Gabfest Reads | Alison Bechdel Explains Selling Out the Progressive Way

Slate Culture

Slate Podcasts

Arts, Tv & Film, Music

4.4 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 21 June 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

David Plotz talks with author Alison Bechdel about her new book, Spent. 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 or email us at [email protected]. (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

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	On June 25th, Ironheart arrives on Disney Plus.
0:03.0	Rui, what is going all with you?
0:04.8	From Marvel Television, an executive producer, Ryan Coogler.
0:07.8	I wanted to build something undeniable, but now I'm in trouble.
0:10.7	Don't miss the sixth episode of Vand.
0:12.7	I joined a crew of criminals, and now I'm about to get killed by Drenched Man in a Cake.
0:17.4	Be the first to experience the all-new series.
0:20.5	You've bitten off a hell of a lot more
0:21.9	than you can chew. Branklechill a lot. Marvel Television's Ironhard. Streaming June 20th, only on Disney Plus.
0:27.7	18 plus subscription required. Deasanceancey's apply. This episode is brought to you by Indeed.
0:33.3	Struggling to get your job posts seen on other job sites. Indeed sponsored jobs help you stand out and hire fast.
0:40.5	Your post jumps to the top of search results, reaching the candidates you need.
0:44.2	Plus, there are no monthly subscriptions, no long-term contracts and you only pay for results.
0:48.6	Speed up your hiring today with a £100 sponsored job credit at Indeed.com slash SPANUK. Terms and conditions apply.
1:00.5	Welcome to GabFest Reeds for June 2025. I'm David Plotz, one of the hosts of Slates
1:05.1	Political GabFest. We get to combine two of my favorite things this week, Vermont and Allison Bechdel.
1:12.9	Allison has a new comic, graphic novel. Is it a novel? We'll discuss, is it a novel? She calls it a novel, but the lead character is a person named Allison, Bacdell, who is a graphic artist and writer living in Vermont.
1:29.3	The new novel is called Spent.
1:31.0	It is about, what is it about?
1:32.9	It's about making art under capitalism.
1:35.2	It's about community.
1:37.1	It's about what it is like to live in a world which is abusive and dark, but yet is filled with rich emotional connection.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 24 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

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.