The Gist

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Donald and the Don May 09, 2018

Show notes

On Tuesday's Gist, the undoing of the Iran deal.

Democrats are tense. 2018 is supposed to be a banner year for the left, but the party is struggling to balance an energized base and an unpredictable general electorate. As a result, there have been a lot of bigfoot sightings in primaries across the country, as Democratic Party honchos step in to pick preferred candidates. Who's wiser, the party or the voters? Alex Roarty, who covers the Democrats for McClatchy newspapers, says it's not so simple.

In the Spiel, the gall of Don Blankenship.

After the Spiel, keep listening for a trailer of Slate's upcoming podcast, Upon Further Review. It's based on Mike Pesca's book, Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs in Sports History.

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Jake Tapper's Very Particular Kind of Escapism May 08, 2018

Show notes

On today's Gist, there's a special place in hell for women who don't want Gina Haspel to run the CIA.

Jake Tapper's latest book is The Hellfire Club. It's a work of historical fiction; a political thriller set in the 1950s, when Washington was gripped by McCarthyism. Tapper says he saw echoes of President Donald Trump as he read about Sen. Joe McCarthy's attacks on his political enemies. "The people who survived the '50s with their reputations intact were the ones who stood up to McCarthy," said Tapper. "Either decency and truth are important to you, or they're not." Tapper is the host of CNN's The Lead and State of the Union.

In the Spiel, the armed and fabulous women of the NRA.

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The Dangerous Hits of 1991 May 04, 2018

Show notes

On The Gist, a movie pitch: Kushner family racket.

Returning champion Chris Molanphy takes us back to 1991 and its chart toppers: Mariah Carey's explosive debut, the Swedish group that topped the charts for a fourth time (it wasn't ABBA!), and the Michael Jackson and Madonna music videos that had censors flustered. Molanphy is the host of Slate's Hit Parade.

In the Spiel, the best movie lines of all time.

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Call of Rudy 2 May 04, 2018

Show notes

On today's Gist, what's this about a Tony Award–winning dry cleaner?

Presidential inexperience does not always lead to failed presidencies. Some traits can temper inexperience—like the depressive realism of Abraham Lincoln or Lyndon B. Johnson. Other traits magnify inexperience—like narcissism. Gautam Mukunda takes a close look at presidential inexperience in his 2012 book, Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter.

In the Spiel, Rudy Giuliani had a strategy.

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Gen. Michael Hayden May 03, 2018

Show notes

On today's Gist, a fond farewell to Ty Cobb.

Gen. Michael Hayden was running the National Security Agency and then the CIA, he couldn't talk about our national security risks. If he could have, most people would have listened to him. But things are different now. Hayden talks about the decline of fact-based arguments, the Iran nuclear deal, and the future of privacy. His latest book is The Assault on Intelligence: American National Security in an Age of Lies.

In the Spiel, Kanye West knows he has flaws. He just can't learn from them.

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How We Screwed Over Puerto Rico May 02, 2018

Show notes

On today's Gist, thick-as-bricks Lego thieves come a-tumbling down.

Hurricane recovery has been a disaster in Puerto Rico. NPR's Laura Sullivan wanted to know why. So she found documents revealing a FEMA in shambles. She traced Puerto Rico's economic troubles back to a 1996 tax vote. And she explains how the island's remaining wealth was wiped out by years of shady municipal debt deals. Sullivan's report for NPR and Frontline is called "Blackout in Puerto Rico." You should really watch it.

In the Spiel, is it spring yet?

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A Wolf in Wolf's Clothing May 01, 2018

Show notes

On today's Gist, President Trump's Nobel in the making.

There is no market quite like the boomers—that was true when they were young, and it remains true as they enter their 60s and 70s. So how do you market to the olds? The answer lies in a few busted bits of conventional wisdom, the millennial lifestyle, and probably your mom's iPad. Joseph F. Coughlin explains it all in his book The Longevity Economy: Unlocking the World's Fastest-Growing, Most Misunderstood Market.

In the Spiel, what happened at the White House Correspondents' Dinner?

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ISIS Isn't Done With Apr 27, 2018

Show notes

On The Gist, when your sympathy for the poor goes beyond platitudes, Paul Ryan fires you.

In the interview, the New York Times' Rukmini Callimachi has a new podcast. Caliphate lays out how she knows what she knows about ISIS. Through her reporting in Iraq, she's learned how the group endeared itself to locals with services as simple as garbage collection. And though the would-be Islamic State has fallen, the extremists behind it persist as an insurgency.

In the Spiel, there is no Spiel!

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Old Man Donald Apr 27, 2018

Show notes

On Thursday's Gist, EPA chief Scott Pruitt's behavior is too plainly unethical to sweep under the rug.

What does a Malaysian party boy have to do with President Trump's potential breach of the Emoluments Clause? Reveal's Amy Walters and WAMU's Patrick Madden can explain everything in their story for Reveal, "Check into Trump's Washington Hotel."

In the Spiel, how about that batshit crazy rant courtesy of our president on Thursday morning?

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Korematsu, Revisited? Apr 26, 2018

Show notes

On Wednesday's Gist, you didn't think Trump's latest political nominee was scandal-free, did you?

And as the Supreme Court weighs Trump's travel ban on Muslim-majority countries, one of its most notorious decisions still stands. Korematsu v. United States upheld America's wartime internment of thousands of Japanese Americans, and it's still cited as legal precedent today. Harvard Law School's Martha Minow recently wrote about the decision and its relevance in 2018.

In the Spiel, president Trump's approval ratings are highest in West Virginia. Senate candidate (and former convict) Don Blankenship is rolling with it.

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