The Gist

Latest Episodes:

Don't Call It a White House Shake-Up Feb 13, 2018

Show notes

On today's Gist, we get metaphysical. The White House is always in chaos. But can chaos be a permanent condition?

Maria Konnikova returns to play our favorite game and answer the question: Does an athletic uniform's color affect the athlete's performance? Konnikova writes for the New Yorker is the author of The Confidence Game.

In the Spiel, why Norway is a Winter Olympics marvel.

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Dumb About Deficits Feb 10, 2018

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On The Gist, it's The $10,000 Pyramid with a budget deal twist.

Is it possible we don't know enough about national debt to call our politicians when they're peddling nonsense? New Yorker staff writer Adam Davidson addresses some common misconceptions and sums up the Republican tax cuts and spending bill this way: "Rich people are stealing the money."

In the Spiel, the Olympics are back, and the Russians got off easy.

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Is the Iran Deal a Dud? Feb 09, 2018

Show notes

On The Gist, the "When did you stop beating your wife?" question in the White House press briefing.

In the interview, Iran may have shelved its nuclear ambitions, but the Middle East is still in trouble. Slate's Joshua Keating wonders if the Iran deal was worth it.

In the Spiel, the world of the FEMA scammer.

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The Longest War Is Lost Feb 08, 2018

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Trump wants a parade.

On The Gist, America's longest war, in Afghanistan, rumbles on under a third U.S. president. There is still no exit plan. Steve Coll's new book explores the covert side of America's campaign in Afghanistan and the secretive Pakistani intelligence wing lending support to the Taliban. Coll's book isDirectorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In the Spiel, considering Christopher Steele and Carter Page.

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America Adrift Feb 07, 2018

Show notes

Listen, chattering classes: Let's at least chatter correctly. We take a minute on the proper name pronunciation for the scandals of the day.

Today on The Gist, U.S. foreign policy is a mess. But U.S. foreign policy has been a mess for decades. Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, explains.

In the Spiel, what they were thinking in the stands of President Trump's speech on Monday in Ohio.

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Phil Rosenthal Eats the World Feb 06, 2018

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On The Gist: Dow goes down, Trump gets mad.

In the interview, comedian Phil Rosenthal went to six cities across the globe to eat everything they had to offer and put it on Netflix. He tells Mike about his new show, Somebody Feed Phil, and the creative angst behind the sitcom that put him on the map: Everybody Loves Raymond.

In the Spiel, Justin Timberlake didn't bring sexy back thanks to white privilege alone.

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Philly vs. Boston Feb 03, 2018

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On The Gist, Super Bowl LII is an occasion to ask the age-old question: Who's more obnoxious, people from Philadelphia or Boston?

Plus, Another Period takes the Gilded Age as its setting to satirize the worst of reality TV: extravagant wealth, petty arguments, and a shaky camera. Riki Lindhome co-created and stars in the Comedy Central show.

In the Spiel, a reprise of the vaunted documentary, Busted: 43 Minutes of Crisis and Conflict, a production of the American Dream is Deadworks.

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LBJ, Reconsidered Feb 01, 2018

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Lyndon B. Johnson doesn't always get the consideration he deserves as one of America's great presidents. On today's Gist, historian Joshua Zeitz says LBJ's fight for welfare reform and civil rights redefined the country, even as those legal achievements come under attack by today's Republican Party. Zeitz is the author of Building the Great Society: Inside Lyndon Johnson's White House.

Plus, a Spiel from the 2016 archives: Vote Jabba!

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We Still Have No U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Feb 01, 2018

Show notes

On The Gist, Trey Gowdy bows out.

Fred Kaplan explains why foreign policy experts are concerned by the Trump administration's move to renege on its choice of ambassador to South Korea at the last minute. Kaplan writes the War Stories column for Slate. He is the author, most recently, of Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War.

In the Spiel, you know what they say: The president who claps the loudest pleases the crowd best.

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When All the Jobs Are Gone Jan 31, 2018

Show notes

On The Gist, the pomposity and circumstantial evidence of the State of the Union.

Janesville, Wisconsin, had the oldest operating GM assembly plant in the country until 2008. The factory's closure left thousands of employees in the lurch. Amy Goldstein's book Janesville: An American Story describes the choices facing three families as they pick up the pieces of a busted local economy.

In the Spiel, the right things to say when you're being nuked and the right way to say them.

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