Airplane Travel is a Nightmare

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss why politicians keep failing to solve the escalating crisis of American air travel as massive lines and ICE agents disrupt airport operations, what could happen to the 2026 elections when the Supreme Court decides the fate of a state law on mail-in ballot deadlines, and how two jury verdicts provide new legal hooks to hold social media companies liable for harms to children. For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss the new book This Land is Your Land: A Road Trip Through U.S. History with author and historian Beverly Gage . They talk about the value of exploring U.S. historical sites in all their complexity as the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence approaches this summer. In the latest Gabfest Reads , David Plotz talks with journalist Gabriel Sherman about his new book Bonfire of the Murdochs: How the Epic Fight to Control the Last Great Media Dynasty Broke a Family—and the World . Sherman, who also wrote the bestselling biography of Fox News chief Roger Ailes, spent 15 years reporting on the Murdoch empire. In this book he turns his lens on the family itself — the rivalries, the wounds, and the secret Nevada courtroom battle that finally forced Rupert’s hand. 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 You can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here . 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. You can

You can listen to Airplane Travel is a Nightmare online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Airplane Travel is a Nightmare is an episode from Political Gabfest by Slate Podcasts.

This episode is 54:54 long.

This episode was published on Mar 26, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Political Gabfest when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.