The Gist

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De-Polarized By An Existential Threat Nov 14, 2023

Show notes

Gigi Levy-Weiss is a former Apache helicopter pilot in the Israeli Air Force, a tech entrepreneur, and a member of Brothers In Arms, reservists who refused to support Netanyahu's government as it tried to reshape the country's highest court. Mike sat down with Levy-Weiss to discuss his role in a new organization called Brothers and Sisters of Israel, which is tasked with supporting soldiers, civilians, and, in a twist, the government he protested just months earlier. Also on the show, when a nation looks past its ideologies to band together despite its leader.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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Fast, Efficacious, And Safe: A Tall Order Nov 13, 2023

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Gus Perna was a four-star general a month out from retirement from the Army, when the Trump Administration tapped him to help lead the logistics of Operation Warp Speed, the public-private partnership to get Americans a COVID vaccine that was effective and safe, and to do so quickly. Perna joins us to discuss the challenges of vaccinating America and getting the country back to business as usual. Also on the show, no matter how bombastic or scary his rhetoric may be, it's probably worth remembering that Trump follows through about as well as he eats green vegetables.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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BEST OF THE GIST: Competing Narratives Edition Nov 11, 2023

Show notes

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, first we rewind to the summer of 2014, when Israel and Palestine were again locked in armed conflict. To understand the Palestinian perspective, Mike interviewed Canadian human rights worker Diana Buttu who was then in Nazareth. Then we listen back to the Spiel from the Tuesday, November 7, 2023 show about the meaning imparted in the misreported presence of beheaded babies in Israel.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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The Science Of History Nov 10, 2023

Show notes

History is the product of remembering our past, so it involves the mind, though we have underused neuroscience in understanding how we know what we think we know. Abby Smith Rumsey chairs the board of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, and she is out with a new book Memory, Edited: Taking Liberties with History, in which she looks to science to help her understand the past. And a false narrative about children dying in Gaza is amplified by the media echo chamber.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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We Have FedEx'd Our Pandas Back To China Nov 09, 2023

Show notes

China recalls its pandas, and Americans bid them a tearful adieu. If only we could form such a tight bond with the Uyghurs. We are also joined by Dr. Jonathan Howard, author of We Want Them Infected: How the failed quest for herd immunity led doctors to embrace the anti-vaccine movement and blinded Americans to the threat of COVID, to discuss the concept of herd immunity. Then we turn to yesterday's GOP debate, where shooting people was proposed as a U.S. policy for immigration.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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Beaten To Protect Democracy Nov 08, 2023

Show notes

Aquilino Gonell was a Capitol Hill Police Officer who, on January 6th, was beset upon by an angry mob then all but abandoned by officialdom in the aftermath. He's out with his story in a new book, American Shield: The Immigrant Sergeant Who Defended Democracy. Plus, election day shows the U.S. wants their rights, but not a revolution. And Donald Trump actually is doing much better than predicted with black Voters. Could it be the mug shot?

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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A Moderate Party's Immoderate Self Perception Nov 08, 2023

Show notes

John Judis and Ruy Teixiera drop by to answer the question posed in the title of their new book Where Have All the Democrats Gone? Their warning is that the more Dems tack left, the more likely the only constituency left will be "the left." Plus, the guilty plea of a mass shooter's father. And the meaning imparted in the misreported presence of beheaded babies in Israel.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

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Fleeing North Korea Nov 06, 2023

Show notes

Soyeon Lee fled North Korea, was caught, was jailed, was beaten, then fled again. We will talk to her, and the documentarian Madeleine Gavin, about the new film Beyond Utopia, which includes surreptitiously recorded video of dangerous escape attempts. Plus, Joe Biden trails Trump everywhere that counts. Is the "people will figure out Trump is worse" strategy the best strategy? And protesters attack a seventeenth-century oil painting, because they hate paintings. No, wait, it's that they hate oil. Both are equally sensible.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

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BEST OF THE GIST: Fentanyl Edition Nov 04, 2023

Show notes

A new Netflix film, Pain Hustlers, starring Emily Blunt and Chris Evans, is getting a lot of buzz, so we dug into the archives to unearth an interview with Evan Hughes from February 2022. Hughes is author of Hard Sell: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup, about his coverage of an out-of-control drug maker that destroyed lives and paid a price for doing so, which was the inspiration for the film. Then we check out a podcast extra with Greg Lukianoff, President of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Greg was on the show this past week discussing his new book, The Canceling of the American Mind: Cancel Culture Undermines Trust, Destroys Institutions, and Threatens Us All—but There Is a Solution.

Check out Mike's recent appearance on the Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em podcast.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

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Dalmatian Bumps, The Cuckoo's Nest Effect, and Heists Adjusted For Inflation Nov 03, 2023

Show notes

Walt Hickey is a Pulitzer Prize-winning data journalist and also a real pop-culture-impersonated peruser. His new book is You Are What You Watch, How Movies and TV Affect Everything, and he makes a good case. Plus, when it comes to cease fires, casualties, and rules of engagement in Gaza, meanings are fluid.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

To advertise on the show: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist

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Follow Mike's Substack: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

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