The Gabfest on Ukraine, Volkswagen workers rejecting the UAW, and House of Cards Season 2.

Why Does Washington Love House of Cards So Much?

Why Does Washington Love House of Cards So Much?

Slate's weekly political roundtable.
Feb. 21 2014 11:29 AM

The You're No Frank Underwood Gabfest

Listen to Slate's show about the uprising in Kiev, a failed unionization in Tennessee, and Season 2 of House of Cards.

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And the Audio Book Club will be live in Seattle on Feb. 27. Special guest Hugh Howey will join Slate's Dan Kois and Hanna Rosin to discuss Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. Tickets.

On this week’s Slate Political Gabfest, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, David Plotz, and special guest Will Dobson discuss why Ukrainians are rioting, why Volkswagen employees rejected the United Automobile Workers, and why everyone in Washington is watching House of Cards.

Here are some of the links and references mentioned during this week's show:

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  • At least 67 people had died by Thursday as a result of anti-government protests in Kiev, Ukraine. These photos show the extent of the chaos.
  • Since we taped, the leading parties in Kiev have signed an agreement aimed at defusing the situation. It calls for early presidential elections.
  • Will says there’s a reason he didn’t include Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich in The Dictator's Learning Curve, his 2012 book about smart dictators.
  • From President Vladimir Putin’s point of view, Ukraine is essentially a province of Russia, Julia Ioffe writes in the New Republic.
  • Joshua Keating writes in Slate that a civil war In Ukraine is unlikely but not impossible.
  • Economists refer to today's unemployed young people as a “lost generation.”
  • Workers at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee rejected a proposal to join the United Automobile Workers. One reason the union lost: Workers were suspicious of it.
  • In his book The Meat Racket, Chris Leonard argues that farming used to be a career that supplied a living wage and land ownership, but it’s now a janitorial job.
  • Netflix released the second season of House of Cards on Valentine’s Day.
  • Obama has said he wishes Washington worked more like House of Cards.

Emily chatters about the NFL's investigation of the Miami Dolphins’ bullying culture.

John chatters about Obama dropping a request to change how cost-of-living increases are formulated—he says it’s proof that budget brinksmanship is over.

David chatters about a push to increase corporal punishment in Kansas.

This week’s credits are in the style of a good cop–bad cop interrogation.

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 Rebecca Cohen.