Political Gabfest

Latest Episodes:

The Polls Do Not Look Amazing For Democrats Oct 20, 2022

Show notes

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson concerning polls for Democrats, women protesting Iran’s regime, and the trial of Arkansas’ law targeting trans kids.

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:

Roya Hakakian for The Atlantic: “The Bonfire of the Headscarves”

A Beginner’s Guide to America for the Immigrant and the Curious, by Roya Hakakian

Matthew Yglesias for Slow Boring: “Pre-Registering Some Takes On The Midterms: Why I Think Democrats Will Undershoot Their Polling And What It Means”

Kelli María Korducki for The Atlantic: “'I Think the Women Are Winning': Roya Hakakian on Iran”

Here are this week’s chatters:

John: The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward's Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump; Michael Wines and Neil Vigdor for The New York Times: “Videos Show Confusion as Florida Police Arrest People on Voter Fraud Charges”

Emily: Emily Heil for The Washington Post: “Olivia Wilde Solves Salad Dressing Mystery With A Nora Ephron Recipe”

David: Jeff Maysh for The Atlantic: “The $30 Million Lottery Scam”

Listener chatter from Lara Lowenstein: The Mountain Dogs

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John discuss Ye buying Parler.

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

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

Research by Bridgette Dunlap.

Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.

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

Bonus Edition: Michigan and Arizona Midterms Oct 16, 2022

Show notes

David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson talk to Craig Mauger of The Detroit News about the major midterm elections in the swing state of Michigan. Then the hosts speak with the Washington Post’s Yvonne Wingett Sanchez about the MAGA diehards and their opponents in Arizona’s midterm election.

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

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

Research by Bridgette Dunlap.

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

Clarence Thomas Is A Prince Fan Oct 13, 2022

Show notes

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson LA’s racism & redistricting scandal, the Andy Warhol copyright case at the Supreme Court, and developments in Putin’s war on Ukraine.

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:

Anne Applebaum for The Atlantic: “Putin’s Newest Annexation Is Dire for Russia Too”

Anne Applebaum for The Atlantic: “The Kremlin Must Be in Crisis”

They Might Be Giants - Gab On (Theme to the Slate Political Gabfest)

Here are this week’s chatters:

John: The Cormac McCarthy Journal

Emily: The Fight for Privacy: Protecting Dignity, Identity, and Love in the Digital Age, by Danielle Keats Citron; The Other Side of Prospect: A Story of Violence, Injustice, and the American City, by Nicholas Dawidoff

David: David chattered about dining outside in Texas.

Listener chatter from Lara Lowenstein: The Mountain Dogs

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John interview John Flansburgh and John Linnell of They Might Be Giants about their work and the Gabfest’s new theme song.

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

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

Research by Bridgette Dunlap.

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

What Is Herschel Walker Lying About Today? Oct 06, 2022

Show notes

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss the new Supreme Court term; Herschel Walker’s abortion lies; and the legal mess Dobbs created for doctors providing abortion via telemedicine.

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:

Emily Bazelon for The New York Times Magazine: “The Doctors Risking Everything to Offer Abortions Across State Lines”

The New York Times: “Is Elon Musk’s Deal to Buy Twitter Back On? Here’s What We Know.”

Here are this week’s chatters:

John: Brian Hutton for The Irish Times: “Irishman Nears Galway After 112 Days of Rowing Across Atlantic From New York”; Damian Browne on Instagram: auld_stock

Emily: CNN: “‘We've Got Weights In Fish!': See The Moment Cheaters Are Caught During Fishing Tournament’”

David: Adam Dalva, The New Yorker: “Letters to Jeb Bush”

Listener chatter from Jamaica Popejoy: Staged

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John discuss the latest in the saga of Elon Musk and Twitter.

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

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

Research by Bridgette Dunlap.

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

Is the Polling Wrong? Sep 29, 2022

Show notes

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss potential polling inaccuracy, Brett Favre and the larger scandal of states misusing federal welfare funding, and Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s take on Italy’s neo-fascist future Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:

Nate Cohen for The New York Times: “Yes, The Polling Warning Signs Are Flashing Again”

Anna Wolfe and Mississippi Today’s coverage of the Mississippi welfare scandal.

Annie Lowry for The Atlantic: “The Time Tax”

Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Here are this week’s chatters:

John: Adrienne LaFrance for The Atlantic: “What It's Like to Fly Into the Eye of a Hurricane”

Emily: Roya Hakakian for The Atlantic: “The Bonfire of the Headscarves”

David: The Guardian, YouTube: “Michael Sheen Gives Rousing Speech for Wales Football Team on A League of Their Own”

Listener chatter from Meredith Francis: Paul Fairie’s Twitter thread of "A List of Things People Blamed on Jazz."

