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When Protesters Pull the Fire Alarm Apr 10, 2017

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Slate's Osita Nwanevu defended the actions of Middlebury College students to silence visiting speaker Charles Murray last month. If we consider some opinions to be beyond the pale of acceptability, who's to say that the students were wrong in putting Murray's past writings in that category? Nwanevu is an editorial assistant at Slate.

In the Spiel: If you really think about it, Bill O'Reilly is a lot like Bashar al-Assad.

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Shots Fired. What Now? Apr 07, 2017

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What does President Trump want to achieve with Thursday's escalation of force against Syria? Fred Kaplan considers all the angles, including this one: Ordering a strike against a single Syrian air base was one of the lesser military actions President Trump could have approved. Kaplan writes the War Stories column for Slate. In the Spiel, like a clueless boyfriend in a zip-up sweater, Trump went to Jared. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus.

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Lovable Losers With Scott Simon Apr 06, 2017

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The Chicago Cubs used to be the Susan Lucci of baseball. Now they're looking more like Meryl Streep. As a fan, how do you become accustomed to winning? Scott Simon has written a memoir about his life as a too-devoted Cubs fan and how he's adjusting to life as a winner. Simon is also the host of Weekend Edition Sunday from NPR.

In the Spiel, we bid farewell to a beloved, deeply tender jerk.

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A More Human Kind of Sci-Fi Apr 05, 2017

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In The Discovery, director Charlie McDowell imagines a world where the afterlife has been proven, and a man played by Jason Segel is trying to negotiate the emotional consequences. McDowell says he was out to make a kind of "grounded sci-fi," in the vein of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. "It's not focused on a futuristic look or society," says McDowell. "It's a backdrop for exploring the characters." The Discovery premiered on Netflix on Friday.

In the Spiel, one question, and one question only, about chemical weapons in Syria.

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An Outsider's Take on America's Game Apr 04, 2017

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Tabitha Soren is not a natural baseball fan. She got interested when her husband, Michael Lewis, was working on his book Moneyball. As Lewis became obsessed with teaching his readers another way to watch the game, Soren focused on showing people how to see the players in a different way: as fallible and broken people who sacrifice their bodies for a chance to play in the major leagues. The result is Fantasy Life, a 15-year span of photographs of a group of minor league draft picks for the Oakland A's.

In the Spiel, yeah, we're having a hard time understanding this whole "unmasking" business, too.

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Where Is the Republican Resistance? Apr 03, 2017

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Trump was the chaos candidate, but he's finding little success as the chaos president. He's turned off Democrats and the Freedom Caucus, failed to pass a new health care law, and faced blockades in the courts against his travel ban. We call up veteran GOP strategist Mike Murphy to discuss the impossible spot the White House is in, and why Democrats shouldn't blockade Neil Gorsuch. Murphy's podcast is Radio Free GOP.

In the Spiel, checkin' in with the Trump base.

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The Return of Mystery Science Theater 3000 Mar 31, 2017

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After a long hiatus, the groundbreaking comedy show Mystery Science Theatre 3000 returns to piteously mock the worst movies ever made. Show creator Joel Hodgson and new head writer Elliott Kalan (The Daily Show) explain how to get some tiny pleasure out of cinematic garbage. The show returns on Netflix April 14.

In the Spiel, why Melissa McCarthy will never keep up with relentless self-parody artist Sean Spicer.

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Russia Doesn't Have Any Friends Mar 30, 2017

Show notes

Why does Russia find NATO so deeply offensive? Tom Nichols says it comes down to something quite human. NATO represents all of the successes that Russia couldn't quite manage to achieve: "Part of the reason Russians hate NATO is because Russia just doesn't have any friends in the world." Nichols is a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College. He'll be back on the show soon to discuss his new book, The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters.

In the Spiel, there was some damn fine inquiry on the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday.

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What is Homeopathy, Exactly? Mar 29, 2017

Show notes

Our resident debunker of nonsense, Maria Konnikova, returns to take on the billion-dollar homeopathy industry. Why aren't homeopathic remedies regulated in the United States? And what can their dubious history tell us about their effectiveness? Maria Konnikova is a contributing writer at the New Yorkerand the author of The Confidence Game.

In the Spiel, watching CNN go haywire for a pretty banal accident on Capitol Hill.

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How Political Parties Collapse Mar 28, 2017

Show notes

Two Whig presidents were elected by the American people—Zachary Taylor and William Henry Harrison. They lasted a grand total of one year and five months. The Whigs cracked up in the 1850s over intense policy divisions. Now, many historians are drawing parallels between the Whigs then and the Republicans now. Philip Wallach recently penned an essay for the Brookings Institution about what can be learned by the last major political party death in America.

Plus, a visit to Vexillology Corner with Ted Kaye, who explains why you can't cheat in your flag design by trimming the ends off. Kaye is the author of the book Good Flag, Bad Flag.

In the Spiel, the greatest presidential broken promise in history.

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