Slate News

David, Emily and John discuss Trump’s impeachment trial; lawsuits about election lies; and the execution of a possibly innocent man.

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

Talk Radio’s America: How an Industry Took Over a Political Party That Took Over the United States by Brian Rosenwald 

“New US Capitol Riot Video Shows Mob Rifling Through Senators' Desks” The Telegraph

Emily Bazelon for the New York Times: “Did Tennessee Execute an Innocent Man?”

Slate Culture Gabfest: “‘Magic or Manipulation’ Edition”

Slate’s The Gist: “Illusions, Delusions, and Flat Out Lies”

Here are this week’s cocktail chatters: 

Emily: Christopher Z. Mooney for the Chicago Tribune: “How the Census Delay Could Hand Control of Illinois Redistricting to the GOP”

John: A letter from George Washington that ended with the sign-off: “Your Most Humble and Obedient Servant" may reveal, or remind us, what our contemporary sign-offs mean.

David: The New York Times Presents: “Framing Britney Spears”

Listener chatter from James Dillard: Amanda Ripley for Comment: “The Mystery of Trust”

Slate Plus members get great bonus content from Slate, a special segment on the Gabfest each week, and access to special bonus episodes throughout the year. Sign up now to listen and support our show. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, David, and John discuss Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself. 

You 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 [email protected]. (Email may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Jocelyn Frank.

Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Tuesday, workers in an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama started voting on whether or not to form a union. Amazon has been fighting the vote on multiple fronts. A “yes” vote could possibly spark unionization drives in warehouses all across the country. 

Guests: Jay Greene, tech reporter for the Washington Post

Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As soon as the Democrats won a slim 50-50 majority in the senate, the jokes about President Joe Manchin started flying. The Senate's self described “conservative Democrat” from West Virginia is in a key position to influence legislation during the Biden administration. How will he wield that power? 

Guests: Jim Newell, senior politics reporter for Slate

Ken Ward Jr., co-founder of Mountain State Spotlight and distinguished reporting fellow for Pro-Publica

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After the insurrection at the nation's capitol on January 6th, the House of Representatives impeached Donald Trump for a second time. The only article charges him with high crimes and misdemeanors for inciting a riot. There's no shortage of evidence backing up that claim, but the politics make it an open question if the senate will convict. 

Guest: Dahlia Lithwick, host of Slate’s Amicus podcast 

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The COVID-19 vaccine roll-out has been a mess across the country, but the failure has been particularly egregious in Philadelphia. The city entrusted a large part of its vaccine distribution to a start-up company run by a 22-year-old with zero medical experience. It wound up with a shuttered clinic and stolen vaccine doses. 

Guest: Nina Feldman, health reporter for WHYY.

Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lionel Barber, former editor of the Financial Times, joins Felix Salmon, Emily Peck and Anna Szymanski to discuss his book The Powerful and the Damned: Private Diaries in Turbulent Times, the “devil's bargain” involved with being a journalist who has direct access to some of the most powerful people in the world, and what it’s like to run a newspaper like the Financial Times.

In the Slate Plus segment: Nick Clegg.

Email: [email protected]

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

Twitter: @felixsalmon, @Three_Guineas, @EmilyRPeck

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emily, John and David discuss the stimulus bill, racial inequities in vaccine distribution, the return to in-person learning, and Majorie Taylor Greene’s GOP.

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

Ezra Klein for the New York Times: “The Senate Has Become a Dadaist Nightmare”

Uché Blackstock and Oni Blackstock for the Washington Post: “White Americans Are Being Vaccinated at Higher Rates Than Black Americans. Such Inequity Cannot Stand.”

Shreya Kangovi and Uché Blackstock for the Washington Post: “Community Health Workers Are Essential in This Crisis. We Need More of Them.”

Thomas B. Edsall for the New York Times: “The QAnon Delusion Has Not Loosened Its Grip”

David Blight’s Open Yale Course: “HIST 119: The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845-1877”

Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World, by Liaquat Ahamed 

Monica Potts for The New York Times: “In the Land of Self-Defeat”

Here are this week’s cocktail chatters: 

Emily: Moe Tkacik for Slate: “The Lousy Tippers of the Trump Administration”

John: Vala Afshar’s tweet of a clip from DisruptTV, Episode 91.  

David: Stefanos Chen for the New York Times: “The Downside to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks”

Listener chatter from Phillip Cleveland @pwcleveland: a Twitter thread by Mark R. Miller

@4T9NER about a meaningful family photograph

Slate Plus members get great bonus content from Slate, a special segment on the Gabfest each week, and access to special bonus episodes throughout the year. Sign up now to listen and support our show.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, listener Norman Townsend asks John, Emily, and David to discuss David’s new startup, CityCast.

You 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 [email protected]. (Email may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Jocelyn Frank.

Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week, in response to protests by farmers outside New Delhi, India, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi restricted access to the mobile web in areas where the protests were unfolding. The move is the latest in the Indian government’s long history of throttling internet access and censoring speech online. 

Why is the Modi government increasingly shutting down the internet and stifling digital dissent? And what does the party’s history of internet shutdowns tell us about India’s future?

Guest: 

Pranav Dixit, correspondent for Buzzfeed News

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week, in response to protests by farmers outside New Delhi, India, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi restricted access to the mobile web in areas where the protests were unfolding. The move is the latest in the Indian government’s long history of throttling internet access and censoring speech online. 

Why is the Modi government increasingly shutting down the internet and stifling digital dissent? And what does the party’s history of internet shutdowns tell us about India’s future?

Guest: 

Pranav Dixit, correspondent for Buzzfeed News

Host

Lizzie O’Leary

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The pandemic has hit many of us in different ways. But women in particular find themselves at the intersection of multiple crises. Across the economy, jobs in female-dominated industries are disappearing. Inside the home, moms are often shouldering the brunt of the extra childcare burden that comes with school closures. 

How are women getting by right now? And will the setbacks they’re experiencing be permanent?

Guest: Jess Calarco, professor of sociology at Indiana University.

Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.