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Hundreds of devotees of the Slate podcast "Political Gabfest" watched a live taping at the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue on Monday.
A few latecomers and stragglers due to traffic aside, the event went off very well. The "Political Gabfest" is a weekly podcast in which Slate.com editor David Plotz, political writer John Dickerson and contributor Emily Bazelon discuss the politics of the moment. It was born out of the three of them wondering what the pundits and politicos talk about after the cameras are switched off—at the bar after the official taping—and furthermore, if Slate readers/listeners might be interested in such a candid conversation. Hence the copious amount of overtalking and swearing that tend to be part of "Political Gabfest"— although Bazelon explained yesterday that after a brief debate, the three had decided to rein in the usual "nouns interjecting a string of expletives" for the day, as they decided it wasn't appropriate to swear in a synagogue. The three journalists squirmed a bit as they adjusted to the live audience—"we don't usually think about you," Bazelon quipped—but soon enough fell into their routine of quick, interruption-filled topical discussion interspersed with personal barbs and digs.
The audience, mainly made up of "Political Gabfest" listeners, clearly enjoyed watching the facial expressions and gestures that go along with the voices they listen to every week. Slate had only advertised the event on the podcast, with the hosts inviting listeners to email them for tickets. Some did have to be turned away, unfortunately, even after organizers changed venues from an earlier location to make space for more people. Many of the attendees were from out of town (Canada, California, North Carolina and Alabama was a random sampling), but plenty of others are D.C. residents who laughed knowingly as the hosts discussed Barack Obama's addiction to his Blackberry. "What is he going to use it for now, forwarding funny pictures of cats to his friends?" joked Dickerson.
Similar laughs went through the crowd as Plotz and Dickerson, both D.C. natives, wondered what the city will be like now that it's "cool," as has been proposed by various media outlets. "But do we want Washington to be hip?" Dickerson asked. "For me as someone who grew up here, it's very uncomfortable." Plotz said he couldn't help noting the electric mood in the city for the past week, especially the past weekend, however.
"It does seem like things are happening here that are unlike anything I've ever seen," he said.
After the taping portion of the event was over, the hosts took questions from the audience for close to an hour, and an enthusiastic audience they were, judging from the at times encyclopedic knowledge of former podcasts displayed, not to mention one inquirer's use of the word "Dickersonian" to describe a comment from Plotz. The hosts milled around chatting even after the event ended, much to the delight of some of their fans. More live recording events may be in Slate's future, according to Plotz.
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i've never listened to the podcast, by a friend is a devotee, so i went along. was interesting, but nothing earth shattering. suppose i'm going to have to give the actual podcast a listen before passing final judgment.
I listen to the podcast every week, and it's fun and familiar now, but I don't think so brilliantly insightful (and sometimes the opposite, actually). I was interested that they have so many fans that they sold out the hall -- more power to them, I guess.