On the Gist, Trump attempts to convince the MAGA nation to wear masks. In the interview, journalist Anne Applebaum is here to talk about her new book Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism. She and Mike discuss how democracies can give way to authoritarian leaders, the delicacy of political systems, and how essential our institutions are for protecting a functioning government. In the spiel, what’s happening in Portland, Oregon. Email us at [email protected] Podcast produc...
Jul 22, 2020•34 min
On the Gist, John Kasich at the Democratic National Convention. In the interview, legal professor and modern Chinese law research scholar Neysun Mahboubi joins Mike to discuss the uprisings in Hong Kong and the extradition bill which would have undone Hong Kong’s independence from mainland China. Mahboubi explains the clashes between protesters and counter-protesters which began nearly a year ago, how the Chinese government has used the Covid-19 crisis as a moment to more aggressively assert con...
Jul 20, 2020•35 min
On the Gist, we’ve got something a little different. In this episode, Mike has brought together the New Republic’s Osita Nwenavu, and Yascha Mounk, a contributor to the Atlantic and the founder of Persuasion, to debate the state of public discourse. They discuss the complexities of platform regulation, whether or not the concerns rise to a level of social contagion, and how social media factors into the reactions on all sides. Email us at [email protected] Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder ...
Jul 17, 2020•51 min
On the Gist, Trump is lost in the numbers. In the interview, former mayor of Minneapolis Betsy Hodges joins Mike to talk about her most recent op-ed in the New York Times, “As Mayor of Minneapolis, I Saw How White Liberals Block Change.” In it, Hodges challenges white liberals to confront the status quo of comfort and move the horizon of racial disparity that breeds police brutality. In the spiel, is the scientific method white? The Smithsonian seems to think so Email us at [email protected] Pod...
Jul 17, 2020•40 min
On the Gist, Trump is full of beans. In the second half of a two-part interview, novelist Curtis Sittenfeld is continues talking her new novel Rodham. She and Mike discuss the critiques of Hillary within the book, the final choices in the book, and how it might relate to modern superhero stories. In the spiel, the need for tough follow-ups with Trump. Email us at [email protected] Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcas...
Jul 16, 2020•32 min
On the Gist, renaming in Burlington, New Jersey. In the first half of a two-part interview, novelist Curtis Sittenfeld is here to discuss Rodham, her new novel exploring an alternative history where Hillary Clinton never married Bill. She and Mike discuss the origins of the novel, how her skills aren’t in the public part of politics, and what it’s like to create such a fiction. In the spiel, Joe Biden keeping quiet. Email us at [email protected] Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margare...
Jul 14, 2020•33 min
On the Gist, the Washington football team have more work ahead than they realize. In the interview, Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri joins Mike to chat about her recently published book Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why. A hand-picked anthology of her some of her best essays that are mockingly sharp, and unsettlingly cheerful, it showcases the satirist’s gleefully distorted take on our political and social realities. In the spiel, educational idiocy. Email us at [email protected] Podcast...
Jul 13, 2020•31 min
On the Gist, Trump’s bullying worked. In the interview, Olympic champion Usain Bolt is here to talk with Mike about the new documentary series Greatness Code on Apple TV+. They discuss Bolt’s love of the 200 meter race, training, and how he might feel when people start coming for his record. All episodes of Greatness Code are available to stream now on Apple TV+. In the spiel, the parent-teacher mob. Email us at [email protected] Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Slate ...
Jul 11, 2020•40 min
On the Gist, guns in the U.K. and the U.S. In the interview, we share part two of our conversation with Barry Friedman, founder of the Policing Project at NYU Law, author and legal scholar. Friedman suggests that a hurdle to creating new policies and training is the lack of accountability and uniform data gathering processes provided from police departments around the country. The central idea to the project is how to create good police departments. In the spiel, J.K. Rowling. Email us at thegis...
Jul 10, 2020•31 min
On the Gist, Karens receiving informal justice. In the interview, Mike speaks with Barry Friedman, one of two investigators appointed by New York State Attorney General Letitia James to investigate the NYPD’s actions in protest activity. Founder of the Policing Project at NYU Law, Friedman is a legal scholar and author. In part one of the conversation, Professor Friedman discusses backend versus front end accountability within policing, the executive research forum standards and their guiding pr...
