The All In Gabfest
Listen to Slate's show about the Petraeus affair, President Obama’s news conference on Benghazi and the fiscal cliff, and the Supreme Court’s review of the Voting Rights Act.
Posted Friday, Nov. 16, 2012, at 2:49 PM ET
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On this week’s Slate Political Gabfest, Emily Bazelon, David Plotz, and special guest Ta-Nehisi Coates of the Atlantic discuss the Petraeus affair, President Obama’s news conference on Benghazi and the fiscal cliff, and the Supreme Court’s review of the Voting Rights Act.
Here are some of the links and references mentioned during this week's show:
- Listener homework: Watch Lincoln, and post your questions or comments to the Gabfest Twitter or Facebook pages!
- Visit the Slatest blog for ongoing updates about the Gen. Petraeus affair. And Emily has a few questions for the FBI.
- David and Emily reference Alison Buckholtz’s discussion of military spouses and infidelity.
- Regarding weird things about Florida, Ta-Nehisi recommends George Packer’s study of the state's experience of the foreclosure crisis.
- Ta-Nehisi also mentions Client 9, the 2010 documentary about former governor and current Slate contributor Eliot Spitzer.
- President Obama, at his first news conference since re-election, acted like he had leverage and a mandate, says John Dickerson.
- Emily references Ramesh Ponnuru’s analysis, in the National Review, of the GOP’s challenges with the middle class.
- Nathaniel Persily, professor of political science and law at Columbia University, says the Voting Rights Act of 1965 may be doomed.
- “Republicans want ‘stuff’ too,” says Ta-Nehisi, in response to Mitt Romney’s assertion that Obama won the election by handing out gifts to Democratic constituencies.
Emily chatters about a plan to record and broadcast the plays of August Wilson.
Ta-Nehisi chatters about Bound for the Promised Land, a biography of Harriet Tubman.
David chatters about the technicalities involved in a Texas secession effort.
Topic ideas for next week? You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest
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 Michael Vuolo. Links compiled by Jeff Friedrich.
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Emily Bazelon is a Slate senior editor and writes about law, family, and kids. Her forthcoming book, Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Empathy and Character, will be published in February. Find her at emilybazelon@gmail.com or on Facebook or Twitter.
David Plotz is the Editor of Slate. He's the author of The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank and Good Book. He appears on Slate's Political Gabfest.
Ta-Nehisi Coates is a senior editor for The Atlantic. He is the author of the memoir The Beautiful Struggle.