617 episodes

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.

Political Gabfest Slate Podcasts

    • News
    • 4.4 • 8K Ratings

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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.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

    John Dickerson’s Navel Gazing: Moving in New York Twenty Years After September 11th

    John Dickerson’s Navel Gazing: Moving in New York Twenty Years After September 11th

    This episode will be available for free starting May 18th.

    In this week’s essay, John discusses the differences between moving around New York in 1991 and 2021; remembering September 11th twenty years later; and more.

    Notebook Entries:
    Notebook 75, page 12. September 2021
    Notebooks to Garret


    Notebook 75, page 13. September 2021
    Can you make a typo with handwriting? What’s a typo with handwriting called?

    Notebook 4. 1991
    We have to unplug the light to run the vacuum, so we do a lot of our vacuuming in the dark.

    Notebook 75. September 11, 2021
    Fritz want something?


    References:
    Smythson Notebooks in Blue

    9/11 ceremonies, events and coverage on 20th anniversary - CBS News

    Richard Drew on Photographing the “Falling Man” of 9/11 - CBS News


    Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.
    Email us at navelgazingpodcast@gmail.com

    John Dickerson’s Navel Gazing: The Sneaky Pitfalls of the To-Do List

    John Dickerson’s Navel Gazing: The Sneaky Pitfalls of the To-Do List

    In this week’s essay, John discusses the Pomodoro Routine (among other productivity routines), why he especially needs a meditation pillow, and how a particular teacher captured his heart. 
     
     
    Notebook Entries:
    Notebook 75, pages 8 and 9. September 2021
    OReinstating the Pomodoro Routine…
    Starting Marshall again…
    Write Brice…
    Send Laura the larger project list…
    Work on budget to get accounts in order
    Meditation pillow upstairs.

    Notebook 18. December 6, 2009
    Instapaper
    Alpha Smart
    Richard Hugo on poetry
    Degrees of Gray In Philipsburg.

    Notebook 18, page 105. June 4, 2011
    Visit to Mr. Mead. He was playing piano as we entered. [During our conversation, he asked]: do you find your work fulfilling? Do you have a close circle of friends? Questions about life and living it well…


    References:
    Getting Things Done - David Allen
    The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey 
    The Questions That Will Get Me Through the Pandemic - John Dickerson
    43 Folders - Merlin Mann 
    The Hardest Job in the World - John Dickerson
    Essays of E.B. White
    “Merlin Mann” - Tina Essmaker for The Great Disconnect
    More about Ernest “Boots” Mead
    “Because Buying New Running Shoes is More Fun Than Actually Running” - Merlin Mann for 43 Folders
    Atomic Habits - James Clear
    The Creative Habit - Twyla Tharp
    Free Agent Nation - Daniel Pink
    “Sharon Salzberg On: Openness, Not Believing the Stories You Tell Yourself, and Why the Most Powerful Tools Often Seem Stupid at First” - Ten Percent Happier

    Want to listen to Navel Gazing uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Navel Gazing and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/navelgazingplus to get access wherever you listen.
     
    Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.
    Email us at navelgazingpodcast@gmail.com
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 38 min
    John Dickerson’s Notebooks: The Sneaky Pitfalls of the To-Do List

    John Dickerson’s Notebooks: The Sneaky Pitfalls of the To-Do List

    This episode will be available for free starting May 11, 2024

    In this week’s essay, John discusses the Pomodoro Routine (among other productivity routines), why he especially needs a meditation pillow, and how a particular teacher captured his heart.


    Notebook Entries:
    Notebook 75, pages 8 and 9. September 2021
    OReinstating the Pomodoro Routine…
    Starting Marshall again…
    Write Brice…
    Send Laura the larger project list…
    Work on budget to get accounts in order
    Meditation pillow upstairs.


    Notebook 18. December 6, 2009
    Instapaper
    Alpha Smart
    Richard Hugo on poetry
    Degrees of Gray In Philipsburg.



    Notebook 18, page 105. June 4, 2011
    Visit to Mr. Mead. He was playing piano as we entered. [During our conversation, he asked]: do you find your work fulfilling? Do you have a close circle of friends? Questions about life and living it well…



    References:
    Getting Things Done - David Allen
    The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey
    The Questions That Will Get Me Through the Pandemic - John Dickerson
    43 Folders - Merlin Mann
    The Hardest Job in the World - John Dickerson
    Essays of E.B. White
    “Merlin Mann” - Tina Essmaker for The Great Disconnect
    More about Ernest “Boots” Mead
    “Because Buying New Running Shoes is More Fun Than Actually Running” - Merlin Mann for 43 Folders
    Atomic Habits - James Clear
    The Creative Habit - Twyla Tharp
    Free Agent Nation - Daniel Pink
    “Sharon Salzberg On: Openness, Not Believing the Stories You Tell Yourself, and Why the Most Powerful Tools Often Seem Stupid at First” - Ten Percent Happier

    Trump Wore Pajamas

    Trump Wore Pajamas

    This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Stormy Daniels’s testimony in Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial; marijuana rescheduling; and the media’s role and responsibility in defending democracy.
     
    Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:
    Josh Gerstein for Politico: Stormy spoke. Trump fumed. Jurors were captivated – but also cringed.
    Ivana Saric for Axios: Status of Trump’s criminal cases
    Li Zhou for Vox: Marijuana could be classified as a lower-risk drug. Here’s what that means.
    Sam Tabachnik for The Denver Post: Black market marijuana grows are popping up faster than law enforcement can take them down. But is legalization the cause?
    John Ingold for The Colorado Sun: What have we learned about the arguments for and against legalized marijuana in the past 10 years?
    Nathaniel Meyersohn for CNN: The dark side of the sports betting boom
    C-SPAN: President Biden Remarks at White House Correspondents’ Dinner
    Ben Smith for Semafor: Joe Kahn: ‘The newsroom is not a safe space’
    Dan Pfeiffer for Message Box: Why Biden Won’t Do a New York Times Interview and A Response to the Editor of the New York Times
    Matthew Yglesias and Brian Beutler for the Politix Podcast: The Times, They Aren’t A Changin’
    Charles Homans for The New York Times Magazine: Donald Trump Has Never Sounded Like This
    Eli Stokols for Politico: The Petty Feud Between the NYT and the White House

    Here are this week’s chatters: 
    Emily: Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice by David S. Tatel 
    John: Gina Kolata for The New York Times: Locks of Beethoven’s Hair Offer New Clues to the Mystery of His Deafness
    David: Randy Yohe for West Virginia Public Broadcasting: W.Va. Gubernatorial Campaign Attack Ads Vilify Transgender Children and Kyndall Cunningham for Vox: The Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar feud, explained
    Listener chatter from Justin and Katie in Columbus, Ohio: Keziah Weir for Vanity Fair: The Vatican’s Secret Role in the Science of IVF.   
     
    For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David, John, and Emily talk with Emily Lawler, Detroit Free Press. See Emily Lawler for the Detroit Free Press: Voters’ voices in Saginaw County; John Wisely: Legal troubles don’t dampen Trump enthusiasm as he visits Michigan; and Paul Egan: As Trump visits, Michigan bellwether Saginaw County is feeling its political juice. See also Arpan Lobo: Michigan lawmaker says ‘illegal invaders’ landed at DTW. They were NCAA basketball teams.
     
    In the latest Gabfest Reads, John talks with David E. Sanger about his new book, New Cold Wars: China’s Rise, Russia’s Invasion, and America’s Struggle to Defend the West.
     
    Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
     
    Podcast production by Cheyna Roth
    Research by Julie Huygen
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 1 hr 7 min
    John Dickerson’s Navel Gazing: Remembering Early 1990s New York

    John Dickerson’s Navel Gazing: Remembering Early 1990s New York

    In this week’s essay, John discusses an onboarding memo for his assistant Laura, and recounts his early days living and working in New York City. 
     
    Notebook Entries:
    Notebook 75
    Onboard memo for Laura

    Notebook 3, page 44. May 1991
    June 17 start job. Good stuff

    Notebook 3, page 46. May 1991
    Tips on buying renting in NYC
    Ask about broker
    20s and 30s East side. Murry Hill
    Live on no major avenue
    Interest bearing account for security deposit
    Medeco locks

    Notebook 4, page 15
    Scared standing on 34th and Broadway
    $6 cab fare

    Notebook 4, page 42
    Getting lost in the village

    References:
    The Little Brown Book of Anecdotes by Clifton Fadiman 
    Medeco Locks
    “Here is New York” by E.B. White
    “Silly Job Interview” - Monty Python 
    John Cleese on Creativity in Management
    Herbie Hancock: Miles Davis’ Essential Lesson On Mistakes
     
    Want to listen to Navel Gazing uninterrupted? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock ad-free listening to Navel Gazing and all your other favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/navelgazingplus to get access wherever you listen.
     
    Podcast production by Cheyna Roth.
    Email us at navelgazingpodcast@gmail.com
     
    Host
    John Dickerson
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 44 min
    Should Student Protesters Be Arrested?

    Should Student Protesters Be Arrested?

