Political Gabfest

Latest Episodes:

Finally, We Vote Oct 29, 2026

Show notes

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss what they're paying attention to and what to expect on Election Day next Tuesday, how to understand the complex results of Israel's elections with guest Ruth Margalit, and what Anthropic's highly anticipated IPO prospectus says about the promise and peril of AI.

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: Sam Levine for The Guardian: Justice department charges ex-FBI director James Comey for third time; Jordan Rubin for MS NOW: How the Trump DOJ can lose the new Comey case before it even starts; Michelle Spear for The Conversation: Do women have to pee more often? The answer is surprisingly complex

John: CBC Podcasts: Sea of Lies; BritBox: Ludwig

David: Hulu: Adults; Michael Johnston and Melissa de la Cruz for NPR: 'Spell'-Bound By A Goofy Book — And Later, United By It

Listener chatter from Bryan Bennett in Austin, Texas: Bryan Bennett for Walking Through the Data (Substack): Democrats Need to Confront the Length and Depth of Distrust in Government and Institutions

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the spat between Obama and Trump over Trump's gilded Oval Office decor, consider which side emerges looking better, and ask whether dumb cultural moments like this really matter.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, John Dickerson interviews Angela Duckworth about her new book, Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best. This new book argues that the most successful people don’t just grind harder; they reshape their circumstances to make success feel automatic.

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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Polls Are So Bad for Trump Oct 22, 2026

Show notes

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss whether Trump is as unpopular as polls suggest and what this means for the midterms, the causes and consequences of the riots in France with Paris-based journalist Rachel Donadio, and how a seemingly trivial courtroom fight over the fate of the East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, D.C. is an important illustration of the lawlessness that defines Trumpism.

Corrections: France has the highest borrowing cost in the EU and not the highest debt. French President Macron was seen as the best hope against the far right, not the center right.

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: Owen Dahlkamp for Politico: Exclusive: Anthropic quietly pitches its own AI safety bill to lawmakers; Sophie Hurwitz for Mother Jones: Anthropic’s AI Safety Bill Has an Alarming Threshold for Government Action

John: Erica Pandey for Axios: The dad who gave 22 kids a home

David: Alex Horton and Dan Lamothe for The Washington Post: Exclusive: Hegseth wanted Eisenhower’s globe for his office. His staff broke it.

Listener chatter from Aaron Tax in Washington, D.C.: Jason Fuller, Christopher Intagliata, and Patrick Jarenwattananon for NPR: 'The 101 Plays Itself': This computer program treats the interstate into music; The 101 Plays Itself

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss investigative journalist Bob Woodward's upcoming memoir, Secrets: A Reporter’s Memoir, excerpted in The New Yorker this week. They explore how Woodward's relationship with friend and key source Dick Darman collapsed, journalistic ethics, and whether reporters can really be friends with sources.

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.

Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gabfest Reads | Situating Yourself for Success Oct 17, 2026

Show notes

For this month’s edition of Gabfest Reads, John Dickerson interviews Angela Duckworth about her new book, Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best. Her previous best-selling book, Grit, explored the idea that passion and perseverance drive success. This new book argues that grit is not enough to succeed. Yes, grit matters, but the real game-changer is your situation, that is, the objects within reach, the people around you, the physical and social environment that you inhabit.

Duckworth reveals how the most successful people don't just grind harder; they reshape their circumstances to make success feel automatic. The conversation with host John Dickerson ranges from the "three boxes model" of human behavior to the power of finding your tribe and mentors. Whether you're struggling to be present, trying to build better habits, or wondering why willpower alone hasn't delivered, this book offers a framework for understanding and changing the situation that shapes you every single day.

Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Nina Porzucki.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Help Russia Win Oct 15, 2026

Show notes

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.

Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park.

Follow

@SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfest

Slate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Blue Wave or Blue Ripple? Oct 08, 2026

Show notes

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss where the midterms stand mere weeks out from Election Day, the legal and cultural issues at the heart of the deeply disturbing Cornell University rape case, and the perennial American debate over whether to make Daylight Saving Time permanent.

