Political Gabfest: Even George Clooney Has Abandoned Biden

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz continue to debate if Joe Biden should stay in the presidential race and who might replace him if he goes; discuss Project 2025; and ponder if Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett deserves a strange, new respect.

Here are this week’s chatters:

John: Joshua Hammer for Smithsonian Magazine: Pablo Escobar’s Abandoned Hippos Are Wreaking Havoc in the Columbia Jungle 

Emily: Andrea Robin Skinner for the Toronto Star: My stepfather sexually abused me when I was a child. My mother, Alice Munro, chose to stay with him 

David: Natasha Singer for The New York Times: Students Target Teachers in Group TikTok Attack, Shaking Their School and City Cast DC Live Podcast Taping on Saturday, July 13

Listener chatter from Researcher Julie: Alexandra Alter for The New York Times: Romance Bookstores Are Booming, Dishing ‘All the Hot Stuff You Can Imagine’ and Elisabeth Egan: Emily Henry on Writing Best-Sellers Without Tours and TikTok; Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, Ellen Gamerman, and Isabella Simonetti for The Wall Street Journal: How Dragons, Magic and Steamy Sex Took Over the Book World; and Bridgerton on Netflix

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, David, John, and Emily talk with Professor Emily Wilson about her translation of Homer’s Iliad. See The Iliad by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson. See also The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, David talks with Sierra Greer about her new book, Annie Bot: A Novel. And Gabfest Reads now has its own site!

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 and Ethan Oberman

Research by Julie Huygen

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