    This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the increasing and increasingly violent campus protests of Israel’s war in Gaza, Emily’s article on How ‘History and Tradition’ Rulings Are Changing American Law, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem’s chances of a vice presidential nomination after killing her dog and writing about it.
     
    Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:
    April Rubin, Kavya Beheraj, Tory Lysik, and Will Chase for Axios: Mapped: Where pro – Palestinian student protesters have been arrested
    Sharon Otterman and Santul Nerkar for The New York Times: As Protests Grow, Universities Choose Different Ways to End Unrest
    Mary Harris for Slate’s What Next podcast: Columbia Cracks Down
    The University of Chicago: Report on the University’s Role in Political and Social Action
    Jonathan Chait for New York’s Intelligencer: Why the Right Loves the Anti-Israel Encampments
    Abigail Hauslohner for The Washington Post: House passes antisemitism bill over complaints from First Amendment advocates
    Alexander Bolton for The Hill: Democrats split over campus protest crackdown
    Emily Bazelon for The New York Times: How ‘History and Tradition’ Rulings Are Changing American Law
    Regulations on YouTube
    Calvinball on Wikipedia
    The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law: A Conversation with Justice Amy Coney Barrett
    Ian Millhiser for Vox: The Supreme Court appears poised to rein in its worst decision on guns
    Ulysses S. Grant Revealed: President Ulysses S. Grant On The U.S. Constitution
    Martin Pengelly for The Guardian: Trump VP contender Kristi Noem writes of killing dog – and goat – in new book
    PBS American Experience: Nixon’s Checkers Speech
    Marc A. Caputo for The Bulwark: Trump: ‘Marco has this residency problem.’

    Here are this week’s chatters:
    Emily: Gal Beckerman for The Atlantic: A Prominent Free-Speech Group Is Fighting for Its Life
    John: Sonja Anderson for Smithsonian Magazine: This Newly Deciphered Papyrus Scroll Reveals the Location of Plato’s Grave
    David: Kenny Holston for The New York Times: Inside a Navy Submarine Navigating the Arctic
    Listener chatter from Christina in Philadelphia: Marina Bolotnikova for Vox: Mega drive-throughs explain everything wrong with American cities; Wikipedia: Third place; Jake Blumgart for The Philadelphia Inquirer: Starbucks plans a new Center City location with no restrooms or seating; and Marin Cogan for Vox: The deadliest road in America.   
     
    For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, David, John, and Emily talk with Professor Deborah Tuerkheimer about the Harvey Weinstein case in New York. See Hurubie Meko and Maia Coleman for The New York Times: Prosecutors Say They Plan to Retry Harvey Weinstein as Soon as the Fall and Maria Cramer: Here are five takeaways from the overturned conviction. See also Deborah Tuerkheimer for CNN: Reversal in Harvey Weinstein case isn’t the demise of sex crimes prosecution and Credible: Why We Doubt Accusers and Protect Abusers by Deborah Tuerkheimer. 
     
    In the latest Gabfest Reads, John talks with David E. Sanger about his new book, New Cold Wars: China’s Rise, Russia’s Invasion, and America’s Struggle to Defend the West.
     
    Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
     
    Podcast production by Cheyna Roth
    Research by Julie Huygen
     
    Hosts
    Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 56 min

Customer Reviews

4.4 out of 5
8K Ratings

8K Ratings

Fuji apple ,

Great

Really enjoy your podcast, which allows me to disassociate while completing my morning rowing workout, while listening to intelligent conversations. I like this group, who don’t always agree, but who are always civil. Please disregard the naysayers in these comments, and consider doing a podcast twice a week. One comment regards the podcast rules (apparently). I became a subscriber and wanted to review older podcasts, but found out I was only allowed access to the subscriber section for about a year back. Is this a penalty for subscribing late?

pwestes ,

Navel gazing with John Dickerson

Very good program. John Dickerson never disappoints. 🌼

Auron Renouille ,

What on Earth is this “navel gazing” nonsense?

The podcast is called “political gabfest;” the episodes called “navel gazing” are appropriately named - self-important rumination that has nothing to do with politics, law, or news, and are only appropriate when quietly muttered to oneself in front of a bathroom mirror.

These audio essays - and “essay” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here - are inexplicable. I at first hoped that it was some sort of a soft launch of a new podcast and would go away after an episode or so but evidently it’s not going away. Please, for all that is holy, separate out the two podcasts - I fast forward the instant that I realize that it’s one of those bizarre screeds.

I’ll gladly revise my review once they’re gone. The original podcast was great. This new stuff is truly ~bizarre~ and I can’t figure out why my subscription to a politics and law podcast was turned into a subscription to ~this~.

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