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: Samuel A. Alito Jr. for The Wall Street Journal: Opinion: Commentary: Justice Samuel Alito: Even Originalists Make Mistakes

John: Hamed Aleaziz, David A. Fahrenthold, Nicholas Nehamas, Tyler Pager, and Niraj Chokshi for The New York Times: Kristi Noem’s Agency Gave Her Donor a Lucrative Contract Just Before She Left; David Gilmour for Mediaite: ABC News Mysteriously Deletes Report on Trump Sons’ ‘$6B’ Business Dealings (original from ABC News on Internet Archive); Dana Mattioli, Drew Hinshaw, Rebecca Ballhaus, and Joe Parkinson for The Wall Street Journal: Exclusive: ‘Honey Please’: Kimberly Guilfoyle Pushed Donor to Wire $100,000 to Her Amex Account; Record Lows by CJ Green; Historian T.J. Stiles on Bluesky on Grant documentary (also available on Netflix)

David: Acquired Podcast: Season 13, Episode 2: Costco (also on Apple Podcasts); Lioness on Paramount Plus

Listener chatter from Mark Phillips in Baltimore, Maryland: Katie Bo Lillis and Zachary Cohen for CNN: Exclusive: US military had close call after using AI for false intelligence report, sources say

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David react to a New York Times list of 100 open scientific questions by coming up with some unanswered questions of their own. Their lists run from the cosmic (is interstellar travel possible?) to the intimate (what is it like to be my dog?) to the unsettling (how much of memory is made up in the moment?).

Gabfest is coming to Providence, RI on October 21st. Tickets available now!

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.

Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park.

Follow

@SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfest

Slate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/

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Meet You at the Hawks Game Oct 01, 2026

Show notes

This week, Emily Bazelon, David Plotz, and guest host David Leonhardt discuss the GOP's failed witch hunt against Jack Smith and bizarre moments from the hearing, the Supreme Court's decision to allow the Trump administration's cruel third-country deportations to continue for now and broader issues of immigration and asylum, and the mixed bag of a college sports bill that sidesteps the key question of whether college athletes count as employees.

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: A Woman's Work: Reclaiming the Radical History of Mothering by Elinor Cleghorn

David Plotz: Explore D.C.'s Secret Fort with David Plotz; Owen Gleiberman for Variety: ‘Heart of the Beast’ Review: Brad Pitt Is a Veteran Stranded With His Combat Dog in David Ayer’s Stirringly Crafted Survival-in-the-Wild Saga; Paramount Pictures on YouTube: Heart of the Beast | Official Trailer 2

David Leonhardt: ESPN: WNBA playoffs 2026: How the Liberty swept the Lynx and the Fever stayed alive;WNBA Playoffs News 2026

Listener chatter from Dileep Rao in Los Angeles, California: Annie Roth for The New York Times: What Did Jurassic Forests Sound Like? Like This.; J. Gu, F. Montealegre-Z, T. Jonsson, C. Woodrow, E. Celiker, M.N. Islam, J.B. Linde, F.A. Sarria-S, F. Shi, H. Song, D. Robert, & D. Ren, Reconstruction of an extinct soundscape reveals ultrasonic communication in the Jurassic, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 123 (36) e2615107123, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2615107123 (2026).

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, David, and guest host David Leonhardt discuss the viral story about the infighting over COVID-masking policy at a Massachusetts bar. They explore the long shadow of COVID overhang, hard tradeoffs and how to think about them, and the problematic impulse to eat your own on the left.

Gabfest is coming to Providence, RI on October 21st. Tickets available now!

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.

Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park.

Follow

@SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfest

Slate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Purposely Negative Sep 24, 2026

Show notes

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and guest host Juliette Kayyem discuss what we learn from Trump's escalating battle with the press and its track record in the courts, the likely outcomes of this week's Trump-Xi summit with former New York Times Beijing Bureau Chief and host of Face-Off: the US vs. China, Jane Perlez, and the role of voter trust as the midterm elections approach.

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: Kohelet Rabbah 7:1, The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah, 2022

John: History Channel: Grant; John Anderson for The Wall Street Journal: ‘Grant’ Review: The Wisdom and Weaknesses of a Warrior

Juliette: Madeline Puckette for Wine Folly: Everything You Want to Know About Orange Wine; Winecountry Collective: Exploring the World of Orange Wines

Listener chatter from John McMillian in Atlanta, Georgia: Rick Perlstein for Smithsonian Magazine: An Interview With ‘Playboy’ Magazine Nearly Torpedoed Jimmy Carter’s Presidential Campaign; Robert Scheer for Playboy Magazine: The Playboy Interview With Jimmy Carter

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and guest host Juliette Kayyem discuss reactions to Nikole Hannah-Jones's New York Times Magazine essay, In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own?, and why the online hostility looks so different from what she actually wrote. They dig into the research on socioeconomic integration, the tendency to conflate race and class, and the problem with asking individual parents to solve what is really a policy problem.

