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The following podcast contains explicit language.

Music podcast contains explicit language. Hello and welcome to the Slate Political Gab Fest for July 19, 2013, the Do You Live

in This Town Edition?

I'm David Plotz, the end of Slate.

Back from our glorious interlude in Chicago, we had such a nice trip for our live show. And it's even amazing because Emily's back with us live this week. Emily is here in Washington, Slate Senior editor, Emily, Emily. Amol. Amol. Amol. Amel. Amel. Hamil. Basil, Hazelham. Hello, Emily. Hello, David. And also here, as ever, you're never anywhere else, John. Why don't you go to New Haven once in a while? Nobody invites me. I'm sure Emily would happily have you come visit New Haven. I would. And you could do the show there. Whatever you want. Slate's chief political correspondent, John Dickerson. Hello, John. Hello, David. We will not have the argument battle at Leit Spitzer because we had it before the show, even though I guess I'm still wrong, but so it goes.

This week we will talk to Mark Leibovich, the author of the year's hot political book, This Town, about whether Washington is ruined, completely broken, an abomination. Then we'll talk about the latest filibuster.

What? The latest filibuster reform that didn't happen. The filibuster averted filibuster reform.

And we will also talk about the fallout from the Trayvon Martin George Zimmerman verdict.

And we will have cocktail chatter, of course.

This town by the New York Times is Mark Liebevich is the political book of the year, at least here in this town.

It has received rave reviews, and it is a scathing and very funny portrait of modern Washington.

This town depicts a city increasingly run by greedy people where all relationships

are transactional, where questions of policy are secondary to those of rent seeking and profiteering.

Journalists, politicians, lobbyist, staffers, everybody comes off as grasping and self-interested and

self-involved. Even the people who do great work, mostly go to parties and congratulate themselves. Before I go any further and actually officially introduce Mark, there is, I need full disclosure. Everyone knows Mark in Washington. Emily and John know him very well. I know him like incredibly well in such a way that it requires, it's going to require like a three-minute full disclosure here. Go for it. Actually, I would be curious to hear what it is.

You share a minivan. That's the part.

...