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.
2001
Playing the Spanish Card
UPenn professor Nelson Flores says, anecdotally, Tim Kaine’s Spanish skills seem to be the biggest hit among white liberals, not Latino voters.
28 min
2002
History’s First Benedict Arnold
Who was the original Benedict Arnold? Why, it’s Benedict Arnold—as you’ll find out from spy novelist and history fanatic Brad Meltzer.
22 min
2003
If It Feeds, It Leads
Facebook’s News Feed is the world’s most powerful purveyor of news. But how it assembles each person’s top stories remains a mystery.
25 min
2004
Is Your Grill Killing You?
Faulty claims go up in smoke once Maria Konnikova weighs in.
22 min
2005
Jessi Klein Says Women Are Dogs
The head writer for Inside Amy Schumer sorts women into two groups: poodles and wolves. She’s a wolf.
24 min
2006
Diary of a Soon-to-Be-Freed Detainee
Guantánamo inmate Mohamedou Slahi has been cleared for release. Here’s The Gist’s never-aired 2015 interview with Larry Siems, who edited Slahi’s writings from the detention camp.
28 min
2007
The Little-Known Story of Sabotage in the New Y...
July 30 marks the centenary of a major terrorist attack on the United States. Never heard of it?
19 min
2008
AM Spiel: Hillary Takes the Mic
A Quick & Dirty Dissection of the DNC’s last day.
9 min
2009
Celebrating the Nerd Mentality
The hosts of the Nerdette podcast bring their safe space to The Gist for a round of nerd confessions.
22 min
2010
AM Spiel: No Room for Gloom
Would that all the country’s problems were as surmountable (and mockable) as Donald Trump.
4 min
2011
Finally, a Pro-Kidnapping Film
Orange Is the New Black writer Sian Heder says her new film, Tallulah, stemmed from her experience as a nanny for wealthy moms in Los Angeles.
21 min
2012
AM Spiel: Hillary, Humanized
Finally, it all makes sense: Bill Clinton’s presidency was guided by the Police Academy franchise.
7 min
2013
Optimum Optics
Keep an eye out for the subtle stage-managing of the presidential nominating conventions.
21 min
2014
AM Spiel: DNC Quick & Dirty Dissection, Day 1
Not a Chachi in the bunch.
5 min
2015
Pity the Peckish Politician
The only thing they have to fear is food itself.
29 min
2016
P.C. Policing the Border
Having a progressive fan base is equal parts exhilarating and maddening for comedian Hari Kondabolu.
21 min
2017
AM Spiel: Points For Averting Disaster
Did Trump’s RNC speech persuade… anyone?
8 min
2018
“Your Dog Smells My Dog”
Does a dog go crazy on you because he’s picking up the whiff of another canine? Maria Konnikova has the answers.
17 min
2019
AM Spiel: Cruz Control
Ted Cruz’s cry to “vote your conscience” dealt another distraction to the chaos-loving Trump campaign.
6 min
2020
Cutting Class
In White Trash, author Nancy Isenberg delves into the history of class identities and our efforts to appropriate or shed them.
21 min
2021
AM Spiel: RNC Rapid Response
What was the convention's Tuesday theme supposed to be, again? Lucifer something?
8 min
2022
To Catch a Cartel
The Infiltrator is Hollywood’s treatment of the customs agent who burrowed deep inside Pablo Escobar’s money-laundering operation.
25 min
2023
O Captain Fantastic!
Early films by director Matt Ross explored carnivorous armchairs. His latest movie—about a headstrong father and his children—is a bit more grounded.
29 min
2024
And We Never Looked at Music the Same Way Again
The year of MTV’s launch brought us aerobic-chic, urban cowboys, and the one song you hear at every wedding.
22 min
2025
The Ungeheuerlich Mr. Johnson
Boris Johnson, the United Kingdom’s new top diplomat, in all his un-bleeped glory.
24 min