The Spiel looks at the latest Epstein document dump and why each release manages to embarrass powerful people while resolving almost nothing. With millions of files still unreleased, disclosure itself becomes a spectacle that displaces accountability. Then, David Greene joins to talk about an act that may be either civic heroism or mild insanity: helping turn Lancaster's 230-year-old newspaper into a nonprofit newsroom built for a digital future. Plus, the arrest of Jill Biden's former husband a...
Feb 03, 2026•30 min•Ep. 2930
David Greene joins us to talk about his new podcast, David Greene Is Obsessed , where opera singers map public restrooms, pizza-tour guys chase the perfect slice, and even David Arquette turns Bozo the Clown into an intellectual-property saga. We get into why an obsession can unlock a different kind of interview, plus Greene's own confessions, from the Hay-Adams bathroom workaround to sports fandom. Plus: the Mississippi miracle, and what China's van-based math prodigies say about how serious na...
Feb 02, 2026•29 min•Ep. 2929
Today on the Saturday show, Mike shares a conversation he had with Charlie Sykes, former host of The Bulwark and current host of the new podcast To the Contrary . They discuss how ordinary citizens with cell phones in Minneapolis became Donald Trump's kryptonite, exposing the chaos of his immigration enforcement strategy and forcing a rare retreat from the administration. Charlie and Mike break down why the "chaos as a ladder" theory backfired, why ICE's brutality is finally breaking through to ...
Jan 31, 2026•28 min•Ep. 2928
Paul D. Miller joins the show to argue that international law is a set of norms, not a moral court. A former CIA analyst and Army intelligence officer now at Georgetown, Miller explains why post-conflict reconciliation only works when locals accept it, why Israel faces a unique double standard, and how democracies navigate war without becoming what they're accused of being. We discuss Rwanda, denazification, Kosovo, Gaza, civilian casualty ratios, and why just war theory still matters after the ...
Jan 30, 2026•43 min•Ep. 2927
Mike contemplates the hierarchy of American attention, contrasting the 50 million eyes on the AFC Championship game with the obscurity of the men leading the "Metro Surge" in Minnesota. Then, Ruy Teixeira ( The Liberal Patriot ) and Jesse Adams ( The Ivy Exile ) join for Not Even Mad. The panel debates whether the chaos in Minnesota is a strategic "theater" of enforcement or a policy failure that's alienating the very public that requested it. They also dissect Trump's Davos "Greenland" rhetoric...
Jan 29, 2026•57 min•Ep. 2926
ICE's aggressive actions in Minnesota were meant to project force and restore order, but instead produced chaos, public distrust, and a political backlash. The administration's theory was that confrontation would favor enforcement, making protesters look extreme and Democrats indulgent, yet shootings, muddled explanations, and obvious narrative gaps flipped that contrast. plus Thomas Goetz joins the show to talk about Drug Story , his podcast that tells American history one medication at a time,...
Jan 28, 2026•34 min•Ep. 2925
Thomas Goetz joins the show to discuss his new podcast Drug Story, starting with the chain from FDR's death to cholesterol science, statins, and the cold math behind drug effectiveness. The conversation moves through Lipitor and EpiPens to show how evolving medical knowledge, good intentions, and pharmaceutical incentives can quietly reshape public health at massive scale. Plus, Trump is perhaps rethinking his Minnesota deployments, as the fire trucks exit. In the spiel a look at why the word "p...
Jan 27, 2026•31 min•Ep. 2924
CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Elliot Williams joins to talk about his new book Five Bullets: The Story of Bernie Goetz, New York's Explosive '80s, and the Subway Vigilante Trial That Divided the Nation. He walks through the courtroom oddities, like a "ballistics demonstration" staged with Guardian Angels as stand-ins, and explains why there was always a legally defensible path to either convicting or acquitting Goetz. The conversation places New York itself as another character...
Jan 26, 2026•43 min•Ep. 2923
First, Mike argues that Stephen Miller's promise of "federal immunity" to ICE agents is just as reckless as Donald Trump telling Iranian protesters the U.S. is "locked and loaded"—two instances of leaders writing checks their followers' safety can't cash. Then, from the vault (2022): Michelle Tafoya explains why she traded Monday Night Football for political podcasting. She discusses her "conservative libertarian" worldview, admits she might lack the "stomach" for a Senate run, and recounts the ...
Jan 24, 2026•30 min•Ep. 2922
Today on The Gist, Mike explains why he won't be watching Netflix's Skyscraper Live , arguing that Alex Honnold's latest stunt is an "attractive nuisance" that plays on our darkest voyeuristic instincts rather than the Olympic ideal. Then, New York Times reporter Kenneth Vogel joins the show to discuss his book Devil's Advocates . He breaks down the "sh*tbag business" of foreign lobbying, covering Paul Manafort's pioneering work with dictators, Rudy Giuliani's "security consulting" hustle, and t...
