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This week’s episode is sponsored by The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, a new documentary series airing Sundays at 8 p.m., only on HBO.

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, the hosts discuss the best lifehacks. Slate Plus members get an ad-free version of this podcast with bonus segments. Visit slate.com/gabfestplus and try it free for two weeks.

On this week’s Slate Political Gabfest, special guest Betsy Woodruff, staff writer for Slate, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the controversial letter 47 Republican Senators sent to Iran’s leaders in an attempt to undermine the Obama administration’s ongoing nuclear negotiations, Hillary Clinton’s vexingly tepid response to her email fiasco, and the repercussions from the video of the racist Sigma Alpha Epsilon chant at the University of Oklahoma.

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

• The White House wasn’t pleased with Republican senators’ letter to Iran. What about everyone else?
• Who is Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and what’s really behind the letter?
• Daniel Drezner discusses Congress’s foreign policy, explores the spiral model of congressional-executive trolling, and explains why the GOP’s efforts won’t work.
• Hillary Clinton’s press conference didn’t go so well. She claimed “convenience” despite this? What happens now?
• Does her story add up? Is she hiding something? Will the other shoe drop?
• Slate’s John Dickerson shares his thoughts on Hillary’s email fiasco—and what she should do next.
• What happened with Sigma Alpha Epsilon was shockingly repugnant.
• Did the University of Oklahoma do the right thing? What about the First Amendment?
• What does it say about Greek life and the current state of racism in America?

Betsy chatters about the 25^th anniversary of the classic film Joe Versus the Volcano.

John chatters about the Turning Points in American History lecture on the birth of baseball from the Great Courses.

David chatters about the Atlas Obscura article on Statues We Love To Hate.

Topic ideas for next week? You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest.

Join the discussion of this episode on Facebook.

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 Tarik Barrett.