The State of the Union is Endless
Political Gabfest
Slate Podcasts
4.4 • 8.5K Ratings
🗓️ 26 February 2026
⏱️ 64 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss whether Trump’s State of the Union address effectively convinced voters to ignore the pain in their wallets because he says he’s “winning” the economy, how the Supreme Court finally stood up to the president on something he really cares about, and the Pentagon’s ominous ultimatum against AI company Anthropic.
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss James Talarico, Jasmine Crockett, and what might happen in next week’s consequential Texas Senate primary races.
In the latest Gabfest Reads, John Dickerson talks with Father James Martin about his new book, Work in Progress: Confessions of a Busboy, Dishwasher, Caddy, Usher, Factory Worker, Bank Teller, Corporate Tool, and Priest. They discuss the spiritual lessons learned through eight different jobs, Martin’s controversial LGBTQ ministry that made him a target of criticism within the Catholic Church, and what the Gospels demand about welcoming strangers and caring for the marginalized.
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
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Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I am the major questions doctrine. |
| 0:03.6 | I am a monster. |
| 0:06.7 | I feel like you could have channeled Gilbert and Sullivan right there, but you did another move. |
| 0:11.5 | I am the very model of a modern major questions doctor in. |
| 0:16.1 | Yeah, exactly. |
| 0:23.9 | Hello and welcome to this late political Gab Fest. |
| 0:39.6 | For February 26th, the State of the Union is endless edition. |
| 0:41.4 | I'm David Fotz of CityCast. |
| 0:43.8 | I'm here in Washington, D.C. |
| 0:50.9 | I'm joined from New York City, where she's taking a restful vacation from her home in New Haven, |
| 0:52.2 | where it's too bustling and busy. |
| 1:12.0 | Emily Bazelan up in New York Times Magazine and Yale University of all. Hello, Emily. Hello. Quiet week in the country for you. It is true that there's less snow here. Then from New York City, John Dickerson on March 7th at the Athename and Bald Room, John will be giving the first public performance of his epic poem about Samuel J. Tilden, |
| 1:15.3 | titled quite boldly, John. I love the title, Jay. |
| 1:19.9 | And John gave me permission to read the first few lines of it. |
| 1:24.1 | Sing, a Republic of Samuel J. Tilden, reformer stern and resolute, |
| 1:28.1 | who rose from New York's thundering streets to challenge powers gilded root with ledger law and iron. He faced corruptions brazen throne and sought to claim that people's |
| 1:33.8 | trust as fraught election wins were blown. It's great, John. Did you write that? |
| 1:40.3 | What do you think? Hello. Have you heard of generative AI? |
| 1:46.3 | Oh, okay. |
| 1:47.1 | Okay, fine. |
| 1:48.0 | I'm just making sure to steal from a real poet. |
| 1:50.1 | I also asked, I also, you know, because John I know is like has a more modern |
... |
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