Can Trump Cow Powell?
Political Gabfest
Slate Podcasts
4.6 • 242 Ratings
🗓️ 15 January 2026
⏱️ 63 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss why Trump is stepping up his attacks on Fed Chair Powell and how it could backfire, the increasingly inflammatory actions of ICE and the slim likelihood of justice for Renee Good in Minneapolis, and the Trump administration’s unsettling efforts to sow doubt about election integrity ahead of the midterms.
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss this week’s arguments at the Supreme Court in two cases about state bans on the participation of transgender kids in sports.
In the latest Gabfest Reads, David Plotz talks with Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales about his new book The Seven Rules of Trust: A Blueprint for Building Things That Last. They discuss how Wikipedia’s culture of assuming good faith and shared purpose became a model for building trustworthy digital communities — and what lessons that holds for companies, social media, and politics today.
Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Podcast production by Nina Porzucki
Research by Emily Ditto
You can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here.
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 and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen.
Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park.
Follow
@SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfest
Slate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/
Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I got to tell you, I don't like this shirt choice on my part. |
| 0:03.1 | If I can just... |
| 0:03.9 | You and I are really not, like, on the same way. |
| 0:06.7 | You guys are really quite unusual. |
| 0:09.4 | But you match your rug and I sort of match my flower. |
| 0:13.0 | We'll just go with it. |
| 0:14.2 | Okay, here we go, an actual show. |
| 0:20.3 | Hello and welcome to Slate Political Gab Fest. |
| 0:26.8 | January 15th, 2026, the Ken Trump Cow Powell edition. |
| 0:36.7 | Trying to say Cow Powell twice. |
| 0:39.0 | I am David Plotz of CityCast here in Washington, D.C., from New Haven, Connecticut. |
| 0:44.4 | Her home in New Haven, Connecticut, and the New York Times Magazine, and Yale University Law School. |
| 0:48.3 | It's Emily Bazelon. |
| 0:50.1 | Hello, Emily. |
| 0:50.9 | Hey, David. |
| 0:51.8 | Hey, John. |
| 0:52.6 | And from New York City, where he is the host of a lively internal dialogue about Chester Arthur. |
| 0:59.6 | John Dickerson. |
| 1:02.1 | That was very funny. |
| 1:05.1 | Hi. |
| 1:06.5 | Hi, y'all. |
| 1:07.6 | This week on the Gab Fest, Trump goes nuclear on Fed Chair Jerome Powell, will it backfire? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Slate Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.