This week, Emily Bazelon and David Plotz are joined by The Atlantic’s Franklin Foer to discuss Joe Biden’s White House and The Last Politician; the war in Ukraine and the possible meeting of Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin; and Americans’ views on the value of higher education. Join us for Political Gabfest Live in Madison, Wisconsin on October 25!

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:

The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future by Franklin Foer

Seung Min Kim, Stephen Groves, and Farnoush Amiri for AP: “How Biden and McCarthy struck a debt limit deal and staved off a catastrophe”

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias: “This was Biden’s core promise …”

Jasmine Wright for CNN: “Kamala Harris found her voice on abortion rights in the year after Dobbs. Now she’s making it central to her 2024 message”

Imtiaz Tyab for CBS News: “Ukraine counteroffensive makes “notable” progress near Zaporizhzhia, but it’s a grinding stalemate elsewhere”

Paul Tough for The New York Times Magazine: “Americans Are Losing Faith in the Value of College. Whose Fault Is That?”

Ramesh Ponnuru in The Washington Post: “How to restore intellectual diversity on college campuses 

Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. in The Washington Post: “Could income-share agreements help solve the student debt crisis?”

Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber 

Sarah Wood for U.S. News & World Report: “Paying for Meals at College: What to Know About Costs”

Nine Black Robes: Inside the Supreme Court’s Drive to the Right and Its Historic Consequences by Joan Biskupic 

Here are this week’s chatters: 

Emily: Richard Fausset and Danny Hakim for The New York Times: “Georgia Judge Says Two Defendants in Trump Case Will Get Early Trial Together” and Sam Gringlas for NPR: “In the Trump Georgia case, conflicting legal strategies complicate the path to trial”

Frank: The Dan Patrick Show: “Does Messi Make MLS Appear Inferior?”; How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization by Franklin Foer; Essays on Music by Theodor Adorno; and On Late Style: Music and Literature Against the Grain by Edward W. Said 

David: One Life: Frederick Douglass at the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.; Michel Martin for NPR’s All Things Considered: “Picture This: Frederick Douglass Was The Most Photographed Man Of His Time”; and NPR: “’What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?’: Descendants Read Frederick Douglass’ Speech”

Listener chatter from Nicole Dorn: Jennifer Senior for The Atlantic: “The Ones We Sent Away” 

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Frank, Emily, and David discuss the writing of The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future. 

In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily, David, and John talk with Barbara Kingsolver about her best-selling book, Demon Copperhead. 

Email your chatters, questions, and comments to [email protected] or X us @SlateGabfest. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Cheyna Roth 

Research by Julie Huygen

Hosts

Franklin Foer, Emily Bazelon, and David Plotz

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