The Gist

Latest Episodes:

Betting On Elections Jun 15, 2023

Show notes

Today we're talking about political gambling and, more specifically, about Sean McElwee, who was the founding Executive Director of Data For Progress and a big winner in Trump's Washington ... until he wasn't. First we are joined by author Ben Terris, whose new book is The Big Break: The Gamblers, Party Animals, and True Believers Trying to Win in Washington While America Loses Its Mind. Then we turn the conversation to then David Rees, one of the hosts of the Election Profit Makers podcast about election-prediction markets. Also, El Pequeño Niño es mas ordinario.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist

Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/

Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Prettiest Nazi Double-Agent In Tulsa Jun 14, 2023

Show notes

Jon Ronson, host of the new audible original podcast The Debutante joins us to discuss the case of Carol Howe, a wealthy young woman who fell in love with a group of neo-nazis before turning government informant. Ronson has studied American extremists for years and has thoughts on how to think about and combat them. Plus, now the Biden administration (of all administrations) is violating the Hatch Act and airing unchecked Trump claims … a dangerous game of chicken.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist

Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/

Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Siren Song vs Whistleblower At Facebook Jun 13, 2023

Show notes

Frances Haugen is to Instagram as Jeffrey Wigand is to big tobacco and Edward Snowden is to the NSA. She blew the whistle, exposing them for doing harm, and it changed her life for good. She joins us to discuss what that was like, and to talk about her new book, The Power of One: How I Found the Strength to Tell the Truth and Why I Blew the Whistle on Facebook. Plus, Trump backers complain about the double standards, but the standards were clearly articulated in a fairly famous press conference we know Trump paid attention to. And, by any standard, Indian rail travel is especially dangerous, and, it goes without saying, especially to the poor.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist

Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/

Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Silvio Berlusconi HUNGA HUNGA Around For 86 Years Jun 12, 2023

Show notes

Silvio Berlusconi was a character without much of one. He led Italy longer than any prime minister in the post-war period, and he will be missed ... by prostitutes. In El Salvador, the president has conducted a major crackdown on crime, netting lawbreakers as well as many innocent people, and netting himself a 91% approval rating. Francisco Toro, Contributing Editor at Persuasion and contributor to the Washington Post, joins to discuss if democracy can survive in such an environment. And, speaking of the environment, the Canadian wildfires could change minds on climate change, even if we're not certain they are entirely the fault of climate change.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist

Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/

Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

BEST OF THE GIST: Zombie Gerrymander Edition Jun 10, 2023

Show notes

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, in the wake of this past week's Alabama voting rights decision handed down from SCOTUS, we rewind to Mike's 2018 conversation with Gerrymander evangelist Amanda Holt, who single-handedly launched a successful movement to redrawn the election maps of Pennsylvania. Then we listen back to our June 7th Spiel, in which Mike lauds Zombie Biden.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

To advertise on the show: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist

Subscribe to our ad-free and/or PescaPlus versions of The Gist: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/

Follow Mike's Substack: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Blissed Off Jun 09, 2023

Show notes

Rainn Wilson is the host of Peacock's The Geography Of Bliss, based on the book of the same name written by Eric Weiner. Like Weiner before him, Wilson (who played the legendary Dwight Schrute on The Office) travels the world in search of locally sourced happiness secrets. For some reason, Mike gives them both a hard time, and everyone winds up angrier at each other than one might expect from an exploration of bliss.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist

Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/

Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Damming Alabama's Crimson Tide Jun 08, 2023

Show notes

SCOTUS has ruled that Alabama's gerrymander limiting the sway of black voters is a violation of the Voting Rights Act, which, along with some smaller decisions and the general direction of the Supreme Court, we discuss with New York Times Opinion columnist David French. Plus, Gov. Doug runs! And it's an Antwentig. On a Thursday?!?! Indeed.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist

Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/

Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Abortion, Guns, And Money Jun 07, 2023

Show notes

SCOTUS isn't meeting us where we are says Michael Waldman, author of The Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America. Waldman thinks the current court is inviting a backlash, but also that the current backlash is the result of a backlash against their more liberal predecessors. Trippy. Plus, the skies darken as the possibilities of a Zombie Biden play out … to a not particularly scary effect.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist

Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/

Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Geeks Shall Inherit The Turf Jun 06, 2023

Show notes

Bruce Schoenfeld, author of Game Of Edges: The Analytics Revolution And The Future Of Professional Sports joins us to discuss the costs of all the statistical advances in sports. Plus, our orange-brained, bone-burying 240,000 year-old-friends, the Homo Naaldei, and why paleoanthropologists are like parents of preschoolers. And, sorry to bury the lead here ... the Aliens have landed.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist

Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/

Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

DereLICHTion Of Duty Jun 05, 2023

Show notes

Lisa Belkin, author of Genealogy Of A Murder: Four Generations, Three Families, One Fateful Night, traces several generations of family to the muzzle of a 9-mm Luger pistol in Stamford, Connecticut. Plus Donald Trump promises voters the World, so what Ron DeSantis is promising might seem measly by comparison. And CNN's Chris Licht is the subject of a devastating profile in The Atlantic.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist

Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/

Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.