The Gist

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Mara Wilson's Post–Child Star Life Jan 04, 2017

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Mara Wilson became iconic in the 1990s, but she hasn't appeared in a film since the year 2000. In her memoir Where Am I Now? Wilson explores the joys and difficulties of her life after child stardom. Mara's book was recently named one of the best of 2016 by NPR.

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What happens to our digital lives when we're gone? LifeAfter, a new series from GE Podcast Theater and Panoply, the creators of last year's award-winning The Message, explores these very questions. Listen and download LifeAfter wherever you find your podcasts.

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Ralph Nader's Animal Instincts Jan 03, 2017

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Ralph Nader's second work of fiction, Animal Envy, imagines a world where animals can talk to people and start demanding rights. Nader says the fable is meant to prompt deeper thinking about our relationship with nature. "We need to talk about what-if, because if we don't, we can't kick in our idealism and imagine real possibilities," says the 82-year-old author and advocate. Nader also weighs in with his thoughts on the Trump presidency, and how to win a political argument.

In the Spiel, Donald Trump's rockin' New Year's Eve.

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Bob Boilen: Tiny Desk, Big Effect Dec 31, 2016

Show notes

Bob Boilen, creator and host of NPR's All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts, built his book around something he learned in his nearly 30 years of covering music: Artists are tired of talking about their own work, but ask them about what inspires them, and they'll light up. Boilen's book of interviews is the epically titled Your Song Changed My Life: From Jimmy Page to St. Vincent, Smokey Robinson to Hozier, Thirty-Five Beloved Artists on Their Journey and the Music That Inspired It.

For the Spiel, a defense of 2016.

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Good Grief Dec 29, 2016

Show notes

When comedian Laurie Kilmartin found out her father had advanced lung cancer, she processed it the best way she could: by tweeting jokes about her father's decline. The real-time mourning gave rise to Kilmartin's stand-up special, "45 Jokes About My Dead Dad," available on Seeso. Kilmartin is a writer for Conan on TBS and author of Sh*tty Mom: The Parenting Guide for the Rest of Us.

In the Spiel, noting the death of Debbie Reynolds and the prospects of a two-state solution.

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The Home Movie That Changed America Dec 28, 2016

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When the Russian ambassador to Turkey was killed in front of cameras by an assassin, Alexandra Zapruder had one thought: "There's another Zapruder film." Her new book, Twenty-Six Seconds, looks at how her grandfather's film of the John F. Kennedy assassination changed media and American life, and how her family dealt with the grave responsibility of being part of American history.

In the Spiel, there's a war on Mike's birthday.

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LifeAfter's Mac Rogers Dec 23, 2016

Show notes

Movies are out, TV is in, and radio theater is on the rise. Playwright Mac Rogers explains the challenges of creating theater of the mind. Rogers is the writer behind hit podcast dramas LifeAfter and The Message.

For the Spiel, The 12 Days of Trumpmas, revisited.

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When There Was No Ducking Disco Dec 22, 2016

Show notes

On the Gist, Chris Molanphy takes us back to 1976, the year we learned the true meaning of "booty" and the inherent value of shake-shake-shaking it. Molanphy writes the "Why Is This Song No. 1?" column for Slate.

For the Spiel, are Christmas songs good or just familiar?

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The Year of Bill Camp Dec 21, 2016

Show notes

Actor Bill Camp specializes in subtlety—whether as an earnest Puritan pastor in the 2016 Broadway revival of The Crucible or a veteran homicide detective in HBO's The Night Of. On The Gist, Camp talks about preparing for roles, getting hot after age 50, and how he might fit into a Sex and the City reunion. Camp is narrating the documentary TV series EPIX Presents Road To the NHL Outdoor Classics, which follows the Detroit Red Wings, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the St. Louis Blues. The entire series is available on NHL.com, EPIX.com, Sling TV, and the teams' websites.

For the Spiel, let's check the calendar.

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We're Going Into Labor Dec 20, 2016

Show notes

Have blue-collar workers fallen for a Republican bait-and-switch? On The Gist, journalist Steven Greenhouse sets aside globalization and turns to the domestic forces suppressing wages and hammering workers: Republican-backed anti-union laws, a feeble response from Democrats, and cultural amnesia around the labor movement's achievements. Greenhouse is working on a follow-up to his 2008 book, The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker.

For the Spiel, the photos of the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey.

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Thank God for Hedonists Dec 19, 2016

Show notes

There is virtue in delight! We chanced upon new building materials, better computer software, and a global economy by frittering away our time. On The Gist, author Steven Johnson says our flights of fancy may have driven most of human progress. Johnson's new book is Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World.

For the Spiel, the passings of 2016.

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