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Sep 24, 2026 1 hr

Purposely Negative

from Political Gabfest

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and guest host Juliette Kayyem discuss what we learn from Trump's escalating battle with the press and its track record in the courts, the likely outcomes of this week's Trump-Xi summit with former New York Times Beijing Bureau Chief and host of Face-Off: the US vs. China, Jane Perlez, and the role of voter trust as the midterm elections approach. Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: Kohelet Rabbah 7:1, The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah, 2022 John: History Channel: Grant; John Anderson for The Wall Street Journal: ‘Grant’ Review: The Wisdom and Weaknesses of a Warrior Juliette: Madeline Puckette for Wine Folly: Everything You Want to Know About Orange Wine; Winecountry Collective: Exploring the World of Orange Wines Listener chatter from John McMillian in Atlanta, Georgia: Rick Perlstein for Smithsonian Magazine: An Interview With ‘Playboy’ Magazine Nearly Torpedoed Jimmy Carter’s Presidential Campaign; Robert Scheer for Playboy Magazine: The Playboy Interview With Jimmy Carter For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and guest host Juliette Kayyem discuss reactions to Nikole Hannah-Jones's New York Times Magazine essay, In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own?, and why the online hostility looks so different from what she actually wrote. They dig into the research on socioeconomic integration, the tendency to conflate race and class, and the problem with asking individual parents to solve what is really a policy problem. In the latest Gabfest Reads, David Plotz talks with journalist Annie Lowrey about her new book, The Time Tax: How the Government Wastes Our Time - and How to Fix It, 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 [email protected]. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Nina Porzucki Research by Emily Ditto You can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here. 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 Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen. Come see the Gabfest LIVE Providence, RI on October 21st. Tickets found at slate.com/gabfestlive Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park. Follow @SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfest Slate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/ Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.

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Purposely Negative

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Unhappy Hour with Matt Bellassai Pineapple Street Studios From professional whiner and award-winning drunk Matt Bellassai comes Unhappy Hour, the podcast about everything we love to hate. Join Matt, his co-host Bari, and their special guests as they vent about all things political, personal and cultural. Because nothing brings people together like good complaining. Leave us a voicemail on our rant hotline at: (601) 600-RANT (7268). Support this pod and wear your unhappiness LOUD and PROUD by buying our merch at unhappyhourshop.com. Explicit The Center Clueless Podcast The Center Clueless Podcast Hosted by Billy Ray Brewton and Erik Surwill, "Center Clueless" is a podcast that takes a day-by-day approach to politics, inviting voices from across the political spectrum to help figure out, once and for all, why everything is so broken. Explicit Conscientization 101 James Stone and Zari Sundiata Conscientization 101 podcast is a show published on Wednesdays which features workers, writers, artists, and others who are involved in the process of learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions, and are taking action against oppressive elements of reality. Each episode provides information and radical analysis that attacks the roots of the oppressive structures we contend with on a daily basis. We place the issues of today within the context of the superstructure. This approach is paramount to developing a deeper understanding of society so limiting situations are brought into focus; which will create true resistance for the purpose of revolutionary transformation. While you are getting an in-depth analysis via Conscientization 101 podcast, we make sure to make our show an enjoyable and distinctly entertaining experience!! Explicit Grumpy Old Bens Ryan Bemrose and Darren O'Neill Two Old Guys Yelling At The Cloud Explicit

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This episode was published on September 24, 2026.

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