This week, Emily Bazelon, David Plotz, and guest host <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/david-leonhardt" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">David Leonhardt</a> discuss the GOP&#39;s failed witch hunt against Jack Smith and bizarre moments from the hearing, the Supreme Court&#39;s decision to allow the Trump administration&#39;s cruel third-country deportations to continue for now and broader issues of immigration and asylum, and the mixed bag of a college sports bill that sidesteps the key question of whether college athletes count as employees.Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Womans-Work-Reclaiming-Radical-Mothering/dp/0593472705/tag=slatmaga-20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">A Woman&#39;s Work: Reclaiming the Radical History of Mothering</a> by Elinor CleghornDavid Plotz: <a href="https://www.secretfortdc.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Explore D.C.&#39;s Secret Fort</a> with David Plotz; Owen Gleiberman for Variety: <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/reviews/heart-of-the-beast-review-brad-pitt-1236870505/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">‘Heart of the Beast’ Review: Brad Pitt Is a Veteran Stranded With His Combat Dog in David Ayer’s Stirringly Crafted Survival-in-the-Wild Saga</a>; Paramount Pictures on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfCgu83suHs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Heart of the Beast | Official Trailer 2</a>David Leonhardt: ESPN: <a href="https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/50060522/2026-wnba-playoffs-scores-results-takeaways-analysis-fever-aces-liberty-lynx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WNBA playoffs 2026: How the Liberty swept the Lynx and the Fever stayed alive</a>; <a href="https://www.wnba.com/playoffs/2026/news" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WNBA Playoffs News 2026</a>Listener chatter from Dileep Rao in Los Angeles, California: Annie Roth for The New York Times: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/science/what-did-jurassic-forests-sound-like-like-this.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">What Did Jurassic Forests Sound Like? Like This.</a>; J. Gu, F. Montealegre-Z, T. Jonsson, C. Woodrow, E. Celiker, M.N. Islam, J.B. Linde, F.A. Sarria-S, F. Shi, H. Song, D. Robert, & D. Ren, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2615107123" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Reconstruction of an extinct soundscape reveals ultrasonic communication in the Jurassic</a>, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 123 (36) e2615107123, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2615107123 (2026).For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, David, and guest host <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/david-leonhardt" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">David Leonhardt</a> discuss the viral story about the infighting over COVID-masking policy at a Massachusetts bar. They explore the long shadow of COVID overhang, hard tradeoffs and how to think about them, and the problematic impulse to eat your own on the left.Gabfest is coming to Providence, RI on October 21st. <a href="http://slate.com/gabfestlive" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tickets available now!</a>In the latest <a href="https://slate.com/podcasts/gabfestreads" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gabfest Reads</a>, David Plotz talks with journalist Annie Lowrey about her new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Time-Tax-Government-Wastes-Time_and/dp/0063442558/tag=slatmaga-20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Time Tax: How the Government Wastes Our Time - and How to Fix It</a>, an investigation into the hours Americans lose to broken bureaucracy, from 12-hour tax filings to multiyear waits for housing vouchers and building permits.Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)Podcast production by Nina PorzuckiResearch by Emily DittoYou can find the full Political Gabfest <a href="https://slate.com/podcasts/political-gabfest" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">show pages here</a>.Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/political-gabfest/id158004641" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts </a>and <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2oXS9kkKiXdkkCYB3YfqYZ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spotify</a>. Or visit <a href="http://slate.com/gabfestplus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">slate.com/gabfestplus</a> to get access wherever you listen.Find out more about <a href="http://secretfortdc.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">David Plotz&#39;s monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy,</a> the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park. Follow@SlateGabfest on X / <a href="https://twitter.com/SlateGabfest" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/SlateGabfest</a>Slate Political Gabfest on Facebook / <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/</a>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.<hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

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