This week, David Plotz, John Dickerson, and Emily Bazelon discuss the raucous State of the Union; the spy balloon and U.S.-China relations; and Susan Dominus’s reporting on missed opportunities in treating menopause.
Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:
Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Katie Rogers and Peter Baker for The New York Times: “Kamala Harris Is Trying to Define Her Vice Presidency. Even Her Allies Are Tired of Waiting.”
Susan Dominus for The New York Times Magazine: “Women Have Been Misled About Menopause” 
Stephen I. Vladeck for The New York Times: “Don’t Let Republican ‘Judge Shoppers’ Thwart the Will of Voters”
Here are this week’s chatters:
John: Andor; Kialo.com 
Emily: Sabawoon Samim for Afghanistan Analysts Network: “New Lives In The City: How Taleban Have Experienced Life In Kabul”
David: City Cast DC live; The Brothers Ashkenazi, by I. J Singer. Join David Plotz for a live taping of the City Cast DC podcast at the Politics & Prose Union Market location, Wednesday March 1 at 6:30 pm. You can register here for a free ticket. 
Listener chatter from Ryan Clements: The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier, by Ian Urbina; The Outlaw Ocean podcast
For this week’s Slate Plus bonus segment David, John, and Emily discuss the use of “judge shopping”—picking a preferred judge by suing in a single-judge district—to invalidate legislation nationwide.
 Tweet us your questions and chatters @SlateGabfest or email us at gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Podcast production by Cheyna Roth and Tori Dominguez. 
Research by Bridgette Dunlap.

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