Jan 23, 2026•47 min•Ep. 2921
Critic and essayist Jason Guriel joins to talk about Fan Mail and how cultural criticism curdled once gatekeepers vanished and celebration replaced judgment. He makes the case that abundance without curation doesn't democratize culture so much as drown it, leaving readers unsure what's worth their time—or why craft should matter at all. Plus, an analysis of Jack Smith's combative testimony before Congress and how "perjury traps" function when politics, not truth, is the goal. Also, dueling descr...
Jan 22, 2026•36 min•Ep. 2920
Chuck Klosterman returns with his one-word book, Football , using the Raiders' brand mystique—and the Pac-12 reduced to two lonely teams—as proof that the sport's identity outlives its on-field logic. He argues the short-term cash grab (conference realignment, NIL, gambling) is eroding the traditions that made college football feel timeless, even while the Saturdays are still great. Along the way: concussions as a rehearsal for America's broader "we can change it" institutional cycle, body cams ...
Jan 21, 2026•38 min•Ep. 2919
Author Chuck Klosterman joins the show to discuss his new book, Football, and how football's strange mechanics, from hidden labor to stop-start pacing,and its resistance to casual play, have helped turn it into the last true monoculture. He also makes the case that future critics will misread football as decadence, missing what it actually revealed about the era that embraced it. Also, the double pardon of the same woman convicted twice for fraud, including a scheme selling counterfeit 5-Hour En...
Jan 20, 2026•29 min•Ep. 2918
Mike joins Jeremy Hobson on The Follow Up to discuss the "awful but lawful" nuances of the Minneapolis ICE shooting, the potential blowback of the Trump administration branding it a "riot," and why threats against Iran often ignore dangerous second-order effects. Plus, a Spiel from the week analyzing the flood of anonymous quotes in Dexter Filkins' New Yorker profile of Marco Rubio, and why unnamed sources might reveal more about the reader's bias than the subject's character. Produced by Corey ...
Jan 17, 2026•29 min•Ep. 2917
Comedian Liza Treyger explains why she prefers the 1:30 a.m. Comedy Cellar crowd—the drunk, the horny, the post-Broadway undead—and why bombing early is harder than thriving late. Her Netflix special Night Owl doubles as a thesis on power, hypocrisy, and why men who "hate Taylor Swift" seem uniquely unable to stop talking about her. Treyger argues that worst moments often are the résumé, that comedy works better when it sounds unwritten, and that moral panic is usually just bad joke construction...
Jan 16, 2026•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 2916
Charles Duhigg returns to explain why great talkers are usually great listeners, and how "looping for understanding" can lower the temperature in almost any disagreement. Plus, a Spiel about going on the record about going off-the-record and we play everybody's favorite Game "Who is Donald Trump Threatening Here" Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at thegist@mikepesca.co...
Jan 15, 2026•41 min•Ep. 2915
Today on The Gist, a look at Donald Trump's plan to cap credit card interest rates at 10%—a populist move that might actually rob the poor to pay for the rich man's travel perks. Then, former CIA analyst and The Rest Is Classified co-host David McCloskey discusses his new novel, The Persian . He explains how real-world Mossad operations inside Iran are so "insane" they don't even need to be exaggerated for fiction, from remote-controlled machine guns to the devastating pager attack that crippled...
Jan 14, 2026•42 min•Ep. 2914
Reese Gorman of Notus (and the On Notus podcast) explains the outlet's "teaching hospital" model for young journalists—and reports that Republicans are privately furious about being cut out of Venezuela, tariffs, and appropriations, even as almost none of them do anything to reclaim Congress's prerogatives beyond symbolic discharge petitions. Then, Dexter Filkins' new profile is our guide to Marco Rubio's ideological malleability as career strategy: swallow the zig, repeat the zag. Plus, why the...
Jan 13, 2026•39 min•Ep. 2913
Former FBI agent Séamus McElearney, author of Flipping Capo: How the FBI Dismantled the Real Sopranos , walks through the case that shattered the DeCavalcante crime family. He explains the mob's quiet tax on regular people via unions—no-show jobs, pension skims, and an asbestos local run by guys who couldn't pass the test (so they had someone take it for them). He also gets into the overlap with The Sopranos and contrasts real life with the one premise he says flatly wouldn't happen: a boss talk...
Jan 12, 2026•33 min•Ep. 2912
Mike breaks down the U.S. abduction of Nicolas Maduro, arguing that Donald Trump's penchant for exaggeration shouldn't blind us to actual strategic successes. He digs into why media "truth-tracking" often fails to account for real-world military outcomes, using the Fordow strikes and the defeat of ISIS as proof that a leader's bad narration doesn't always mean a failed mission. Plus... A vault interview with Oxford's Ben Ansell on "FADFO"—the phenomenon of "fucking around and not finding out"—an...
