The Gist
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.
1951
Ben Wittes on the Latest News Bomb
How bad are Don Jr.’s emails?
25 min
1952
Twitter Should Drop Trump Already
Political scientist Seth Masket argues the harassment, the trolling, and the misinformation need to stop now
21 min
1953
In Defense of Ombudsmen
Daniel Okrent, the first public editor for the New York Times, sticks up for the journalists everyone loves to hate.
21 min
1954
Centrists Won’t Save Health Care
Conservative writer Philip Klein says compromise won’t lead to better health policy. It has to be all or nothing.
26 min
1955
Chris Christie’s Biggest Mistake
No, it wasn’t Bridgegate. Or Beachgate.
24 min
1956
The Incredible Eddie Izzard
A conversation with the famed comedian, author, runner and one-day-only concert pianist
31 min
1957
Invisibilia Questions Your Emotions
The hosts of NPR’s hit podcast say there’s been a quiet revolution in the way we understand our feelings.
27 min
1958
Writing Cop Fiction in the Age of Black Lives M...
Crime writer Don Winslow on the deep research that goes into writing modern crime fiction
20 min
1959
I Hate This, Don’t Quote Me
In one paragraph, Washington Post reporter Marc Fisher held the line against anonymous sources and “outright awfulness.”
28 min
1960
Big Turmoil in Big Sky Country
Anne Helen Petersen returns to discuss her new posting—covering politics in Montana for BuzzFeed.
27 min
1961
The Rise and Reign of Unruly Women
In her new book, author Anne Helen Petersen on how our culture treats women defying norms.
26 min
1962
Do Radicals Change the World?
Author Jeremy McCarter on the five people who changed the course of America in 1917.
31 min
1963
Scaachi Koul on Surviving the Trolls
It helps to stay off Twitter.
25 min
1964
The Musings of Wallace Shawn
The playwright and actor on the struggle of making a creative statement in the face of political chaos.
28 min
1965
Is Terrorism Coverage Racist?
A few problems with the recent study suggesting white terrorists get less media play than Muslim terrorists.
29 min
1966
Lies vs. BS
A handy guide to parsing the president’s tweets.
25 min
1967
Jon Ronson on Writing the Year’s Wildest Movie
The Welsh journalist on his new movie, the meat-is-murder fantasy adventure Okja.
26 min
1968
The Delicate Art of Political Persuasion
Robb Willer on how to reframe debates in a way the “other side” will understand.
25 min
1969
He Ate Human Flesh for Science
Bill Schutt on his comprehensive new book, Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History
27 min
1970
Awk-ward!
Why does awkwardness make us so uncomfortable?
28 min
1971
Autocrats Can’t Take a Joke
Comedian Bassem Youssef satirized two Egyptian presidents. They were not amused.
23 min
1972
Larry Wilmore is Black on the Air
The comedian talks about his new podcast and why satire can’t change minds.
32 min
1973
What We Get Wrong About Mass Incarceration, Pt. II
Criminal justice quant John Pfaff says to bring down the prison population we must rein in prosecutors. Can that be done?
22 min
1974
What We Get Wrong About Mass Incarceration, Pt. I
Hint: It’s not about the feds, it’s about local prosecutors.
25 min
1975
Why So Morose About Lactose?
Our resident debunker, Maria Konnikova, on the truth and the fiction about nondairy milks.
26 min