Political Gabfest

The “Not Exculpated” Edition

The Political Gabfest discusses Robert Mueller’s testimony, the downfall of Al Franken, and the deal to raise the debt ceiling.

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Episode Notes

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

• Elaina Plott for the Atlantic: “Bill Barr Already Won”

• Jane Mayer for the New Yorker: “The Case of Al Franken”

• Zachary Roth for HuffPost: “The Real Story About the Allegations Against Al Franken”

• Matthew Yglesias for Vox: “Al Franken Did the Right Thing by Resigning”

• Years and Years

• Stranger Things

• Big Little Lies

• Fleishman Is in Trouble, by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

• The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

• The Bachelorette

• UnReal

• Fall; or, Dodge in Hell, by Neal Stephenson

• The White Lies podcast

• Kera Bolonik for New York: “The Harvard Professor and the Paternity Trap”

Here are this week’s cocktail chatters:

• Emily chattered about the Miami-Dade County state attorney’s plan to work around a new law that prohibits people with felony convictions who owe fines from voting.

• John chattered about Audm, an app for listening to longform journalism.

• David chattered about seeing the intense work agricultural workers do when he volunteered on a Pennsylvania farm staffed by workers in the United States on temporary agricultural visas.

• Listener Yoni Schenker sent us Mary Robinette Kowal’s twitter thread about peeing in space.

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.)

The email address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com. (Email may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Jocelyn Frank.

Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.

About the Show

Voted “Favorite Political Podcast” by Apple Podcasts listeners. Stephen Colbert says, “Everybody should listen to the Slate Political Gabfest.” The Gabfest is hosted by Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz. Listen for the debates, stay for the cocktail chatter.

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Hosts

  • David Plotz is a host of the Slate Political Gabfest, an editor at large at Business Insider, and the former CEO of Atlas Obscura.

  • Emily Bazelon is a staff writer at the New York Times Magazine, the author of Charged and Sticks and Stones, and co-host of the Slate Political Gabfest.

  • John Dickerson is a 60 Minutes correspondent, co-host of the Slate Political Gabfest, host of the Whistlestop podcast, and author of Whistlestop and On Her Trail.

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