Jul 09, 2020•34 min
On the Gist, crime in unpoliced camps. In the interview, comedian Tom Papa is here to talk with Mike about his new book You’re Doing Great! and his Netflix special of the same name. He and Mike discuss the choice of happiness, getting stuck, and why we should listen to young people more. In the spiel, cancel culture. Email us at [email protected] Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more ab...
Jul 08, 2020•37 min
On the Gist, Trump at Mount Rushmore. In the interview, making a strong case for reparations among descendants of enslaved African Americans is economist William Darity, Jr in his new book, From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century. Darity suggests that that in order to close the racial wealth disparities, America must confront injustices and offer a detailed fiscal plan for providing financial gifts to Black Americans to aid their economic well-being. In...
Jul 06, 2020•36 min
On the Gist, the greatness that will remain long after we’re gone. In the interview, we present part two of Mike’s conversation with John McWhorter on the linguistics of race, defining ‘Defund the Police,’ and how words we use today will morph over time. WcWhorter is the host of Lexicon Valley and a professor at Columbia University. Find his most recent piece in the Atlantic: “The Dictionary Definition of Racism Has to Change.” In the spiel, historical truths versus myths. Email us at thegist@sl...
Jul 03, 2020•35 min
On the Gist, the McCloskeys in Missouri. In the first part of this two-part interview, John McWhorter is here to dig into definitions with Mike. They discuss how the meanings of racism and white supremacy have changed over the years, and what that says about the ways culture is shifting. McWhorter is the host of Lexicon Valley, and his latest piece is “The Dictionary Definition of Racism Has to Change,” in the Atlantic. In the spiel, a professional bullshit artist. Email us at [email protected] ...
Jul 02, 2020•32 min
On the Gist, there is no question these men needed to breathe. In the interview, Maria Konnikova is back for “Is That Bullshit?” She and Mike discuss the scientific preprints published on Covid-19 and call out the credible and those rife with misinformation. How can you trust them? Maria’s newest book called The Biggest Bluff, is already a New York Times bestseller. In the spiel, how Trump consumes news. Email us at [email protected] Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Sl...
Jun 30, 2020•30 min
On the Gist, paying the Taliban and not believing the New York Times. In the interview, the around-the-clock news cycle turns 40 years old this summer. With the advent of cable television and a bright idea from an American media mogul, CNN was born. Journalist and author, Lisa Napoli, talks with Mike about her unauthorized biography, Up All Night: Ted Turner, CNN, and the Birth of 24-Hour News, and explains how the station became a trailblazing force in transforming the ways we consumed media at...
Jun 29, 2020•35 min
On the Gist, Disney’s Splash Mountain. In part two of their interview, Mike continues to talk with Matthew Barge about the failure of police departments to gather data and statistics that would help create and enforce meaningful policing policy change. Barge is a lawyer, a principal consultant with 21CP Solutions, and federal court-appointed monitor overseeing federal consent decrees in Cleveland, Ohio and Baltimore, Maryland. In the spiel, the Lobstar of the Antentwig Email us at thegist@slate....
Jun 27, 2020•34 min
On the Gist, Biden is in the lead. In the first part of a two-part interview, Mike talks with police practices and civil rights expert Matthew Barge about how policy has failed to change how law enforcement agencies police communities, how police unions have played a huge role in where we find ourselves now, and what role consent decrees play in changing police behavior. Barge is a lawyer, a principal consultant with 21CP Solutions, and federal court-appointed monitor overseeing federal consent ...
Jun 26, 2020•37 min
On the Gist, interruption by ring knocking. In the interview, Mike is joined by Lawrence Douglas, author of Will He Go?: Trump and the Looming Election Meltdown in 2020, a page-turning book of what-ifs and premonitions of constitutional chaos if Trump decides to give America a hard time at the end of his term. Douglas is the James J. Grosfeld Professor of Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought at Amherst College. He is the prize-winning author of seven books, most recently The Right Wrong Man: Jo...
Jun 24, 2020•31 min
On the Gist, refocusing our attention to local democracy. In the interview, Mike talks with Seth Stevenson, author of Grounded: A Down to Earth Journey Around the World and host of Slate’s newest business podcast Thrilling Tales of Modern Capitalism. Seth’s new podcast delves into the backstories of iconic brand, from Purell to Victoria’s Secret, and he joins Mike to talk about Carnival Cruises, one of the biggest players in an industry that jumps from one disaster to another. And yes, the expre...
