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On this week’s Slate Political Gabfest, John Dickerson, David Plotz, and Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post discuss the Twitter-firing of Rex Tillerson, the special election results from Pennsylvania, and Betsy DeVos’ bizarre interview on 60 Minutes.
Here are some of the links and references from this week’s show:
- Peter Baker, Gardiner Harris, and Mark Landler for the New York Times: “Trump Fires Rex Tillerson and Will Replace Him With C.I.A. Chief Pompeo”
- The expertise of Harvard Business School professor Gautam Mukunda in Vox: “Trump Is Trying to Run the Government Like His Business. That’s Why He’s Failing.
- Donald Trump appears in Home Alone 2.
- Steven Shepard for Politico: “Lamb Outraises Saccone by Nearly Five-to-One Margin in Pennsylvania Special Election”
- Conor Lamb’s TV ad, “Bio”
- Philip Bump for the Washington Post: “Trump Celebrates Winning 52 Percent of Women in 2016—Which Is Only How He Did Among Whites”
- Lesley Stahl for 60 Minutes: “Human Cargo, Secretary of Education, Treating Trauma”
- Alexandra Petri for the Washington Post: “Betsy DeVos Has Definitely Seen a School at Least Once”
Here are this week’s cocktail chatters:
David: Robert F. Worth for the New York Times Magazine, “How a Ransom for Royal Falconers Reshaped the Middle East”
John: Stephen Hawking was born on the anniversary of Galileo’s death and died on Einstein’s birthday, and Catherine Price’s How to Break Up With Your Phone: The 30-Day Plan to Take Back Your Life”
Ruth: Susan Goldberg’s note “For Decades, [National Geographic’s] Coverage Was Racist. To Rise Above Our Past, We Must Acknowledge It” and “These Twins, One Black and One White, Will Make You Rethink Race”
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, the hosts honor the life and passing of Stephen Hawking by discussing their personal metaphorical black holes and hopes for time travel. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at Slate.com/gabfestplus.
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Podcast production by Jocelyn Frank. Links compiled by Izzy Rode.