Jan 10, 2026•48 min•Ep. 2911
The physician and health-policy veteran lays out six "simple" rules for a long, healthy life, arguing that most wellness advice fails by demanding perfection—and that moderation, sociability, and routines matter more than optimization. He gets data-nerdy on risk (Everest versus skydiving), alcohol as social lubricant, and why "good" ice cream can fit into a sane diet. Plus, a look at the Trump administration's politically self-sabotaging response to the Minneapolis ICE shooting—and a detour thro...
Jan 09, 2026•33 min•Ep. 2910
Michael A. Cohen, author of the Truth and Consequences newsletter, and Charles Fain Lehman, Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, debate the capture of Nicolas Maduro and whether Marco Rubio is positioning himself as the "Governor General of Latin America." The panel analyzes Tim Walz's exit from the Minnesota governor's race amid a $9 billion pandemic fraud scandal and the controversial appointment of Cea Weaver to New York's housing office. Plus,the debunking of the "Heritage American" myth that ...
Jan 08, 2026•49 min•Ep. 2909
The thriller-machine (and civics savant) returns to talk The Viper , the latest Zig-and-Nola mystery, and why he'll write 350 pages before he bothers naming the thing. Plus, a harrowing Minneapolis video after an ICE agent shoots into a slowly moving SUV—and the yawning gap between what the footage seems to show and DHS talk of "rioters" and a "weaponized" vehicle. Also: the debut of what may become a recurring segment— Let's Parse What Tony Dokoupil Said —from a 17-second January 6th mention to...
Jan 07, 2026•47 min•Ep. 2908
Andy Mills, creator of The Last Invention podcast, explores I.J. Good's 1965 concept of an "intelligence explosion"—and explains why "AGI" is a deceptively harmless term for a world-changing event. The central problem? Modern AI acts like a black box, often producing results that shock even its designers with no clear explanation of how they got there. Plus: A rebuttal to "spheres of influence" thinking, and why carving up the world is a bad strategy. Produced by Corey Wara | Coordinated by Lya ...
Jan 06, 2026•44 min•Ep. 2907
Venezuelan expert Quico Toro explains why the removal of Nicolás Maduro feels historic—and yet leaves Venezuela largely unchanged, with the regime's machinery fully intact. Toro warns that Washington's belief in Rodríguez as a workable "moderate" badly misreads her ideological lineage and incentives. Plus: a spiel on Trump's lies and bombast—why presidential exaggeration is a poor proxy for judging whether high-risk foreign operations actually succeed. And the thickness of Venezuelan oil, Trump ...
Jan 05, 2026•37 min•Ep. 2906
Mike Pesca digs into the vault for two 2017 interviews exploring the "ground game" of the New York stand-up scene and the "ad hominem screech" of early outrage culture. Dan Soder discusses his transition from a hard-drinking youth to a maturity fueled by caffeine and cannabis, admitting that his iconic Russian accent bit remains the "Free Bird" closer he can't quite escape. Meanwhile, Moshe Kasher dissects the launch of his series Problematic and the shallowing of the American brain, arguing tha...
Jan 03, 2026•34 min•Ep. 2905
Rosebud Baker explains why motherhood is the most political act of her life and how she handles breastfeeding pressure by claiming she's "raising her daughter autistic" with formula and vaccines. The SNL writer joins Mike Pesca to discuss her transition from the "joke-heavy" homework of her first special to the conversational honesty of Motherlode , while detailing her process of churning out 50 headlines a day for Weekend Update . Along the way: the "embarrassing" ego of Elon Musk's comedy crus...
Jan 02, 2026•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 2904
Comedian Robby Hoffman explains why she treats complaining as "enjoying"—and why her Depression-era instincts make her shakier during good times than disasters. Her approach to stand-up is visceral rather than cerebral: she doesn't remember the bit about the woman closing the airplane bathroom door, she replays the movie and watches her body operate on its own. Along the way: memories of growing up with nine siblings in Montreal poverty, where conflict wasn't optional ("we didn't get to not know...
Jan 01, 2026•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 2903
Oxford-educated archaeology student turned freestyle sensation Chris Turner joins Mike Pesca to explain how his "British period" of deadpan one-liners evolved into the show-stopping rap flow that now defines his Comedy Cellar sets. Turner discusses the "evolutionary advantage" of not knowing the rules of hip hop as a ten-year-old in Manchester—a blissful ignorance that convinced him freestyling was just "making up a story"—and how he uses those same instincts to neutralize hecklers today. Along ...
Dec 31, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 2902
Michelle Buteau explains why she is the "achievable Beyonce" for government workers and how her history editing grim news footage at WNBC led her to a record-breaking comedy career. Her new special, A Beautiful Mind , marks her as the first woman of color to headline Radio City Music Hall—a feat she attributes to the same grit that carried her through five years of IVF and "weird needles" at TSA. Along the way: the "dangerous" trend of punching down in comedy, the specific anxiety of visiting a ...
Dec 30, 2025•49 min•Ep. 2901
