Political Gabfest

Latest Episodes:

Empty Notepad Oct 16, 2020

Show notes

Emily, John and David discuss Barrett’s confirmation hearings; the First Amendment and disinformation; and the latest election machinations.

Here are some references from this week’s show:

Emily Bazelon for the New York Times: “The Problem of Free Speech in an Age of Disinformation”

On Liberty by John Stuart Mill

The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt

These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore

The New York Times interactive: “How To Vote”

“Better Know A Ballot: Stephen Colbert's State-By-State Guide To Voting In The 2020 Election”

Here are this week’s cocktail chatters:

Emily: Angela Morris for Texas Lawyer: “Chief Justice's Election Bid Puts Spotlight on Texas' Mandatory Judicial Retirement”; Shtisel

John: “Learning in War-Time” by C. S. Lewis; Antonia Cundy for the Financial Times: “What Would a City Designed by Women Look Like?”; McDonald & Dodds

David: Dan Goodspeed’s data visualization of COVID cases state-by-state by date; Fighting With My Family; Ted Lasso

Listener chatter from Kevin O'Donnell @kevinodIRL: Patrick Blanchfield for The New Republic “The Town That Went Feral”

Slate Plus members get a bonus segment on the Gabfest each week, and access to special bonus episodes throughout the year. Sign up now to listen and support our show.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, David, and John discuss their voting plans.

You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest. Tweet us your cocktail chatter using #cocktailchatter. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

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 Jocelyn Frank.

Research and show notes 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.

Spitting Into a Sheet of Plexiglass Oct 08, 2020

Show notes

Emily, John and David discuss the White House virus outbreak, vice-presidential debate, and Senate races

Here are this week’s cocktail chatters:

Emily: Matt Zapotosky for the Washington Post: “New Justice Dept. Election Fraud Guidance Could Allow Boosting Of Trump’s Exaggerated Claims, Legal Observers Say”; Jim Rutenberg for the New York Times Magazine: “The Attack on Voting”

John: Dave Philipps for the New York Times: “The Army Rolls Out a New Weapon: Strategic Napping”

David: 99% Invisible podcast; The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Designby Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt

Listener chatter from Kevin Collins @kevinkwc: colorized footage of an 1896 snowball fight in Lyon, France.

Slate Plus members get a bonus segment on the Gabfest each week, and access to special bonus episodes throughout the year. Sign up now to listen and support our show.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, David, and John discuss whether White House staff and journalists should report for work at the White House during the outbreak.

You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest. Tweet us your cocktail chatter using #cocktailchatter. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

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 Jocelyn Frank.

Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.

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

Slate Plus Special: The President Has COVID Oct 02, 2020

Show notes

In this special episode of Slate's Political Gabfest, Emily, John and David talk about President Trump's coronavirus diagnosis and what happens next.

Here are some references from the show:

Matt Stevens for the New York Times: “Kristin Urquiza, a Debate Attendee Whose Father Died of the Virus, Says Trump Showed ‘No Regard For Human Life.’

You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest. Tweet us your cocktail chatter using #cocktailchatter. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

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 Jocelyn Frank.

Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.

Slate Plus members get a bonus segment on the Gabfest each week, and access to special bonus episodes throughout the year. Sign up now to listen and support our show.

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

What We WILL Know on Election Night Oct 01, 2020

Show notes

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

Russ Buettner, Susanne Craig and Mike McIntire for the New York Times: “Long-Concealed Records Show Trump’s Chronic Losses And Years Of Tax Avoidance”

Adam Davidson’s Twitter thread on signs that Trump might have engaged in money laundering.

