Political Gabfest

This week, David Plotz and guest hosts Mike Pesca [https://www.mikepesca.com/] and Susan Glasser [https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/susan-b-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: Traffic deaths across NYC at record low so far this year as City sees historic drop [https://abc7ny.com/post/nyc-traffic-deaths-officials-say-city-has-seen-fewest-fatalities-recorded-history-far-2025/16920646/]; Tomoki Chein for The San Francisco Standard: Policing has little effect on SF traffic deaths, decades of data show [https://sfstandard.com/2025/07/07/san-francisco-traffic-deaths-police-enforcement/]; National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: NHTSA Announces Traffic Fatalities Decreased in the First Quarter of 2025 [https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/traffic-fatalities-decreased-first-quarter-2025]. Susan: Meg Anderson for NPR: Murders are down nationwide. Researchers point to a key reason [https://www.npr.org/2025/06/30/nx-s1-5448852/murders-down-nationwide-covid] David: Kyla Scanlon on Substack: Kyla’s Newsletter [https://kyla.substack.com/]; Clan of the Cave Bear [https://www.amazon.com/Clan-Cave-Bear-Earths-Children/dp/0553250426/tag=slatmaga-20] (1980) by Jean M. Auel; Leah Dearborn for LitReactor: What Is ‘The Clan of the Cave Bear,’ and Should You Read It? [https://litreactor.com/columns/what-is-the-clan-of-the-cave-bear-and-should-you-read-it] Listener chatter from Alan Spatrick in Newton, Massachusetts: Podcast by Andrew Hickey: A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs [https://500songs.com/podcast/] For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, David and guest hosts Mike Pesca [https://www.mikepesca.com/] and Susan Glasser [https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/susan-b-glasser] discuss whether ICE agents should be allowed to do their jobs in masks. In the latest Gabfest Reads [https://slate.com/podcasts/gabfestreads], David talks with author Alison Bechdel [https://dykestowatchoutfor.com/about/] about her new book, Spent [https://www.amazon.com/Spent-Comic-Novel-Alison-Bechdel/dp/0063278928/tag=slatmaga-20]. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Kevin Bendis Research by Emily Ditto 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 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/political-gabfest/id158004641]and Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/2oXS9kkKiXdkkCYB3YfqYZ]. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus [http://slate.com/gabfestplus] to get access wherever you listen. Hosts David Plotz, Mike Pesca [https://www.mikepesca.com/], and Susan Glasser [https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/susan-b-glasser] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

This week, David Plotz and guest hosts Will Saletan [https://substack.com/@saletan] and Catherine Rampell [https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/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: Will: Amy MacKinnon and John Sakellariadis for Politico: CIA review of 2016 Russia election probe finds no major flaws [https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/02/cia-review-of-2016-russia-election-probe-finds-no-major-flaws-00438159]; Jonathan Landay for Reuters: CIA review finds flaws but does not dispute finding Putin sought to sway 2016 vote to Trump [https://www.reuters.com/world/us/cia-review-finds-flaws-does-not-dispute-finding-putin-sought-sway-2016-vote-2025-07-02/]. Catherine: Elizabeth Crisp for The Hill: Trump unveils $249 ‘Trump Fragrances’ [https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5378452-trump-launches-victory-fragrances/]; Alisha Haridasani Gupta for The New York Times: What Does President Trump’s New Perfume Smell Like? [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/style/trump-fragrances-victory-45-47.html]; Nick Turse for The Intercept: The Whiff of Corruption: Trump’s New Perfume Has Strong Notes of Graft [https://theintercept.com/2025/07/01/trump-fragrance-crypto/]. David: Itchy Feet Tours & Safaris [https://itchyfeettoursandsafaris.com/] in South Africa; Geoff Beattie for The Conversation: Psychology of trophy hunting: why some people kill animals for sport [https://theconversation.com/psychology-of-trophy-hunting-why-some-people-kill-animals-for-sport-176277]; Hugh Webster for Conservation Frontlines: Trophy Hunting – A Complex Picture [https://conservationfrontlines.org/2020/10/trophy-hunting-a-complex-picture/]. Listener chatter from Teri Weaver in Syracuse, New York: Michelle Breidenbach for Syracuse.com: Cheap milk and immigration: A blunt farmer’s uncomfortable truth about NY’s dairy industry [https://www.syracuse.com/news/2025/06/cheap-milk-and-immigration-a-blunt-farmers-uncomfortable-truth-about-nys-dairy-industry.html?gift=631d287b-c0c4-43ff-9096-342711eecd87] For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, David and guest hosts Will Saletan [https://substack.com/@saletan] and Catherine Rampell [https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/catherine-rampell/] discuss recent data showing declines in American pride largely along partisan and generational lines, and what it means to be a proud American. In the latest Gabfest Reads [https://slate.com/podcasts/gabfestreads], David talks with author Alison Bechdel [https://dykestowatchoutfor.com/about/] about her new book, Spent [https://www.amazon.com/Spent-Comic-Novel-Alison-Bechdel/dp/0063278928/tag=slatmaga-20]. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com [gabfest@slate.com]. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Kevin Bendis Research by Emily Ditto 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  [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/political-gabfest/id158004641]and Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/2oXS9kkKiXdkkCYB3YfqYZ]. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus [http://slate.com/gabfestplus] to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

