Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

---

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. Join at (slate.com/youtubeplus?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_content=political_gabfest&utm_campaign=&tpcc=youtube-video--political_gabfest) to get access wherever you listen.

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Trump's Hormuz blockade and his feud with the Pope, a new oral history chronicling stark shifts inside the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's second term, and how to unwind authoritarianism after the consequential electoral defeat of Hungary's Viktor Orbán with guest Anne Applebaum.

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 // Research by Emily Ditto // Video production by Max Levine // Note: Captions are auto-generated by YouTube.

Subscribe to Slate: youtube.com/slate

Follow Slate on Social:
Political Gabfest on Twitter: twitter.com/SlateGabfest
Host David Plotz on Twitter: twitter.com/davidplotz
Host Emily Bazelon on Twitter: twitter.com/emilybazelon
Host John Dickerson on Twitter: twitter.com/jdickerson
Slate on Twitter - twitter.com/slate
Slate Podcasts on Twitter - twitter.com/SlatePodcasts
Slate on Facebook: facebook.com/slate
Slate on Instagram: instagram.com/slate