The Gist

Latest Episodes:

The Chaos Doctrine Dec 02, 2016

Show notes

Tidiness is tyranny, and Tim Harford is here to set you free. The author of Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives makes the case for routine-busting labor strikes, cluttered desks, and leaving your emails unsorted. He also explains why we're smart to want scatterbrained musicians and orderly accountants. Harford writes the Undercover Economist column for the Financial Times.

For the Spiel, exciting times! Let's dig into the Indiana tax code.

Today's sponsors:

Rocket Mortgage from Quicken Loans. Rocket Mortgage brings the mortgage process into the 21st century with an easy online process. Check out Rocket Mortgage today at QuickenLoans.com/gist.

InterContinental Hotels & Resorts. Take a multisensory journey into the InterContinental life and discover the Empathy stories where you learn about other cultures and expand your own life simultaneously. Download the Empathy audio stories on iTunes.

Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dissecting the Carrier Deal Dec 01, 2016

Show notes

Aaron Renn says the PEOTUS made a smart move by keeping Carrier in the United States. But saving one company is not an economic policy. Renn is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He recently argued Trump could fall into a "mayor trap" if he doesn't start thinking about the big picture.

For the Spiel, Mike Pesca enters the (admittedly off-brand) Shark Tank.

Today's sponsors: Placemakers, a new Slate podcast made possible by JPMorgan Chase. This podcast tells the stories of neighborhoods, businesses, and nonprofits that are working together to move their communities forward. Download and subscribe to Placemakers wherever you get your podcasts. MVMT Watches. Get 15 percent off today, with free shipping and free returns, by going to MVMTWatches.com/gist.

Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What's Bunk About Brainstorming Nov 30, 2016

Show notes

Does brainstorming light a creative fire or smother the sparks of invention? Our regular guest Maria Konnikova looks at the merits of spitballing. Konnikova writes for the New Yorker and is the author of The Confidence Game. For the Spiel, Donald Trump saves a thousand manufacturing jobs! Great. Now, what about the other 311,000? Today's sponsors: Placemakers, a new Slate podcast made possible by JPMorgan Chase. This podcast tells the stories of neighborhoods, businesses, and nonprofits that are working together to move their communities forward. Download and subscribe to Placemakerswherever you get your podcasts. LifeAfter. 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.Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Why Working People Left the Democrats Nov 29, 2016

Show notes

For years, Thomas Frank has been the Cassandra of the Democratic Party, arguing that it had long since sold out working Americans and was using a socially liberal agenda to paper over its new corporate allegiances. Like Cassandra, he was largely ignored—until the election of President-elect Donald Trump. Frank is the author of Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? Ray Zaborney is a Republican political strategist based in Pennsylvania. He and Mike jousted on Twitter as the Blue Wall went red on election night. Today on The Gist, Zaborney pushes back against the notion that Trump voters in the Rust Belt were snookered by the candidate's outsize claims.

The Spiel is on hiatus. It will be back on Wednesday.

Today's sponsors:

Basecamp. If you're running your own business on email, texts, chat, or meetings, you're doing it the hard way. Luckily there's a better way: Try Basecamp for free today at basecamp.com/gist.

Indochino, the company that's reinventing men's fashion. Go to Indochino.com to get any premium suit for just $389, plus free shipping, when you use promo code gist at checkout.

Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Stephen Dubner's Genre-Busting Game Show Nov 28, 2016

Show notes

Tell Me Something I Don't Know is a new podcast game show from Stephen Dubner, the journalist behind Freakonomics. While radio quiz games are nothing new (in fact, Mike has hosted one himself), Dubner wants to do something different with this program, where experts have to engage with people from a field they are totally unfamiliar with. TMSIDK debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes podcast chart earlier this month.

For the Spiel, Donald Trump's distraction game.

Today's sponsors:

Betterment, the largest automated investing service. Get up to six months of investing free when you go to Betterment.com/gist.

MVMT Watches. Get 15 percent off today, with free shipping and free returns, by going to MVMTWatches.com/gist.

Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Revenge of the Music Nerds Nov 23, 2016

Show notes

Our favorite cultural cabal in Cleveland has spoken. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced its nominees for induction in 2017—and the picks are incomparable as always, with Chic, Pearl Jam, and Kraftwerk in the running. Chris Molanphy discusses shoo-ins and long shots. He writes the "Why Is This Song No. 1?" column for Slate.

For the Spiel, a special holiday message from Mike Pesca. Today's sponsors:

MVMT Watches. Get 15 percent off today, with free shipping and free returns, by going to MVMTWatches.com/gist.

Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A Former Breitbart Star Takes On Steve Bannon Nov 22, 2016

Show notes

Ben Shapiro is a pretty conservative guy. He's written books like Bullies: How the Left's Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences Americansand The People vs. Barack Obama, and he's a former contributor to Breitbart. But earlier this year, Shapiro quit the site over his editor's unwillingness to defend reporter Michelle Fields, and he declared himself a never Trump-er. Now, he's facing waves of anti-Semitic abuse by people on the self-declared alt-right. Shapiro is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Wire.

In the Spiel, we look to Canada for levity and insight.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Learning From the Fallout of Brexit Nov 21, 2016

Show notes

As Nigel Farage described it, the election of Donald Trump was "Brexit times three." Comedian Josie Long knows this all too well. The comedian and radio host has a new stage show, Something Better, where she takes on the gloomy nationalist politics of her homeland and the scary parallels between Brexiteers and Trumpites. The show is playing in New York until Dec. 3, and in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the new year.

In the Spiel, Tila Tequila is a Nazi.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Incredible Failure of Get-Out-the-Vote Nov 18, 2016

Show notes

Hillary Clinton was supposed to have the most sophisticated digital ground game ever, while all Trump had was a ramshackle data bunker in San Antonio. We all know how that turned out. Sasha Issenberg is a Bloomberg contributor and author of The Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns. He says there are many explanations for what happened, including the Clinton campaign's inadvertent encouragement of Donald Trump voters in states like Florida.

In the Spiel, it's a Lobstar week. Oh yes, it's a Lobstar week.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Can Jared Kushner Really Get Top-Secret Intel? Nov 17, 2016

Show notes

Wait, can Donald Trump really give his entire family national security clearance? It's complicated, says Fred Kaplan, the author of Slate's War Stories column. Kaplan also discusses the reasons to be wary of putting your family members in the White House.

Also, David Bowie liked his art to be as haunting as his music—even if the effect, at first, was off-putting. The Gist's art correspondent Mary Lane tells us what's intriguing about Bowie's private collection, which was broken up at auction this week.

In the Spiel, what is the "new message" Democrats need to send to voters?

Our sponsors:

Rocket Mortgage from Quicken Loans. Rocket Mortgage brings the mortgage process into the 21st century with an easy online process. Check out Rocket Mortgage today at QuickenLoans.com/gist.

Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.