This week, Emily Bazelon and guest hosts Ruth Marcus [https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/ruth-marcus] and James Forman [https://law.yale.edu/james-forman-jr] discuss Trump’s bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities with guest Steven Cook [https://www.cfr.org/expert/steven-cook] from the Council on Foreign Relations [https://www.cfr.org/], 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 orders in deportation flight cases. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily Bazelon and guest hosts Ruth Marcus [https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/ruth-marcus] and James Forman [https://law.yale.edu/james-forman-jr] discuss how Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s approach differs from the other liberal Justices and her ferocious critiques of the Roberts Court’s processes and opinions.   In the latest Gabfest Reads [https://slate.com/podcasts/gabfestreads], David talks with author Alison Bechdel [https://dykestowatchoutfor.com/about/] about her new book, Spent [https://www.amazon.com/Spent-Comic-Novel-Alison-Bechdel/dp/0063278928/tag=slatmaga-20].   Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com [gabfest@slate.com]. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)   Research by Emily Ditto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

David Plotz talks with author Alison Bechdel [https://dykestowatchoutfor.com/about/] about her new book, Spent [https://www.harpercollins.com/products/spent-alison-bechdel?variant=43095391764514]. 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 [https://twitter.com/slategabfest?lang=en] or email us at gabfest@slate.com [gabfest@slate.com]. (Messages could be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)   Podcast production by Cheyna Roth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

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 [https://www.amazon.com/Family-Matter-Novel-Claire-Lynch/dp/1668078899/tag=slatmaga-20] by Claire Lynch; The Fall of Affirmative Action: Race, the Supreme Court, and the Future of Higher Education [https://www.amazon.com/Fall-Affirmative-Action-Supreme-Education/dp/B0DYCZPKQN/tag=slatmaga-20] by Justin Driver; A Flower Traveled in My Blood: The Incredible True Story of the Grandmothers Who Fought to Find a Stolen Generation of Children [https://www.amazon.com/Flower-Traveled-Blood-Incredible-Grandmothers/dp/1668017148/tag=slatmaga-20] by Haley Cohen Gilliland.   John: Mary Cunningham for CBS News: Federal Reserve holds its benchmark interest rate steady at today's FOMC meeting [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fed-meeting-today-fomc-interest-rate-decision-federal-reserve-june/]; ABA Banking Journal: Fed’s Powell says some areas of U.S. may be ‘uninsurable’ in next decade [https://bankingjournal.aba.com/2025/02/feds-powell-says-some-areas-of-u-s-may-be-uninsurable-in-next-decade/]   David: Trip Gabriel for the New York Times: William Langewiesche, the ‘Steve McQueen of Journalism,’ Dies at 70 [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/business/media/william-langewiesche-dead.html]   Listener chatter from Jacob Podell in Chicago, Illinois: Juliana Kim for NPR: Family shows AI video of slain victim as an impact statement – possibly a legal first [https://www.npr.org/2025/05/07/g-s1-64640/ai-impact-statement-murder-victim]   For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the exciting possibilities and likely limitations of using AI tools for historical research and writing.   In the latest Gabfest Reads [https://slate.com/podcasts/gabfestreads], Emily talks with author Susan Dominus about her new book, The Family Dynamic: A Journey into the Mystery of Sibling Success [https://www.amazon.com/Family-Dynamic-Journey-Mystery-Sibling/dp/0593137906/tag=slatmaga-20].   Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com [gabfest@slate.com]. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)   Research by Emily Ditto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]