Man-Child Graham Platner

Man-Child Graham Platner

From Political Gabfest by Slate Podcasts

June 4, 2026 · 1h 3m

About this episode

The episode discusses Graham Platner's impact on Senate control, Trump's plans for America's semiquincentennial, and the experience of being an American World Cup soccer fan.

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss whether Graham Platner's accumulating self-inflicted wounds will cost Democrats their best shot at Senate control, how Trump's evolving plans for America's semiquincentennial are giving us all a real time lesson in what the Founders were trying to avoid, and the political and social dimensions of being an American World Cup soccer fan. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss consuming escapist vs. difficult art and the turmoil of modern marriage through The Drama and Beef Season 2.   In the latest Gabfest Reads , John Dickerson talks with Bloomberg columnist Adrian Wooldridge about his new book The Revolutionary Center: The Lost Genius of Liberalism . In a moment when American democracy is under assault from authoritarian populists and dogmatic progressives, Wooldridge argues that liberalism itself offers the most resilient framework for pluralistic, self-correcting societies.   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 &nbsp…

People in this episode

Hosts: Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, David Plotz

Guest: Adrian Wooldridge

Topics covered

  • Senate control
  • Trump's plans
  • American World Cup soccer fans
  • escapist art
  • difficult art
  • modern marriage
  • liberalism

Keywords

  • Graham Platner
  • Senate control
  • Trump
  • World Cup
  • liberalism
  • escapist art
  • modern marriage

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Revolutionary Center: The Lost Genius of Liberalism, The Drama and Beef Season 2

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