Whistlestop: Presidential History and Trivia
John Dickerson of Slate’s Political Gabfest revisits a moment from the American carnival of politics. Hear about the grand speeches, emergency strategies, baby kissing, and backstabbing that make each presidential cycle so fascinating.
Episodes
August 29, 2019 • 45 mins
This episode of Whistlestop travels to October 19, 2016 as Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio, the defeated GOP aspirant for the presidency, is asking his party not to play by the modern rules of politics.
Whistlestop is Slate’s podcast about presidential history. Hosted by Political Gabfest host John Dickerson, each installment will revisit memorable moments from America's presidential carnival.
Love Slate podcasts?Listen long...
Mark as Played
June 6, 2019 • 29 mins
This episode of Whistlestop travels to October 12, 2012 when Democratic candidate Barack Obama was declared the loser at the first Presidential debate against Mitt Romney and Twitter won.
Whistlestop is Slate’s podcast about presidential history. Hosted by Political Gabfest host John Dickerson, each installment will revisit memorable moments from America's presidential carnival.
Love Slate podcasts?
Listen longer with Slate Plus! ...
Mark as Played
May 23, 2019 • 44 mins
This episode of Whistlestop travels to March 12, 2008 as President George W. Bush goes over the text of his speech to address the financial crisis in the housing market and Treasury Secretary Paulson makes a warning that becomes an unfortunately accurate prediction.
Whistlestop is Slate’s podcast about presidential history. Hosted by Political Gabfest host John Dickerson, each installment will revisit memorable moments from America...
Mark as Played
April 19, 2019 • 29 mins
For two and a half years, Emily Bazelon has been following people through a special court in New York designed to be a speedy machine for the harsh punishment of illegal gun possession. Along the way, a strange thing happened — the politics outside the courtroom started to change when a new generation of activists and insiders began challenging the old system the gun court was part of. Season 1 of Slate Presents brought you the sto...
Mark as Played
March 27, 2019 • 61 mins
This episode of Whistlestop travels to December 23, 1783 when the commander in chief of the Continental Army sat before the president of the Confederation Congress and prepared to step away from the job.
Whistlestop is Slate’s podcast about presidential history. Hosted by Political Gabfest host John Dickerson, each installment will revisit memorable moments from America's presidential carnival.
Love Slate podcasts?
Listen longer...
Mark as Played
March 14, 2019 • 40 mins
This episode of Whistlestop travels to March 4, 2019 when Senator Rand Paul quoted from Montesquieu on Twitter: “When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty.” A statement that helped guide the founders towards a valuable separation of power.
Whistlestop is Slate's podcast about presidential history. Hosted by Political Gabfest host John Dickerso...
Mark as Played
February 28, 2019 • 36 mins
This episode of Whistlestop travels to June 1st, 1787 when America’s founders faced a challenge: the nation couldn’t depend on the good will of the states to keep itself unified but there wasn’t a mandate for new rules to be made either.
Whistlestop is Slate's podcast about presidential history. Hosted by Political Gabfest host John Dickerson, each installment will revisit memorable moments from America's presidential carnival.
Lo...
Mark as Played
February 14, 2019 • 26 mins
This episode of Whistlestop travels to the spring of 1787 when fifty-five men of property and elite status argued in Philadelphia at the Constitutional Convention for what President John Adams called "the greatest single effort of national deliberation that the world has ever seen,” and soon the American Presidency was born.
Whistlestop is Slate's podcast about presidential history. Hosted by Political Gabfest host John Dickerson,...
Mark as Played
January 31, 2019 • 31 mins
This episode of Whistlestop travels to November 7, 1995, when a long and uncomfortable plane ride helped fire up Speaker Gingrich to deliver a dramatic set of budget demands that President Bill Clinton did not expect.
Whistlestop is Slate's podcast about presidential history. Hosted by Political Gabfest host John Dickerson, each installment will revisit memorable moments from America's presidential carnival.
Love Slate podcasts? Li...
Mark as Played
January 17, 2019 • 33 mins
This episode of Whistlestop travels to April 1995 as President Bill Clinton and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich battle to define American democracy.