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John discuss NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test.

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

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

Research by Bridgette Dunlap.

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

Ron DeSantis’ Sadistic Plan Sep 22, 2022

Show notes

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson New York’s massive fraud case against the Trumps; Ron DeSantis’ treatments of asylum seekers; and Dahlia Lithwick’s Lady Justice.

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:

Trading Barriers: Immigration and the Remaking of Globalization, Margaret E. Peters

Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America, by Dahlia Lithwick

Ruth Igielnik for The New York Times: “Trump Support Remains Unmoved by Investigations, Poll Finds”

Here are this week’s chatters:

John: It was supposed to be...The Philosophy of Modern Song, by Bob Dylan

Emily: Somebody Somewhere; Reservation Dogs

David: The Space Force Anthem

Listener chatter from Danny Edgel: Frank Vaisvilas and Sarah Volpenhein for The Green Bay Press-Gazette: “Oneida Nation Steps In To Defend Indian Child Welfare Act In Us Supreme Court Case”

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John discuss the vacation of Adnan Syed’s murder conviction.

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

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

Research by Bridgette Dunlap.

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

Gabfest Reads: Searching for a Happy Ending Sep 18, 2022

Show notes

John Dickerson talks with author Ada Calhoun about her new memoir, Also a Poet: Frank O’Hara, My Father, and Me. What started as Calhoun’s attempt to finish the biography of Frank O’Hara that her father started, turned into a gripping story of Calhoun’s relationship with her father. Calhoun and Dickerson talk about not pulling punches when it comes to how nice family members are, why you can’t pre-plan a happy ending, and what her father thought of the book.

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 Cheyna Roth

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

What if Ukraine Wins? Sep 15, 2022

Show notes

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss Ukraine’s advances with Anne Applebaum; Lindsey Graham’s national abortion ban bill; and the controversy over requiring religious schools in New York to meet minimum educational standards.

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:

Anne Applebaum for The Atlantic: “It’s Time to Prepare for a Ukrainian Victory”

Anne Applebaum for The Atlantic: “The Other Ukrainian Army”

Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine, by Anne Applebaum

Shtisel

Fill The Void

Here are this week’s chatters:

John: A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life,

by George Saunders

Emily: Shaila Dewan for The New York Times: “Philadelphia Prosecutor Is Found in Contempt by State Representatives”

David: Mosaic Magazine: “The Royal Mohel and the House of Windsor’s Relationship with the Jews”

Listener chatter from Andrea: NPR’s Planet Money: “Best By, Sell By, Use By”

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John discuss the Death of Queen Elizabeth II.

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

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.

Research by Bridgette Dunlap.

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

Semi-Fascist Sep 08, 2022

Show notes

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss the inexplicable success of Trump’s special master gambit in the Espionage Act investigation, Biden calling out anti-democratic elements of the electorate; and the roots of the Jackson, MS water crisis.

Here are this week’s chatters:

John: Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius for The Great Courses: Turning Points in Modern History

Emily: Jerusalem Demsas for The Atlantic: “What’s Causing Black Flight?”

David: Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Hearty White Bread

Listener chatter from Cynthia Lerner: Ruth Marcus for The Washington Post: “I Usually Ignore The Sexism And Ageism Directed at Me. Now I’m Calling It Out.”

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily and David interview John about his new streaming nightly news show, CBS News Primetime.

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

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Research by Bridgette Dunlap.

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

Diligent Search Sep 01, 2022

Show notes

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss Trump’s strange legal maneuvering in the obstruction investigation; what Trump’s second term would do to U.S. democracy; and what voters deserve to know about a candidate’s health.

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:

Jonathan Rauch for The Atlantic “Trump’s Second Term Would Look Like This”

Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton

Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James

Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad

Lord Jim, by Joseph Conrad

Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, by Studs Terkel

This Is Chance!: The Shaking of an All-American City, a Voice That Held It Together, by Jon Mooallem

The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope

Here are this week’s chatters:

John: Ella Koeze, Denise Lu and Charlie Smart for The New York Times: “Can You Gerrymander Your Party to Power?”

Emily: Aaron Byrd, Weiyi Cai, Geoff Macdonald, Emily Rhyne, Noah Throop, Joe Ward and Jeremy White for The New York Times: “The Toss”

David: CityCast DC; Bad Sisters

Listener chatter from Michael Koehler: Christo Grozev for Bellingcat: “Socialite, Widow, Jeweller, Spy: How a GRU Agent Charmed Her Way Into NATO Circles in Italy”

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John discuss the non-political books that most influenced their understanding of politics.

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

Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

Research by Bridgette Dunlap.

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