise the issue of border security. Democrats and groups like The Agenda Project Action Fund want to tie the issue to huge funding cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and other government research departments.
• Fear inspired by diseases like Ebola is responsible for 90 percent of the economic costs of epidemics.
• A clip of Fox News anchor Shepard Smith denouncing Ebola fear mongers went viral.
• If they take the Senate in Nov., Republicans will likely attach controversial policy items to spending bills, forcing possible budget standoffs and government shutdowns.
• Democrats may lose the Senate this year, but they’re likely to take it back in 2016.
• John wrote about areas where President Obama and a hypothetical Republican Congress can pass legislation.
• In a recent poll of likely midterm voters, Republicans led Democrats by 13 points in trust on economic issues.
• Frank Foer’s controversial piece in the New Republic asserts that Amazon is behaving like a monopoly.
• Annie refuted Foer’s argument, pointing out that while Amazon has a significant share of the market for physical books and ebooks, the company does not have anywhere close to a monopoly over anything else that it sells.

John chatters about Charlie Crist’s fan and Richard Nixon’s famous debate sweat.

Annie chatters about DIY Ebola HAZMAT suits.

David chatters about Atlas Obscura.

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The email address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com. (Email may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Mike Vuolo. Links compiled by Maxwell Tani.