The Gist

Latest Episodes:

Clinging to Guns Is Our Religion Apr 02, 2018

Show notes

On Monday's Gist, the White House press corps needs a break. And guest host Mary Wilson knows who should take their place in the interim.

Plus, NationalReview.com editor Charles C. W. Cooke explains why he thinks repealing the Second Amendment would be such a losing proposition for gun control advocates.

And in the Spiel, Slate's Osita Nwanevu says the media doesn't have a liberal bias problem.

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In Defense of the Pun Mar 31, 2018

Show notes

On The Gist, Good Friday is actually pretty great, from a cosmic perspective.

In the interview, Aparna Nancherla tells us how to go from introverted kid ("my mom was very afraid of how unassertive I was") to making it in comedy.

In the Spiel, a deep dive into the world of acronyms.

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On Conservative Voices Mar 30, 2018

Show notes

On The Gist, the Department of Energy has a chief creative officer? Let's roll with it.

In the interview, upstanding Pennsylvanian Amanda Holt updates us on the state's new congressional district lines.

In the Spiel, some hyperlinks are all hype, especially when it comes to censoring conservative opinion writers.

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Know Thy Enemy Mar 29, 2018

Show notes

On The Gist, Sean Hannity doesn't like this podcast.

In the interview, Korea expert Bruce Bechtol tells us what might be going on in Kim Jong-un's mind and how to set it on denuclearization.

In the Spiel, president Trump might be acting tough on Russia, but he doesn't get what the big deal is.

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Corruption Just Isn't Telegenic Mar 28, 2018

Show notes

On The Gist, forget Stormy Daniels. The Kushners' massive loan deals are where the real dirt is at.

In the interview, the world's growing complexity can be measured in dusty cables, useless features, and lines of code. Chris Clearfield and András Tilcsik talk about the problems that snowball when even the smallest thing goes wrong. Clearfield and Tilcsik are the authors of Meltdown: Why Our Systems Fail and What We Can Do About It.

In the Spiel, any census that asks people about their citizenship status will be pricey and inaccurate.

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Hitler's Art Dealer Mar 27, 2018

Show notes

On The Gist, "affair" is too rich a word to describe anything Donald Trump is emotionally capable of.

In the interview, arts reporter Mary M. Lane tells us about the art collection looted by Hitler's art dealer, inherited by that dealer's son, and finally confiscated by the German government.

In the Spiel, a survey of Republican bloviating on Sunday's news shows.

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Spies Are People Too Mar 24, 2018

Show notes

On The Gist, Donald Trump's presidency brings race relations, at best, to a standstill. Case in point: the police shooting in Sacramento, California.

The Americans is back for its final season next week. Showrunners Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg talk about their research into ruthless Soviet tactics, their obsession over historical detail, and why these spies are the good guys.

In the Spiel, what sound does a giraffe make? Also: It's time for the Lobstar of the Antentwig.

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As Statues Fall, Racism Stays Mar 23, 2018

Show notes

On The Gist, what to make of yet another round of White House reshuffling.

As mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu has used his office to take down four of the city's Confederate monuments. His new book reckons with race relations in his city, the South, and the country. Landrieu's book is In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History.

In the Spiel, semantics, sexuality, and Cynthia Nixon.

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This Storm Ain't Brewing Mar 22, 2018

Show notes

On The Gist, even if we get a law to make Robert Mueller unfireable, President Trump could trample all over it.

In the interview, sports journalist Mary Pilon tells the story of Olympic sailor Kevin Hall's struggle with the Truman Show delusion (where someone believes he or she is the focus of a reality TV program). Pilon's new book is The Kevin Show: An Olympic Athlete's Battle With Mental Illness.

In the Spiel, Stormy Daniels might win the right to talk. But can her story trouble Trump's presidency, or would it just be tabloid fodder?

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Will Democracy Survive Trump? Mar 21, 2018

Show notes

On The Gist, before Donald Trump's headline-hogging presidency, things like bridge collapses made news for more than a few days.

In the interview, Cass Sunstein's new book asks if the U.S. is fundamentally immune to authoritarianism, or whether president Trump has proved the opposite. His new book—Can It Happen Here?: Authoritarianism in America—puts the question to more than a dozen leading writers.

In the Spiel, Betsy DeVos is totally incompetent, but at least that's made obvious every time she speaks.

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