A new study shows that paper and bamboo straws are WORSE for the environment and the human body than plastic straws in important ways. Plus, the death of Yvegeny Prigozhin was confirmed by his ol' pal Putin. And an interview with Guy Nattiv on his new film, Golda. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist Subscribe: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mikes Substack at: ...
Aug 25, 2023•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast USC professor Peter Kim, author of How Trust Works: The Science of How Relationships Are Built, Broken, and Repaired, says that when the violation is one of competence, we're forgiving, but when it's one of integrity ... we do not. Broad treatises on trust that fail to distinguish between the two types are destined to not just fail but do more damage than if we just lied. Also on the show, when songs topping the charts are reviewed by those trailing in the polls. And Andrew Yang on the Vivek-qua...
Aug 24, 2023•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Tonight's Milwaukee debate presents a chance for the absent Donald Trump's fellow Republicans to offer a frontal assault, a sideward glance, or a kiss on the backside. Plus, the free-floating anxiety of death tolls estimated and unknown. And we're once more joined by Martha Hodes, author of My Hijacking: A Personal History of Forgetting and Remembering. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist S...
Aug 23, 2023•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Martha Hodes is now a professor of history at NYU, where she teaches students techniques of interweaving their first-person accounts and the historical record. But in 1970, she was a 12 year old flying back from Israel, when her plane was hijacked. Her new book, My Hijacking: A Personal History of Forgetting and Remembering, tells that story, then it examines the story she and the other victims told themselves over the years. Also on the show, listening to (for the first time) the #1 song "Rich ...
Aug 22, 2023•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Uber is actually turning a profit, and it's looking like it could realize the once-seeming-long-shot goals of its founders and investors. Ali Griswold, who writes the Oversharing Substack Newsletter joins us to discuss. Plus, a Russian rocket fails. And, at a meet-up of the BRICS nations, South Africa, Russia, and China are, in fact, there to make friends. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGis...
Aug 21, 2023•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Iowa State Fair is in its final weekend, and, along with deep-fried delicacies, politics was in the air. That reminded us of Mike’s 2019 visit to Iowa ahead of the 2020 election, so we thought we’d replay his take on a political tradition that is very Midwestern. Then we rewind to this past Wednesday to listen to Mike’s Spiel about the U.S. Women’s National soccer team crashing out of the World Cup, and who (or what) was to blame. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist...
Aug 19, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Herman Andaya, Maui’s emergency chief decided not to sound sirens before the fires scorched Lahaina, which seems like an obvious mistake. But all the officials agreed, to do so would have been a contradiction of policy ... and perhaps a dangerous one. Andaya was pushed out anyway, though he was, to some extent, the author of his own fate. And how much was Barbenheimer Hollywood's salvation? We talk franchise movies and box office with John Campea. And superheroes aren't the only ones failing to ...
Aug 18, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast With 151 days until the Iowa Caucuses, we're joined by Amy Walter, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter and the host of The Odd Years, a Cook Political Report podcast. She says that if Trump is to be felled, it won't be through arguments that strike Democrats as especially powerful. Plus, a Ron DeSantis debate prep dump. And the military's recruitment woes cannot blamed on woke-ism. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com ...
Aug 17, 2023•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Noah Pines, a top Atlanta-based litigator, assesses the strength of Fani Willis's indictment of Donald Trump and eighteen others, with special attention given to the specifics of Georgia state law, and the state's unique RICO statute. Plus, Vivek Ramaswamy's rap. And the North Koreans "explain" why a U.S. soldier ran into their arms. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show, visit: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to The Gist...
Aug 16, 2023•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 T...
Aug 15, 2023•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Aug 14, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 whic...
Aug 12, 2023•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 tang...
Aug 11, 2023•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 A...
Aug 10, 2023•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Aug 09, 2023•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 majorit...
Aug 08, 2023•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 u...
Aug 07, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 haven’t. ...
Aug 05, 2023•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 histor...
Aug 04, 2023•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Aug 03, 2023•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 b...
Aug 02, 2023•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 thegist@mikepe...
Aug 01, 2023•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Jul 31, 2023•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 f...
Jul 30, 2023•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscrib...
Jul 29, 2023•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 a...
Jul 28, 2023•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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? P...
Jul 27, 2023•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Jul 26, 2023•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 a...
Jul 25, 2023•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mass firings at ESPN, the elimination of the New York Times' entire sports section, Disney talking about huge changes in its sports programming. Sports are splintering. Joining us as sage and guide is John Ourand, Media Reporter at Sports Business Journal and cohost of The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast. Plus, Florida's African American Studies standards scrutinized ... pilloried, even. And the crushing candor of Mike Pence. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist...
Jul 24, 2023•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
