Manchin on the Hill

Emily, John and David discuss Joe Manchin, how the Trump DOJ lives on, and George Packer’s four Americas. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: John Dickerson for CBS News: “Sen. Joe Manchin on Face the Nation, June 6, 2021” Ruth Marcus for the Washington Post: “Attorney General Garland, Please Stop Digging” George Packer for the Atlantic: “How America Fractured Into Four Parts” Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal, by George Packer George Packer for the Atlantic: “Can Civics Save America?” The Ezra Klein Show: “Obama Explains How America Went From ‘Yes We Can’ to ‘MAGA’ ” Jane Mayer for the New Yorker: “Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century” Here’s this week’s chatter: John: Elizabeth Weise for USA Today: “This Man Spent Last Year Flushing Hundreds of Toilets. The New Fear as the Pandemic Wanes: Legionnaires' Disease” Emily: Michael Powell for the New York Times: “Once a Bastion of Free Speech, the A.C.L.U. Faces an Identity Crisis” David: Rachel Gutman for the Atlantic: “A Crumpled, Dried-Out Relic of the Pandemic” Listener chatter from Andrew Goetz: Mick West's YouTube videos explaining UFO footage.  If you enjoy the show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Danny Lavery's new show Big Mood, Little Mood" and you’ll be supporting the Political Gabfest. Sign up now at slate.com/gabfestplus to help support our work. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, John, and David consider how their names may have shaped their personalities. Tweet us your questions and chatters @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Jocelyn Frank. Research and show notes by Bridgette Dunlap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices