The Gist

Jesse Eisenberg is the writer, director, and star of A Real Pain . We discuss his plays, where you can find early versions of the characters played by Kieran Culkin and Jesse himself, the dynamics of cousin relationships, and when crying can be useful for both the artist and the individual. Plus, another exciting edition of Palter Talk ! Oh, and we might just have a government shutdown. Sorry. SUB...

Elon Musk complicates government funding, Fani Willis is off the Georgia Trump prosecution, and Brian Reed returns to discuss whether "genocidal race war" was the best way to describe the false allegation that Springfield residents were "eating the dogs, eating the cats." SUBSCRIBE We offer premium subscriptions , including an AD-FREE version of the show and options for bonus content. The Gist is...

The creator of S-Town and The Trojan Horse Affair has a new show about journalism and truth called Question Everything . So, we do. Plus, polls show that young people are pro-assassination, which should make us question some of them. 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:...

We are said to be a fed-up nation pushed to the brink, and the result is political violence … or maybe just hack comedy. Also, Nancy Rommelmann joins us to discuss her latest book, 40 Bucks and a Dream: Stories from Los Angeles . She shares insights from her extensive journalism career, including her experience interviewing infamous serial killer John Wayne Gacy. And Trump's presidential library g...

Drone sightings over New Jersey are driving everyone mad—except Bernie Sanders, who seems minimally concerned. Plus, we're joined by Isaac Saul, CEO of Tangle . Isaac shares not just his insights on issues like inflation and immigration, but also his methodology for cutting through the noise to deliver the least ideologically captured explanations to his readers. Produced by Joel Patterson and Cor...

Each weekend on Best Of The Gist , we revisit an archival segment from the past and pair it with a replay of something from the past week. This weekend, we revisit Mike's 2018 interview with cultural psychologist Michele Gelfand, who challenges us to think of societies not along the traditional "liberal to conservative" spectrum but instead as ranging from "tight to loose." It's a theory she explo...

Comedian Roy Wood Jr., host of CNN's Have I Got News for You and former Daily Show correspondent, joins this episode of Funny You Should Mention . We delve into topics like a near-DUI incident in South Dakota, why the police should occasionally let a criminal go free, and the responsibility comedians have to challenge harmful political ideas—and the politicians who promote them. We also explore th...

Acts of violence have promoted discussions of self-defense, corporate greed, national healthcare, homeless funding, and political will. The Gist rejects being thrust into that discussion at the point of a gun, but has some insights to offer to the current debate. Plus, the return of Washington Post columnist Shadi Hamid to discuss Israel, Gaza, morality, and security. Produced by Joel Patterson an...

Shadi Hamid, Washington Post columnist and co-host of the Wisdom Of Crowds podcast, discusses Israel's regard for innocent lives and if the United States would conduct a war in the way the Israelis do. Plus, the island nation of Nauru gets paid off by the Australians not the play footsy with China. And the Syrian navy is sunk, their chemical weapons cache has been destroyed, and no, Israel is not...

The acquittal of Daniel Penny, who choked a mentally ill homeless man to death on the New York City Subway, ends the criminal exposure of the former Marine. The charge of "lynching" trails him and the incident, however. But Mike argues the term, as applied to this incident, is both ahistorical and less-resonant with the average American today. Plus, Dave Daley of FairVote drops by to discuss the v...

In an Assad-free Syria, the population is elated, the rebels have expelled a tyrant, and the region has the breathing room to create a better environment for democratic rule. So why is the foreign policy establishment wringing its hands? And we're joined by two prime-time TV greats, The Office 's Brian Baumgartner (he played Kevin Malone) and Ben Silverman (Executive Producer of the show) to talk...

Each weekend on Best Of The Gist, we listen back to an archival Gist segment from the past, then we replay something from the past week. This weekend, we're listening back to Mike's interview with UCLA professor and MacArthur Genius grant recipient Jason De Leon to discuss his book, Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling . Since the interview aired, back in May of th...

We reconstitute Not Even Mad with panelists Liz Wolfe ( Reason and the Just Asking Questions podcast) and Michael A. Cohen (MSNBC columnist and author of the Truth and Consequences newsletter) to discuss and debate the pardon of Hunter Biden and all the many, many explanations for the Democrats poor showing on election day 2024. Plus, goats are grinded over Standard Time, "Increasingly," and Pamel...