Jun 24, 2020•34 min
On the Gist, lack of humor in the Trump administration. In the interview, Mike talks with Maria Konnikova, star of our bi-weekly segment “Is That Bullshit?” This time, however, Maria is here to discuss her newest book about becoming a professional poker player. Already a New York Times bestseller, it’s called The Biggest Bluff. In the spiel, “yuge” crowd psychology. Email us at [email protected] Podcast production by Margaret Kelley, Daniel Schroeder and Joel Patterson. Slate Plus members get bo...
Jun 22, 2020•31 min
On the Gist, Trump’s ignorance. In the interview, Mike talks with Josh Levin, Slate’s national editor. A co-host of the sports podcast Hang Up and Listen, Levin is also the author of The Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth. Mike and Josh discuss Levin’s latest audio project as host of Season 4 of Slow Burn, which over the course of several episodes, dissects David Duke’s rise into the political mainstream and explores how Duke maintained his status as one of the most famous white s...
Jun 19, 2020•40 min
On the Gist, an officer cooperates. In the interview, Mike talks with co-host of Slate’s Political Gabfest, CBS 60 Minutes correspondent and contributing editor at the Atlantic, John Dickerson. His new book on the American Presidency, The Hardest Job In The World, details that there are no blueprints around the challenges of governing, and how we need to evaluate candidates and nominees for the job. In the spiel, a song gets cancelled. Email us at [email protected] Podcast production by Daniel S...
Jun 18, 2020•36 min
On the Gist, fireworks and progress. In the interview, Mike talks with data scientist Jeffery Morris of the University of Pennsylvania. They talk data analysis and models related to Covid-19, his predictions for states’ reopening, and his interpretations of updated CDC guidelines. You can follow his work at his site Covid-19 Data Science. In the spiel, Asian borders. Email us at [email protected] Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Slate Plus members get bonus segments an...
Jun 16, 2020•32 min
On the Gist, Trump doesn’t want to confront sins, he would rather perpetuate them. In the interview, Mike talks with incumbent Rep. Don Bacon from Nebraska’s 2nd District about how Covid-19 has altered his campaign strategy leading up to the election. They also discuss the protesting and looting in Omaha, as well as his recent statement following Gen. Mattis’ piece published in the Atlantic. Having served under him in Iraq, Bacon mostly agrees with Mattis, but says he and his constituents will l...
Jun 15, 2020•30 min
On the Gist, the stock market is on a coronavirus coaster. In the interview, Dr. Christina Greer of Fordham University is here to talk with Mike about politics and police reform. They discuss Joe Biden, if police unions should continue to exist, and what the future of policing could look like. Greer is the host of FAQ NYC. In the spiel, a good-faith effort to hear out the bad-faith arguments. Email us at [email protected] Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Slate Plus mem...
Jun 12, 2020•34 min
On the Gist, dominating the streets with compassion. In the interview, John Pfaff, professor of law and criminology at Fordham University and author of Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration-and How to Achieve Real Reform, joins Mike to talk about police reformation, and why politicians touting low crime under their watches could lead to more dysfunction. As one of the foremost experts on incarceration in America, Pfaff argues that we need to rethink how the system and budgets are orga...
Jun 11, 2020•35 min
On the Gist, Mississippi. In the interview, Ben Smith from the New York Times is here to discuss the recent ousting of editor James Bennet over an op-ed by Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas. They talk about the cultural divides it highlighted, what it means for the Times, and the future of opinion on the internet. Smith’s latest piece is “Inside the Revolts Erupting in America’s big Newsrooms.” In the spiel, Cops is canceled. Email us at [email protected] Podcast production by Daniel Schroe...
Jun 11, 2020•37 min
On the Gist, the anti-ANTIFA provocateur in Buffalo, NY. In the interview, Emily Oster, professor of economics at Brown University and NY Times bestselling author of Cribsheet and Expecting Better, joins Mike to talk about kids’ summer camps, weighing options as states begin to reopen, and assessing risk when it comes to coronavirus. In the spiel, de Blasio tries again. Email us at [email protected] Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Slate Plus members get bonus segments...
Jun 09, 2020•32 min
On the Gist, does Barr know what chemicals are? In the interview, New York Times opinion columnist and CBS News political analyst Jamelle Bouie joins Mike to talk race and policing in America. His latest column is, “The Police Are Rioting. We Need to Talk About It.” In the spiel, defining police reformation. Email us at [email protected] Podcast production by Daniel Schroeder and Margaret Kelley. Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. Learn more about your ...
Jun 09, 2020•37 min
