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Political GabfestAn informal and irreverent look at the week's political news. Author: Slate Podcasts
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.Get more Political Gabfest with Slate Plus. Join to unlock weekly bonus episodesplus ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Language: en Genres: Government, News, Politics Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Polls Are So Bad for Trump
Thursday, 22 October, 2026
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss whether Trump is as unpopular as polls suggest and what this means for the midterms, the causes and consequences of the riots in France with Paris-based journalist Rachel Donadio, and how a seemingly trivial courtroom fight over the fate of the East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, D.C. is an important illustration of the lawlessness that defines Trumpism.Corrections: France has the highest borrowing cost in the EU and not the highest debt. French President Macron was seen as the best hope against the far right, not the center right.Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: Owen Dahlkamp for Politico: Exclusive: Anthropic quietly pitches its own AI safety bill to lawmakers; Sophie Hurwitz for Mother Jones: Anthropic’s AI Safety Bill Has an Alarming Threshold for Government ActionJohn: Erica Pandey for Axios: The dad who gave 22 kids a homeDavid: Alex Horton and Dan Lamothe for The Washington Post: Exclusive: Hegseth wanted Eisenhower’s globe for his office. His staff broke it.Listener chatter from Aaron Tax in Washington, D.C.: Jason Fuller, Christopher Intagliata, and Patrick Jarenwattananon for NPR: 'The 101 Plays Itself': This computer program treats the interstate into music; The 101 Plays ItselfFor this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss investigative journalist Bob Woodward's upcoming memoir, Secrets: A Reporter’s Memoir, excerpted in The New Yorker this week. They explore how Woodward's relationship with friend and key source Dick Darman collapsed, journalistic ethics, and whether reporters can really be friends with sources.In the latest Gabfest Reads, John Dickerson interviews Angela Duckworth about her new book, Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best. This new book argues that the most successful people don’t just grind harder; they reshape their circumstances to make success feel automatic.Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)Podcast production by Nina PorzuckiResearch by Emily DittoYou can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here.Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen.Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.













