The “Just a Little Bit of Shoe Polish” Edition

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On this week’s Slate Political Gabfest, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Virginia Democrats in turmoil, Trump’s State of the Union speech, and the appalling conditions at a federal prison in New York.

Here are some of the links and references from this week’s show:

• Jamelle Bouie for the New York Times: “Blackface Is the Tip of the Iceberg”

• John Dickerson for the Atlantic: “Trump’s Hollow Call for Unity”

• Annie Correal for the New York Times: “Justice Department Calls for Investigation Into Brooklyn Jail Where Heat and Power Failed”

Here are this week’s cocktail chatters:

• Emily: Off Season by James Sturm; “E Pluribus Unum? The Fight Over Identity Politics” by Stacey Y. Abrams, John Sides, Michael Tesler, Lynn Vavreck, Jennifer A. Richeson, and Francis Fukuyama

• John: Jason Kottke for Kottke.org: “A Writing Shed of One’s Own”

• David: Reddit’s paintings within paintings craze

• Listener chatter from Casey Rose‏ @geevaveeri: Jeffrey Young for the Huffington Post: “Utah Voters Approved Medicaid Expansion at the Ballot Box. The GOP Is Trying to Undo It.”

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, John, David, and Emily discuss the crisis in digital media.

Topic ideas for next week? You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest. Tweet us your cocktail chatter using #cocktailchatter or post it to our Facebook page. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

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Podcast production by Jocelyn Frank.
Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.