Political Gabfest | Putting the BS in BLS

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4 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 August 2025

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, Emily Bazelon, David Plotz, and guest host Juliette Kayyem discuss the future integrity of US economic data after Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, what the mid-decade redistricting arms race portends for the future of US representative government, and the phenomenon of “Trump’s Rasputin,” Laura Loomer. Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: Jake Jones for BBC Sport: The rise of padel and why it's so popular; LTAPadel: Official padel rules explained; Padelexpress on YouTube: The BEST Out-of-Court Points in Padel HISTORY (video 3:52) Juliette: Jack Smart for People: Liam Neeson Kisses Pamela Anderson in Cute Naked Gun Promo: 'Couple That Laughs Together, Stays Together'; Alyssa Bailey for ELLE: How Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson Slowly Fell for Each Other: He Was ‘Smitten’ From the Start; Lisa Respers France for CNN: Pamela Anderson is having a moment. And it’s about time David: Anne Appelbaum for The Atlantic: The Most Nihilistic Conflict on Earth; Wednesday on Netflix; Platonic – Season 2 Official Trailer on YouTube (video 2:02) Listener chatter from Bill Jacob in Provincetown, Massachusetts: The Telepathy Tapes: A Podcast Beyond Words, from creator and host Ky Dickens. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, David, and guest host Juliette Kayyem discuss the benefits and challenges of giving kids more freedom to play outside and participate independently, parent-free, in the real world. 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.) Podcast production by Kevin Bendis Research by Emily Ditto 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 GabFest.
0:06.7	August 7th, 2025, putting the BS and BLS edition. I'm David Plotz of CityCast in Washington, D.C.
0:24.2	I'm joined from New Haven and the New York Times Magazine and Yale University Law School by
0:29.6	Emily Baslon. Hello, Emily. Hello, hello. Hello, hello. And John's on vacation. Thank
0:36.3	goodness. He deserves it.
0:38.6	But that's okay.
0:40.5	You know, this is a secret, Juliet.
0:41.6	No one knows this.
0:43.9	You're my favorite GabFest sub host.
0:47.7	Juliette Kayam of the Kennedy School of Government.
0:49.4	The show is over.
0:50.2	It's peaked.
0:52.0	It's only downhill.
0:54.1	Now I feel like I have to prove it. I have so much fun with y'all. Thank you. I said y'all.
0:57.9	Are you still at the Kennedy School of Government, right? I am still there. But physically, I am in Rhode Island right now.
1:05.5	Is it the Robert F. Kennedy Junior School of Government? It is. It is. We all have to... No, it's not. And choking.
1:13.1	We, we, it's anti-vexics. You're not a lot to brush your teeth anymore. Exactly.
1:17.1	John of Kennedy School of government. Right. No red dye and no vaccines. It's a great place.
1:23.6	This week on the Gab Fest, we have a series of like three truly terrible topics.
1:28.2	Which is bad because last week this was true also and people complained to me that it was too depressing.
1:32.9	Anyway.
1:33.1	I tried to add a fun one, but it was next.
	...

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