2025 Conundrums!

2025 Conundrums!

Author: Slate Podcasts December 26, 2025 Duration: 1:16:50

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, David Plotz, and special guest Stephen Colbert answer listeners’ conundrums of all kinds: the meaningful, the trivial, and the delightfully absurd.

Thanks to all Conundrums contributors: Karl, Elodie, Mitchell, Brian, Phil, Eric, Christian, Kyle, Matthew, Katie, Jesse, John, Bjorn, David, Colin, Alan, Emily, Marie, and Liam!


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 Porzucki with live show support from Katie Rayford and the team at the New York Society for Ethical Culture

 

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.

 

Find out more about David Plotz's monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park.  


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You're invited to pull up a chair for the kind of candid, inside conversation that happens when the microphones are off. Political Gabfest brings together the sharp minds and wit of Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz, three seasoned journalists who dissect the week's biggest stories in politics and government without the usual formalities. It feels less like a lecture and more like eavesdropping on the insightful, often irreverent talk you'd hear from friends who really know their stuff after a long week in Washington. This Slate Podcasts production has earned a loyal following, even being called out by Stephen Colbert as essential listening and voted a favorite by Apple Podcasts listeners. Each episode breaks down complex issues into understandable, engaging discussions that are as entertaining as they are informative. For those who want to go deeper, a Slate Plus membership unlocks additional weekly content and an ad-free experience. Tune in for a refreshingly human take on the news cycle, where analysis is served with personality and the stakes of governance are explored through genuine dialogue.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Political Gabfest
Podcast Episodes
Trump Ends the Gaza War [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:11
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the Gaza ceasefire and prospects for long-term peace with Rob Malley, Middle East policy expert and co-author (with Hussein Agha) of the new book Tomorrow…
Portland is Not Actually Burning [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:49
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the extremely consequential new Supreme Court term beginning this week, the facts on the ground and the legal questions at play behind Trump’s escalating…
Fat Generals [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:05
This week, John Dickerson, David Plotz, and guest host Juliette Kayyem discuss the disturbing spectacle of military fealty staged by Hegseth and Trump at Quantico, the possible outcomes of the dramatic government shutdow…
Tough It Out, Pregnant Ladies! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:05
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss how Trump is using the powerful machine of government prosecution to reverse-engineer crimes supposedly committed by enemies, his diatribe against Tylenol…
Gabfest Reads | The Recent Past of Prison Punishment [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:49
Emily Bazelon talks with author and Yale professor Judith Resnik about her new book, Impermissible Punishments: How Prison Became a Problem for Democracy. They discuss the history of the prison system’s use of punishment…
The Domestic Terrorist [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:34
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the government’s intimidation tactics aimed at chilling free speech after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, why Trump seems intent to provoke armed conflict w…
Assassination of Charlie Kirk [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:24
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the assassination of Charlie Kirk amid an extremely troubling climate of political violence in America, another Supreme Court order with no majority expla…
CDC DOA [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:26
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss what the spate of legal defeats for the Trump administration portends as cases wind toward the Supreme Court, the real world effects of RFK Jr. gutting th…
Dial M for Mortgage Fraud [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:26
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Trump’s brazen effort to smash Fed independence by wielding allegations of mortgage fraud against Fed governor Lisa Cook, the expanding law enforcement ro…
Is This Martial Law? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:34
This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Trump’s deepening takeover of Washington D.C. as National Guard troops from red states arrive, what if anything was accomplished in the whirlwind of Putin…