Whistlestop is Slate's podcast about presidential history. Hosted by Political Gabfest host John Dickerson, each installment will revisit memorable moments from America's presidential carnival.
Love Slate podcasts? Listen longer with Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, ad-free v...
Mark as Played
December 13, 2018 • 47 mins
This episode of Whistlestop travels back to November 9, 1989, when East and West Berliners took sledgehammers to the Berlin Wall and President H.W. George Bush refrained from making grandiose statements about American-style Democracy.
Whistlestop is Slate's podcast about presidential history. Hosted by Political Gabfest host John Dickerson, each installment will revisit memorable moments from America's presidential carnival.
Love S...
Mark as Played
November 29, 2018 • 49 mins
This episode of Whistlestop travels back to December 16, 1981 when President Ronald Reagan signs Executive Order 12335, creating the National Commission on Social Security Reform.
Whistlestop is Slate's podcast about presidential history. Hosted by Political Gabfest host John Dickerson, each installment will revisit memorable moments from America's presidential carnival.
Love Slate podcasts? Listen longer with Slate Plus! Members g...
Mark as Played
November 15, 2018 • 48 mins
This episode of Whistlestop visits 1981 when Republican President Ronald Reagan, after surviving an assassination attempt, received a warm visit from the Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill.
Whistlestop is Slate's podcast about presidential history. Hosted by Political Gabfest host John Dickerson, each installment will revisit memorable moments from America's presidential carnival.
Love Slate podcasts? Listen longer with S...
Mark as Played
November 1, 2018 • 46 mins
This episode of Whistlestop visits 1982, 1986, 1994, 2006 and 2010 when former sitting U.S. Presidents all scrambled to respond to displeasing midterm election results.
Whistlestop is Slate's podcast about presidential history. Hosted by Political Gabfest host John Dickerson, each installment will revisit memorable moments from America's presidential carnival.
Love Slate podcasts? Listen longer with Slate Plus! Members get bonus ...
Mark as Played
October 4, 2018 • 26 mins
This episode of Whistlestop travels back to October 18, 1938 when former President Hoover picked on the new President with gusto. Many U.S. Presidents to follow were also publicly critical of the new one in office.
Whistlestop is Slate's podcast about presidential history. Hosted by Political Gabfest host John Dickerson, each installment will revisit memorable moments from America's presidential carnival.
Love Slate podcasts? List...
Mark as Played
September 6, 2018 • 50 mins
This episode of Whistlestop travels back to September 15, 1987 and into the Senate Caucus Room where Associate Justice Designee Robert Bork begins his five days of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Whistlestop is Slate's podcast about presidential history. Hosted by Political Gabfest host John Dickerson, each installment will revisit memorable moments from America's presidential carnival.
Love Slate podcasts? Listen ...
Mark as Played
August 27, 2018 • 40 mins
With John McCain's passing, we are republishing this episode about John McCain's surprise win in the 2000 New Hampshire Republican primary.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mark as Played
August 23, 2018 • 40 mins
This episode of Whistlestop travels back to June 26, 1987, when President Reagan learned that the swing vote Justice on the Supreme Court, Justice Lewis Powell, was going to step down and so a judicial nomination would be due.
Whistlestop is Slate's podcast about presidential history. Hosted by Political Gabfest host John Dickerson, each installment will revisit memorable moments from America's presidential carnival.
Love Slate pod...
Mark as Played
August 9, 2018 • 37 mins
With John Dickerson out on vacation, we're here to bring you something special: Slow Burn. In each episode of this hit Slate podcast, host Leon Neyfakh excavates the strange subplots and forgotten characters of recent political history—and finds surprising parallels to the present. Season 1 of Slow Burn captured what it felt like to live through Watergate; Season 2 does the same with the saga of Bill Clinton’s impeachment. Subscrib...
Mark as Played
July 26, 2018 • 40 mins
This episode of Whistlestop travels back to June 1961, in the aftermath of President John F. Kennedy’s meeting Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Anna Sale explores the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.
A straightforward look at the day's top news in 20 minutes. Powered by ABC News. Hosted by Brad Mielke.