meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Political Gabfest

Open the Damn Schools

Political Gabfest

Slate Podcasts

News, Politics, Government

4.48.5K Ratings

🗓️ 2 July 2020

⏱️ 69 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Emily, John and David discuss the Supreme Court’s abortion decision, reopening schools--with guest Emily Oster, and Russia’s bounties for U.S. Troops.


Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:


Melissa Murray for The Washington Post: “The Supreme Court’s Abortion Decision Seems Pulled From The ‘Casey’ Playbook


Linda Greenhouse for The New York Times: “How Chief Justice Roberts Solved His Abortion Dilemma


Jeffrey Toobin for The New Yorker: “John Roberts Distances Himself from the Trump-McConnell Legal Project


Emily Oster for the Atlantic: “Parents Can’t Wait Around Forever


Expecting Better: Why the Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom Is Wrong--and What You Really Need to Know by Emily Oster


Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool by Emily Oster


Charlie Savage, Mujib Mashal, Rukmini Callimachi, Eric Schmitt and Adam Goldman for the New York Times: “Suspicions of Russian Bounties Were Bolstered by Data on Financial Transfers


Susan E. Rice for The New York Times: “Why Does Trump Put Russia First?


Carl Bernstein for CNN: “From Pandering to Putin to Abusing Allies and Ignoring His Own Advisers, Trump's Phone Calls Alarm US Officials


David Plotz for Business Insider: “What If Your Boss Acted Like This?


This Day in Esoteric Political History: “The Man Who Didn't Sign The Declaration (1776)


Ross Douthat for the New York Times: “The Ghost of Woodrow Wilson


David W. Blight for the Washington Post: “Yes, the Freedmen’s Memorial Uses Racist Imagery. But Don’t Tear It Down.


Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory by David Blight

Here are this week’s cocktail chatters:


John: Jen Doll for Mental Floss: “How A Wrinkle in Time Changed Sci-Fi Forever”; Money Heist


Emily: Alison Dirr for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director To Stay On For Time Being, Filling Leadership Void”; 

Scott Neuman for NPR: “Federal Court In Wisconsin Upholds Voting Restrictions Favored By Republicans”; Derry Girls

 

David: Call My Agent


Listener chatter from Randy Koehn @noonan66: Matthew Rosenberg @AshcanPress’s Twitter thread with a beautiful story about Carl Reiner, who passed away this week.


Slate Plus members get a bonus segment on the Gabfest each week, and access to special bonus episodes throughout the year. Sign up now to listen and support our show.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment David, Emily, and John discuss whether history should be taught backwards.


You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest. Tweet us your cocktail chatter using #cocktailchatter. (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

Hello and welcome to the Slate Political GabFest for July 2nd, 2020, the Open the Dam

0:12.1

Schools edition.

0:13.3

I am David Plotz, a business insider.

0:15.3

I am in Washington, D.C.

0:17.3

Last time in the Heidi hole, I moved today.

0:20.1

So I want to do this show quick, quick, quick, quick, quick, guys. I got to go get the moving truck. All right. So talk fast. But, but precisely, I am joined from New Haven, Connecticut by Emily Bazelon of the New York Times Magazine, Yale University Law School.

0:38.4

Hello, Emily.

0:39.4

Hello, David.

0:41.9

You can be a little more, you know, you can be more expansive than that.

0:45.9

More expansive, you want more for me this morning?

0:48.8

I was just thinking about you moving and that's such a big deal.

0:51.8

I'm very glad to see you in your closet.

0:55.5

A new closet awaits. A new closet awaits.

1:01.4

A new closet awaits. I don't, my new, my new, my new place, the closets aren't big enough to record a podcast, so I have to find somewhere else. John Dickerson of CBS is 60 Minutes and author

1:09.0

of The Hardest Job in the World joins us from somewhere, not his house.

1:15.1

He's gone somewhere else, but hello, John.

1:17.5

Hello, David. Yeah, I've gone somewhere where there are more birds for a temporary period

1:22.1

of time. But still in the northeast where COVID is low. Yeah, well, I can't go too far.

1:27.5

I have to be close to the city.

1:29.5

But it's lovely to see both of you.

1:33.1

The cat is endangering my tape recorder again.

1:36.3

Cat, come on, cat.

...

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.