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On The Gist, why the Republican tax overhaul is unlikely to spur hiring. Michael Carpenter explains what we lose when the Trump administration doesn’t try to put the heat on Russia. Carpenter is a former deputy assistant secretary of defense and foreign policy adviser to former Vice President Joe Biden. He and Biden are the co-authors of the Foreign Affairs article, “How to Stand Up to the Kremlin.”In the Spiel, robots take over. 

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the final tax bill, government agency leadership, and are joined by Linda Greenhouse to talk about her new book about covering the Supreme Court.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/gabfestplus.Twitter: @SlateGabfestFacebook: facebook.com/GabfestEmail: gabfest@slate.comShow notes at slate.com/gabfest

A theater in Memphis decided to stop showing “Gone with the Wind,” and Aisha Harris, a Slate culture writer and host of the podcast Represent, joins Kurt to talk about what many see as a nostalgia for slavery in the movie. At 50, there are two central questions surrounding the song, “Ode to Billie Joe”: Why did Billie Joe McAllister jump off the Tallahatchie Bridge, and why, decades ago, did the woman who sang it, Bobbie Gentry, disappear from public view? And finally, Kurt talks to another Omahan done good, the director Alexander Payne, about his new movie, “Downsizing.”

Gabriel Roth, Rebecca Lavoie, and Carvell Wallace gather round the podcasting hearth for a holiday edition of Mom and Dad Are Fighting, with holiday-related listener questions and recommendations, plus "Triumphs and Fails" and more. 

Josh Voorhees has the rundown: an update to the Virginia House race that is now tied; a shameless display of ego-stroking by Mike Pence; and Trump’s ongoing efforts to stack the bench with (unqualified) loyalists.

León Krauze en Los Angeles, Dori Toribio y Fernando Pizarro en Washington, DC, platican de la política estadounidense. Primero, la primera victoria legislativa de los Republicanos en el Congreso: la reforma fiscal que se aprueba ahora en el Capitolio va a tener repercusiones políticas que se empezarán a ver en el 2018. Luego, el alcalde de Los Ángeles Eric Garcetti platica del papel que juega como líder de un gobierno local que esta resistiendo la política y la retórica de la Casa Blanca, y de la posibilidad de postularse como líder a nivel nacional en el 2020. En los Broches de Oro, los panelistas comparten lo que le piden este año a Papa Noel, o, como se dice en Chile, al “Viejito Pascuero.”

Bill Kristol is the editor-at- large of The Weekly Standard. He sits down with Isaac Chotiner to discuss how and why Republicans have rationalized Donald Trump, how he has re-examined his own past in light of Trump’s rise, and just where the Republican Party went awry.

On The Gist, it seems that congressional investigators have nabbed a big fish: Jill Stein.Plus, New York Times columnist David Leonhardt explains why the Republicans absolutely had to pass the tax bill, even if polls suggest it could be an albatross around their necks during the midterms. Leonhardt authors the Times’ absolutely essential Opinion Today newsletter.In the Spiel: Income inequality may not be the perfect descriptor for what ails us, but it’s the best term we’ve got. And the Republican tax bill makes our inequality problem worse. 

Jacob Weisberg chats with Slate's Fred Kaplan about Trump’s new National Security Strategy.

On this week’s If Then, Slate’s April Glaser and Will Oremus talk with the executive director of Mozilla about how Firefox competes with Chrome and the biggest threats to the Open Web. They break down the fallout from the FCC’s 3-2 vote to kill net neutrality and what it means for mega-mergers like Fox and Disney. And they speculate on the motivations behind Uber’s misdeeds, why Apple’s AirPods are sold out, and why the Koch brothers are trying to kill municipal broadband.Stories discussed on the show:BuzzFeed: Uber Accused Of Espionage, Bribery, Hacking, And More In Bombshell Letter Slate: The Fight for the Open Internet Isn’t OverMozilla: Privacy Not Included: A Guide to Make Shopping for Connected Gifts Safer, Easier, and Way More Fun If Then’s “Don’t Close My Tabs” recommendations:MacRumors: Apple is Currently Sold Out of AirPods Until JanuaryWired: KOCH BROTHERS ARE CITIES' NEW OBSTACLE TO BUILDING BROADBANDPodcast production by Laura Flynn.If Then plugs: You can get updates about what’s coming up next by following us on Twitter @ifthenpod. You can follow Will @WillOremus and April @Aprilaser. If you have a question or comment, you can email us at ifthen@slate.com.If Then is presented by Slate and Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, New America, and Slate. Future Tense explores the ways emerging technologies affect society, policy, and culture. To read more, follow us on Twitter and sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Josh Voorhees with the rundown: Virginia proves every vote really does count, Republicans try find a way to sell their law to an angry public, and a little-known Koch heir becomes an outlet for liberal rage.

In this rerun of one of the first Good Fight episodes, Yascha Mounk discusses the degree to which democracy in the United States is under threat, the slow erosion of liberal norms, and the future of American identity with Francis Fukuyama.

Dana Stevens, Julia Turner, and Stephen Metcalf discuss Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the app HQ Trivia with Slate's Forrest Wickman, and the life and death of memes and memetics generally. Plus, the panel learns about Milkshake Duck. 

On The Gist, Mike talks about the consequences of fast-tracking a major tax overhaul. In the interview, how did the team behind The Daily manage to create a show that’s unlike anything we’ve heard before and also oddly perfect for this moment in news? Host Michael Barbaro and managing producer Theo Balcomb say they talked extensively about what they didn’t want to sound like. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I never want to do a jobs report,’ ” says Balcomb. “ ‘Can we promise we’re never going to do a jobs report?’ ”In the Spiel, Republicans aren’t necessarily committing political suicide with their $1.5 trillion tax plan.

Josh Voorhees with the rundown: he’s got the latest on the #CorkerKickback, the backstory of last week’s Republican-on-Republican confirmation humiliation, and he takes you to Disney World to meet a kinder, gentler Donald Trump.