Political Gabfest

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 HarryHere 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 ChildrenDavid: 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

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 AndersonEmily: 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

Special thanks to:Andy AndrewsSarah ChapinMarc ColelloDavid DuesingAlan DybnerPhil GoldsteinJason HowardAndrew James PierceEric KoledaCarrieJermYou 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

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss the January 6th Committee’s findings and criminal referrals; the brewing water crisis in the West–with Washington Post reporter Josh Partlow; and the biggest stories of 2022.Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:Joshua Partlow for The Washington Post: “Officials Fear ‘Complete Doomsday Scenario’ For Drought-Stricken Colorado River” Joshua Partlow for The Washington Post: “Disaster Scenarios Raise The Stakes For Colorado River Negotiations”Joshua Partlow for The Washington Post: “‘Where There’s Bodies, There’s Treasure’: A Hunt As Lake Mead Shrinks”Adam Liptak for The New York Times: “An ‘Imperial Supreme Court’ Asserts Its Power, Alarming Scholars”Marin Cogan for Vox: “The Deadliest Road in America”Here are this week’s chatters:John: Gabfest Reads: How to Avoid Disastrous Presidents; Picking Presidents: How to Make the Most Consequential Decision in the World, by Gautam MukundaEmily: Mario Ariza and Miranda Green for Floodlight News, and David Folkenflik for NPR: “In The Southeast, Power Company Money Flows To News Sites That Attack Their Critics” David: Li Cohen for CBS News: “Could Jack Have Fit On The Door With Rose In 'Titanic’? Director James Cameron Conducted A Study To Find Out ‘Once And For All.’”Listener chatter from Sam Rutledge: Kaj Tallungs for Wikimedia Commons: data visualization showing the change in U.S. population demographics over time.For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John discuss Elon Musk’s tumultuous tenure at Twitter. 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

John Dickerson talks with author Gautam Mukunda about his new book Picking Presidents: How to Make the Most Consequential Decision in the World. They talk about how Mukunda’s first book, Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter laid the groundwork for Picking Presidents. Later, Dickerson and Mukunda dig into why ‘intellectual brilliance’ – which goes beyond IQ - is a strong predictor of presidential performance and how the human portion of the job of president is changing. 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

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss Krysten Sinema leaving the Democratic party; Republicans’ good turnout, poor performance midterms; and the new documentary, Pelosi in The House.  Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Pelosi in the HouseHere are this week’s chatters:John: Watch Richard Nixon’s Watergate speeches at the Miller Center’s website.Emily: Jessica Blatt Press for The Philadelphia Citizen: “Hey, Phillly! Let’s Hire A Mayor!”David: Courtney Kan, Nick Miroff, Scott Higham, Steven Rich and Tyler Remmel for The Washington Post: “Cartel Rx: Fentanyl’s Deadly Surge: From Mexican Labs To U.S. Streets, A Lethal Pipeline”; The EverCrisp appleFor this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John get philosophical in preparation for the annual Political Gabfest Conundrum episode. 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

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss Raphael Warnock beating Herschel Walker, and oral arguments at the Supreme Court in the anti-gay marriage website designer case and the “independent state legislature” election case. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:Fr. James Martin, S.J. for Outreach: “When Is Religious Liberty A Fig Leaf For Homophobia?”Ian MacDougall for ProPublica: “What’s Really at Stake in a Politically Charged Supreme Court Case on Elections”Jed Sugarmen’s thread on oral arguments in Moore v. Harper.Kevin Roose for The New York Times: “The Brilliance and Weirdness of ChatGPT”Here are this week’s chatters:John: Associated Press: “HBO To Air Nancy Pelosi Doc Shot By Daughter Alexandra”; Pelosi in the HouseNovember 28, 2022Emily: The JanesDavid: Tour Fort DeRussy with David; City Cast Portland has launched; Caitlin Doughty for The New York Times: “If You Want to Give Something Back to Nature, Give Your Body” Listener chatter from Adam Barhamand: Karen Bakker for Noema: “How To Speak Honeybee”For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John discuss ChatGPT.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 Kevin Bendis.Research by Bridgette Dunlap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss Trump hosting prominent antisemites Ye (f/k/a Kanye West) and Nick Fuentes; Chinese protestors challenging their authoritarian government–with Sheena Chestnut Greitens; and Congress legislating to protect marriage equality through the Respect For Marriage Act.  Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:Sheena Chestnut Greitens for Foreign Affairs: “Xi Jinping’s Quest for Order”Sheena Chestnut Greitens and Julian Gewirt for Foreign Affairs: “China's Troubling Vision For The Future Of Public Health”Here are this week’s chatters:John: Darby Saxbe and Magdalena Martínez García for The Conversation: “Fatherhood Changes Men’s Brains, According To Before-And-After MRI Scans”Emily: A compilation of Gabfest listeners favorite salad dressing recipes. David: City Cast is expanding to new cities; Nicole Eustace for The New York Times: “300 Years Ago, There Was a Brutal Murder. We Could Learn From the Treaty That Followed.”Listener chatter from Richard Medlicott: The Economist:”Shyam Saran Negi Never Failed In His Democratic Duty”; Alex Binley for the BBC: “Shyam Saran Negi: Man Dubbed 'india's First Voter' Dies Aged 105”For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John discuss the Supreme Court challenge to the Biden administration’s immigration policy in United States v. Texas.  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

This week, David Plotz, Emily Bazelon, and John Dickerson discuss the future of Twitter, the ghoulish World Cup, and a minister’s allegation that Justice Alito leaked the outcome of the Hobby Lobby case.Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:Jodi Kantor and Jo Becker for The New York Times: “Former Anti-Abortion Leader Alleges Another Supreme Court Breach”Jodi Kantor for The New York Times: “Allegation of Supreme Court Breach Prompts Calls for Inquiry and Ethics Code”Rob Schenck for The New York Times: “I Was an Anti-Abortion Crusader. Now I Support Roe v. Wade”Kara Voght and Tim Dickinson for Rolling Stone: “SCOTUS Justices ‘Prayed With’ Her — Then Cited Her Bosses to End Roe”Here are this week’s chatters:John: Variety: “Bob Dylan Fans Who Bought $600 ‘Hand-Signed’ Books With Replica Autographs Will Receive Refunds From Publisher”Emily: Rozina Ali for The New York Times Magazine: “‘How Did This Man Think He Had the Right to Adopt This Baby?’” David: Politics and Prose: City Cast DC Live Taping with Michael Schaffer, David Plotz, and Anton Bogomazov - at Union Market; Slate’s One Year, Season 4: 1942Listener chatter from Laurent Dugois: In Broad Daylight: A Murder in Skidmore, Missouri, by Harry N MacLean; All That's Interesting: “The Story Of Ken McElroy — The Vicious Bully Killed By His Town”For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, David, and John contemplate the conundrum of what they would like to tell their younger selves but wouldn’t be able to convince them of. Submit your conundrums for the 2022 conundrum episode at slate.com/conundrum.  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

Emily Bazelon talks with author Beverly Gage about her new book, G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century, a detailed account of the life of the first FBI Director, J. Edgar Hoover. They discuss Hoover’s hostile relationship with Martin Luther King Jr., why he should have quit at the end of the 1950s, and how Hoover’s childhood shaped his reign [MOU1] as director. 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 [MOU1]“tenure”? Maybe I’m overthinking this. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices