This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the presidency and post-presidential life of Jimmy Carter; the infighting of Elon Musk v. MAGA; and the possibilities of citizens’ assemblies with The New Yorker’s Nick Romeo.

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:

John Dickerson for CBS Mornings: John Dickerson on Jimmy Carter’s legacy and a life shaped by faith

CBS News: From the archives: Jimmy Carter becomes first president to walk in inaugural parade to White House and WGAL: Harrisburg, 1979: Jimmy Carter visits TMI after partial meltdown 

Sam Stein and Jonathan Alter for The Bulwark: Jimmy Carter was a misunderstood President. Here’s Why. and His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, A Life by Jonathan Alter

Stephen Hess for The Brookings Institution: Jimmy Carter: Why He Failed

Todd S. Purdum for The Atlantic: Jimmy Carter Was America’s Most Effective Former President and Gal Beckerman: What Made Jimmy Carter Such a Strange President

Andrew Prokop for Vox: Elon Musk is on a collision course with Stephen Miller

Jonathan Edwards for The Washington Post: MAGA is fighting a ‘civil war’ over H-1B visas. Here’s what they are.

Nick Romeo for The New Yorker: What Could Citizens’ Assemblies Do For American Politics?

History.com: Ancient Greek Democracy and Simon Hornblower for Britannica: The reforms of Cleisthenes  

Stanford University’s Deliberative Democracy Lab

Bürgerrat: Citizens’ assemblies worldwide

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: Caucasia: A Novel and Colored Television by Danzy Senna and A Complete Unknown from Searchlight Pictures

John: Event Santa Cruz: Dock Ellis No-No Cocktail at Brophy’s – Carmel; Patrick Hruby for ESPN: The Long, Strange Trip of Dock Ellis: Meet The Man Behind Baseball’s Most Psychedelic Myth.; and Paul Geisler Jr. for the Society for American Baseball Research: Dock Ellis 

David: Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story from National Geographic and Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome and Fatherland: A Novel by Robert Harris 

Listener chatter from Lawrence in Bowling Green, Ohio: Rhiannon Giddens for Silkroad: American Railroad: A Musical Journey of Reclamation 

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment, Emily, John, and David discuss what President Joe Biden should do in his final two weeks in the Oval Office.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, David talks with David Greenberg about his new biography, John Lewis: A Life. 

Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Podcast production by Jared Downing

Research by Julie Huygen

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Hosts

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz

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