LIVE from Washington, DC!
Political Gabfest
Slate Podcasts
4.6 • 242 Ratings
🗓️ 12 February 2026
⏱️ 69 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, live from Sixth & I in Washington DC to celebrate 20 years of the Political Gabfest, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing with AG Pam Bondi and the Trump administration’s violations of constitutional rights with guest Rep. Jamie Raskin, how Trump’s assaults on DC have radically transformed the city, and patriotism at the Olympics.
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David answer questions from the live audience at Sixth & I in Washington, DC to celebrate 20 years of the Political Gabfest.
In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily Bazelon talks with author Curtis Sittenfeld about her short story collection, “Show Don’t Tell.” They discuss the recurring themes of the book from troubled marriages and middle age to the passage of time, and characters who are navigating moments of racial privilege and prejudice.
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/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Okay, you guys ready? |
| 0:02.7 | Yeah. |
| 0:03.2 | Let's do a show. |
| 0:04.7 | Hey there. |
| 0:08.2 | Hello and welcome to the Slate Political Gab Fest. |
| 0:13.7 | February 12th, 26th, the live from Washington, D.C. edition. |
| 0:19.3 | I'm David Plaza Citycast, and we are live at the Donald J. Trump Historic Synagogue in downtown... |
| 0:25.5 | Too soon! Too soon! |
| 0:29.2 | At the Sixth and I, Historic Synagogue in downtown Washington, D.C., in front of a huge crowd. |
| 0:36.3 | Sixth and I is where we did our very first live Gab Fest back in January of 2009. |
| 0:42.8 | We are so happy to be back here again. |
| 0:45.3 | And I'm joined on stage, as I have been for 20 years, by my co-host. |
| 0:50.3 | On my left from the New York Times Magazine and Yale University Law School, |
| 0:55.5 | a lot of you are probably her confidential |
| 0:57.7 | sources. |
| 0:59.8 | She will be the first call when I get arrested, |
| 1:02.2 | Emily Bazelon. |
| 1:18.2 | And to her left, the unemployed journalist who makes being an unemployed journalist look like so much fun, the sub-stacking, guitar strumming, and loving, naval-gazing, glasses |
| 1:24.4 | flipping John Dickerson. |
| 1:34.3 | Thank you. glasses flipping John Dickerson. This week on the Gab Fest, we'll talk to Democratic House member Jamie Raskin about Pam Bondi, |
| 1:40.2 | Jeffrey Epstein, and many other worrisome developments in Donald Trump's Washington. |
| 1:45.6 | Then the Trump Kennedy Center, the Trump ballroom, the Arc de Trump, the Trumpington Post, |
... |
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