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PODCAST

The Gist

Peach Fish Productions

For thirty minutes each day, Pesca challenges himself and his audience, in a responsibly provocative style, and gets beyond the rigidity and dogma. The Gist is surprising, reasonable, and willing to critique the left, the right, either party, or any idea.

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All Episodes

32:57

They Tried to Cancel You

The Gist ·

2019/08/27

On The Gist, journalist Katie Herzog fills in for Mike Pesca and focuses on cancel culture. In the interview, Herzog interviews filmmaker Rhys Ernst about his new film Adam, and the queer backlash against the film. What’s it like for your own community to try and cancel you? Is all the extra publicity a good thing? And how does attempted cancellation age? In the Spiel, unproductive Antifa protests. Want to see a special episode of The Gist live in New York? Get your tickets here! Slate Plus

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33:41

What’s in a Face, Anyway?

The Gist ·

2019/08/26

On The Gist, Trump is a bad negotiator. In the interview, you’ve probably heard of face blindness. And you possibly wondered whether it was a real thing. Do some people really walk the world, full of other people as it is, without the ability to recognize them from their features? They do. Sadie Dingfelder shared her experience over at the Washington Post, and does so now on The Gist. In the Spiel, the Everything Is Alive tariff-a-thon. Want to see a special episode of The Gist live in New York

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34:31

David Koch Was Bad. But Evil? Eh.

The Gist ·

2019/08/24

On The Gist, if an eleventh Democratic candidate makes the next debate in Houston, we’ll hear more from all of them (because they’ll be split across two nights!). In the interview, it’s part II of Mike’s discussion with Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley. They talk about the filibuster (this junior senator says “it has to go”) and the daunting task that is healing the upper chamber of Congress. Merkley is the author of America Is Better Than This: Trump's War Against Migrant Families. In the Spiel, the

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34:40

Visiting the Migrant Families in Crisis

The Gist ·

2019/08/23

On The Gist, the Amazon is on fire. In the interview, Sen. Jeff Merkley was the first member of Congress to visit the migrant detention centers along the border and view the atrocious ways we were treating the people forced to live there. He’s here to talk with Mike about the crisis, the failure of the Trump administration, and what we can do about it. His new book is America Is Better Than This: Trump’s War Against Migrant Families. In the Spiel, Trump and Israel. Want to see a special episode of

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31:05

Trump Is America

The Gist ·

2019/08/22

On The Gist, Scaramucci was wrong about Trump. In the interview, journalist David Robson is here to talk about his new book The Intelligence Trap: Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes. He and Mike talk the intelligence quotient, the blind spots smart people have, and why it might be a good idea to talk about yourself in the third person. In the Spiel, Trump as all of America. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Want to see a special episode of The Gist

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31:51

When the CIA’s “Dark Side” Works

The Gist ·

2019/08/21

On The Gist, if Peter Navarro wants to criticize the Wall Street Journal, he really ought to read it once in a while. In the interview, it’s easy to condemn the CIA’s post-9/11 interrogation techniques in retrospect. But as agency alumnus Philip Mudd puts it, “boy, back then, people said ‘take out the stops, make sure it doesn’t happen again.’” He talks about the relative effectiveness of harsh interrogation techniques, and why that shouldn’t be a factor if ever American forces countenance them

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35:13

Tim Ryan’s Big Plans

The Gist ·

2019/08/20

On The Gist, despite what Peter Navarro says, a yield curve inversion there was indeed (and a recession there may be). In the interview, in a Democratic field crowded with grand policy promises, Tim Ryan’s more centrist ideas have been crowded out. But should they be? The Ohio congressman tells Mike about increasing manufacturing and focusing education on social and emotional learning. In the Spiel, the difference between bad politics and bad policy. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and

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34:27

What Happened to Sha Na Na

The Gist ·

2019/08/17

On The Gist, the varying sizes of Trump and Greenland. In the interview, journalist Steve Rushin is here to talk with Mike about his new memoir Nights at White Castle. They discuss the amorphous nature of nostalgia, why children should go on boring vacations, and the podcast Ball & Chain that he hosts with his wife, basketball great Rebecca Lobo. In the Spiel, Sha Na Na. Want to see a special episode of The Gist live in New York? Get your tickets here! Slate Plus members get bonus segments and

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34:59

The Leftist Takeover Edition

The Gist ·

2019/08/15

On The Gist, Slate’s Jordan Weissmann tells guest host Sean McElwee which presidential candidates’ signature ideas are hot (and which are not). In the interview, the Green New Deal isn’t just a set of climate policies—it’s a chance to break with the uneven benefits afforded by the original New Deal and other progressive policies. Julian Brave NoiseCat (McElwee’s colleague at Data for Progress) and activist Adrien Salazar (of the think tank Demos) are in the studio to share their expertise on the

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34:00

The Problem With “White Supremacy”

The Gist ·

2019/08/14

On The Gist, getting a bit willy-nilly with “white supremacy.” In the interview, John Hickenlooper may be mulling a pivot from presidential to Senate candidate, but he was at the Iowa State Fair to weigh in on issues that affect the entire country—and to strike a moderate tone. In last year’s midterms, he says, “the successful Democrat did not embrace the Green New Deal and did not embrace ‘Medicare for All.’ That’s what we’re going to need to do to beat Donald Trump.” In the Spiel, there is no

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29:20

Are Attention Spans Shrinking?

