
523 episodes

Political Gabfest Slate Podcasts
-
- News
Voted “Favorite Political Podcast” by Apple Podcasts listeners. Stephen Colbert says "Everybody should listen to the Slate Political Gabfest." The Gabfest, featuring Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz, is the kind of informal and irreverent discussion Washington journalists have after hours over drinks.
-
DeSantis University
This week, David Plotz, John Dickerson, and guest host Josie Duffy Rice discuss the rise of Marjorie Taylor Greene; Ron DeSantis’ attacks on educators; and the bipartisan bashing of monopolist Ticketmaster.
Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:
Jonathan Swan and Catie Edmondson for The New York Times: “How Kevin McCarthy Forged an Ironclad Bond With Marjorie Taylor Greene”
God's Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission to Save America, by Hanna Rosin
Josie Duffy Rice for iHeartPodcasts: Unreformed: the Story of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children
The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead
Here are this week’s chatters:
John: The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness, by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz
Josie: The Uninnocent: Notes on Violence and Mercy, by Katharine Blake
David: Vintage Contemporaries, by Dan Kois
Listener chatter from Pherabe Kolb: Fred Clasen-Kelly for The Greenville News: “Key Findings From The Cost Of Unity, A Series On The Displacement Of Black Greenville”
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment David, John, and Josie discuss Josie’s new podcast, Unreformed: the Story of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children.
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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Gabfest Reads: Two Horrifying Days in D.C.
David Plotz talks with author Shahan Mufti about his new book, American Caliph: The True Story of a Muslim Mystic, a Hollywood Epic, and the 1977 Siege of Washington, DC. They discuss an Islamic group’s multi-location attack in D.C., the terror that hostages experienced while held captive for the two days, and the movie that started the whole thing.
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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Does Alito Hate Sotomayor?
This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss the discovery of classified documents at Biden’s home; the justices of the Supreme Court exhibiting open animosity toward one another; and fears of a “polycrisis” at Davos.
Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:
Matt Viser, Tyler Pager, Carol Leonnig and Yasmeen Abutaleb for The Washington Post: “Inside The White House Document Strategy And Its Pitfalls”
Steven Mazie for The Atlantic: “The Supreme Court Justices Do Not Seem to Be Getting Along”
Jess Bravin and Sadie Gurman for The Wall Street Journal: “Supreme Court Investigators Have Narrowed Leak Inquiry to Small Number of Suspects”
Andrew Van Dam for The Washington Post: “The Happiest, Least Stressful, Most Meaningful Jobs In America”
Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, by Studs Terkel
Here is the poem (by an unknown author) that listener Christina Roosen sent to David after his cat died:
Eyes bright,
claws sharp,
tail held high.
Go keenly into the mist, old warrior.
Valhalla waits for you
A compilation of poems about pet loss: Rome Thorstenson for In Valhalla: “Pet Loss Poems”
Here are this week’s chatters:
John: Joseph Berger for The New York Times: “Adolfo Kaminsky Dies at 97; His Forgeries Saved Thousands of Jews”
Emily: Joshua Vaughn for Penn Live: “Dauphin County Made Millions On Jail Phone Calls And Spent It On Staff Perks, Contractors”
David: His Dark Materials on BBC One; The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass, by Philip Pullman
Listener chatter from Muirinn O'Neill: Josh Baker’s I'm Not a Monster podcast
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John discuss the jobs people find most meaningful.
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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Weaponization of Government
This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss the House GOP’s “Weaponization of Government” subcommittee; the insurrection in Brazil–with Marcos Nobre; and what Prince Harry’s book, Spare, means for the British
Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:
Matthew Yglesias for Slow Boring: “A New Plan To Get Around The Debt Ceiling Hostage”
Matt Levine for Bloomberg: “Financial Engineering the Debt Ceiling”
Spare, by Prince Harry
Here are this week’s chatters:
John: David Wallace-Wells for The New York Times: “Electric Vehicles Keep Defying Almost Everyone’s Predictions”
Emily: Josie Duffy Rice for iHeartPodcasts: Unreformed: the Story of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children
David: Julia Moskin for The New York Times: “Noma, Rated the World’s Best Restaurant, Is Closing Its Doors”
Listener chatter from Erich Morgenbesser: AI illustrates countries as villains
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John discuss the status of “return to office.”
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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Kevin McCarthy In Hell
This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss GOP’s speakership debacle; George Santos; and improving access to medication abortion.
Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:
Emily Bazelon for The New York Times: “The Dawn of the Post-Clinic Abortion”
Emily Bazelon for The New York Times: “Risking Everything to Offer Abortions Across State Lines”
Mark Oppenheimer for The New York Times: “Why Did George Santos Lie About Being Jewish?”
Here are this week’s chatters:
John: Winesburg, Ohio, by Sherwood Anderson
Emily: The Furrows, by Namwali Serpell; Tár ; Zadie Smith for The New York Review of Books: “The Instrumentalist”; Amanda Hess for The New York Times: “Breaking Out of the #MeToo Movie Formula”; Dan Kois for Slate: “Tár Is the Most-Talked-About Movie of the Year. So Why Is Everyone Talking About It All Wrong?”
David: Gastrodiplomacy
Listener chatter from Nathan Kamps: Miles Klee for Rolling Stone: “‘A Celebrity in the Land of Celebrities’: Remembering P-22, L.A.’s Favorite Mountain Lion”
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John discuss the ethics of watching football in light of Damar Hamlin’s life threatening injury.
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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Conundrum 2022 with Alison Bechdel
Special thanks to:
Andy Andrews
Sarah Chapin
Marc Colello
David Duesing
Alan Dybner
Phil Goldstein
Jason Howard
Andrew James Pierce
Eric Koleda
Carrie
Jerm
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 Cheyna Roth.
Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices