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Get Used To It Mar 01, 2024

Show notes

Cass Sunstein joins us to talk about how, without knowing it, we habituate to our circumstances ... regardless of the circumstances. This is both a good thing and bad thing, and it's the subject of Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There. Plus, Trump and Biden visit the border. And Mike spiels about best practices for reigning in talk show guests spewing nonsense.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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Bloody American History, Long Before the Founders Feb 29, 2024

Show notes

We're joined by James Swanson author of The Deerfield Massacre: A Surprise Attack, a Forced March, and the Fight for Survival in Early America. Plus, a little squiggle of Europe called Transnistria. And 40 years on from Jesse Jackson's Presidential run, Mike spiels about progress.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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Surge Burgers Feb 28, 2024

Show notes

Wendy's experiments with dynamic pricing, but generally lethargic french fries. Plus, it was a week from hell for Richard Lewis and Mitch McConnell. Well, a bit more for Lewis. And we're joined once more by Steve Coll author of The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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Saddam's Secret Recordings Feb 27, 2024

Show notes

Steve Coll, author of The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq, worked to declassify the personal recordings of Sadam Hussein. They proved to be an important piece of insight into the dictator, whose nuclear bluff was so good it got him killed. Plus, "Hugs Not Bullets" in Mexico. And in the Spiel, what percentage of the vote in the Michigan Primary for "uncommitted" should worry Joe Biden?

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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When An Insurmountable Obstacle Meets A Hubristic Work Force Feb 26, 2024

Show notes

Joe Biden's foreign policy team has mixed success, or some "non-failures," depending on if you regard the Afghanistan withdrawal plan as a regrettable misstep or bungled necessity. Alexander Ward is out with a new book, The Internationalists: The Fight to Restore American Foreign Policy After Trump. Plus, Shane Gillis hosts SNL, Trevor Noah hosts the Grammys, Joe Koi hosts the Golden Globes, and Twitter hosts pointed critiques of each. And are we really going into government shutdown watch ... again?!?

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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American History Tellers: The Underground Railroad Feb 25, 2024

Show notes

Wondery's podcast American History Tellers takes you to the events, times and people that shaped America and Americans — our values, our struggles and our dreams.

In the early 1800s, slavery rapidly expanded across the American South. But each year, thousands of courageous enslaved men, women, and children fled their owners in search of freedom. And in Philadelphia, secret allies came to their aid. Quaker abolitionists collaborated with free Black people to bring the freedom seekers to safety.

It was the start of the Underground Railroad, a clandestine network of activists, safe houses, and escape routes that would help tens of thousands of enslaved people flee bondage in the decades before the Civil War and challenge the very roots of American slavery.

This is just a preview of American History Tellers. You can listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or at American History Tellers - Wondery | Premium Podcasts

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BEST OF THE GIST: Women In Film Feb 24, 2024

Show notes

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, with the Oscars fast approaching, we listen back to Mike's Thursday Spiel in which he tries to figure out if 2023 was a great or terrible year for women in Hollywood films. We also listen back to our 2015 interview with filmmaker Leslie Headland, whose film Sleeping With Other People had just come out.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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So Close To China, They Can Hear The Music Feb 23, 2024

Show notes

Kinmen Islands is a part of Taiwan, but it's only five miles from China, the main Island of Taiwan laying over 100 miles across the Taiwan Straight. S. Leo Chiang is the director of the Oscar-nominated short documentary about Kinmen called Island In Between. Plus, a Magician apparates in the middle of the Democratic primaries. And, five years on, where would we be without the Green New Deal?

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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Not a Fan of Fani Feb 23, 2024

Show notes

Andrew Fleischman is an Atlanta-based litigator, and he joins us to discuss the Fani Willis Trial and which way he thinks Judge McAfee will lean in his decision. Plus, in China monkeys are hard to come by, which is something South African wish they could say about ships filled with cattle wallowing in their own feces. And was 2023 the year of the woman in Hollywood? Mike Spiels an answer.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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Meet Your Raconteur Guide Feb 21, 2024

Show notes

Even after Tucker Carlson issued his double coupon day dasvidaniya, the ghost of Navalny trails him. Plus, Putin arrests a U.S. ballerina for donating $51 to Ukraine. And we speak with Charles Duhigg, author of Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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