The Gist

Latest Episodes:

Conservative Gold Jul 25, 2023

Show notes

Today on The Gist, we decide to fix healthcare. Amy Finkelstein is a professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and co-author of the new book We've Got You Covered: Rebooting American Health Care. The Right's not going to love it. The Left's not going to love it. It could work. Plus, right-wing Spaniards raise the question of how often fears of the far-right come true. And conservatives love gold ... GOLD ... GOLD!!!!

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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Sports Slaughter Jul 24, 2023

Show notes

Mass firings at ESPN, the elimination of the New York Times' entire sports section, Disney talking about huge changes in its sports programming. Sports are splintering. Joining us as sage and guide is John Ourand, Media Reporter at Sports Business Journal and cohost of The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast. Plus, Florida's African American Studies standards scrutinized ... pilloried, even. And the crushing candor of Mike Pence.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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BEST OF THE GIST: Nuclear Armageddon Edition Jul 22, 2023

Show notes

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, as the nation heads out in droves to see Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer in cinemas, we listen back to Mike's 2020 interview with Fred Kaplan, who had just published his book The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War. Then, we replay our Wednesday Spiel, in which, much to Mike's chagrin, the term "vibes session" enters macroeconomics.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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Summer Flops-Office Jul 21, 2023

Show notes

Sonny Bunch, host of the Across The Movie Aisle podcast, and culture editor of The Bulwark, explains why all of these supposed blockbusters have been busts and how that may remake Hollywood. Plus a $10 quintillion asteroid, a Trump trial date, and an Antwentig ... each more valuable than the last.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

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The Thin Bleu Line Jul 20, 2023

Show notes

In France, riots over police killings, which are a small fraction of those in the U.S. Guess why our numbers are higher? Mike will explain. We are also joined by Jonathan Rosen to discuss his new book The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions about the descent into madness of his childhood friend, who seemed destined for greatness but never quite got there. And goat herders imported by California are being paid lawyer-level salaries ... insert late-night joke here.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

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A Veritable Vibes-Session Cessation Jul 19, 2023

Show notes

We weren't having a "recession," we were having (we were told) a "vibes-session." Mike wishes we weren't told that. It added nothing. Plus, a looming January 6th indictment for Donald Trump thrusts some hard choices onto Republican candidates who don't know how to be bold enough to win. And the return of David Grann, author of The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

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Shipwrecks And Fact Checks Jul 18, 2023

Show notes

David Grann, best-selling author of Killers of the Flower Moon and Lost City of Z is out with another tale where humans are pushed to the extreme, and society is asked to define itself. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder is a NY Times #1 best seller, and it's also fodder for a discussion of methods of writing, research, and truth-telling. Plus, a rise in mass shooting belies the overall trend of declining homicide. And how Mali got to know so much about the U.S. military, thanks to a spate of typos.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

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Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

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Prigozhin Rebellion Exposes Putin's House Of Cards Jul 17, 2023

Show notes

Vladimir Putin's recent blow up with Wagner frontman Yevgeny Prigozhin took the world by surprise, but it didn't really take the Russia experts of the world by surprise. We talk with Andrew S. Weiss, a former Pentagon and State Department official turned Russia researcher with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, about why Prigozhin's made sense if you consider the environment Putin has created in the upper echelons of Russian power. Also, cereal killing is much harder to crack down on than cereal stealing.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

To advertise on the show,

visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist

Subscribe to The Gist

Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/

Follow Mikes Substack at:

Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

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BEST OF THE GIST: NATO Edition Jul 15, 2023

Show notes

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, we return to March 2017 to listen back to Mike's interview with The Atlantic staff writer and U.S. Naval War College emeritus professor Tom Nichols, in which they tried to understand why Russia finds NATO so deeply offensive. Then, we replay Mike's show opener from this past Tuesday, when he wondered about NATO … and Sweden … and nazis.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

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Subscribe to our ad-free and/or PescaPlus versions of The Gist: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/

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

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They Got A Monster Jul 14, 2023

Show notes

The notorious Baltimore Police unit dramatized in the HBO Series We Own This City, is examined in a new documentary I Got a Monster that veers away from the charisma of the cops and focusses on the havoc they wrought. Filmmaker Kevin Abrams, and key defense attorney and current Baltimore State Attorney Ivan Bates join us. Plus, there have always been floods, there has always been rain, but these are worse. What to do with that? And a serial killer nabbed, but not yet named.

Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara

Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com

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

Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/

Follow Mikes Substack at: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack

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