The Gist

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Jake Tapper and the Race Against Terror Oct 08, 2025

Show notes

Today on The Gist. Jake Tapper breaks down the first U.S. criminal trial of a foreign combatant: why prosecutors chose court over Gitmo, and the painstaking sleuthing that turned a shaky confession into a conviction. We talk DOJ institutional memory, the politics orbiting the Comey case, and why trials rather than commissions lock terrorists away. Plus, James Comey's indictment and the strange team behind it.

Produced by Corey Wara

Production Coordinator Ashley Khan

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Obama CDC Director Tom Frieden: "'Believe in Science' Is a Terrible Idea." Oct 07, 2025

Show notes

The former CDC director lays out his "See, Believe, Create" playbook from The Formula for Better Health: How to Save Millions of Lives—Including Your Own. He separates settled facts (hypertension control, PM2.5, tobacco) from guesswork, owns early COVID failures, and argues vaccine mandates and long school closures were mismatched to risk. Practical levers follow, rebuild primary care, mind your potassium-to-sodium ratio, and scale what actually works. Also: a withering look at Pam Bondi's Judiciary Committee testimony on the still-sealed Trump–Epstein files and that Qatar jet ethics tangle.

Produced by Corey Wara

Production Coordinator Ashley Khan

Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Steven Pinker: "Common Knowledge Changes Everything" Oct 06, 2025

Show notes

Steven Pinker joins to discuss his new book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life, exploring how shared awareness coordinates everything from markets to manners. He traces spirals of silence, costly signals, and why a single public moment can flip private hunches into history.

Also: the sentencing in the intended assassination of Justice Brett Kavanaugh — what the court record shows about Nicholas (Sophie) Roske's change of mind, and why eight years can be both just and long.

And in the Spiel: the Supreme Court's new term, and an un-panicked look at Trump's shadow-docket "wins," what the justices actually stayed, and why.

Produced by Corey Wara

Production Coordinator Ashley Khan

Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Diane Foley on America's Hostage Blind Spot Oct 04, 2025

Show notes

Diane Foley, founder of the Foley Foundation and mother of slain journalist James Foley, joins Mike to discuss America's fragmented hostage-recovery system, wrongful detentions, and why the U.S. response lags far behind countries like Israel. In the Spiel, Mike looks at the 20-point Gaza plan, Israeli hostages, and the very different ways nations value their own citizens.

Produced by Corey Wara

Production Coordinator Ashley Khan

Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Jonah Blank: "Very Quickly and Then Very Slowly" in Nepal Oct 03, 2025

Show notes

South Asia expert Jonah Blank explains how a Gen-Z–driven uprising—fueled by social media, flaunted elite wealth, and ubiquitous VPNs—toppled Nepal's government. He sketches a country where remittances power daily life, institutions lack public trust, and political parties play musical chairs. Also: Trump fires another U.S. attorney and pressures Microsoft to oust a former DOJ official. And in the Spiel: Hamas's willingness to release hostages, and how Israel's democratic self-image shapes the next move.

Produced by Corey Wara

Production Coordinator Ashley Khan

Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Not Even Mad: Ben Wizner & Ilya Shapiro Oct 02, 2025

Show notes

Free speech under heat: the ACLU's Ben Wizner and the Manhattan Institute's Ilya Shapiro square off (and sometimes align) on the "ethos" of the First Amendment—from the Ball State firing over Charlie Kirk comments to cancel culture, government jawboning, and campus heckler's vetoes. We dig into the Supreme Court's shadow docket and unitary-executive fights, birthright citizenship, visas vs speech rights, and why institutions keep ducking protests. Plus: goat-grinders (the NBA's three-point bloat, Lyme disease, and one painfully predictable sitcom).

Produced by Corey Wara

Production Coordinator Ashley Khan

Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Yaakov Katz - While Israel Slept: Winning Tunnels, Losing Time Oct 01, 2025

Show notes

Yaakov Katz co-author with Amir Bohbot, of While Israel Slept: How Hamas Surprised the Most Powerful Military in the Middle East, traces the failures that led to October 7 and how Israel's security establishment misread Hamas's strength and intent. He explains how world opinion, hostage leverage, and casualty ratios constrain Israel differently in Gaza than against Hezbollah, and how Netanyahu's post-ceasefire decisions prolonged the war. Katz argues Israel allowed hardliners to define the mission and assesses the current 20 point plan. Plus: the shutdown as a real-world experiment in Trump's expanded executive power.

Produced by Corey Wara

Production Coordinator Ashley Khan

Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠

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KJ Steinberg, on The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox Sep 30, 2025

Show notes

We talk with KJ Steinberg, showrunner of Hulu's The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, about concentrating on Knox's perspective while still showing how others perceived her, and the legal tightropes that shaped the series. She details the refracted structure (episodes from the prosecutor's to the co-defendant's POVs) and why the story follows Knox through re-entry. As she puts it, "the echoes of trauma are loud and long." Also: Israel's hostage ethos, why twenty remaining names can command a nation's focus, contrasted with how Americans register their own wrongfully detained citizens. Plus: SecDef Pete Hegseth's "Semper Shorntis" beard decree.

Produced by Corey Wara

Production Coordinator Ashley Khan

Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Amanda Knox — "You don't have to be a psychopath to wrongly convict somebody." Sep 29, 2025

Show notes

Knox recounts confronting prosecutor Giuliano Mignini and explores how certainty, incentive structures, and "alternate realities" turned her story into a sprawling international conspiracy. She parses the feedback loop between media and Italian justice, and why today's true-crime-savvy public might have questioned the case sooner. Also: the 21 point Gaza peace plan that hasn't been faxed to Hamas, and a Spiel on why the Comey indictment reads as impermissible lawfare, not a good-faith prosecution. Produced by Corey Wara

Production Coordinator Ashley Khan

Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Is Masculinity A Prison? - Mike on Open to Debate Sep 27, 2025

Show notes

Listen to the full debate on Open to Debate's podcast channel or watch it on YouTube: https://bit.ly/MikePesca

Men are falling behind in our society, and some point to traditional ideas of masculinity as the cause. What does it mean to "be a man" today, and how do labels like toxic masculinity impact that question? For some men, masculinity is a continually evolving identity that goes beyond narrow definitions placed upon it. For others, it's a rigid set of expectations that results in emotional isolation and other negative outcomes. Now we debate: Is Masculinity A Prison? Arguing Yes: Lux Alptraum, Writer, Journalist, and Sex Educator Arguing No: Mike Pesca, Host of "The Gist" Podcast Nayeema Raza, Journalist and Host of "Smart Girl Dumb Questions," is the guest moderator. Produced by Open to Debate, a podcast series that brings together influential thinkers to debate today's most pressing topics, using facts, reason, and civility. Produced by Corey Wara Production Coordinator Ashley Khan Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

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