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Slate News

Don't Worry I'll Pardon You

Slate News

Slate Podcasts

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.56K Ratings

🗓️ 29 August 2019

⏱️ 64 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson and David Plotz discuss Trump’s offer to pardon lawbreakers who help build a border wall, whether the U.S. is a republic or a democracy, and how journalists can choose to punch up or punch down internet harassment.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, David, and John talk about nuking hurricanes.

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.) 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.

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

The following podcast contains explicit language.

0:10.3

Hello and welcome to Slate Political Gap Fest for August 29, 2019, but don't worry, I'll

0:16.0

pardon you edition. I'm David Plotz of Atlas of Skira. I am in Washington, D.C., in an extremely humid and hot studio.

0:23.6

So if you hear me sweating later during the show, that's what you're hearing. Joining me from

0:29.6

Slate Brooklyn, maybe. I don't know. Where are you, Emily Bazelon of Yale in the New York Times?

0:34.6

Yes, that's where I am. Yes, yes, yes.

0:38.4

Slate Brooklyn.

0:39.4

And then from somewhere else in New York, but not in Slate Brooklyn, is John Dickerson of CBS 60 Minutes.

0:45.0

Hello, John.

0:46.0

Hey, I was just Googling how far Emily and I are from each other.

0:50.7

Why are you guys in the same studio?

0:52.5

Well, because our perigranations took us to different places.

0:55.7

Okay.

0:56.6

On today's Gab Fest, President Trump is offering pardons, maybe is he offering pardons, to White House officials who break the law in pursuit of building his wall along the southern border.

1:09.5

Then the surprising fight about whether the United States is a

1:13.3

republic or democracy. Or maybe there's no real contradiction there. We'll find out. Then a set of

1:19.5

strange crises in political journalism involving bedbug tweets and dead cats. Plus, we will have

1:26.0

cocktail chatter. And a reminder, dear listeners, we're going to be live in the Twin Cities of Minnesota on Wednesday, September 18th. We're going to be at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. There are still some tickets left, not many, but some. And you should go to slate.com slash live to get more information and get tickets.

1:44.7

We're really looking forward to that show, and it's going to be a great night.

1:48.6

So join us on September 18th in St. Paul at the Fitzgerald Theater, Slate.com slash live for tickets.

1:55.6

Wonderful, shocking Washington Post story this week describing President Trump's frantic effort to get 500

2:02.9

miles of border wall built before the election. There are two memorable quotes. One was,

...

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