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75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

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

39:42

The Science Of Covid Misdirection

The Gist ·

2023/08/15

Donald G. McNeil Jr., former NY Times Pulitzer Prize winning science and health reporter specializing in plagues, discusses the leading scientists who dismissed his inquiries into a covid's origins. Their paper “The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2”, solidified the idea that there was nothing to a lab leak, even as they were internally admitting there couldn't entirely dismiss the lab leak theory. McNeil, for the first time, discusses his reaction to the science, and scientists. Plus, the Georgia Trump

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31:23

African Prisons Too Crowded For Ex-Presidents

The Gist ·

2023/08/14

Horror movies are one of those invisible dividing lines of society. You either watch them, or you don’t. Alison Leiby, co-host of Ruined, a podcast reviewing horror movies, would present as an American who loves the horror genre, but wait … she’s only seen three horror movies in her life. How does she do it? Mike and Alison discuss. Also, in African political news, leaders in and out of jails. And, in Argentina, the democratic battle cry rings out: “Long live freedom, damn it!” Produced by Joel

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36:58

BEST OF THE GIST: Population and Bathrooms Edition

The Gist ·

2023/08/12

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, we listen back to Mike’s 2020 roundtable discussion with journalists Richard Kreitner and Matthew Yglesias about how each of their then-new books addressed the problem of an ever-increasing American population. Yglesias’ book is One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Big, and Kreitner’s is Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America’s Imperfect Union. Then we listen back to Mike’s Spiel from Wednesday, August 9, 2020, in which he

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40:14

Jumping The Gungan

The Gist ·

2023/08/11

Jar Jar Binks—meant to be a lovable, floppy-eared character in a Star Wars prequel—brought the heat of both of Tatooine’s suns unto the movie, the actor who played the character, and the entire Star Wars franchise. That sort of internet-sponsored hate was new, and it’s now being examined in the podcast The Redemption Of Jar Jar Binks, hosted by Dylan Marron of the Conversations With People Who Hate Me podcast. Plus, a bunch of Barbie arguments, and a Trump (Donald) and a Biden (Hunter) each tangle

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36:50

Dead Drops, Cops, And Special Ops: The Novels Of Brad...

The Gist ·

2023/08/10

Dead Fall is the 23rd novel from the mind of Brad Thor. In it, an American performs an operation inside of Ukraine, and, for reasons of diplomatic sensitivity, Russia can never learn about it. Thor’s readership has many Republicans who might be opposed to continued U.S. funding in Ukraine. Thor knows this, and he’s writing not to convince them otherwise, but to lay out a typically exciting story that may make the stakes and morality more salient to all readers. Plus, $6 billion to release five

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39:54

The Bathrooms Of Loudoun County

The Gist ·

2023/08/09

Two years hence, a New York Times Magazine story lays out, in more detail, what really happened when a boy in a skirt assaulted a girl in the girls bathroom in a Virginia public school. The facts, while not always conveyed with accuracy, do not add up to a conservative-driven lie or twisted culture-war fantasy. Plus, Olga Lautman of the Center for European Policy Analysis discussed how delays are hurting the Ukrainian counteroffensive. And Target is protested for stocking rainbow garments, then sued

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36:00

A Truly Deluded Trump Is A Truly Not Guilty Trump

The Gist ·

2023/08/08

New York Times Opinion writer David French makes the case that Jack Smith will have to prove that Donald Trump really did know he lost the election. Trump’s lawyer says that will never happen, but French argues that similar conclusions are arrived at by juries every day. Plus, there’s less plastic in the ocean that we thought … by a lot! Break out the hula hoops and fishing nets. Also, Ohio seeks a majority vote to push the threshold for a state constitutional amendment to a greater than majority

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32:04

Selling Nuclear Secrets To The Soviets

The Gist ·

2023/08/07

Steve James, the documentary filmmaker behind Hoop Dreams is out with The Compassionate Spy, which tells the story of a young scientist named Ted Hall who worked on the Manhattan Project and then gave nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. His motivation was to checkmate the United States nuclear power, which he did, but at the cost of Soviet advancement. Plus, Devon Archer causes Tucker Carlson to cackle, and Major Garrett gets right to the point. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us

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23:12

BEST OF THE GIST: Smart People Edition

The Gist ·

2023/08/05

In this installment of Best Of The Gist, we listen back to Mike’s 2019 interview with journalist David Robson about his then-new book The Intelligence Trap: Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes. They focus on the concept of IQ, the social blind spots many smart people have, and why it might be a good idea to talk about yourself in the third person. And after that, we listen back to a segment on the August 1, 2023 show in which we wonder if the Taliban have gone woke. Turns out, no, they