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.

Come see the Gabfest LIVE Providence, RI on October 21st. Tickets found at slate.com/gabfestlive

Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park.

Follow

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Slate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gabfest Reads | The Tax Nobody Talks About: Your Time Sep 19, 2026

Show notes

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. Lowrey traces the waste to what she calls the “ordeal mechanism,” the deliberate friction built into some programs to weed out the “undeserving,” alongside outdated technology like the COBOL code still running state unemployment systems. She and Plotz discuss why the burden falls hardest on poor people and immigrants, why Social Security remains one of the few programs that treats recipients with dignity, and why DOGE did nothing to fix any of it.

Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Nina Porzucki.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kremlin Wedding Present Sep 17, 2026

Show notes

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss whether this week's Supreme Court intervention rejecting Trump's mail-in ballot restrictions will prevent midterm chaos, explore the fast-evolving dynamics of public and political anxieties about AI, and dissect remarkable new reporting from ProPublica exposing the Putin-adjacent Russian oligarch who paid for much of Donald Trump Jr.'s private island wedding.

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: New podcast Examined: The Backfire Effect, by Josie Duffy Rice; Supremacy: How Rule by the Court Replaced Government by the People by Nikolas Bowie and Daphna Renan

John: Wild Card with Rachel Martin (NPR): John Dickerson says doubt only helps to solidify his faith; Derek DelGaudio's In & Of Itself (Trailer on YouTube) (Streaming on Hulu); Linda Holmes for NPR: 'In & Of Itself' Is A Study Of Identity And Magic; AMORALMAN: A True Story and Other Liesby Derek DelGaudio

David: Colin from Accounts on Paramount Plus; Daniel Wu for The Washington Post: Pollution spikes after Trump halted global air-monitoring efforts, report says

Listener chatter from Julian Ozen in Brooklyn, NY: Ordinary Abundance

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss what California Gov. Gavin Newsom told Jake Tapper about running for president in 2028. They discuss the signaling work of the fly-fishing tableau, what Newsom is really saying about Harris, and whether there's an appetite in the Democratic party for either of them to run.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, David Plotz talks with John Lanchester about his new novel, Look What You Made Me Do, a darkly funny psychological thriller about two couples in modern-day London whose lives collide in a story of infidelity, obsession, and revenge. The book explores the performance of niceness, class, intergenerational frictions and how technology makes vengeance not just possible but almost exceedingly easy in the modern age.

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.

Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park.

Follow

@SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfest

Slate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/

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Pretend I'm on the Ballot Sep 10, 2026

Show notes

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss why Republicans are holding an unusual midterm convention and what it says about the state of the race at the homestretch, talk about the new book Profiles in Cowardice: A Study of Collaboration in the Trump Era with author Jacob Weisberg, and reflect on memories and historical consequences on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack.

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: Hansi Lo Wang for NPR: Trump officials propose sweeping changes to the census that would reshape voting maps; Data Are Made, Not Found: A Story of Politics, Power, and the Civil Servants Who Saved the US Census by danah boyd; Charity and Sylvia by Tillie Walden

John: Associated Press: US Attorney confirms no meth was found in van of Texas man shot by immigration officers; Kristen Wong for Sports Illustrated: At His Highest Moment, Frances Tiafoe Rose Even Higher. His Viral U.S. Open Hug Is Why We Love Sports.

David: Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) - Official Trailer (HD) (2:56 long on YouTube)

Listener chatter from Adam Forkner in Boston, Massachusetts: Dave Epstein for The Boston Globe: What my Maine dock taught me about the threat of invasive marine life looming in the Persian Gulf; Tamburri, M.N., Carlton, J.T., Blakeslee, A.M.H. et al. Closure of the Strait of Hormuz may trigger a bioinvasion super-spreader event. Biol Invasions 28, 177 (2026).

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss this week's big AI story, a researcher's resignation from Anthropic and his dire warnings about AI's imminent dangers to humanity, with guest Nathan Calvin, general counsel at Encode. They discuss the exponential pace of AI development, what the big companies are or are not doing to protect humans from apocalypse, and the simultaneous governmental and industry cooperation that could help manage risks.

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.

Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park.

Follow

@SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfest

Slate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.