If you've been paying attention bulls*t never left us. Sadie Dingfelder. author of Do I Know You? A Faceblind Reporter's Journey into the Science of Sight, Memory and Imagination is here to call BulLLsh*t on the perenial question "If I die will my cat eat me, while my dog won't?" Plus an AI talk show is amazingly realistic, albeit fascinated by absolutely everything. And Trump Watches For Sale! Pr...

The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels have gained ground in Syria, but they aren't the nice, unproblematic, good-for the environment, nice-to-old-people rebels of our dreams. What now? Plus, part two of our interview with Ben Rhodes, former Obama Administration speechwriter and current co-host of Pod Save The World . And how coverage of the many vulnerabilities of Pete Hegseth suggests that the media mi...

Barack Obama's Former Deputy National Security Advisor, Ben Rhodes discusses whether or not Democrats still embody what they say they stand for. The co-host of Pod Save The World and author of (among many things) a New York TImes Essay, titled " I Study Guys Like Trump. There's a Reason They Keep Winning ." Plus, Pete Hegseth's mom was pretty down on Pete Hegseth a few years ago ... and now everyo...

Kamala Harris' staff reveals their biggest challenges, notably the little time they had to sell their candidate to America. Plus, Hunter Biden is pardoned by his father—an act he said he'd never commit, then again, no one thought Hunter would commit many of the acts he committed either. And we're joined by former Congressman Eric Fingerhut , now CEO of the Jewish Federations of America, to discuss...

Each weekend on Best Of The Gist, we listen back to an archival Gist segment from the past, then we replay something from the past week. This weekend, we listen back to Mike's April 2023 interview with NewsGuard founder Steven Brill about the business of issuing nutrition labels for news. Then we listen back to this past Tuesday's Spiel about the role for NewsGuard in our current political moment....

Mike Yard is a standup comic who has appeared on Inside Amy Schumer , Flatbush Misdemeanors , and was a contributor to The Nightly Show with Larry WiImore . He is both an ex-felon and a union leader at the Museum of Modern Art. In this conversation, we discuss Yard's jokes about his pro-prison stance, leaving the Virgin Islands for the worst neighborhood in Brooklyn, and his suspicions about candl...

Abraham Lincoln certainly loved the nation he led, he loved Democracy, he loved his wife, and he loved some men, too. That's according to a new film, Lover Of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln . Shaun Peterson and Tom Balcerski are back to continue our conversation about our 16th President's loves. Also on the show, Democrats try out a new strategy to battle Trump, and Rudy is tapped out....

Shaun Peterson is director of Lover Of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln . He and historian Tom Balcerski talk about the evidence indicating that Abraham Lincoln shared more than just a cot with Joshua Speed and few others. We debate the evidence, discuss why it matters, and talk for more than you ever knew you wanted to hear about Presidential thighs. Plus, Newsguard attacked by Trump's...

We're joined by Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton , who discusses how democrats should engage on important but sensitive issues like trans women in sport. Also discussed: Moulton's conversation with incoming member of congress Sarah McBride, his opposition to Nancy Mace's rules focusing on bathrooms, and what the rest of the Massachusetts Democratic establishment is saying to him ... or, in t...

On November 12th, Mike published a story in The Atlantic's "Ideas" section titled "The HR-ification of the Democratic Party: The party of norms, procedure, bureaucracy, DEI initiatives, rule following, language policing, and compliance" … and it got some buzz. So this weekend on Best Of The Gist, we're going to listen to two media outlets that featured Mike's article: POTUS Politics , a Sirius XM...

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is tapped to run HHS. Dr. Mehmet Oz has been named as Medicare and Medicaid overseer. Dan Diamond of the Washington Post analyses the importance of those agencies and their vulnerability to ambitious outsiders looking to upend things. Also, new AG designee Pam Bondi served as Florida's Attorney General back when a President of the United States called a different state's atto...

Jay Bhattacharya, the Stanford professor who advocated for widespread openings during the pandemic, months before there was a vaccine, has become a bit of a hero to Americans upset about lockdowns and the suppressing of dissent on social media platforms. Now he may be running the National Institutes of Health. Dan Diamond , reporter for the Washington Post, discusses what Bhattacharya got right, g...