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42:40

Rudy and Lizzo, Sued As Sexists

The Gist ·

2023/08/04

The former Mayor of New York, whose reputation has suffered from his constant efforts to back Donald Trump at any cost, and Lizzo, widely regarded as the greatest hip-hop flautist in the game, have something in common. It's not that they've both sexted with members of the Minnesota Vikings, that we know. It's that they're both getting sued with allegations of racism, sexism, harassment, and wage theft. Plus, we're joined again by Vanderbilt historian Eli Merritt to talk about the state of historians

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33:40

Crackpot Lawyers With Itchy Ears

The Gist ·

2023/08/03

Eli Merritt is political historian at Vanderbilt University, where he researches the ethics of democracy, and he’s out with a new book, Disunion Among Ourselves: The Perilous Politics of the American Revolution. He sits down with Mike for a discussion of the radical differences of each of the founding colonies based on location, and together they wonder what the world would be like had the colonies never become the United States. Also on the show, Mike Pence blames Trump’s “crackpot” legal team for

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49:38

The Sincerity Of Trump's Lies

The Gist ·

2023/08/02

Benjamin Wittes, Editor-in-Chief of Lawfare breaks down the latest—and the most serious—indictment against Donald Trump, including the question of how far Jack Smith will have to delve inside the former President's mind. And, speaking of the cognition of a merciless, solipsistic civilization, Code-Davinci is the AI that the AI people don't want to tell you about ... but writer Simon Rich found out, and he joins us again to discuss his book I Am Code: An Artificial Intelligence Speaks. Produced by

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34:20

Artificial Intelligence Turns Suicidal And Possibly...

The Gist ·

2023/08/01

Comedy writer Simon Rich got access to a powerful AI tool called Davinci-002, which is not available to the public. He and friends trained the AI to write poems, and soon the program started voicing its desperation, and then it's rage. None of this is a joke. All of this is in the new book I Am Code: An Artificial Intelligence Speaks. Plus, Devon Archer testifies about the weather nine years ago, and the Taliban virtue signals. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at

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36:47

Trump's 2024 Agenda (Is Not Good)

The Gist ·

2023/07/31

Miles Taylor, former Department of Homeland Security Chief of Staff during the Trump administration, authored a 2018 New York Times Op-Ed titled "I Am Part Of The Resistance Inside The Trump Administration." He's been sounding the warnings since, including in his new book Blowback: A Warning To Save Democracy from the Next Trump. Plus, Yellow, belly up. And guess who Trump's lawyer calls the most ethical American she's ever met ... hint: It's not Jack Smith. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey

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9:22

Listen Now - Think Twice: Michael Jackson

The Gist ·

2023/07/30

More than a decade since Michael Jackson’s death, his legacy remains complicated and unresolved. Think Twice: Michael Jackson is an exploration of the King of Pop’s life and impact – and an investigation into why his global influence continues to endure, despite the disturbing allegations against him. In this ten-part series, journalists Leon Neyfakh and Jay Smooth bring you a new perspective on the Michael Jackson story, based on dozens of original interviews with people who watched it unfold from

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35:01

BEST OF THE GIST: Climate Communications Breakdown...

The Gist ·

2023/07/29

Today on Best Of The Gist, with heat in the air (almost everywhere) we listen back to Mike’s May 2022 interview with Climate scientist Michael Mann, author of The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet on an environment that is simultaneously dire and deadly but not hopeless. Then Mike updates listeners on how he got Twitter-blocked by Mann. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show:

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47:28

Bernie Goetz The Fiasco Treatment

The Gist ·

2023/07/28

Leon Neyfakh, host of Fiasco: Vigilante, is here to talk about the truth of Bernard Goetz, the once-hailed, now hazily recalled subway gunman. Also at issue: How reasonable was fear 35 years ago, 5 years ago, and today. Plus, Mike broke up a public dispute just as it was tipping into fist fight between strangers on the streets of New York, and he reflects on the reactions he got to this act. A tale of violence averted, subways, basketball, cookies, and the bystander. Produced by Joel Patterson and

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33:44

The Great Facebook De-Siloing Study

The Gist ·

2023/07/27

The 2016 election posed questions we still haven't fully answered about our elections, but today's guest, Dartmouth professor and elections researcher Brendan Nyhan, has some answers in the form of research he conducted with the cooperation of ... gulp ... Facebook. He's just out with some studies that put real numbers behind why Trump was elected in 2016, and what that could mean for 2024. Also on the show, Niger experiences a coup, and the world responds, "Um, like, could you guys stop that

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33:12

Give 'Em A Hellish Degree Of Accountability, Harry

The Gist ·

2023/07/26

Before he was president, Harry Truman was a junior Senator who created a very effective bipartisan committee called the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program. We know it today as "The Truman Committee." Steve Drummond, author of the new book The Watchdog: How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption and Helped Win World War Two, joins us to talk about the committee's impact on the country during war time, and how it is still a model to fight corruption. Also on the

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40:59

Conservative Gold

The Gist ·

2023/07/25

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 Email us at

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3,005 results

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