The Gist ·

2019/08/14

On The Gist, Biden’s gaffes. In the interview, Maria Konnikova, author of The Confidence Game, is back for another round of Is That Bullshit? This time she and Mike talk all about attention spans. There always seem to be claims that attention spans are shrinking, but is that true? Should we be worried that we feel distracted more and more or just take a deep breath and embrace it? In the Spiel, the Ebola cure. Want to see a special episode of The Gist live in New York? Get your tickets

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35:45

Who’s the Filibuster For?

The Gist ·

2019/08/13

On The Gist, the opinions of the people at the Iowa State Fair. In the interview, Jay Inslee was among the 21 Democratic presidential candidates to converge on the Iowa State Fair this past weekend. Washington’s governor grabbed a seat with Mike to talk about applying his state’s environmental victories to the federal level, taxing Amazon, and getting rid of the gridlocking filibuster. In the Spiel, The Gist went to the Iowa State Fair and got answers from Democratic presidential candidates about

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28:12

How to Rob a Bank, And Be Funny While You’re at It

The Gist ·

2019/08/09

On The Gist, the real consequences of immigration laws. In the interview, Charles Duhigg is who you get when you combine an investigative reporter with an agony aunt. In his new Slate podcast (How To!), he teases out advice on everyday problems, from how to tell a good joke to how to rob a bank (alright, the problems aren’t that common). You can subscribe to How To! on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. In the Spiel, Trump, children, and shootings. Want to see a special episode of

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31:19

Politics Is a Circus

The Gist ·

2019/08/09

On The Gist, Montana has gone a little berserk. In the interview, Joshua Cohen is here to discuss his new book Attention: Dispatches From the Land of Distraction, and the many discursions he and Mike go on thanks to it. Like the depth of Bernie’s political policies, Trump’s time in Atlantic City, and why the circus is so important to the history of American culture. In the Spiel, Trump’s distraction tactics. Want to see a special episode of The Gist live in New York? Get your tickets

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33:54

Turning Out the 2020 Voter

The Gist ·

2019/08/07

On The Gist, Dayton and El Paso deserve better than the presence of Donald Trump. In the interview, FiveThirtyEight elections analyst Geoffrey Skelley talks through what Democrats need to do to turn out voters in 2020. Should they focus on the “Obama coalition” that elected him twice? Or is it smarter to turn toward Obama voters that then voted for Trump in 2016? Why not both? In the Spiel, anyone telling you the decade-long Assault Weapons Ban was ineffective is talking nonsense. Want to see a

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33:37

Trade War Rumblings? We’re Already In One.

The Gist ·

2019/08/07

On The Gist, if you want gun control, you clearly have to just vote Democrat. In the interview, the tit-for-tat trade war with China is unceasing. Slate’s Jordan Weissmann tells Mike about the latest developments in the fight between presidents Trump and Xi Jinping, whether or not China is really manipulating its currency, and the potential paths ahead. In the Spiel, Americans are getting angry over all the wrong things. It’s infuriating! Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast

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28:33

There Are the “Maybe” Factors, and Then There’s the...

The Gist ·

2019/08/06

On The Gist, this weekend’s mass shooters had different motives. It won’t do to draw lessons from just one of them. In the interview, Amherst College professor Austin Sarat wants to enlist gun owners themselves in the fight for firearm regulation. “48 percent of gun owners favor a ban on assault weapons,” he says, citing the Pew Research Center. The problem is convincing them that gun control advocates aren’t pushing for full-on confiscation. Sarat is the co-editor of The Lives of Guns. In the

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38:35

The Case of “The Case of Al Franken”

The Gist ·

2019/08/03

On The Gist, a theory as to why we still hear dusty old terms like “happy warrior”—at least during election season. In the interview, Slate writer Christina Cauterucci, who recently wrote about Al Franken, criticizes a recent New Yorker story on the ousted senator. She and Mike break down what they think its author Jane Mayer got wrong and right, the facts of the reporting, and why we shouldn’t think of the #MeToo movement as one with winners and losers. In the Spiel, John Ratcliffe is thankfully

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37:40

How Fantastic Negrito Started From Scratch

The Gist ·

2019/08/02

On The Gist, the Democrats making Republican soundbites. In the interview, Fantastic Negrito walked a long and winding road to blues stardom. His first album (under his legal name, Xavier) was a bust—“everyone hated it”—and saw him dropped from his label. He’d also gotten into a serious car accident and sold off his instruments before returning to music. That’s when the Grammys started rolling in—he’s won two in the last three years, for best contemporary blues album. His latest record is Please

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34:22

Chuck Klosterman and the Ivory Tower

The Gist ·

2019/08/01

On The Gist, Jeffrey Epstein’s ideas. In the interview, when Chuck Klosterman writes non-fiction, he worries about missing some grand historical context in a way that would ruin his work. With fiction, that anxiety goes out the window— if someone reads one of his short stories and thinks something “completely unrelated to what I thought, it's still okay.” Klosterman digs into that, the advantages of an education outside the ivory tower, and what the Beatles really did for rock music. His new book

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3,005 results

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