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For months after Donald Trump’s 2016 victory, pundits labored over how the polls, and the reports surrounding them, had badly misjudged and mischaracterized the election. Since then, pollsters have made significant changes in hopes of painting a more accurate picture of the 2020 race.

How much trust should voters put in the numbers this time? And what does the data say about Joe Biden’s perceived lead in the 2020 presidential race?

Guest: Jim Newell, Slate’s senior politics writer

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John Nolan worked at the United States Postal Service for a total of 24 years. He retired in 2005. The last couple of months have been a frustrating time for someone with intimate knowledge of the institution. What are we getting wrong about the Postal Service?

Guest: John Nolan, former Deputy Postmaster General 

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Felix Salmon, Emily Peck, and Anna Szymanski discuss the current U.S. labor market, the oddities of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and the sad state of GE.

In the Slate Plus segment: Retail investing. 

Email: [email protected]

Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.

Twitter: @felixsalmon, @Three_Guineas, @EmilyRPeck

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In the wake of the killing of Michael Brown in 2014, and the national protests that followed, many believed that video shared on social media, along with footage from body cameras, would reshape the relationship between police and citizens. Six years later, one thing is clear: It didn’t work. Can viral videos really hold power to account?

And why do we so often put our faith in technological solutions to solve societal problems?

Guests:

Bijan Stephen, reporter at the Verge

Ethan Zuckerman, former director, the Center for Civic Media, MIT

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In the wake of the killing of Michael Brown in 2014, and the national protests that followed, many believed that video shared on social media, along with footage from body cameras, would reshape the relationship between police and citizens. Six years later, one thing is clear: It didn’t work. Can viral videos really hold power to account?

And why do we so often put our faith in technological solutions to solve societal problems?

Guests:

Bijan Stephen, reporter at the Verge

Ethan Zuckerman, former director, the Center for Civic Media, MIT

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

Virginia Heffernan talks to Georgetown law professor Paul Butler, former trial attorney with the US Department of Justice and author of Chokehold: Policing Black Men, about the events in Kenosha and the Black Lives Matter movement, criminal justice, and what it means to celebrate black joy.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emily, David and John discuss the politics of violence in the U.S. and are joined by bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel to talk about COVID vaccine distribution, and by Edward Ball to talk about his new book, Life of a Klansman: A Family History in White Supremacy.

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

Jamelle Bouie for The New York Times: “Trump Needs His Own Sister Souljah Moment”

Science Magazine: “An Ethical Framework for Global Vaccine Allocation”

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: “National Academies Release Draft Framework for Equitable Allocation of a COVID-19 Vaccine, Seek Public Comment”

Life of a Klansman: A Family History in White Supremacy by Edward Ball

Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball

Julian Kozlowski, Laura Veldkamp, and Venky Venkateswaran for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: “Scarring Body and Mind: The Long-Term Belief-Scarring Effects of COVID-19, Working Paper 2020-009A”

Here are this week’s cocktail chatters:

Emily: Marc Levy for the Associated Press: “Pennsylvania High Court Takes Up Another Election Lawsuit”

John: Elizabeth Bernstein for the Wall Street Journal: “The One Thing You Can Control Right Now: Yourself”

David: Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley

Listener @GreenNeck: Bridget Alex for Discover: “Which Ancient City Is Considered the Oldest in the World?”

Slate Plus members get a bonus 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 whether we’ll consider this the most important election of our lifetimes thirty years from now. 

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.

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President Donald Trump’s business dealings have been shrouded in secrecy, but new legal scrutiny on the Trump Organization might turn up some answers about how the president makes and keeps his money.

Guest: David Fahrenthold, Washington Post reporter covering the Trump family and its business interests. 

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Nine weeks out from the presidential election, the Trump campaign is trying to make the election about “law and order.” Is that a winning strategy when the violence they’re pointing to is happening under Trump’s watch? 

Guest: Will Saletan, Slate’s national correspondent

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The Democratic primary for a Massachusetts Senate seat is becoming a test of progressive bona fides and the strength of the Kennedy family name. So perhaps it’s not surprising to learn that, when it comes to their voting records, the two candidates are extremely similar. 

Guest: Victoria McGrane, political correspondent for the Boston Globe. 

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