Daniel Shaviro for Just Security: “Ten Quick Takeaways from the New York Times’ Bombshell Article on Trump’s Tax Returns”

NYT: Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Noah Weiland for The New York Times: “Study Finds ‘Single Largest Driver’ of Coronavirus Misinformation: Trump”

Nathaniel Persily and Charles Stewart III for the Wall Street Journal: “Actually, We Will Know a Lot on Election Night”

Edward-Isaac Dovere for The Atlantic, “The Deadline That Could Hand Trump the Election”

Here are this week’s cocktail chatters:

Emily: Jordan Nickerson and David H. Solomon: “Car Seats as Contraception”

John: McDonald and Dodds

David: Raymond Antonio Vargas for the New Orleans Advocate: “In New Orleans, Case of Staged Accidents, Disbarred Lawyer, Stuntwoman Attorney Takes a Dark Turn”

Listener chatter from Megan Murray @mkmurray9: Alec MacGillis for The New Yorker: “The Students Left Behind by Remote Learning”

Slate Plus members get a bonus segment on the Gabfest each week, and access to special bonus episodes throughout the year. Sign up now to listen and support our show.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, David, and John discuss what unprofitable businesses they would like to run if they were engaging in tax evasion or avoidance schemes.

You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest. Tweet us your cocktail chatter using #cocktailchatter. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

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 Jocelyn Frank.

Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.

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

Bonus: Would you Shut Up Man Sep 30, 2020

Show notes

In this special bonus episode Emily, John and David debrief and decompress after the first presidential debate of 2020.

You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest. Tweet us your cocktail chatter using #cocktailchatter. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

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 Jocelyn Frank.

Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.

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

Not Even Cold in The Ground Sep 24, 2020

Show notes

Emily, John and David discuss the unseemly rush to replace Justice Ginsburg, the coming presidential debates, and 200,000 COVID-19 deaths.

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

Emily Bazelon for the New York Times Magazine: “Why Ruth Bader Ginsburg Refused to Step Down”

The Long Game by Mitch McConnell

Thomas B. Edsall for the New York Times: “Five Things Biden and His Allies Should Be Worried About”

Linda Chavez for the New York Times: “Democrats, You Can’t Count On the Hispanic Vote”

John Dickerson for the Atlantic: “The Slow-Fingered President”

Here are this week’s cocktail chatters:

Emily: Shaila Dewan for the New York Times: “Few Police Officers Who Cause Deaths Are Charged or Convicted”; Michael Tanenbaum for Philly Voice: “Pennsylvania's 'Naked Ballot' Ruling Will 'Cause Electoral Chaos,' Philly Commissioner Warns”

John: Tariro Mzezewa for the New York Times: “The Flight Goes Nowhere. And It’s Sold Out.”

David: Tara Parker-Pope for the New York Times: “Does Wearing Glasses Protect You From Coronavirus?”

Listener chatter from Katerina Barry: Mike Pomranz for Food & Wine: “Italy's 'Wine Windows' Were a Product of the Plague—Now They're Making a Comeback”

Slate Plus members get a bonus segment on the Gabfest each week, and access to special bonus episodes throughout the year. Sign up now to listen and support our show.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, David, and John discuss where they’ve found moments of peace amidst the chaos.

You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest. Tweet us your cocktail chatter using #cocktailchatter. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

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 Jocelyn Frank.

Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.

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

Special: SCOTUS After Ruth Bader Ginsburg Sep 19, 2020

Show notes

Emily Bazelon joins Mike Pesca, host of Slate's Gist, for a special episode on the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. After discussing Ginsburg’s history as a justice and legacy on the court, they begin to unpack the future political ramifications of her death. Emily and Mike talk through the ways a nomination could quickly slip through the Senate before January, the impact a conservative court could have on issues besides abortion rights, and if Ginsburg should have stepped down under President Obama.

Email us at thegist@slate.com

Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley.

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

Giant Fires Everywhere Sep 17, 2020

Show notes

Emily, John, David and Jamelle discuss the impacts and threats of wildfires and the climate crisis, apocalyptic election talk, and the four of them envision a new and improved post-pandemic work week.

Here are some notes and references from this week’s special show -- part of the Texas Tribune Festival!:

Abrahm Lustgarten for The New York Times Magazine: “The Great Climate Migration”

Galen Durke for FiveThirtyEight “The Challenges Of Holding An Election During A Pandemic”

Jamelle Bouie for The New York Times: “Trump’s Perverse Campaign Strategy”

Thomas B. Edsall for The New York Times: “Whose America Is It?”

