The Gist

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The Overreaction Doctrine Aug 16, 2017

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Political scientist Moshe Maor says Donald Trump's policy ideas are very, very over-the-top. But that's exactly the point. On issues like immigration and transgender service members, bold overreactions are the only kind of policies that speak to cynical voters. "People want immediate action," says Maor. "Morality aside, Trump is playing his cards right." Maor is a professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

In the Spiel, is Donal Trump a smart racist or a stupid racist?

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Why Are Police Unions So Aggressive? Aug 15, 2017

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Guest host Leon Neyfakh speaks with retired Boston cop Tom Nolan about the politics of police unions. While unions in other industries put on a progressive face to the world, police unions tend to be defensive of everything from disrespecting the mayor of New York to rough treatment of prisoners. But Nolan says he's encouraged by their recent condemnation of President Trump's comments about police violence. "I think they know the speaker of those words does not know what the hell he was talking about," says Nolan, who now teaches at Merrimack College.

In the Spiel, Google is a massive company. It's also an increasingly bad search engine.

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There Is No Order in Congress Aug 14, 2017

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Typically Congress has an order to follow when creating bills and passing them into law. There's committee writing, revisions, and a bipartisan back-and-forth. In recent years that order has broken down and caused major divides inside both parties. Georgetown senior fellow Joshua Huder details this process and how it went wrong. Huder's writing can be found on the blog Rule 22.

In the Spiel, Mike heads to the Bobby Fischer museum in Iceland and explores the tricky balance of memorializing the controversial star.

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Brandt Tobler Has a Problem With Authority Aug 11, 2017

Show notes

Brandt Tobler has had a crazy life. His stand-up comedy is the sum of his stories as a small-town wayward kid busting out of Wyoming. He was the don of a criminal syndicate he called the "mallfia," he ran the Las Vegas strip placing bets for gambling titans, and he plotted to kill his estranged father. He's also kind of a sweetheart. Tobler's book is Free Roll.

In the Spiel, how cynicism breeds fake news.

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About the Google Memo Aug 11, 2017

Show notes

Google's reputation for openness took a tumble when its CEO fired James Damore, the author of a memo questioning the company's efforts to achieve gender parity. Amy Webb, founder of the Future Today Institute, blames the internet. She says easy access to data is allowing us to make dumb arguments.

In the Spiel, Mike has more thoughts on the Google memo. Guess what? He dislikes it.

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Muhammad Ali's Biggest Fight Aug 10, 2017

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Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century, but he didn't spend his entire life in the ring. During the Vietnam War, he spent his time trying to avoid the draft as a conscientious objector. Journalist Leigh Montville says the struggle changed Ali's life—and the country. Montville's new book is Sting Like a Bee.

In the Spiel, a closer look at the CV of the most important soil-health civil servant in the news.

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Somewheres vs. Anywheres Aug 08, 2017

Show notes

Over the last few years, the meaningful fault line between political camps has separated people rooted to certain places and people rooted to certain ideas. David Goodhart says the anywheres have become too dominant, and the somewhere have rightly felt excluded. How can we bridge the divide? Goodhart's book is The Road to Somewhere.

In the Spiel, speak loudly domestically and you might hurt your credibility. Speak loudly internationally and you might end civilization.

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The Social Experiment on TV Aug 07, 2017

Show notes

Be bold, but not arrogant. Apologize when wrong, but don't accept blame. Stay calm in a crisis. These are some of the lessons Mike Richards has learned hosting GSN's Divided, the social experiment masquerading as a game show.

In the Spiel, why the Dow is for fuddy-duddies.

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Maria Bamford Wants to See Emotion Aug 04, 2017

Show notes

Maria Bamford has been making top comedian lists for years, but she knows her stand-up isn't for everyone: "I can bomb any moment of the week, any day." On The Gist, she rebuts Mike's assertion that comics are more likely to struggle with depression. Bamford also explains why she wishes ESPN's postgame analysis were swapped out for televised confessional booths for the athletes. Her new Netflix show is Lady Dynamite.

In the Spiel, Mike reads some of the mail responding to his takedown of the term white privilege and names another Lobstar.

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The Scaramucci Tapes Aug 03, 2017

Show notes

It's a special combo Gist, with an interview and Spiel rolled into one segment: Zoe Chace, producer for This American Life, digs up some old audio from one of her conversations with Anthony Scaramucci. The tape is from 2016, when the Mooch was pondering whether to support Donald Trump's presidential campaign. What Scaramucci said back then may indicate what he'll do next.

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