Is John Roberts to Blame for Everything?

Political Gabfest

Slate Podcasts

Politics, Government, News

4.5 • 8.3K Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2025

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the latest developments in the Epstein files saga, how Supreme Court decisions under John Roberts have dramatically expanded Trump’s power, and whether the Texas Republicans’ redistricting plan will tip the map redder, or backfire. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss what they are enjoying reading, watching, and cooking so far this summer. In the latest Gabfest Reads, David talks with Carl Hiaasen about his new book, Fever Beach, a political satire for the Trump Era. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to [email protected]. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Research by Nora Moses 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the Slate Political Gab Fest.
0:07.4	July 24th, 2025, the Is John Roberts to blame for Everything edition. I'm'm David Claus of CityCast. John, Emily, and I, we've been chit-chatting. It's practically like noon already because we've just been sitting here chit-chatting. But you know what that means? That means we're lubed, we're oiled up, we're ready to go. All the joints are moving. That was John Dickerson chuckling. He heard me say the word lube. Didn't like it.
0:41.6	Co-anchor of the CBS Evening News. You're setting expectations in the opposite direction where they need to be. You need to set them in the basement.
0:51.8	Well, in the basement in my house is just the Peloton. That is
0:56.0	Emily Bazelon, who is silently observing in horror of the New York Times Magazine and Yale University
1:02.8	Law School. Hello, Emily. No horror here. Silently observing without horror. This week on the Gab Fest, which is her new motto.
1:14.3	We will explain how Trump's lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, the Epstein scandal,
1:19.2	democratic efforts to revive themselves, Trump's effort to depict Barack Obama as a traitor,
1:24.2	all fit together.
1:26.3	Then is John Roberts responsible for the superpowered Trump
1:30.7	presidency and the authoritarian dictatorship we seem to be careening towards? Then the fascinating
1:37.5	and quite astonishingly brazen effort by Texas Republicans to do a mid-decade redistricting to win four to six more House seats for Republicans.
1:49.0	Plus, we will have cocktail chatter.
1:51.6	The bad guys might have gone good.
1:53.5	Things sure have changed.
1:54.9	But troubles always around the corner.
1:56.9	You need a job, and I need some extra hands.
1:59.5	So you're like the bad girls.
2:01.8	And you're like a mango with teeth.
2:03.6	Oh, she is spicy.
2:05.2	I like it.
2:05.9	And help me next.
	...

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