Political Gabfest - Double Bazelon
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Slate
3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 14 April 2022
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson and David Plotz discuss the approaching midterms, inflation, and whether social media is imperiling U.S. democracy—with guest Simon Bazelon.
Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:
Simon Bazelon for Slow Boring: “Democrats Are Sleepwalking Into A Senate Disaster”
Thomas B. Edsall for The New York Times: “Trump Poses a Test Democracy Is Failing”
Matthew H. Graham and Milan W. Svolik for The American Political Science Review: “Democracy in America? Partisanship, Polarization, and the Robustness of Support for Democracy in the United States”
Jonathan Haidt for The Atlantic: “Why The Last Ten Years of American Life Have Been So Stupid”
Paul Krugman for The New York Times: “Inflation Is About to Come Down — but Don't Get Too Excited”
Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention--and How to Think Deeply Again, by Johann Hari
The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom, by Jonathan Haidt
Here are this week’s chatters:
David: Little Dorrit, by Charles Dickens
John: Macbeth on Broadway
Emily: Christine Charnosky for Law.com: “A University of Arizona Law Grad on How the GRE Changed Her Life”; University of Arizona Law’s Innovation for Justice work
Listener chatter from Nick Gaffney: Alex Hanson for the Valley News: “Croydon School Budget Cut Sets Up High-Stakes Battle Over Future of Town's Education System”; Alex Hanson for the Valley News: “Budget Cut Looks Bleak For Schools After Croydon Meeting”
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment Emily, John, and David discuss what constitutes time well spent.
Tweet us your questions and chatters @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Podcast production by Jocelyn Frank.
Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the Slate Political Gap Fest for April 14th, 2022, the Double Baselon |
| 0:13.2 | edition. |
| 0:14.2 | I'm David Foughts of CityCast here in Washington, D.C. that sharp intake of breath came from, |
| 0:19.6 | of course, Emily Baselon of the New York Times magazine and Yale University Law School |
| 0:23.1 | in New Haven. |
| 0:24.1 | Hello, Emily. |
| 0:25.1 | Hey, David. |
| 0:26.1 | We'll explain what Double Baselon means in a second. |
| 0:28.3 | No. |
| 0:29.3 | Terrifying term. |
| 0:30.3 | We will explain. |
| 0:32.2 | And also with us, of course, this John's description of CBS' Sunday Morning in New York, |
| 0:36.5 | hello, John. |
| 0:37.5 | Did you hear that blast that came from opening my LaCroix? |
| 0:40.4 | I didn't mean to have it be that loud, but it's probably the best thing I'll say I'll |
| 0:46.3 | show. |
| 0:47.3 | It's scary. |
| 0:48.3 | This week, how bleak or democratic electoral prospects, we will talk to an up-and-coming |
| 0:53.0 | political data analyst Simon Baselon, who is Emily Sunn, it's true. |
| 0:57.6 | And wrote an amazingly interesting piece this week about democratic Senate prospects. |
| 1:03.7 | Then the inflation numbers are terrible, what can Washington do about them, if anything. |
| 1:10.0 | And then we'll discuss Jonathan Hates fascinating and unsettling Atlantic article, why the |
... |
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