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Political Gabfest - Another Treaty of Versailles Jun 18, 2026

Show notes

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss what the U.S. is getting and what it is giving up with the deal to end Trump's Iran war, how Trump's UFC fight at the White House intentionally used the symbols of the presidency to divide rather than unite Americans, and the intensifying conflict between the government and powerful AI companies.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss today's narrow Supreme Court ruling in the case of United States v. Hemani. The hosts talk about the court's decision on guns and marijuana use, but also, thanks to Justice Gorsuch's focus on the Founding Fathers as "habitual drunkards," veer in a surprisingly philosophical discussion about history and its role in modern legal reasoning.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, John Dickerson talks with Bloomberg columnist Adrian Wooldridge about his new book The Revolutionary Center: The Lost Genius of Liberalism. In a moment when American democracy is under assault from authoritarian populists and dogmatic progressives, Wooldridge argues that liberalism itself offers the most resilient framework for pluralistic, self-correcting societies.

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.

Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen.

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

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What Next - Trump’s War Is Still Going to Cost You Jun 18, 2026

Show notes

Oil prices fell when Trump announced a deal had been struck with Iran, but don’t mistake that for things going back to “normal.” We left “normal” a long time ago.

Guest: Justin Wolfers, economist and professor at the University of Michigan, and author and host of Platypus Economics.

Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Madeline Ducharme, Patrick Fort, Rob Gunther and Paige Osburn.

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

What Next - Israel Alone Jun 17, 2026

Show notes

Both the US and Iran are talking up a deal that will end the war and re-open the Strait of Hormuz. So why is Israel so upset about it?

Guest: Gregg Carlstrom, Middle East correspondent for the Economist

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Madeline Ducharme, Patrick Fort, Rob Gunther and Paige Osburn.

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

What Next - The US Military’s Other War Jun 16, 2026

Show notes

From the firing of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Q. Brown Jr., to the removal of the first Black four-star general’s portrait from the Pentagon, to striking Black and women Naval officers’ names from the promotion list, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s vision for the future of the military seems to come at the expense of Black servicemembers and their careers—leading many to question if this is even the right career path to be on.

Guest: Clint Smith, staff writer at The Atlantic.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Madeline Ducharme, Patrick Fort, Rob Gunther and Paige Osburn.

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

What Next - An Obsession with Backrooms Jun 15, 2026

Show notes

Two horror films by two young directors have outmuscled an honest-to-Grogu Star Wars to become the early box office surprises of the summer.

Guest: Justin Chang, film critic at The New Yorker

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Madeline Ducharme, Patrick Fort, Rob Gunther and Paige Osburn.

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

Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - A Huge Shift is Underway at SCOTUS Jun 13, 2026

Show notes

The Second Reconstruction is being dismantled piece by piece, and this past month has seen that project attain terminal velocity. On this week’s Amicus podcast, Dahlia Lithwick talks with Stanford law professor and leading civil rights lawyer and scholar Pamela S Karlan, about a series of quick-fire moves from the high court and the Trump administration that, taken together, reveal a rapid disassembly of a series of hard-won civil rights laws in place for the past 50 years, known as the Second Reconstruction.

From SCOTUS decisions in Callais and Milligan, to a new memo from the Justice Department revisiting equal employment protections, the United States’ framework for multiracial democracy and minority participation in civic life is being swept away. This is about more than redistricting, primaries and polls, midterms and horse races. It’s a wholesale reshaping of what––and who––America is for.

This is part of Opinionpalooza, Slate’s coverage of the major decisions from the Supreme Court. The best way to support our work is by joining Slate Plus. (If you are already a member, consider a donation or merch!)

Want more Amicus? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Amicus show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/amicusplus to get access wherever you listen.

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

Slate Money - We Hate the Inflation Jun 13, 2026

Show notes

This week: Inflation hit its highest rate in three years thanks to skyrocketing energy prices. Felix Salmon, Elizabeth Spiers, and Emily Peck, parse through what the various inflation numbers mean and discuss the Fed’s and Donald Trump’s blasé reaction to the situation. Then, with the trustees warning of its depletion by 2032, the hosts talk about the possible consequences of losing Social Security. And finally, they look at the natural experiment that revealed the unexpected connection between the iPhone and lower birth rates.

In the Slate Plus episode: Is Anthropic vs OpenAI the new Coke vs Pepsi?

Want to hear that discussion and hear more Slate Money? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Slate Money show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/moneyplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

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

What Next - My Clip Viral, My Spencer Pratt, My Kalshi Dived, Knicks In Five?? Jun 12, 2026

Show notes

It’s real: The two great flavors of What Next and What Next TBD together at last. But what’s not real? Where does a sincere speaker using a medium with a motive fall? And how much wolf can you cry before they just take you off shepherd duty?

This episode is member-exclusive. Listen to it now by subscribing to Slate Plus. By joining, not only will you unlock exclusive episodes of What Next —you’ll also access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the What Next show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Patrick Fort, Evan Campbell, Paige Osburn, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.

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

What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - IPO to the Moon Jun 12, 2026

Show notes

Is Elon Musk’s SpaceX leading humanity to Mars? Or is that just grandiose window-dressing for an A.I. company leading several other A.I. companies to IPOs?

Guest: Max Chafkin, reporter with Bloomberg Businessweek and cohost of the Everybody's Business podcast.

Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen.

Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Madeline Ducharme, Patrick Fort, Rob Gunther and Paige Osburn.

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

Political Gabfest - California Is an Embarrassment Jun 11, 2026

Show notes

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss whether this week's resumption of open hostilities in the Iran war has changed the likelihood of an imminent end to the conflict, what to do about how California's slow vote-counting emboldens Trump's cries of election foul, and the most hotly contested D.C. mayoral election in a generation with guest Mike Schaffer from City Cast DC.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss how the online shaming of one couple for their reproductive decision has deformed an already hard conversation about disability, quality of life, and what we owe each other. The hosts try to hold all of it at once as they consider this viral story that sits at the intersection of disability rights and reproductive autonomy.

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.