Political Gabfest

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss how Trump is using the powerful machine of government prosecution to reverse-engineer crimes supposedly committed by enemies, his diatribe against Tylenol at the disastrous press conference on autism, and the echoes of past Red Scares in today’s free speech climate with historian Beverly Gage , author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning G...

Emily Bazelon talks with author and Yale professor Judith Resnik about her new book,  Impermissible Punishments: How Prison Became a Problem for Democracy . They discuss the history of the prison system’s use of punishments like whipping, how the practice came to an end, and more.   Tweet us your questions  @SlateGabfest  or email us at  gabfest@slate.com . (Messages could be quoted by name unless...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the government’s intimidation tactics aimed at chilling free speech after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, why Trump seems intent to provoke armed conflict with Venezuela, and how the president and his Republican allies are upending DC self-governance with guest Michael Schaffer ( City Cast DC , Politico ). For this week’s Slate Plus b...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the assassination of Charlie Kirk amid an extremely troubling climate of political violence in America, another Supreme Court order with no majority explanation allowing racial profiling by ICE in LA, and a score-settling excerpt from Kamala Harris’s upcoming memoir 107 Days. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, an...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss what the spate of legal defeats for the Trump administration portends as cases wind toward the Supreme Court, the real world effects of RFK Jr. gutting the CDC with guest Dr. Josh Sharfstein , and whether Democrats should compel government shutdown or avoid it now that Congress is back. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emil...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Trump’s brazen effort to smash Fed independence by wielding allegations of mortgage fraud against Fed governor Lisa Cook, the expanding law enforcement role of the National Guard in DC and other cities, and the inexplicable folly of Trump’s all-out assault on the renewable wind industry. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emi...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Trump’s deepening takeover of Washington D.C. as National Guard troops from red states arrive, what if anything was accomplished in the whirlwind of Putin-Trump-Zelensky diplomacy, and this week’s launch of the new liberal publication The Argument with its Editor-in-Chief Jerusalem Demsas . For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode,...

Political Gabfest host Emily Bazelon talks with Jonathan Mahler about his new book, The Gods of New York. They discuss the unraveling of Mayor Ed Koch’s New York City; how the city’s current mayoral race is mirroring the past; and more.   Tweet us your questions @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)   Podcast prod...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and guest host Jamelle Bouie discuss the perils of this week’s Trump-plus-Putin (minus Zelensky) summit in Alaska, how Trump’s claimed crime “emergency” provided pretext for National Guard deployment and takeover of D.C. police, and a new presidential memorandum requiring colleges to share admissions data to “verify” that they are not considering race.  Fo...

This week, Emily Bazelon, David Plotz, and guest host Juliette Kayyem discuss the future integrity of US economic data after Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, what the mid-decade redistricting arms race portends for the future of US representative government, and the phenomenon of “Trump’s Rasputin,” Laura Loomer. Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: Jake Jones for BBC Sport...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson and David Plotz discuss the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the international condemnations of Israel’s actions. They also examine how the Trump administration is gaining control of both universities and the judiciary—through settlements with Ivy League institutions and a controversial judicial confirmation. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episod...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the latest developments in the Epstein files saga, how Supreme Court decisions under John Roberts have dramatically expanded Trump’s power, and whether the Texas Republicans’ redistricting plan will tip the map redder, or backfire. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss what they are enjoying readin...

David Plotz talks with author Carl Hiaasen about his  new book,  Fever Beach .  Fever Beach  is a political satire that follows a couple of dimwitted white supremacists, a corrupt congressman, and the people that try to take them all down. They discuss the real-life racist event Hiaasen witnessed that inspired a central scene in the novel, how Matt Gaetz factors into the book, Hiaasen’s next moves...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the epic MAGA meltdown over the DOJ’s “there’s nothing to see here” Epstein files memo, how the Supreme Court is using the “shadow docket” to bolster Trump’s efforts to dismantle the federal government, and whether rescission will kill NPR and PBS.  For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss what they a...

This week, David Plotz and guest hosts Mike Pesca and Susan Glasser discuss what to make of Elon Musk’s quixotic attempt to start a third political party in America, how Trump’s conflation of national interest with self-interest creates an incoherent foreign policy, and the tedious but impactful “summer rerun season” of Trump’s tariff folly.  Here are this week’s chatters: Mike: ABC7 New York: Tra...

This week, David Plotz and guest hosts Will Saletan and Catherine Rampell discuss what the Senate’s regressive budget bill will do to the health of America, whether there is space left for non-Trump conservatives in American politics, and how Paramount’s settlement of Trump’s meritless lawsuit signifies the fall of another guardrail against an authoritarian president. Here are this week’s chatters...

This week, Emily Bazelon and guest hosts  Ruth Marcus  and  James Forman  discuss Trump’s bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities with guest  Steven Cook  from the  Council on Foreign Relations , Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory in the NYC Democratic mayoral primary, and an astonishing whistleblower report that sheds incriminating light on Trump’s judicial nominee Emil Bove and defiance of court ord...

David Plotz talks with  author Alison Bechdel  about her new book,  Spent . They discuss what’s memoir and what’s less than memoir in the comic novel, David’s own contribution to the book, and more.   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. Need to set...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss whether the US should join Israel’s war on Iran, the tragic Minnesota assassinations and why US political violence is surging now, and the Supreme Court’s unsurprising but willfully obtuse decision to uphold Tennessee’s youth transgender care ban. Here are this week’s chatters:   Emily:  A Family Matter   by Claire Lynch;  The Fall...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and guest host  Juliette Kayyem  discuss the ominous juxtaposition of Trump sending National Guard troops and Marines to quell mostly peaceful protests in LA with his impending military parade in DC, RFK Jr. firing the entire CDC vaccine advisory board and what this means for the future of vaccines, and a unanimous Supreme Court decision that makes it easi...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Elon Musk’s dramatic entrance into the fight between Republican factions over details of the Big Beautiful Bill, whether an independent judiciary can survive in the face of new threats, and the implications of Trump’s cruel new travel bans. Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: Chris Cameron for the New York Times: Trump Orders Inve...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss this week’s Supreme Court decision that validates Trump’s firing of 2 officials without cause thus stealth-overruling a key check on presidents, the power dynamics around who benefits from Trump’s attempts to destroy Harvard, and the challenges and rewards of male friendship in modern life.  Here are this week’s chatters:   Emily: E...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the huge House tax bill and its broad economic implications with Harvard economist  Jason Furman , the DOJ’s selective investigation and prosecution of officials as a method of intimidation, and the Heritage Foundation’s “Project Esther” as the Trump administration’s blueprint for shutting down dissent with accusations of antisemiti...

Emily Bazelon talks with author Susan Dominus about her new book,  The Family Dynamic: A Journey into the Mystery of Sibling Success .   They discuss the commonalities among families that have multiple high-achieving children, what we can learn from these unique families, and more.   Tweet us your questions  @SlateGabfest  or email us at  gabfest@slate.com . (Messages could be quoted by name unles...

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss how Trump’s trip to the Middle East is wildly off the scale of any past corruption and offensive to American tradition, the Supreme Court hearing arguments in the first case in Trump’s attempts to limit birthright citizenship, and the buzz about a new book from Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson,  Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline,...