The Gist

Latest Episodes:

"Guest is God" Mar 30, 2019

Show notes

On The Gist, the next wave of start-ups should be like the tech companies we have now, but with a conscience.

In the interview, filmmaker Anthony Maras is more wedded to a theme—people in extremis—than a form, and his latest is a thriller based on true events. Hotel Mumbai follows a band of diverse survivors holed up in the Taj, one of the targets in India's 2008 terrorist attacks. "Something kind of magical happened, which is all these barriers that usually divide people evaporated."

In the Spiel, Donald Trump: bullshitter or shitposter?

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Adam Schiff Is Not Okay Mar 29, 2019

Show notes

On The Gist, Mike Pesca, in true hipster fashion, laments the end of Wow Air.

In the interview, much of the news media was guilty of hyping up the knockout blow that Mueller's report would deliver president Trump. But a few journalists on the left were always skeptical of the investigation's origins and potential. Among them is Nation contributor Aaron Maté, who saw in the Mueller probe a distraction from the Democratic Party's failure in 2016—and from the stories that really matter.

In the Spiel, Rep. Adam Schiff comes out swinging.

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The Boeing Lesson Mar 28, 2019

Show notes

On The Gist, Boeing is in a tight spot.

In the interview, the boxing match between Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas was one for the ages. Everyone so expected Tyson to win that people weren't even placing bets until the odds were 42 to 1. In the new 30 for 30 film 42 to 1, Gist guest Jeremy Schaap (and Ben Houser) explore this shocking upset and how the fight changed boxing and these fighters' lives.

In the Spiel, if we're going to build a wall, how about the one between church and state? Looking at you, Pennsylvania.

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Trump's Post-Mueller Strategy Mar 27, 2019

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On The Gist, the latest gridlock facing the Green New Deal should clue in its backers in Congress.

In the interview, Huwe Burton was 16 years old when detectives browbeat him into a false confession of murder. He spent about 20 years in prison as a result, and found an outlet in the quarter-mile track that he and other inmates built their endurance on. Since his release and exoneration, he hasn't stopped running. Burton's story is told in a Lope Magazine article—"Innocent People Don't Run"—by Liam Boylan-Pett, who also joins us in the studio.

In the Spiel, the Trump reelection campaign's bizarre memo to all "Television Producers" leans on cherry-picked quotes.

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The Mueller Report Report Mar 26, 2019

Show notes

On The Gist, we should be willing to accept that the Barr letter and Mueller report won't lead to any indictments.

In the interview, David Priess, former CIA staffer and daily intelligence briefer for Robert Mueller, is here to talk about the Mueller report. What do we know? What questions are still unanswered? And where do we go from here? Priess' latest book is How to Get Rid of a President: History's Guide to Removing Unpopular, Unable, or Unfit Chief Executives.

In the Spiel, the Mueller report does not exonerate Trump, even if Trump thinks it does.

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The Real March Madness Upset Mar 22, 2019

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On The Gist, ISIS may be defeated, but the people who made up its forces aren't gone.

In the interview, novelist John Lanchester is here to discuss his new novel The Wall, the symbolic and practical use of walls, and how closely we should pay attention to our dreams.

In the Spiel, Jim Nantz shouldn't be in those Capital One commercials for March Madness.

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The Past and Future Biden Mar 22, 2019

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On The Gist, who paid for those two Chinese-born tech magnates to take photos with Trump?

In the interview, Vanderbilt professor Jonathan Metzl is here to discuss his new book Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America's Heartland.

In the Spiel, litigating Biden's past.

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Solving Maternal Mortality Mar 21, 2019

Show notes

On The Gist, have you heard about the mob hit that took place a few weeks ago?

In the interview, journalist Sarah Kliff joins us to discuss maternal mortality rates in the United States, what California has done to fix it, and what the rest of the country should learn from them. Kliff is the host of Vox's The Impact.

In the Spiel, Donald Trump on John McCain's funeral.

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What Merchants of Truth Gets Right Mar 20, 2019

Show notes

On The Gist, it wouldn't just be morally right for Trump to finally denounce white nationalism. It would be politically smart.

In the interview, Jill Abramson's Merchants of Truth: The Business of News and the Fight for Facts was released to glowing reviews—but valid accusations of plagiarism and factual errors took some of that shine off. As Mike asks Abramson (a former executive editor of the New York Times), were the negative headlines so grabby that they've damned the book's valuable insights? And would that in itself prove many of her worries about journalism in the 21st century?

In the Spiel, the New York Times, biased? You don't say.

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Beto Takes a Stand Mar 19, 2019

Show notes

On The Gist, Beto O'Rourke, the countertop candidate.

In the interview, historian Rutger Bregman got in a spat with Fox host Tucker Carlson, but you wouldn't know it if it weren't for his own video of the incident. Fox never aired it, as Bregman accused Carlson of carrying water for billionaires and Carlson responded with profane insults. Bregman joins the Gist to give us the backstory on that, but not before laying out some of the progressive economic policies—with basis in American history—that he favors, Carlson's disapproval notwithstanding. Bregman is the author of Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal Worldand writes for the Correspondent.

In the Spiel, New Zealand's unity on gun control is admirable. In the big, diverse country that is the United States, things are a little more complicated.

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