The Everybody’s Back Hurts Gabfest
Listen to Slate's show about gay marriage before the Supreme Court, the status of gun control legislation 100 days after Newtown, and This American Life’s investigation of disability benefits.
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On this week’s Slate Political Gabfest, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the Supreme Court’s hearings on two momentous gay marriage cases, one involving California’s Proposition 8 and the other focusing on the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). They also consider what progress has been made on gun control legislation 100 days after the Newtown shooting. Plus, the Gabfesters discuss This American Life’s investigation of why more Americans are receiving disability benefits.
Here are some of the links and references mentioned during this week's show:
- Emily filed reports from this week’s Supreme Court hearings on United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry. She also shared an up update with Stephen Colbert.
- If the purpose of marriage is procreation then why allow infertile couples to marry? It builds support for “the marital norm,” argued a lawyer defending Prop 8 at the Hollingsworth v. Perry hearing. Slate’s Will Saletan writes that while this argument may offend liberals, it’s the gateway that could allow more conservatives to support marriage equality.
- David references Andrew Sullivan’s landmark essay, from 1989, about why conservatives should support gay marriage.
- David recommends Nate Silver’s survey of how public opinion about gay marriage is changing.
- This American Life on why the number of Americans receiving disability benefits has doubled over the past 15 years, reported by Planet Money's Chana Joffe-Walt.
John chatters about the power of “thanks.”
Emily chatters about the return of Game of Thrones. And Emily corrects an error in her chatter from last week, about a Supreme Court decision that makes it easier to resell copyrighted materials from abroad.
David chatters about Buzz Bissinger’s love of leather.
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 Mike Vuolo. Links compiled by Jeff Friedrich.