Happy Wednesday! Well, that was … something. Thanks to the 4,000 of you who joined our bonus, post-debate Dispatch Live last night. We’ll get through these next 34 days together!

If you missed the fun, never fear: You can watch a replay of the event here.

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• The United States confirmed 42,795 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday per the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Dashboard, with 5.3 percent of the 812,773 tests reported coming back positive. An additional 943 deaths were attributed to the virus on Tuesday, bringing the pandemic’s American death toll to 205,974.

• Researchers at MIT and Commonwealth Fusion Systems produced papers outlining the theoretical basis for a compact nuclear fusion reactor, named Sparc, that could, if successful, begin producing clean energy within the next decade. Construction of a reactor is expected to take three to four years, and begin next spring.