Isaac Stanley-Becker for The Washington Post: “Pro-Trump Youth Group Enlists Teens in Secretive Campaign Likened to a ‘troll farm,’ Prompting Rebuke by Facebook and Twitter”

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamont

Here are the week cocktail chatters for this week:

Emily: Janet Malcolm for The New York Review of Books: “A Second Chance”

John: @AmeliaFrappolli’s, twitter thread about the mad hatter who shot John Wilkes Booth, Boston Corbett, as chronicled in Legends and Lies: Great Mysteries of the American West by Dale L. Walker.

Jamelle: Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cookingby Toni Tipton-Martin; The Mandalorian, Season 2

David: The Oddly Satisfying channel on YouTube.

Listener chatter from Janet Green @janetcetera: Jonathan Ore and Kevin Ball for CBC: “Paddle of the Century”

Slate Plus members get a bonus segment on the Gabfest each week, and access to special bonus episodes throughout the year. Sign up now to listen and support our show.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, David, John, and Jamelle take questions from viewers of the Texas Tribune Festival livestream.

You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest. Tweet us your cocktail chatter using #cocktailchatter. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

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 Jocelyn Frank.

Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.

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

Rage Sep 10, 2020

Show notes

What Trump knew about the virus, DOJ’s move to end E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit, and Matthew Yglesias on One Billion Americans.

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

Rage by Bob Woodward

The Washington Post: “32 Times Trump Said the Coronavirus Would Go Away”

One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger by Matthew Yglesias

Here are this week’s cocktail chatters:

Emily: Jaclyn Peiser for the Washington Post: “A Black Seventh-Grader Played with a Toy Gun During a Virtual Class. His School Called the Police.”

John: Laurie Gwen Shapiro for The New Yorker: “The Improbable Journey of Dorothy Parker’s Ashes”

David: Cecily Zander @CNZander’s Twitter thread on Civil War generals as Muppets

Listener chatter from Paul: The Economist: “Marvin Creamer Died on August 12th”

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, David, and John discuss TV shows from their youth that they would like to see rebooted.

Slate Plus members get a bonus segment on the Gabfest each week, and access to special bonus episodes throughout the year. Sign up now to listen and support our show.

You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest. Tweet us your cocktail chatter using #cocktailchatter. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

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 Jocelyn Frank.

Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.

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

Who Should Get the Vaccine? Sep 03, 2020

Show notes

Emily, David and John discuss the politics of violence in the U.S. and are joined by bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel to talk about COVID vaccine distribution, and by Edward Ball to talk about his new book, Life of a Klansman: A Family History in White Supremacy.

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

Jamelle Bouie for The New York Times: “Trump Needs His Own Sister Souljah Moment”

Science Magazine: “An Ethical Framework for Global Vaccine Allocation”

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: “National Academies Release Draft Framework for Equitable Allocation of a COVID-19 Vaccine, Seek Public Comment”

Life of a Klansman: A Family History in White Supremacy by Edward Ball

Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball

Julian Kozlowski, Laura Veldkamp, and Venky Venkateswaran for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: “Scarring Body and Mind: The Long-Term Belief-Scarring Effects of COVID-19, Working Paper 2020-009A”

Here are this week’s cocktail chatters:

Emily: Marc Levy for the Associated Press: “Pennsylvania High Court Takes Up Another Election Lawsuit”

John: Elizabeth Bernstein for the Wall Street Journal: “The One Thing You Can Control Right Now: Yourself”

David: Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley

Listener @GreenNeck: Bridget Alex for Discover: “Which Ancient City Is Considered the Oldest in the World?”

Slate Plus members get a bonus segment on the Gabfest each week, and access to special bonus episodes throughout the year. Sign up now to listen and support our show. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John discuss whether we’ll consider this the most important election of our lifetimes thirty years from now.

You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest. Tweet us your cocktail chatter using #cocktailchatter. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

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 Jocelyn Frank.

Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.

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