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 28, 2019 • 44 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.
Join Slate Plus for full,...
Mark as Played
June 5, 2019 • 28 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.
Join Slate Plus for full, ad-free access to Whi...
Mark as Played
May 22, 2019 • 42 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 Amer...
Mark as Played
April 18, 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 • 60 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.
Join Slate Plus for full, ad-f...
Mark as Played
March 13, 2019 • 39 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 Dicke...
Mark as Played
February 27, 2019 • 35 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.
...
Mark as Played
February 13, 2019 • 25 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 Dickers...
Mark as Played
January 30, 2019 • 30 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.
Join Slate Plus f...
Mark as Played
January 16, 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.
Join Slate Plus for full, ad-free access to Whistlestop and your other favorite Sla...
Mark as Played
December 12, 2018 • 46 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.
...
Mark as Played
November 28, 2018 • 48 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.
Join Slate Plus for full, ad-free access to Whistlestop...
Mark as Played
November 14, 2018 • 47 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.
Join Slate Plus for full, ad-free ac...
Mark as Played
October 31, 2018 • 45 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.
Join Slate Plus for full, ad-free access to Whistlestop and your o...
Mark as Played
October 3, 2018 • 25 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.
Join Slate Plus for ...
Mark as Played
September 5, 2018 • 49 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.
Join Slate Plus for fu...
Mark as Played
August 26, 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.
Join Slate Plus for full, ad-free access to Whistlestop and your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Whistlestop show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whistlestopplus to get access wherever you listen.
Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...
Mark as Played
August 22, 2018 • 39 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.
Join Sla...
Mark as Played
August 8, 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 25, 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.
Join Slate Plus for full, ad-free access to Whistlestop and your other favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Whistlestop show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/whistlestopplus to get access wherever you listen.
Learn more about your...
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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.
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.